John & Kira's "Urban Garden Mint" 62%

I bought this on a whim, walking through Philadelphia.

Ok, I had sort of heard of them before.  Maybe because I googled chocolatiers in Philadelphia.  Maybe.

Anyways, it is very aptly named.  It tastes like a garden.

Bottom Line: If you want your mint chocolate to taste like a garden, you should buy this bar.

Vosges Marzipan Bar, Green Tea Bar, and Hot Chocolate

I stopped by the Vosges shop in Soho recently, and they are really just a solid company.

So the matcha green tea bar with spirulina was not the biggest hit.  I mean, it was ok.  But Roh-Kaolade did it better.  Still, it was interesting.

The marzipan bar was really excellent.  The marzipan was fresher and gooey-er than the Rittersport version.  The only downside was that it had a stronger taste, so that -- despite have a higher chocolate-to-marzipan quantity ratio than the Rittersport -- it did not have a substantially higher chocolate-to-marzipan taste ratio.

It should also be noted that Vosges makes excellent hot chocolate.  It is not thick like City Bakery's.  It is for drinking.  It is a drink.  That is ok.  It is delicious.  It tastes like chocolate.

Bottom Line: Vosges is great, because they do simple things really well but also have really wacky ideas that are usually worth a try.

Majani 70% from Olive Oil & Beyond on Balboa Island

Also on Balboa Island is a lovely olive oil store.  They sell artisanal, imported olive oils and vinegars, often flavored, and they are very happy to give samples.  Some of them could probably be delicious beverages alone.  But they also import some other products from Italy, and I found this:

It was INCREDIBLE.  i am a sucker for Italian chocolate bars, particular ones with crystallized sugar.  And this is no exception.  The texture is great, and the taste is super rich.  Both addictive and serious at once.

Bottom Line: Why are these not everywhere??

Organic Nectars 70% and Hammond's 65% Bee Pollen

Here are some things I ate:

To be fair, the Fine & Raw truffle bar is something I always eat.  It is amazing.  And it was a fan-favorite at our Party.

The Organic Nectars bar was nothing special.  A bit muted in taste.

On the other hand, the Bee Pollen bar was just weird.  The taste was interesting, but the texture was awkward.

Bottom Line: Sometimes, stick to what you know.

Domori Origin Sampler

I don't have pictures of this, but I actually did a blind tasting of a Domori single-origin sampler pack.  By myself.  In my apartment.  Because that is how I roll.

Now we've talked about Domori a lot.  And, while we've consistently liked them -- enough to include their baking chocolate in our Party without any sort of sponsorship -- we have never been quite as excited as when we first tried them.

To my surprise, my blind taste test backed this up.  The Pocelana origin was by far my favorite.

Bottom Line: Domori bars are very expensive per ounce.  Fork over the extra money for the top-of-the-line Porcelana bar.  You won't regret it.

Equal Exchange

In the lead-up to our chocolate party, we had a lovely sit-down meeting at the Chocolate Room with a representative from Equal Exchange.  We learned all sorts of things -- apparently they are completely worker-owned, so every employee is a part owner (a true co-op), and they were among the Fair Trade Chocolate pioneers in the US!  But let's be real here: the important questions is whether it is delicious.

And the important answer is yes.

Here is what David sampled:

There was an 80% (Panama-origin), a 71% blend, a 65% (Ecuador-origin), and a 55% with almonds.  They were all really good, honestly.  

The 55% with almonds compared nicely with the Chocolove.  It did not have sea salt, which made it taste a little more mature and a little less addictive.  For better or worse.

David's favorite -- perhaps unsurprisingly -- was the 80% Panama, and we were very glad to have that at our Party.  We compared it with the Chocolate Room's new, proprietary 80% bar (Ecuador-origin), and the Equal Exchange bar was far better.  It was chocolatier, less fruity, and didn't have some of the weird flavor notes.  The Chocolate Room bar also had a somewhat unsatisfying finish, whereas the Equal Exchange kept its rich flavor throughout.

Leila also sampled the 55% semi-sweet chocolate chips but was not very impressed, maybe because they're only 55%. Fortunately Equal Exchange also offers a bittersweet 70% chocolate chip bag, which may be more her (ahem) bag. The 55% are probably delicious in cookies, just not so great for directly pouring down your throat.

