Returning Home

Washington, D.C.

From Chapel Hill, we drove up to Washington, DC.  This is another tale about the value of friendship: I did not have time to procure any chocolate for myself, but my friend Mick came through in the clutch (again) and delivered three chocolate bars (of which I selected two to keep)!  They were both from Salazon Chocolate Co.  

The first was "sea salt and coffee," which does not sound like something I would like, but I found myself shocked to be enjoying it thoroughly!  It's easily the best coffee-infused chocolate bar I've ever had, though in all fairness this is a low bar.  The other bar was pure sea salt.  And I mean that (almost literally).  It is honestly one of the saltiest things I've ever tasted.  Like, it's saltier than just eating table salt.  Which is something I've been known to do.  But my personal problems aside, this bar is for the intense salt fan, who does not stop at pouring bottles of Morton's down his or her throat.

Home

I finally returned home, accompanied by the tiniest baby.  Waiting for me at home, to my near-chagrin, were boxes of chocolate.  My real estate agent, with whom I have not spoken since getting my apartment over 6 years earlier, had sent me a box of Richart bonbons.  

Hot off that stunninig success, I was quite excited.  Alas, even the "pure" chocolate pieces were not rich enough, and the flavors were uninteresting.  It came with a sheet of pure chocolate, which was a little waxy.  Perhaps Richart in the US is very different from the Richart in France.

That said, I also had waiting a box of Chocolate Bar bonbons, which knocked Richart right out of the park.  They were excellent. 

They were not quite at the level of, say, Stephan Dumon, and they were about a half-step behind the offerings at the Chocolate Door, but they were still really excellent -- closer to the near-perfect Dumon bonbons than to the box of Richart I'd just sampled.  This is our third time reviewing Chocolate Bar, and we've had consistently great experiences.

But honestly, that was just the beginning.  There was also a milk chocolate bar, from Anne Taintor, which was almost indistinguishable from the one I bought at the Belgian tourist shop -- same ingredients, with the same cacao content.  

The US bar had a slightly creamier texture, but they were so similar that it would be impossible to pick a favorite between them.

I also received a Fairytale-brand brownie.  

Actually, two of them.  They were surprisingly excellent, not just for prepackaged brownies, but for any brownie.  They were fudgey, fun, and delicious.

Lastly, my friend Ellie brought over her amazing chocolate cake and her dad's literally professional chocolate mousse.  Wow.

Seriously, guys.  Friends: I recommend them.


Chocolate Tasting:

Finally, I had a chance to sit down with Leila and my friend Austin and do a tasting of a few of the chocolates I'd saved from Europe.

First, we went over the five bars from Del Ray in Antwerp.  This was an interesting experience, because first we ate them in decreasing percentages, but then i did a blind taste test to pick favorites.  I never believed that the order was too important, but boy was I wrong.  When you do a blind taste test, switching back and forth among the different percentages until you settle on an ordered list of favorites, it becomes very clear that the sweetest will win.  If you eat a piece of chocolate and follow it up with a higher percentage piece, it just won't taste as good.  While my initial list was probably 66% Carribean, 72% Venezuelan, 54.5% Blend, 70% Sao Tome, 85% Ecuador, my blind taste test list was 66% Carribean, 54.5% Blend, 70% Sao Tome, 85% Ecuador.  Basically, the 72% Venezuela bar really suffered for its higher percentage.  That said, the lower percentage bars here were truly excellent.  When I tried the blend, I was shocked at how uncandy-like it was given how sweet it was.

Leila and Austin did not agree with me, but they didn't like any of the bars as much as I did.  Their order was the same -- Venezuela, Sao Tome, Ecuador, Carribean, Blend.  They did not appreciate the sweetness of the lower percentage bars.  That said, we all generally agreed that the Sao Tome was just sort of a more bland version of the Venezuela

We made a spreadsheet of our comments:

Spoilers.

Anyways, we also taste-tested three different mint-flavored bars.  I didn't like any of them.  But we all agreed that the Zaabar bar was the best, followed by the Dolfin bar, and the 1888 bar wasn't even in the running.  We all hated the 1888 bar.  Leila noted that it tastes like the Dentist.  The Dolfin was definitely the most complex flavor wise.  I was dubious of the overly-natural taste in the Zaabar bar, but Austin and Leila loved it.

We also tried the two "original recipe" bars from the Choco-Story Museum.  Both were stone ground, which Leila cannot tolerate and Austin thought was weird.  The Aztec bar was more finely ground than the Spanish.  But flavor-wise, we all agreed that the Spanish combination of flavors was vastly superior.

Whichever peppers and spices they put in there were definitely a historical improvement.  I actually enjoyed it, despite the spice, which I never would have expected.

