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.

Dark Chocolate Covered Blueberries from Emily’s Chocolates

Product Information:

Besides being delicious, blueberries specialize in true-blue anti-oxidant power and are particularly bewitching covered in chocolate.

I received a pouch of these chocolate covered blueberries in my February Love with Food box.

Tea Suggestion:

I decided to go with a fresh tasting green tea to drink while I devoured these yummy blueberries, so I chose this Organic Gunpowder Green Tea from Simple Loose Leaf. The tea has a light, brothy texture and a delicious nutty background of flavor, and I liked the way this contrasted with the sweet-tart flavor of the blueberries and the bittersweet dark chocolate.

What I Think:

I was recently told that I “like everything!” by someone visiting my blog and reading a few of my reviews.  And I guess, yeah, I’m guilty of that.  Most of the foods that I’ve reviewed here, I’ve enjoyed.  Occasionally, I’ll try something I don’t like, and I’ll tell it like it is when I come across those foods.

I sometimes wish that I had a more “discerning” palate, but, when I think about it, there’s nothing wrong with finding something that I like in most foods.  It means that I get to enjoy more variety in my diet.  Variety is the spice of life, baby!

And I do like these blueberries from Emily’s chocolates.  First of all, I love that this is a local company.  (Well, kind of local.  We’re in the same state, anyway!)  The dried blueberries are big and plump, and the dark chocolate shell is soft and decadent.

My Final Thoughts:

I devoured the bag in no time, and I found myself wishing that I had more.  Because this IS a local company, I know that I’ll be able to find these products in some local shops, so next time I see them on the shelf, I’m going to be putting some in my cart!  Yum!

Key Lime Pie snack from Graze

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

Snack Ingredients:

lime infused raisins, sponge pieces, mini meringues and green raisins

I received this snack in my February box from Graze.

Tea Suggestion:

When I eat pie, I like to sip on hot black tea.  And even though this is a snack mix and not technically “pie” – I decided to brew myself a cup of Malty Assam Tea from Tea People.  A really lovely pairing!

What I Think:

YUM!  This might just be my favorite snack that I’ve gotten from Graze yet!

There are two different kinds of raisins:  dark raisins that have been infused with lime, and green raisins.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen “green raisins” before.  They look like gold raisins to me, and taste like them.  Sweet and plump.  The lime infused raisins are my favorite of the two raisins though, I love the bright, citrus-y note they add to this snack mix.

The sponge … isn’t as sponge-y as I recall other ‘sponge’ from graze to be.  These are actually crunchy … like a Nilla wafer.  Tasty and they add a pie crust flavor to the mix.

I love the meringue!  Crisp and light and airy!

This snack is fun to eat when I put one of each element into my hand and eat it all at once … it is very “key lime pie” ish!  But I also enjoy popping each item into my mouth individually and exploring the flavors.

If I were to change anything about this particular snack, it would be to have more lime flavor to it.  Maybe there could be some lime in the meringue bits or the cookie bits.

My Final Thoughts:

I “loved” this snack on my Graze account.  I hope they send it to me again soon.  I’d be happy to have it in every box.

Coco Paradise Snack from Graze

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

Ingredients:

milk chocolate drops, coconut flakes and cranberries

I received this snack in my February box from Graze.

Tea Suggestion:

I don’t usually pair similarly snacks with teas, but I decided to eat this snack with this Cranberry Black Tea from A. C. Perch.  I found that the cranberry snack really brought out the cranberry notes in the tea.  It was an interesting experiment!

What I Think:

Cranberry and coconut are two flavors that I wouldn’t think to mix, but I like them together.  The sweetness of the coconut softens the tart notes of the cranberry.

I like the texture of the coconut shred.  It almost reminds me of the coconut chips that I love from Dang, although they are a little less dry.  They have a little more moisture to them, and as a result, they’re a little less crisp than the coconut chips.  But they still have a really nice texture and I like the contrast to the snap of the coconut to the chewy cranberry and the creamy chocolate.

The chocolate is absolutely my favorite thing about this mix, and I’m glad that they didn’t skimp on the chocolate drops.

My Final Thoughts:

I “liked” this one.  It isn’t my favorite snack that I’ve gotten from Graze, but I do like the combination of chocolate, coconut and cranberry, and I wouldn’t mind getting this snack in the future.

Banana Split Baby Mama Drama from Mama’s Magic Mix

Photo from Mama’s Magic Mix website.
Click on the pic to go there.

Ingredients:

freeze dried bananas and strawberries, salted peanuts, caramel puffs & chocolate covered graham crackers

I received a pouch of this snack mix in my January Love with Food Box.

Tea Suggestion:

With this salty and sweet snack, I went with something light and crisp:  White Tea!  And one of my favorite White Teas as of late is this Makaibari Bai Mu Dan from Tea People.

What I Think:

This mix is not at all what I expected when I opened the package.  What I expected was granola, I suppose, although now that I read the package again I don’t know why it is that expected this to be granola because it doesn’t actually say granola anywhere on the package.

