I stumbled across Madecasse, I think, in SF. I believe I picked it up at Fog City News though it could have been Cocoa Bella as I bought hundreds of dollars in bars from both and can’t remember what I got where.  I did a lot of bar shopping

The story behind Madecasse is intriguing – they were part of the Peace Corps (I kid you not) and wanted to do more for the people they were working to help in Madagascar. They pay farmers better than fair trade prices and keep manufacturing in Madagascar, employing more local people in chocolate. On their own website, Madecasse say that 70% of the world’s cocoa comes from Africa but less than 1% of chocolate is made there.  They say “Our products represent that personal connection to the island, a deeper understanding of the rich and complex flavors hidden inside the varieties of cocoa, vanilla and peppercorns found exclusively in Madagascar. The result is unique, satisfying products unlike anything you’ve tasted before.” Well, I’ll be the judge of that

The scent of the chocolate is interesting. Not too fruity but still robust. Initial mouth feel is OK but there is a hint of burnt beans in the flavour. It is dark and bitter – much more drying and bitter than I expect a 75% Madagascan bar to be. There is a fruityness under the burnt earthiness with a hunt of leather but it isn’t what I expected at all. I expected either a smooth chocolate flavour or one with ripe red fruits. I didn’t expect it to have this burnt bean edge to it.

I may have gotten a bar from a bad batch. One thing about being a small chocolate producer is that if you screw something up, you still have to sell the chocolate or risk taking a massive financial loss.  There isn’t always the option to garbage a tonne of beans and start again and so I’ll look for more of this chocolate next time I am in the US or somewhere that carries this chocolate. I want this to be a good bar so I’ll try again.

This is the second of the Amelia Rope chocolate bars that I received from the woman herself and this time it was a strongly flavoured bar.  I, of course, had no idea how strongly flavoured until I bit into it but that is for later.  Right now, I should say something about the chocolate.

With 69% cocoa and a Madagascan origin again, I knew what to expect from the chocolate. There is a slight chalkiness to the base chocolate to my palette but that’s no bad thing when you are adding to it. It is reluctant to melt though and I’m not a huge fan of the base chocolate but what I am more of a fan of is the taste.

Chocolate isn’t always about the base chocolate, though getting that right is important and Amelia Rope does some amazing things with the base chocolate she uses. Chocolate is about the whole experience and with this one, the experience is as much about the crunchy whole coffee beans as it is the chocolate they are in.

I am not a fan of whole coffee beans in chocolate and usually get husband to try them as they are usually too strong for me. Actually, they are usually low quality beans in bad chocolate and over roasted to boot. This chocolate was made by an expert though and so I was expecting great things.

I was not disappointed.  The coffee beans are good quality, mild to my taste and not over roasted. They crunch satisfyingly as you chew the chocolate and the chocolate itself has a delightful coffee flavour. Husband went nuts for this bar and I think I’m back in his good books (after not sharing for awhile).  If you like coffee, coffee beans and chocolate, this is likely to become a favourite. If you dig really strong coffee, this isn’t quite going to be that but in its subtlety it enhances the experience.  All in all a really nice bar. Go on – buy yourself some!

Hotel Chocolat walked away with a number of awards from the Academy of Chocolate and despite staff being clueless about the actual awarded bars, it demonstrates, I feel, the fact that they are doing a lot of things right in the way they treat their beans, farmers and staff.  Despite being a high street chain store, they produce some excellent chocolate and sometimes they even have excellent staff (such as in St Helier, Manchester and St Paul’s, LDN).

Thus it was with some joy that I looked forward to their treatment to the almost Porcelana-like beans currently coming from Madagascar. You may remember my utter delight at the Royal Merina chocolates from Demarquette that really captured a lot of what is great about beans growing in this region. Free of the kind of mouth-watering acidity of some regions which really turns some people off, Madagascan chocolate tends to be fudgy and chocolaty without too much red berry, leather or acid.