Lastly, we reviewed my top two truffles from Europe.

We agreed that the Mary truffle tasted like fudge, and childhood.  I preferred it slightly, but Leila and Austin agreed that Chapon had created pretty much the Platonic Ideal of the truffle.  Hard to dispute.

Bottom Line: I lead a very difficult life.

Belgium #3

Ah, Bruges.  A beautiful, old city:

Dumon:

On the way to visit Chocolatier Stephan Dumon's flagship store -- probably the most famous chocolate shop in Bruges -- I found a small outpost and stopped in.  I asked for things with a pure chocolate ganache, and they told me no such thing existed.  Quite rudely.  I sorted it all out and ordered a "butter truffle," a dark chocolate bonbon, and a chocolate bar.  The butter truffle was way too creamy and a bit gross.  I could see why they wouldn't call it "pure chocolate."  Even the dark chocolate bonbon was way too creamy.  Liane liked it, but it tasted like candy even to her.  I was so disappointed!  "What a fraud!" I thought to myself.  And I continued on.

Depla Pol:

I stopped by Depla Pol, which was a fairly adorable shop.  I bought a chocolate bar, and from it you can see what I mean:

It was an excellent low-percentage bar, not trying too hard.  It tasted like high quality chocolate trying to imitate a candy bar.  And though Leila would never approve, I appreciated the little white chocolate footprints.  It made the bar look as playful as it tasted. 

The truffle was better than Dumon's, but still too creamy.  I just don't like Bruges' style, I guess.  But the Sao Tome bonbon was excellent and the Venezuela bonbon was even better.  It wasn't Bruges after all -- Dumon had been a real disaster, and Depla Pol was rescuing the town's reputation.

Dumon:

Then I got to the main square and Dumon's flagship.  I immediately realized the previous store had been a complete imposter.  The branding was totally different and a look at the chocolate immediately showed obvious differences.  All it took was one taste to verify.  I wound up purchasing a big box of bonbons, because I felt so guilty about my rash and unfounded original judgment.  They were all excellent.

I saved the bar I purchased for later, and I compared it with the imposter:

Just based on appearances, the real one actually looks less authentic than the fake

The "real thing" tasted much more serious than the fake.  It was very good, but it was not the best.  The other bar was actually not bad either.  It was sweeter and more candy-like, so I could tell the two apart just from taste, but some of those I shared the bars with preferred the fake.

I actually encountered a different fake Dumon later in the day.  I was not duped into buying anything, but I asked them for directions, and they were rude to me as well!  Plus they gave me bad directions!

Chocolate Line:

Next stop was The Chocolate Line.  The dark chocolate horse-shaped bonbon with ganache was ok.  I ordered a pumpkin bonbon, but they gave me the wrong thing.  It tasted peanut-y and not great.  Finally, the bar (80%, Uganda-origin) was good but not memorable.

Van Oost:

I was basically just machining through at this point.  I got to Van Oost basically just stuffing stuff down.  The truffle made me pause though.  It was just okay by other city's standards, but it was definitely the best among Bruges' creamy crop.  The bar was very good and chocolatey, but it was also very Bruges in that it was sweet and low percentage.  Another candy-like gem.

Stef's:

Next was Stef's.  There was a hazelnut-filled shell, which was candy-like in the best sort of way.  There was a chunk of dark chocolate that tasted Ghanaian, standard, and good.  There was a mousse bonbon which was basically what all the creamy truffles wished they were, and arguably the best mousse product of the trip.  The dark truffle was good, and the dark bonbon was great.  Overall, a nice performance.

Choco-Story Museum:

This is a choco-story about how chocolate was brought to your and my town.
It took about six-hundred-and-twenty years, in plenty of time for us, so have no fear.

In Central America, born-and-raised, with the chieftans is where it spent most of its days.
Heated up, packed in, mixed in with spices, and to add some sweetness, they had  no devices.

Then a couple of Spaniards, who were up to no good, started committing genocide in the neighborhood.
They took one little sip and *boom* went their brain, and they said, "You are coming with me right back to Spain." 

It hopped on some ships, and in no time flat, it was mixed up with sugar, and tasted so phat.
If anything, Europeans thought, "This is where it's at!" so it took centuries before they made it solid and flat.

It pulled up to the US around 1765, and it seemed to threaten, "DRINK ME OR DIE."
It moved to New York soon thereafter and sat on its throne as the dessert master.

Also, they gave us some chocolate here, and it was pretty good.

Bottom Line: Bruges' chocolate, like Bruges itself, is pretty much for tourists.  It's not bad, but it's very sweet.  Also, we've been in Belgium for three posts, and we still have a whole city left to go.