It’s a “mix” of dried fruit, nuts, crunchy graham cracker-y “cookie” like things that are coated with chocolate (although there were only 2 of these in the bag), and at the top of the pouch there were these “puffs” of sweetness that tasted a bit like a sweetened cereal.

I had about six of those tasty cereal puff things that sat right at the top of the package, and when I looked into the package when I first opened it, it appeared that these were the only thing in the package so I was surprised when I fished out a strawberry piece … and all the puffs were gone!  Had I known that there was more to the package than just those puffs I would have poured the mix into a bowl and saved some of those puffs for last because like I said, they were the tastiest part of this weird mix.

I enjoyed the individual ingredients of the mix.  The cereal puff things were tasty.  They were actually the tastiest part of this mix.  Then there was a layer of freeze dried strawberries and I liked those, as well as the three pieces of freeze dried banana.  The peanuts … were peanuts and they weren’t bad.  They weren’t really salty though, and I guess that’s what I missed there.  The chocolate coated cookie things were alright although they were a bit … lacking in something.

But overall, this … just seemed like a very disjointed sort of snack mix.  Nothing really seemed to work together.  Even the dried strawberries and bananas didn’t really seemed to work together and that always seems to be a classic fruit combination.  The peanuts just didn’t work in this.  I liked that the fruit was freeze dried because I do enjoy the light crispness of freeze dried fruit, but when combined with the peanuts and the other components … it just all seemed a bit like a jumbled mess.

My Final Thoughts:

This was alright.  It was edible.  Is this something I’d buy again?  No.  I found it to be a rather confusing combination of foods that didn’t really seem to go together at all.

Strawberry Coconut Energy Bar from Off the Farm

Ingredients:

Ingredients: brown rice syrup, strawberries (strawberries, sugar, rice flour, sunflower oil citric acid), oats, cashews, figs (dried figs, rice flour), crisp rice (rice flour, sugar, malt extract, salt, mixed tocopherols), apples, coconut, chia seeds, sesame seeds, tapioca syrup, natural flavors, sunflower oil, sea salt, citric acid.

I received this energy bar in my January box from Knoshy.

Tea Suggestion:

I decided to go with a bowl of Matcha to sip with this energy bar to get the most out of the energy aspect of the bar, since Matcha is one of the most energizing teas I know of!  I had this Lucuma flavored Matcha from Red Leaf Tea.  Lucuma is a fruit, but it’s a very subtle tasting fruit in this Matcha, tasting a bit like maple.  Although this particular energy bar was not my favorite from Off The Farm, these two things together:  Matcha and energy bar … had an energizing effect!

What I Think:

Off The Farm has three different varieties of their energy bar, and with this one, I’ve tried all three!  And of the three … this one is my least favorite, and it surprises me to say that, because I love strawberries and coconut.  I thought for sure this would be my favorite, but I have to say that if this had been the first bar that I had tried from this company rather than the last, I would not have been as excited to try the other two flavors.

Don’t get me wrong … this is alright.  But … it isn’t as delicious as the other two.  It … needs something.  The bar itself is tasty, it’s chewy and has a lot of nuts and seeds in it to keep it crunchy.  The strawberries are flavorful and the coconut adds some nice texture and flavor to the bar.  But … something … is lacking in the flavor combination and I am not sure exactly what it is.

After reading the ingredient list, I see that the nut here is cashews, and maybe that’s the issue.  Hey, I love cashews … but they are kind of a … mellow tasting nut.  Maybe something with a little more pizzazz.  Walnuts, perhaps?  Pecans?  Almonds?  Macadamia nuts might be a really cool addition to these and would elevate the flavor of the coconut in an interesting way.

My Final Thoughts:

It’s a tasty bar … but, it lacks the interest and excitement of the other two bars.  It just needs something, because it’s kind of boring.

Original Jer’s Square & Pretzo Chango-O Jer’s Square

I received both of these squares from Jer’s in my January Love with Food box.

Original Jer’s Square Information:

Jer’s Original Squares are crafted with all natural Valencia peanut butter mixed with crunchy rice crisp covered in premium milk chocolate. Now, you can have Jer’s Squares 4 oz. boxes on hand at work, at home, or on the go! That’s what we call “out of the box” thinking!

My Thoughts:

This is yummy!

The peanut butter center is lightened up with the crackly crunch of rice crisp.  The chocolate is sweet and creamy, the peanut butter is too, but there is enough “salty” to it to give it a nice savory quality and to cut through some of the sweet.  I’d take these over a peanut butter cup any day!

Pretzo Chang-O Jer’s Square Information:

Pretzo Change-O Milk Chocolate squares are crafted with sweet and salty pretzel bits mixed with all natural Valencia peanut butter covered in milk chocolate. These 4 oz. boxes are great for sharing, putting into a candy dish at your house or office, or stashed away for that quick fix when needed. After all, that’s how we’re able to pack big flavor into such a little package.

