Chocolates Inspired by Latin Philosophers

CIOCCOlatini are chocolates representing the most famous Latin philosophers, each one with a particular spice. The product won the Chocolate & Design Contest 2007.

From Playdesign via NOTCOT

The Caramellow - Aptly named fusion chocolate

The Caramellow is one of the more beautiful and interesting pieces we've seen in awhile. Made up of mellow caramel chocolate and premium milk chocolate, with baby caramel chocolate buttons and florentine squares pressed into the top, as well as a sprinkling of crunchy crushed cinder toffee. And this bad boy is a 1 pound slab - 10" x 6"!

CandySnob's Holiday Gift Guide

FOR THE MOST CARAMELICIOUS PERSON YOU KNOW
Gingerbread Caramels
These smell and taste like gingerbread but they have the smooth, creamy texture that could only come from the world's finest caramels. Made exclusively with the butter from the AOC-designated Charentes- Poiteau region of France, they simply melt in your mouth.

DEAN & DELUCA Butter Caramels
A DEAN & DELUCA EXCLUSIVE. These caramels are made with rich butter from the AOC-designated Charentes-Poiteau region and are so smooth and creamy they melt in your mouth. Flavors include Chocolate, Coffee, Hazelnut and Vanilla.
via Dean and Deluca

FOR THE TORTURED SOULS WHO CAN'T DECIDE BETWEEN MALLO CUPS AND VALOMILK
Mallo Cups
Whipped marshmallow creme center engulfed by a delicious comibination of rich milk chocolate and coconut. 24 per box.

Valomilk
Valomilk; the original "Flowing Center" candy cup. Each package has two milk chocolate cups with a marsh-mallow center weighing a total of 2.2 ounces. A box of 24 packages
via I Love Mallo Cups

FOR THE ADVENTURER
Vosges Mo's Bacon Bar
Breathe...engage your five senses, close your eyes and inhale deeply. Be in the present moment, notice the color of the chocolate, the glossy shine. Rub your thumb over the chocolate bar to release the aromas of smoked applewood bacon flirting with deep milk chocolate. Snap off just a tiny piece and place it in your mouth, let the lust of salt and sweet coat your tongue. applewood smoked bacon + Alder wood smoked salt + deep milk chocolate, 41% cacao.
via Vosges Chocolate

CHOCOLATE FOR CONNOISSEURS IN HOT WEATHER
Backpacker's Pocket Paté- "Weatherproof Chocolate"
Shrink wrapped blocks of gourmet artisan chocolate. Deliciously convenient! This Original ChocolateSmith Creation is convenient, portable, and essentially weatherproof. Backpacker Pocket Pates are the perfect item to take with you on your next outdoor adventure! To eat, simply slice a wedge, peel off the wax and enjoy! All items are Handmade & Hand Dipped. Colors will vary. AVAILABLE FIVE FLAVORS: DARK CHOCOLATE, RASPBERRY, SUNSET ORANGE, NUTS & BERRIES, & PEANUT BUTTER BROWNIE.
via The ChocolateSmith

FOR WINE LOVERS
Sonoma County Winegrape Chocolates
16 Premium Chocolate Truffles Infused with wine grapes from Sonoma County's finest grape growing regions. Assortment: Russian River Pinot Noir Truffle, Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon Truffle, Knights Valley Merlot Truffle, Chalk Hill Chardonnay Truffle.
via Sonoma Wine Grape Commission

FOR THOSE WHO WISH THEY WEREN'T IN SNOWY WEATHER
Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut Gifts
Who wouldn't want a ticket to Hawaii in the middle of winter? If a plane ticket to the Big Island isn't in the gift budget this year, you might consider the next best thing... macadamia nut candies. It won't satisfy that sand-between-the-toes craving, but it will make the recipient feel warm and fuzzy inside. Choose from an assortment of baskets and boxes including milk chocolate covered macadamias, milk chocolate toffee covered macadamias, coffee glazed macadamias, dark chocolate covered macadamias and more!