Interestingly, several weeks earlier, I (David) had returned home from a long day (or two) of work, and a friend had left a series of coded notes, leading me on a scavenger hunt around my (one bedroom) apartment.  The reward?  Mini-tablets of 55% Equal Exchange!

We lead charmed lives, you guys.

Bottom Line: Equal Exchange is a great company, with great people and great chocolate.  They're gonna do great.

Russian chocolate bars

My friend brought me some chocolate from Russia.

It was good, but it was candy.  One of them was that aero type of chocolate, which I don't really understand.  It's a pretty brilliant scam to put less chocolate in your chocolate, I guess, but it adds an interesting, and only mildly upsetting, texture.

Bottom Line: Other countries also have commercially available chocolate, and it is also chocolate.

Chocolove 55% with Almonds and Sea Salt

I generally like Chocolove.  But I generally don't like stuff in my chocolate.  What will I think... of THIS:

Dun dun DUNNNNN.

It's good.

I mean, it's like... if you want to replace peanut M&Ms in your life.  It's sort of hearty and filling, but also chocolatey.  But unlike M&Ms, it won't make you feel gross.  Because it's all quality stuff.

But I mean... my opinion remains that it would probably be better without the sea salt & almonds.  But that's just me.

Bottom Line: Excellent for what it is.

I should not be allowed on the internet.

So I tried to buy chocolate on the internet a while ago, and this happened:

WorldWideChocolate.com is a terrifying place.  In a good way.

Slitti GranCacao 90% bar.  UliMana truffles (peppermint, nib, and dark).  Lake Champlain bars (80% and peppermint crunch).  Artisan du Chocolat Java 72% bar.  Domori Arriba 70% bar.  El Rey Gran Saman 70% bar.  Chocolat Bonnat Trinite 75% bar.  Patric In-NIB-itable bar.

The Lake Champlain bars were the least fancy, which actually made me like them a lot.  Chocolat Bonnat was unsurprisingly excellent.  They are often found in very large sizes with price tags outsized even for their weight.  It's worth it.  Everything was good, though.  Except my wallet and waistline.

Bottom Line: Be careful when making internet purchases.  It's not safe out there.

Enchanted Chocolates 70%, Chilmark Chocolates Dark Bar, and Roh-Kaolade 50% Mild with Dates and Other Stuff

My parents came back from three trips and bought me three bars, of which two are pictured here:

Actually, those are just the wrappers.  I ate them too quickly.  SORRY.

I've reviewed Roh-Kaolade before, and I preferred the 60% bar with spirulina to the 50% with dried fruits (i.e. trockenfruchts).  The spirulina bar was weird and interesting, while the 50% was just a bit too sweet, and the trockenfructs only made the problem worse.  I mean, still chocolate.  But sweet chocolate, and with fruit.  Tockenfrucht.  

Martha's Vineyard-based Enchanted Chocolates, creators of the "Dark Vader" 70% bar "made with Magick & Love," is better at chocolate than at spelling.  I mean, nothing about this bar is fancy.  There is a pretty good chance it's just re-tempered Valrhona or something.  I am not sure.  Maybe not.  In any case, it was good.  It tasted like chocolate.  Sort of candy-ish chocolate, but what do you expect?

The Chilmark Chocolates bar was the best of the bunch.  Also Martha's Vineyard-based, Chilmark Chocolates is a store that constantly has a line out the door whenever it's open.  It's the premiere chocolatier up there, but it's nothing too fancy, in reality.  But that does not mean it's not good.  They get a surprisingly rich flavor out of whatever-it-is that they use.  Their chocolates (bonbons etc.) are what they are known for, and they are really quite delicious, but their dark bar does the job.

Bottom Line: If you're on Martha's Vineyard, Chilmark Chocolates are definitely worth a try.  Just get someone else to wait on line for you.

Mast Brothers bar with nibs

Here is a beautiful photo of one of NYC's most well respected chocolate bars.

The quality of the photo roughly matches my indifference towards the bar.  We've talked about Mast before.  There's nothing wrong with the quality, but they go for a fruity profile that I'm just not that into.  The nibs definitely help, though, and this is my favorite Mast bar.

Bottom Line: If you like nibs and fruity bars, and want to support the local bean-to-bar scene, go for it. But you can definitely do more chocolatey for cheaper. 