Unlike some chocolates which slap you around the face with a wet fish, this chocolate sneaks up on you and rather humbly presents to you on a small platter a selection of ripe red berries, sweetened with a pinch of extra sugar (this is only a 66%). This is really presented as a subtle offering with the cocoa notes really taking centre stage. The fruits are very much in the background and the melt is surprisingly fast. The finish is clean and you are absolutely left with hints of ripe red berries, especially cherries for me, at the end.

I have to admit, I disagree with their wrapper which seams to heap scorn on overtly red berried Madagascar chocolate and purports that they have improved the roast and flavours. I just don’t get it. Mind you, my palette is not wine-standard trained but if I can’t detect them, how in the world is Joe/Jane Public meant to find the hint of passion fruit when they are likely struggling to taste the red berries?  So I disagree with their wrapper but overall like the bar.

This is really great for someone looking to make the transition from being a milk lover to discovering the delights of dark chocolate. It is slightly sweeter than a regular dark chocolate and it has a less complex flavour profile. This makes it an ideal bar to move from eating excessively sweet milk chocolate to the less sweet dark chocolates of the world.

I was sent a box of lovely chocolates from the Grown Up Chocolate Club. Everyone in the office was absolutely envious when I got it and loved the name and the image on the front.  The box attracted a lot of attention and it was quite a feat for me to stop people eating these chocolates before I reviewed them!

The Grown Up chocolate club sent a selection of 17 different chocolates to total 31 chocs all in – most duplicated so delicious ones can be enjoyed again – in a large, safe box. I love the way the box came with an image of the chocolates that could be held over the box as a template of tasting and enabled me to quickly identify the ones I was going to scoff right away…

Caramel Truffle – Woah – OK, I wasn’t expecting a caramel ball. I was expecting a caramel flavoured ganache. That took me by surprise but I scoffed the lot. I’m not a huge fan of this caramel – a little more dark than I’m used to but not unpleasant. I’m just addicted to Paul A Young ones.

Caramel Square – oh ya well this is like chewy caramel and while I’m not a huge fan of the salt on top I liked it. Much yummier than the truffle (to me) and I loved chewing my way clowly through it. Delicious and fun. I took the second one and hid it.

Spiced Biscuit – Hmmm… some praline, some speculoos and it makes a delicious treat. Thin and crunchy and delicious this was yummy. I ate one and it really satisfied me so I took the second one and hid it away.

Papua Origin – this is delightful and really does show the nature of the region. This ganache was too good for the office I thought. This was actually really good. I was really surprised by this. I really didn’t expect the ganache to be this good. The shocker of the box.

Jasmine – I really enjoyed this jasmine. It wasn’t perfumey and it says it is made with organic tea. It isn’t as good as Matcha but it is very nice and so it got my seal of approval and pilfered for my personal stash.

There were so many chocolates that I couldn’t review them all but what I tried was a pleasant surprise. These are *not* long shelf-life chocolates as they only last for 4 weeks and I think as a result they are really worth a try.

If this company continues creating great quality chocolate like this they are going to have a very popular future as the trend towards artisan chocolate increases.

I’ve been lucky enough to meet Amelia Rope and even luckier enough to have been sent some of her chocolate. I was sent a pair of bars and I coveted them, squirreling them away. I put them in my handbag and secretly took them out to photo and try.

With 69% cocoa and a Madagascan origin, I expected great things from this bar. A nut bar is meant for chewing and so no gentle melting of the chocolate for me and besides – Amelia’s chocolate is all about how she pairs the chocolate as well as why she adds what she adds but it is not just about the chocolate.

This bar has lovely exposed hazelnuts which are roasted to perfection and crunchy. I enjoyed the haphazard scattering of nuts but mourned the lack at times (as I started at the end with the most nuts).  I did get sea salt at times which was a slight but not unpleasant surprise when I got a bit. It doesn’t have the chance to become brine in your mouth as there isn’t too much. It is clearly there and there is a distinct salt flavour but it isn’t massive.

