Chocolates from Tcho

Photo from Tcho. Click on the pic to go there.

About Pure Notes Dark Chocolatey 70%:

TCHO PureNotes™ exquisite dark chocolates are the purest expression of the cacao bean itself. As with wine, what you taste is precisely, and only, what’s in the bean. There are no added flavorings, only pure dark chocolate.

About Mokaccino Serious Milk + Blue Bottle Coffee:

Warm, roasted nuttiness and complex dried fruit notes from freshly roasted Blue Bottle coffee blend seamlessly with the dense caramel and cocoa notes in our SeriousMilk chocolate. Named Best Flavored Milk Chocolate in America by the International Chocolate Awards.

Both these bars were in my February Love with Food box.

In my February Love With Food box, I received two squares of chocolate.  The first is a dark chocolate square:  Pure Notes Dark Chocolatey 70%.  This is an intense dark chocolate.  A nice snap.  I allowed the chocolate to melt on my tongue a little and I could taste notes of rich, dark fudge, reminiscent of a rich, creamy fudge that you might have drizzled over your ice cream in the really good ice cream parlors.  I could also taste roasted notes, like a roasted nutty flavor.

This dark chocolate square reminded me a little bit of a really, really good Fujian black tea – rich, malty and even a little caramel-y.  So much complexity within the layers of this chocolate.

Photo from Tcho. Click on the pic to go there.

The second square is a milk chocolate with coffee square:  Mokaccino Serious Milk + Blue Bottle Coffee.  Now, normally, I frown at coffee flavored things, but, this chocolate bar is quite yummy.  I could happily devour one or more of these chocolate squares daily.  The coffee notes bring out something extra in the chocolate, and it becomes a very full, rich, decadent flavor for the palate.  Sweet, creamy, and indulgent … and reminds me of those mocha drinks I used to love but can no longer drink because I realized that coffee consumption causes me to feel sick a few hours later.  Fortunately, I didn’t feel that way after I ate this chocolate square … the only thing I felt a little later is a desire that I had more chocolate!

My Final Thoughts:

These chocolate bars from Tcho were amazing.  Then again, when is chocolate not amazing?  But these were really, really good.  The next time you’re looking for really, really good chocolate, you won’t go wrong with Tcho.

Organic Dark 70% Chocolate from Green & Black’s

Learn more about Green & Black’s here.

Buy Green & Black’s chocolate on Amazon.

Tea Suggestion:

Chocolate is one of my favorite tea time treats because … well, I’m a chocoholic!  This is an exquisite dark chocolate bar, and I chose to drink this Black Tea from Shan Valley with the chocolate.  The roasty flavor as well as the other notes (hints of smoke, caramel, nut, earth and toast) of the tea complemented the deep, rich flavor of the chocolate in these mini-bars.

What I Think:

These tiny bars that were in my November Love with Food box are so cute!  They are .53 ounces, and when you open the wrapper, it looks like a miniature chocolate bar, complete with the “break lines” that you’d find on a larger bar.

Put simply, this is rich and delicious.  One of the better dark chocolate bars I’ve encountered.  There is a good snap to this.  The chocolate tastes rich, sweet with just the right amount of bitterness to keep things interesting.  There is a deep fruity character to the chocolate.

My Final Thoughts: 

This is definitely a chocolate bar that I’d pick up again when I’m craving dark chocolate.  I’m glad that I have seen this chocolate in my local Whole Foods.  I’ll be grabbing a bar next time I shop there!

Salted Almond Dark Chocolate Bar from Theo

Product Description:

By popular demand we have created this rich 70% dark chocolate bar with chunks of almonds and just the right amount of salt!

Learn more about Theo on their website.

Tea Suggestion:

Goodness, what tea doesn’t go well with chocolate?  Just about any tea you choose will go nicely with it.  I prefer a black tea with chocolate, just because I like the way the deep, rich flavor of the tea brings out the deep, rich flavors of the chocolate and vice versa.  For this tasting, I chose this Organic, Fair Trade Assam from Hampstead Tea.

What I Think:

The “salted” part of this chocolate bar not only offers contrast to the bitter sweet flavor of chocolate but it also adds some definition to the complexity of the chocolate.  As this is a fairly large bar of chocolate, I ate it in in thirds.  I ate the first third of it without giving much thought of what I was enjoying.  In other words, just experiencing the joy of eating chocolate without dissecting it.

As I was eating this portion of the chocolate, all of the sudden it dawned on me that I could taste a fruity note within the chocolate – and this is something that is quite new to me.  I noticed it for the first time with the Sea Salt & Nibs Chocolate Bar from Madécasse.  Before that, I never really took the time to notice the complexity of chocolate.  Sure, I enjoyed it, but I am almost ashamed to admit that I never really got to know it the way that I am just now getting to know chocolate.

In case you’re wondering, the second third of the chocolate bar seemed to just disappear.  I don’t know HOW that happened.  This phenomenon (disappearing chocolate) is something that I have noticed frequently throughout my life as a chocoholic, though I can’t really seem to explain it.

So, now I am left with my final one-third of this chocolate bar, and I am trying to focus on what I’m tasting so that I can share those thoughts and experiences with you.

The almonds are cut into small chunks.  While there was a time when chocolate with almond bars were among my favorite chocolate choices, back then, I always would want the almonds to be whole.  Now, I find that I appreciate the smaller chunks of almond, as this not only allows for better distribution of the nut into the chocolate, but, it also allows for a more consistent chocolate bar. The almonds add some sweetness, a delicious roasted flavor as well as a crunchy texture.

The salt of the bar is different from the typical salted chocolate confection that is popular these days.  Usually, you’ll find an ample sprinkling with large flakes or grains of salt that add a little bit of texture.  Here, the salt is inside the bar and in every single bite.  While I do enjoy the texture of the sprinkling, I do think I like the way the salt is distributed here, as it allows for full enjoyment of the role that the salt plays in this confection.  I can allow a small piece of the bar to melt slightly on my tongue and I taste not just chocolate as it melts, but also the light touch of salt.  Just as the description above suggests, there is just the right amount of salt, and it interacts with the chocolate in such a beautiful way, revealing the lovely complexity of this 70% dark chocolate.

So Good!

My Final Thoughts:

I really loved this chocolate bar, and I’m glad that it was part of the Valentine’s Box from Foodzie.  After perusing the Theo website and seeing their many unusual confections, this seemingly simple combination of salted almonds and dark chocolate is probably a chocolate bar I would not have selected for myself, I think I would have probably gone for something more unique (Their Chai Tea bar did NOT escape my notice!)  So I am glad that someone else did the choosing for me in this case, because I really LOVED this chocolate bar!