Chapon 70% Cuba and Michel Cluizel 99%

Having friends in Paris is a real blessing.  They bring such lovely gifts:

If you remember when I went to Paris, I stopped by both Michel Cluizel and Chapon.  I had already been a big fan of Cluizel, as they have an NYC store.  I'd been going there most especially for their 99% dark chocolate bonbon since its old days inside ABC Carpet -- it has since moved to the vicinity of Rockefeller Center.  Chapon, on the other hand, is basically impossible to get in NYC.  They don't even deliver to America, as far as I can tell.  But Chapon was my #1 favorite chocolatier in all of Paris, when I visited.

Anyways, here are two things I had not tried before.  99% chocolate bars are intense, no matter who you are, and the Cluizel version was not quite an exception.  But I will say that it was more palatable than most, and I definitely enjoyed it.  This is what they use to cover their 99% bonbon, so it was fun eating it in isolation.

The Chapon bar -- first of all -- was beautiful (like all their bars).  This was of Cuban origin, which is somewhat harder-to-find.  I am continually impressed by Chapon's ability to make all of their bars both interesting and delicious.  As many of you know, I can get skeptical of "interesting" flavors in chocolate, because I just want things to taste like chocolate, but Chapon knows how to get interesting flavors without compromising chocolatey-ness.  Another really great bar.

Bottom Line: Start making friends who live in Paris.

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.

Bedford Cheese Shop: Middlebury Chocolates 75% Dominican, Dick Taylor 70% Ecuador, Ritual Chocolate 75% Balao (Ecuador), Twenty-Four Blackbirds 68% Dominican, and Zoe's Chocolate Co. Raw Bar with Nibs

This was a surprise.  I got tipped off by a friend of a friend that Bedford Cheese Shop on Irving Place had a great chocolate selection.  And they did!

I had not tried any of these before, and I really stocked up.  With all the fancy, single-origin chocolates, my favorite was actually Zoe Chocolate Co.'s "The Raw Bar" with nibs.  Because it was the chocolatiest.  Obviously.

But the Dick Taylor bar was great too.  The consensus was that the Ecuadorian origins had a leg up on the Dominican origins.  We had lots of complicated things to say about these bars, but honestly, who really cares?  They were all delicious.

There was a split over whether the Ritual bar (above) was better than the Dick Taylor bar.  I had a mild preference for the Dick Taylor, but they were both excellent.

The Middlebury bar (above), had SO MUCH WRAPPING that it made the chocolate look tiny, even though it was a totally respectable quantity of chocolate.  It was good, but not quite as rich as the others.

The Twenty-Four Blackbirds bar (above, smaller than it looks) suffered from some bloom (as you can see).  As a result, it was probably the weakest of the four.  In other chocolate-offs, though, it could easily have been the best -- it was up against stiff competition and not in top form.

I did not get to try the Poco Dolce toffee, because it had dairy in it, but it seemed to go over pretty well.

Bottom Line: A great haul from a surprisingly great chocolate shop.  Or cheese shop.  Details.

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.

Hu Kitchen 72%, Almond Butter + Puffed Quinoa, and Chocolate Chia Seed Pudding

Hu Kitchen is an interesting place -- it's a restaurant, but they also make their own chocolate bars.  The bars use coconut, and you can sort of tell, but the "Simple" 72% was still pretty good and chocolatey.  The Almond Butter + Puffed Quinoa bar was less appealing -- too heavy on the almond.

But the surprising star was the Chocolate Chia Seed Pudding.  I love pudding.  Especially from Puddin'.  But since going vegan, my options have been severely limited.  My previous two attempts did not go so well.  The vegan creme-freche or whatever it was they put on top was actually pretty good.  What interfered were the candied walnuts.  Look, I like candied walnuts.  Throw them on a salad.  Bam!  More delicious salad.  Because sugar.  But I am eating chocolate pudding, not salad.  Candied walnuts are not an upgrade from what I already have in my cup.  They are in the way.  So, when you order, I recommend asking them to hold the walnuts.

Bottom Line: Worthwhile in general, including for chocolate, and especially for the chia seed pudding.

Trader Joe's 72%, chocolate covered espresso beans, and chocolate covered cherries

Trader Joe's: people have opinions.  But good news: I love opinions.  And ain't nobody gonna out-opinion me, no sir.

So here's my opinion: nice.