My Thoughts:

The Pretzo Chango-O is also a milk chocolate candy.  Instead of the crispy rice in the original square … this has salty pretzel bits which adds more salt to the treat.  The center is a little denser than the original was because of the pretzel bits, and it’s crunchier.  But I love the additional salty notes to this square.  Of the two, this one was my favorite, but I loved them both! This is truly a salty-sweet treat!

My Final Thoughts:

I want more of these!  That is all.

My February Graze Box is Here!

Again, it’s not late, it arrived on the 26th, I’m just a little late at posting about it because I’m behind on all my posts!

This month, I got an exciting box that appears to be more sweet than savory (hey, it IS February, it should be a little sweeter for Valentine’s Day, right?)  On the savory side, I got Jalepeño Fiesta which is a nut and seed mix.  I got three sweet selections this time around:  Summer Berry Flapjacks (flapjacks = soft and chewy granola bar), Coco Paradise (berries, coconut and chocolate!), and a trail mix-y type of combo called Key Lime Pie (Yum!)

This has become one of my favorite monthly boxes, because I love these snacks!  They are unusual and thoughtfully created.  The flavors are there, and there’s just enough “snack” in each tray to curb that hungry feeling when I feel like snacking.  And you can’t beat the price:  $6 per box!  You can set up your “grazing” for every 2 weeks or every 4 weeks (mine is set up for every four weeks), and you can even choose between the nibble box (this is what I get) or the calorie counter box which is more dieter friendly.

What I really like about this box is that if you like a snack, then you can rate it “like” and this snack will be sent to you again in the future.  If you LOVE a snack,  you can rate it “love” and this will be sent to you more often than a liked product.  Or … if you really just don’t like something, you can rate it “trash” and it won’t be sent to you.  I rated a couple of items as trash that I was pretty certain I wouldn’t care for (stuff with seaweed, I’m not big on seaweed), and if I come across a product that I don’t like, I can always trash it and be assured that I won’t get it again in the future.

Are you interested in getting in on Graze?  I have one more friend code available – if you want it, please just comment on this blog post with your email address and I’ll send you the code via private email!

Eleanor’s Apple Crumble Snack from Graze

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

What’s In It:

raisins, cinnamon and honey almonds and apple

This snack was in my January Graze Box.

Tea Suggestion:

When I’m eating a “crumble” … I can think of no tea I’d rather have in front of me than a black tea … perhaps a warmly spiced chai?  So I chose to brew this Bourbon Chai from Vintage TeaWorks.  It’s honeyed sweetness melded wonderfully with the sweet flavors of this mix, and the spices accentuated the warm cinnamon notes of the almond.  This tea turned this snack into a dessert!

What I Think:

This is pretty good, but perhaps I’m a little spoiled on some of the previous fruit snacks that I’ve had from Graze previously, because I found myself wanting the flavor infused raisins that I’ve tried before.

The almonds are definitely my favorite part of this snack.  They are “candied” with honey and cinnamon, and that candied coating is absolutely scrumptious!

The apples and raisins are sweet.  The raisins are nice and plump golden raisins.   The apples are dried and chewy, and have a delicious, juicy taste to them.

My favorite way to enjoy this snack is to grab either a raisin or a piece of apple and eat it with an almond so that I get fruity goodness along with that delicious candied almond.  I wish there were more almonds to this!

My Final Thoughts:  

I enjoyed this snack (especially with the chai that I brewed to go with),  but I found myself wanting something a little more.  The candied almonds were delightful, but, everything else – while tasty – missed some of that excitement that I have experienced with the other snacks from Graze.  I didn’t “trash” this product, but, I didn’t like or love it either, I’ll keep it at a “try” status.

Coconut Mint Milk Chocolate Bar from Theo

Product Information:

What do you get when toasted coconut and mint are combined with organic 45 percent milk chocolate? A cool, sweet tropical breeze in chocolate form! This limited seasonal release is one of our favorite bars to enjoy during the holidays.

I received this chocolate bar in my December box from Knoshy.

Tea Suggestion:

I wanted to go with a pure, unflavored tea so that nothing would compete with the flavors of the bar.  And because this is milk chocolate, I thought that a black tea might be a bit too strong, so I opted for a creamy green tea like this Magical Mao Jian Green Tea from Teasenz.  The tea is light and crisp and doesn’t attempt to interfere with the delicious chocolate, coconut and mint flavors … instead, the light, buttery note seems to complement these notes.  Nice!

What I Think:

Oh my goodness … I love this chocolate bar.

I love chocolate.  That’s no big secret by now.  Usually I prefer dark chocolate to milk chocolate … but, this is so good, and I think that the creaminess of the milk chocolate works in the confections favor.  The creaminess of the milk chocolate melds beautifully with the coconut.

And while I thought at first that coconut and mint were kind of a “weird” flavor combination, those thoughts vanished with my first bite.  Oh wow!  So good!

The coconut adds a delicious coconut-y flavor and texture.  The mint is cool and refreshing.  Together the mint, coconut and chocolate create the perfect marriage of flavors.

My Final Thoughts:

I am in love with this chocolate bar.