This is for sure a bar to take a nice bite of and chew to enjoy. Allowing it to melt not only simply softens the nut slightly (sometimes not at all) but the chocolate in the winter I suppose is less ready to melt. It is really much more of a bar to chew.

I did enjoy it as a hazelnut bar. Not as many nuts as Pierre Marcolini but I liked the way these were on the surface and exposed. I am a fan of the caramelised nut so if I was to improve it, I might opt for that but really, I think it is pleasant as it is.

What could be better than to arrive at a friend’s house and see this box of chocolates as the centrepiece of your friends table of delicious nibbles? Perhaps having this box arrive at your own home and having it al to yourself?  Well, truth be told this is a *lot* of chocolate and you’d be hard pressed to eat it all yourself which makes it the perfect box for sharing.

There is a full, amazing 750g of chocolates in this lush box with a selection of 65 pieces of chocolate. Just like the sought-after chef’s table in restaurants, this chocolatier’s table is an utterly impressive spread designed to give you a taste of every type of chocolate. From dreamy ganaches, nutty pralines and zingy fruity recipes to mellow caramels, gorgeous single estate chocolate and more this is an experience you (and I hope your guests).

There is a slab you can indulge in or chop up and share… or just take a big bite and it’ll be yours without argument (unless your spouse bites from the other end ) but hey look at that – some plain mini slabs to share – no trouble then! And there are buttons, batons and those cool feulitine things I have no idea how to spell but love to eat. Truffles, eaton mess bits and so much more there really is plenty to share as well as scoff yourself.

Whether on a New Year’s feast table, twelfth night table, birthday party table or whatever the celebration, this has to be one of the best treats you could possibly offer your guests.  Why not make it a centre piece at your next celebration (and invite me )

When you are out shopping and going through hell, just retire to a Starbucks or somewhere with Wi-Fi and shop online at Chococo. You’ll thank me later.  Well, that is if you haven’t already ordered everything with your chocolate advent calendar…

Firstly, order some Chocolate Dipped Turkish Sundried Apricots. Why? Well, every holiday has nuts and dried fruit but rarely, if ever, do these bowls of fun come with chocolate. Yes there may be chocolate dipping but having a whole dried apricot already smothered in chocolate is always a good thing. I think I might have chosen a slightly different couverture with a sharply acidic edge and a fruity flavour profile to help enhance the apricot flavour which I think might have been shadowed by the chocolate but that doesn’t detract from these. They will be the ultimate party food for your guests this holiday and if we’re lucky they will continue making them into the New Year.

Next, get three of these Chocolate Christmas trees. They are absolutely beautiful and each one is unique. They have popping candy and beans on the inside which will delight kids but if you’d like to hint at what is underneath I recommend a small mirror or mirrored place and use small square ganache chocolates to support the tree slightly above the level of the plate/mirror and your guests will have a hint of what is inside.

The chocolate beans are a colourful addition and the popping candy is fun though it didn’t pop too much for me so don’t worry about it exploding in your mouth like some eggs The fun will come when either the kids or adults get to attack the trees at the end of the meal and eat chunks of it. They are just so wonderful and colourful and fun they’ll be a hit at any holiday party.

Celebrate the holidays with some fun, quality chocolate this season. Get the kind of fun chocolate everyone will love get yourself some Chococo. As this somehow ended up in drafts with no images you might have to pop to the shop to get some of this lovely stuff before the holidays but the trees are absolutely worth the effort!

What is it about boys and boobies? There’s a giggle, a blush and some guys suddenly get a far-off look in their eyes at the mention of boobs.  Add in flower petals and the innuendo makes some guys heads explode (the one with the brain).

So here we have Zotter Paparazzi – a chocolate bar with raspberry nipples which have been stuck on and are somewhat disconcertingly realistic. They stick out from the bar, fully erect, to confront you the moment you open the box.

