2 Beans again: featuring Pacari 85%, Aeschbach "Special" 80%, SPAGnVOLA 70%, Aesbach "Amer" 60%, Venchi 56%, Domori Javagrey milk chocolate, and Aeschbach Hazelnut

It was a friend's birthday, which seemed like a good excuse to go nuts at 2 Beans.  Hint: Anything is a good excuse to go nuts at 2 Beans.

So this is a lot of chocolate, and all of it was good.  I didn't try the Domori Javagrey milk bar or the Aeschbach hazelnut bar, but they were probably great, because those companies are great.

Of the other five bars, the lowest percentage was actually my favorite.  But that's not really fair -- the Vench 56% has long been my favorite low-percentage (under 60%) dark chocolate bar on the market.

Other than the Venchi, the two Aeschbach bars were expectedly amazing.  I especially liked the less fancy, 80% bar, though I am not sure if it is due to the less-fanciness or due to the higher percentage.

The SPAGnVOLA bar, though, was surprisingly excellent.  I had never heard of the company before, and they stacked up well with Aeschbach, which were one of my favorite companies from Zurich.  Pacari was bringing up the rear this time, likely because it was slightly fruitier than the others, but all four bars come recommended.

Bottom Line: Sometimes you hit the jackpot.  Most of those times are at 2 Beans.

Cardullo's Gourmet Shoppe in Cambridge, MA: featuring Olive and Sinclair 75%, Fruition 70%, Vosges 65% Gingerbread Toffee, and The Tea Room Green Earl Gray 60%

During a recent trip to Boston, Kasey and I purchased three bars at Cardullo's Gourmet Shoppe:

The Olive and Sinclair bar was too fruity for me, and -- while I believe it when the label says it is stone ground -- it did not have the classic, gritty "stone ground" texture.  Kasey liked it though.  When I complained that it was too fruity, Kasey brought out a 70% Fruition bar that immediately sent me into fruitiness shock.  I had previously taken issue with their 66% bar as being too fruity, and the 70% was even more extreme.  

The Vosges Gingerbread Toffee bar was surprisingly delicious.  Kasey liked it but was not as excited as I was.  I thought the gingerbread and toffee added a nice texture and did not take away from the chocolate flavor.

The Tea Room Green Earl Gray bar was the most interesting.  You get smacked by the taste of tea and oils the moment you bite in, before even tasting the chocolate.  It was all too much for me, but Kasey clearly enjoyed it.

Bottom Line: Three interesting bars from a shop(pe) with a great selection.  As usual, I pick the Vosges bar.

Roh-Kaolade 60% with Spurulina

So I am mostly vegan now, which makes people do strange things.  My aunt wanted to buy me a bar of chocolate.  So instead of buying me a bar of chocolate, which is already vegan, she bought me this:

"Raw" chocolate with spirulina.  Now, if you are like me, this sounds like a terrible and unnecessary idea.  But sometimes bad ideas have happy endings.  This was actually really delicious?  It did not taste like spirulina -- it just made the chocolate taste nice and earthy, which I always like.

Bottom Line: When your teachers told you to make mistakes, I think this is what they were talking about.

Alter Ego 60%

 I ate this:

It was actually quite good.  It was a little fruity, which is not my favorite thing, but I still liked it.  The mini size is nice for when you don't want to have regrets over eating a full-size chocolate bar like some kind of animal named David.

Bottom Line: Nothing mind-blowing, and a bit fruity-tasting, but a nice dessert.

La Maison du Chocolat 60% and 74%

I realized that I have been negligent as to La Maison du Chocolat.  It is among my favorite chocolate shops in NYC, and yet the only time I've reviewed it is when I was in Paris.

Friends to the rescue!  I was given two bars of their dark chocolate.  I had never had La Maison's bars, and unsurprisingly, they were excellent.

In fact, they were typical of La Maison -- perhaps not the best bars I've ever had, but they were super-high quality, chocolatey, and satisfying.  Both bars were excellent blended origins, with real thought to combining interesting flavors while keeping the bars delicious and chocolatey at heart.

Bottom Line: La Maison will never steer you wrong in anything.