FOR THOSE IN SNOWY WEATHER... THE PERFECT HOT CHOCOLATE
Taza Chocolate Mexicano Cinnamon
Our take on the infamous Ibarra disc, this is the simplest, most delicious chocolate you'll ever taste. Made only with our Mexican stone mills (molinos), this chocolate contains only three ingredients: roasted cocoa beans, cane sugar, and cinnamon stick. Whip up a rich, authentic taza de chocolate mexicano, or eat it as is!
via Taza Chocolate

Plush Puffs Gourmet Marshmallows
You can't have truly sinful and satisfying hot chocolate without the perfect marshmallow, floating in your mug and melting in all its gooey glory. Plush Puffs are available in yummy flavors like Vanilla Bean, Caramel Swirl and Peppi Mint. And so you don't feel too guilty about the indulgence, they're made from all natural ingredients.

FOR THE CALORIE CONSCIOUS
Dylan's Candy Bar Re-Treat
Get your candy fix with out taking a bite. Dylan's Candy Bar has a fun new line of body products at Sephora, all with your sweet tooth in mind. Finally, apply directly to hips with no weight gain.

Ococoa Peanut Butter Cups Take It Up A Notch

I don't know if it is right to even call them peanut butter cups. They look more like truffles in denseness and richness. Not to mention the gourmet flavors - Cashew Apricot, Marzipan Truffle, Almond Cherry, and Classic Peanut Butter.

Check out the cups at Ococoa

Heads up from NOTCOT

Monbana Chocolate Thin Cube

Monbana, a French chocolatier, recently has launched Le Cube à chocolat de Monbana. Its is a reusable cube shaped receptacle that holds different flavored chocolate thins. No more spreading your thins on a plate, trying to fan them into a nice presentation.

I'd tell you more about Monbana, but the website's in French. So anyone who wants to tell CandySnob readers more, let me know.

From TheDieline.com

The Five Most Expensive Chocolates in the World

Knipschildt's Chocopologie - $2,600 per pound
$250 dark chocolate truffle with French black truffle

Noka Vintages Collection - $854 per pound
A compilation of the finest dark chocolates obtained from selective plantations in Venezuela, Côte d'Ivoire, Trinidad and Ecuador.

Delfee© - $504 per pound
Made by applying real 24K edible flakes of gold to each praline by hand.

Richart © - $120 per pound
Made up of 70% Criollo cocoa from Venezuela, which is considered to be the best quality of chocolate in the world.

Godiva "G" Collection - $117 per pound
Comprised of various ingredients and flavors like Palet d'Or, Tasmanian honey and Mexican Hot Chocolate.

From Thrifter

ChocolateSmith Sampler Pack Has Arrived!

I'm very excited, my ChocolateSmith items have arrived. Thank you in advance to the folks at the Santa Fe based artisan chocolate company. I saw this company on Food Network's Road Tasted with the Neelys, and had to check them out.

Aside from the great flavor combinations, what struck me about these folks is that they called their chocolates "pate" - because they use cheese wax to cover their chocolates. Besides being a brilliant shipping move (my stuff arrived seemingly unscathed in 100 degree AZ heat), the wax itself serves as beautiful, one of a kind artwork. Wait until you see the photos of this stuff!

Stay tuned...

In the meantime you can check them out here.

Review: Green & Black's Organic, Bite-sized Milk Chocolate

We picked up a bag of Green & Black's Organic Milk Chocolates the other day and were very pleased by the experience. The bag is filled with individually wrapped, bite-sized pieces of milk chocolate that Green & Black's calls "Intense," which is a very accurate description. All the ingredients are organic: raw cane sugar, whole milk powder, chocolate liquor, cocoa butter, soy lecithin and vanilla extract.

Each piece is a little bigger than a quarter, with a nice G&B imprint on top. It is the perfect size - a little bite that packs a big punch to quash your milk chocolate craving. The flavor is more complex than most milk chocolates. You definitely get a caramel flavor which is delightful. But you also get an occasional hint of sour, which isn't off putting, but instead adds depth. It has amazing mouthfeel - its so creamy that it is almost sticky, the kind of stickiness you'd get with a thinner peanut butter. But of course much smoother and creamier.

CandySnob loves these little morsels of goodness. The perfect little treat during the day.

Check out Green & Black's Organic Chocolate goodies here.

Askinosie Chocolate Packaging circa WWII

We covered Askinosie Chocolate back in April, and have now seen some cool packaging for this innovative, artsan chocolate maker. An army ration feel circa WWII to their packaging. Very cool.

From Dieline

Candy Review: Theo Special Limited Edition, 91% Cacao

Monday we reviewed the Theo Madagascar, 65% Cacao, and felt that it left a little to be desired. But we still think Theo has a good thing going, so we're not even close to writing them off. So we tried the Special Limited Edition bar with 91, yes that's right, 91% Venezuelan cacao.