Trader Joe's makes a 72% bar.  It tastes like chocolate.  You know what chocolate is supposed to taste like?  Chocolate.  So let's just consider that a success.  It's sort of like a quality upgrade from the Food Emporium or CIBO Express bar, but it's a similar principle.  Nothing fancy but likely to win plenty of taste tests.

I also got my hands on dark chocolate-covered cherries, which I gave away (cherries are not my thing) and dark chocolate-covered espresso beans, which I should have given away, but instead devoured over two long nights at works, winding up shaking pretty noticeably for about a week straight.  Remember that I have only recently come to tolerate coffee and chocolate, so this was a pretty intense experience.  But I'll say this: I ate them all, and I wasn't complaining.

Bottom Line: There is a reason the lines are so long.  It's for the chocolate.  Right?

Raaka "Heartbreaker" Espresso 75% and Fine & Raw Truffles again

Another day, another trip to Treehaus.  As usual, I picked up a Fine & Raw truffle bar.  I eat so many of these that it could bankrupt a small country.  There are three types -- Almond Chunky, Truffle Chunky, and Cacao & Coconut.  Truffle Chunky is my favorite, as it's the richest and chocolatiest, followed by Cacao & Coconut -- a bit much on the coconut -- and Almond Chunky -- definitely too much almond.  But all three are really incredible.  They also happen to be vegan, but it's one of those things where you keep checking the ingredients, because it is so good it is hard to believe.

Okay, so I have a confession to make.  Leila, look away.  Guys, I don't hate coffee so much anymore.  I still don't love it.  I still prefer my chocolate without it.  But I can definitely tolerate it.  I also typically prefer my beans roasted rather than raw.  But somehow Raaka's espresso bar works.  I don't think I'd take it over a good, plain 75% bar, but a coffee lover should definitely check it out.

Bottom Line: Coffee lovers should go for the Raaka espresso bar, and every human should basically subsist off the Fine & Raw truffles.

Food Emporium 64% and Scharfen Berger 62% "Nibby"

Sometimes you just need an emergency fix.  I stopped by Food Emporium and could not decide between the store brand, plain 64% bar or the Scharfen Berger "Nibby" 62% bar.  So obviously I bought both.

Typically, I'm not the biggest fan of Scharfen Berger, because they intentionally make a fruity blend.  People who like that love Scharfen Berger, but it's not my thing.  That said, as has been the case previously, I find the presence of nibs really cuts the problems of a fruity bar, and so I love Scharfen Berger's "nibby" bar.  But the Food Emporium bar is just... super chocolatey.  I mean, it's nothing special.  It's the most generic "real" chocolate you can get.  In many ways, it is very similar to the CIBO Express bar I got at Laguardia.  But I never was snobby about this stuff.  This is chocolate.  It tastes like chocolate.  And that's a great thing.  Nothing fancy.  Next to that, the "nibby" just seemed to be trying to hard.

Bottom Line: I am a big fan of the "Nibby" bar, but sometimes you just want some plain ol' chocolate.

Food Emporium Chocolate Shop: featuring Niederegger Marzipan"Classic" bar, Amedei 70% Venezuela, and Christpher Michael 61% Cacao Nib Bar

Food emporium has a chocolate shop.  It's sort of built into the store on 69th and 3rd.  It used to be more standalone, and the selection was deeper then.  But it's still there, and there are still interesting options.  Observe:

None of these three bars totally blew me away.  The Christopher Michael and Amedei were totally adequate.  Remember that the Venezuela origin was my favorite of the Amedei Cru chocolates, but nonetheless, there are better options.  It's got the flavor notes you'd expect, but they're not as powerful as in some other bars, nor is it as chocolatey.  The same can be said for the Christopher Michael, which -- despite being lower percentage (61% to 70%), I slightly preferred.  The nibs helped.  The nibs always help.

I also got a Niederegger marzipan bar.  Leila loves Niederegger, and I like it too, but I honestly prefer the Rittersport version of this bar.  I think maybe the marzipan is fresher in the Rittersport bars?  They are both German companies, so I'm not sure why that would be.  But it's how it tastes to me.  I also prefer the chocolate in the Rittersport bar.  The only advantage to the Niederegger is the chocolate-to-marzipan ratio is slightly higher.

Bottom Line: While this may not have been the best haul, the Food Emporium chocolate shop has a big enough selection to give you a diverse, new experience each time.  Definitely recommended, and possibly the best bet for a broad pick of bars on the Upper East Side.