2 Beans: featuring Domori 100% Criollo, Domori Biancomenta, Domoro Velvet Cremini, Mitzi Blue 80%+90%, and Konnerup & Co. 70% Peppermint

So after the Ghiradelli tasting, Leila and I had only one thing on our minds: more chocolate.  So we went to 2 Beans, where we purchased about 100 chocolate bars:

2 Beans is a phenomenal place, by the way. They have gelato and a coffee bar and just shelf after shelf of brand after brand of chocolate bars, including many of our favorites that are usually hard to find, and including some that we had never even heard of before. That is why we had to buy so many.

Take a look at what goes on inside this store:

I mean, SERIOUSLY:

We started with the Mitzi Blue bar.  It was a large disc of 80% chocolate with caramalized chili nibs, and with a smaller disc of 90% chocolate embedded:

It was good, but the smaller disc seemed a bit unnecessary.  Leila and I are also not the biggest fans of spice, but I guess this one was really on us, since we bought the bar with the chili nibs.

We also got some Domori "velvet cremini."  I am still not sure exactly what they are, but they are soft and chocolatey and creamy and sweet and delicious.

The above is white chocolate, somehow.  Mint white chocolate.  I actually liked it, but obviously Leila did not.  She has no patience for that.  But if you like white chocolate and mint, the Domori bar is highly recommended.

Similarly the Domori 100% bar was great for what it was.  It was bitter, even for 100% bars, so Leila was not down, but I gobbled it up.

I think our consensus favorite, aside from the Cremini, was the Konnerup & Co. peppermint bar.  It was chocolatey and refreshing, and can go along with the many, many other delicious peppermint-dark chocolate bars out there.

Bottom Line: The real bottom line here is that 2 Beans is incredible.  Aside from the Meadow, which is geographically very far away, it has the best chocolate selection in NYC.  Truly global in its reach, with excellent taste.

The Meadow Round 3: Claudio Corallo 100%, Slitti "GranCacao" 90%, French Broad 81%, Cacao "Love Bar Patanemo Straight Up" 75%

I went to the Meadow and purchased a lot of chocolate for Leila's birthday a while back, and I gave it to her.  Then I ate it.  Anyways, I'll let her tell you about that.

Between the time I gave it to her and the time I ate it, I was feeling pretty jealous, so I went right back to the Meadow and bought some chocolate for myself:

The Claudio Corallo 100% was nice.  It fit in with my not minding Peruvian fruitiness on 100% bars, because it masks the bitterness.  It didn't stand out too much, but I enjoyed it.

Similarly, the Slitti 90% had a good, chocolatey taste, but it didn't jump out at me among other 90% bars.  I think I prefer Lindt's 90% bar, which is cheaper and more readily available.  I still thoroughly enjoyed it.

The French Broad 81% was a real winner, though.  It used raw sugar thick-grained enough to make the whole bar taste stone ground.  Nice!  I'm definitely interested in trying a broader selection of their products.

I think the best of the bunch, though, might have been the "Love Bar Patanemo Straight Up," whatever that could possibly mean, by Atlanta-based chocolatier Cacao.  It was just one of those instant, perfectly chocolatey moments.  Then, like all good things, it was gone.

Bottom Line: The Meadow's still got it, and here are four good examples.

The Meadow Tasting #1: Soma 100% "Arcana"

I (David) am a fan of high percentage bars.  Ideally, a bar will sit around 91%.  I have a canister of nibs on my office desk.

 That said, I often find 100% bars to lose their chocolatey flavor under a mask of bitterness.When I asked for a high-percentage recommendation at The Meadow, they directed me to Soma's 100% Arcana bar.  They clearly knew what they were talking about.

The packaging betrays the intensity.

Soma avoids the common pitfall with a method I would usually not endorse -- throwing in lots of flavors.  The Soma bar is a blend of four different origins, and each provides its own complex flavor notes to the chocolate.  The sheer number of different tastes helps blunt the bitterness and actually (in contrast with the usual effect) brings out the chocolatey flavor of the bar.

I have never seen a bar that looks quite like this one.

Leila was not as thrilled.  She notes simply, "I am not a good judge of 100% bars. They are all too bitter for me, this one included. It is probably a fine bar if you can handle it, but I cannot."

Bottom Line: One of the best 100% bars I have ever had, but it is still a 100% bar.