To give you an idea how fragrant this bar is, literally the second I opened the package, my wife who was sitting on the opposite side of our couch, could smell its dark chocolately goodness.

Visually, Theo bars are quite simple in their design, so there's actually nothing to report - it looks exactly the same as the Madagascar bar, except maybe a hair darker.

This bar is not for the faint of heart. Nor is it for non-dark chocolate LOVERS. Even for dark chocolate LIKERS, of which I consider myself one, it is pretty strong and bitter. This isn't a bar I would choose to eat on a regular basis. But if you want your chocolate to be as dark as possible, this is for you. I personally found it a little too bitter. However, for as strong as the flavor was, it still didn't have the depth or complexity of flavor I would have expected.

Texture-wise, it was very similar to the last Theo bar I had. I'm sure this dry, crumbly texture has to do in large part with the high cacao content (in this case there isn't much else in there). Surprisingly, even with far less cacao, this bar had better mouthfeel than the Madagascar bar.

CandySnob's opinion of Theo chocolates after two tries? Love the process, love that they are an ethical company. But less impressed with the actual end product, but still hold out hope.

Buy Theo Chocolate Here

Neuhaus Cornet D'Ore - If this ain't pretty, I don't know what is.

Hey, what's not to like about Belgian chocolates in general, but they're even better with gianduja. The roasting of the hazelnuts and almonds is always carried out under the maker's watchful eye. Strict cooking times, the right temperature and taste tests produce an ultra-smooth texture and decadent flavor.

Not to mention its just plan pretty.

Check out the Neuhaus Specialty Selection: Cornet D'Ore

Candy Review: Theo Madagascar, 65% Cacao

We've covered Theo for their ethical production and their "bean-to-bar" operations, we thought it high time we take Theo chocolate for a test drive or two. So we checked out theri 65% cacao content Madagascar bar.

Sadly, the test drive didn't go as well as we had hoped when looking at them in the showroom.

Let's start on a positive note. The packaging is beautiful, and the bar itself is elegant in its simplicity. There are no imprints, nothing fancy, just straight-up dark (and we mean dark) bars of chocolate.

We found the bar to be crumbly and dry. And it doesn't melt very smoothly in your mouth. In fact, when we looked at the cross-section after biting into it, you could see the gray striations in the chocolate - a sure indicator that something went wrong in the production.

From a flavor standpoint, again the experience fell short. We were expecting a rich, deep, complex experience, but found the chocolate had little depth of flavor and little to no finish.

We're hoping this is just an old batch, perhaps, although the "Best By" date is 04/09? We're just having a disconnect between Theo's reputation and the actual chocolate we tried.

We're reviewing Theo's Limited Edition Dark later this week, so stay tuned.

Buy Theo Chocolate Here

Chocolate Covered Sweets and Gifts Showcases High End Chocolates and Tins

Chocolate Covered Sweets and Gifts in San Francisco's Noe Valley is broken into two halves. One half is all chocolate, and the other is filled with gift boxes and tins.

Some of the chocolate makers you'll find here:

• Michael Mischer Chocolates


• Cacao Anasa


• Jade Chocolates


• Torn Ranch


• Poco Dolce


• Smile Chocolatiers' Choclatea bars


• Donnelly Chocolates


• Knipschildt Chocolates

from Cool Hunting

Interesting flavor combos are perfect for pairing chocolate and wine

Comparing the nuances of chocolate to the nuances of wine isn't a new idea. Neither is pairing chocolates and wine. But if you are doing some pairing, it certainly makes the experience more interesting when the chocolates have rich, unique flavor combinations.

Such is the case with Chocolate Smith. They're "chocolate pates" are made in small batches from scratch (all organic and local). Then, the brilliantly dip each piece by hand in cheese wax, to keep it fresh and protecting it in hot weather.

We think the best way to get into pairing is to sample a lot of items. Chocolate Smith's Pate Sampler would be a great entre into the fun. The sampler features their top flavors (White Chocolate Mimosa Pate with Orange & Lavender, Dark Chocolate Pate, Nuts & Berries Pate with Pomeranate & Fig, and Sunset Orange Pate with Chipotle Chili & Cinnamon). And each one complements a different wine - from Champagne to Port.

$28.50 at Chocolate Smith

If you're interested in other wine news, check out CheapFunWines.com