Yes – Chocolate raspberry nipples decorating smooth milk chocolate decorated with rose petals and NSFW (not safe for work).  This is a bar that is unashamedly naughty and seeks to push the boundaries of bars.   Have to admit it was hard not to laugh as I tried to review this but I did my best.

I like the nipples best. The milk chocolate is a bit sweet & when eaten with a bit of rose petal the floral flavour is too much for me. The nipples I could eat all day. In fact I ate both nipples, nibbling them gently off the chocolate base.

I think this is more about the novelty than about the chocolate but even so you’re still getting a higher quality chocolate than you usually would in novelty chocolate.

This is both a bit of fun & quality chocolate!

Christmas crackers, as a Canadian, have often been a part of my holiday celebrations. I wasn’t aware that Americans were lacking until recently. My heart goes out to you, Americans, who have had to endure years without paper hats, bad jokes and tiny, questionable gifts. They are as much a part of Christmas as turkey, cranberry sauce and overeating.

Hotel Chocolat have released one of the best chocolate treats ever – Christmas crackers that are actually table place cards. These little crackers, flat packed for safety with chocolates include, have a little area you can write your guests names on and place at their seat. Imagine their delight at both a chocolate table favour *and* a cracker. Plus for those crowded Christmas tables you can be sure you get the cracker and all the places and cutlery on there without things falling off.

There’s nothing like a colourfully decorated Christmas or New Years Day dinner table and these crackers are the ideal decoration. Plain white, full of chocolate, delicately accented with gold, these will go with any table.  Now, there is no snapper in these so they aren’t going to go bang and there is no bad joke or hat and you’re getting a random chocolate so you don’t know what you are getting but swapping is part of the fun! There are 10, not 12 like I’m used to but you know, we always had ones left over as we were usually 10 so this would be perfect.

Now, having laid the table out perfectly and prepared perfectly and placed the cracker place cards on the parents plates, the kid need something special.  Why not get them one of these Santa’s Houses and pass out the treats?  They are individually wrapped, perfectly poured shapes and as there are 15 of them, there will be enough to give each child at least one and as there are a limited number of characters and they are all one type of chocolate, there is unlikely to be fights.

Even number of kids?  Well, that’s easy. Eat the extra ones yourself! That’ll stop any arguments. No kids coming over? Oh drat and you bought one of these houses… of shame… you’ll just have to eat them all yourself or share with guests.  I just love these though – they are super cute and super fun and the delicious milk chocolate that everyone loves.  While this isn’t haute couture chocolate, it is the best of the high street (non-boutique) chocolate and you’ll never go wrong as long as you don’t just stick with praline and mix it up a bit like with the oysters and pearls.

There are certain flavours that I associate with the holidays. The smell of a pine tree in the living room, the smell of a fire. Apple pie, pumpkin pie, eggnog and more all bring me back to Christmas day with my family.  This comes from experience rather than media and has nothing to do with popular depictions of Christmas and everything to do with my family.

Zotter is a chocolate company known for doing things a bit differently.  They have crazy names and crazy flavours and yet are delicious.  I think Zotter are probably best known for their bacon-flavoured bars.  Thankfully I’ve never reviewed any but the coffee one I had I really enjoyed.  So I trusted Zotter’s “Christmas Crackling” bar, even though “crackling” reminds me more of pork than chocolate and apples.  I have to admit, knowing of the bacon bar, I was worried…

The strong flavour of dried apples alongside cinnamon accented with honey absolutely describes this bar. The dried apple filling has 2 layers it seems with 2 colours of filling. The delight of apple pie or the kitchen at Christmas absolutely fills your nostrils as you take a bit of the bar. This isn’t just fruit leather covered in chocolate – the hint of cinnamon enhances the chocolate and the darker milk chocolate compliments it perfectly. It says that this bar has dark mountain chocolate of a nice 50%  milk chocolate and that one of the layers I found was yellow chocolate.

Despite my initial misgivings I love this bar!