Valentine's Day Guide 2015 + Giveaway!

Valentine's Day has always been about chocolate for me. "Don't buy me chocolate, buy me shoes." That's not me. BUY ME THE DANG CHOCOLATE! hahahaha. :) So it's probably not a surprise that I've been eying some of my new favorite brands this year to see what they have out for Valentine's Day. Because...a whole new world of chocolate has opened up since I walked down that Central Market aisle (4a) a few months ago. Here are my top picks to fill that all-important "chocolate" part of Valentine's Day. Make sure whomever might be buying YOU chocolate sees this, and you'll be sure to have a delicious day!

1. chuao popping hearts - $10.95 - For the adventurous chocolate lover. Chuao has a lot of great Valentine's treats out. But these really caught my eye because of how much I loved the popping candy in the pop corn pop bar. Plus, the price is pretty fabulous for such a fun treat.
2. theo valentine's day bars - $4.00/bar (currently 2 for $6 at Central Market) - For the cherry cordial lover. My Cherry Baby is a DELECTIBLE bar. It passed the I-can't-believe-I-ate-the-whole-thing-already test with flying colors. For the RED HOT lover. Red hot candy. Don't get the Red Hot Cinnamon Crunch bar unless the recipient enjoys RED HOTS, cause there's a whole lot of red hot in that bar! Whew my mouth still burns.
3. alter eco velvet truffles - $7.00/10pc box (also sold at Whole Foods) - For the milk chocolate lover. To this day, I have not enjoyed a milk chocolate as much as the Alter Eco Dark Velvet bar. And I LOVE milk chocolate. I can only imagine what the truffles would taste like...someone might want to share this info with my hubby? Yeah?
4. godiva assorted dessert truffles - $15/17pc box or 3 boxes for $30 (online or in store) - For the chocolate liker, but dessert lover. This is a great option for someone who enjoys chocolate, but other candy and treats just as much! (It's ok, they are people too.) Each of the Chocolate Lava Cake, Strawberry Cheesecake, and Crème Brûlée are AMAZING.
5. michel cluizel single estate chocolate bar tasting kit - $13.50/16pc box - For the chocolate connoisseur (or aspiring connoisseur). I just finished reviewing this box for the POWER RANKINGS. This box would pair very well with #8 OR printed Chocolate Tasting Notes.
6. godiva "bling" or "stuff" trinket tray and chocolates - $28 and $30 respectively (online only and unfortunately out of stock) - For the material girl. I love these gifts because they double as things that can be used over and over and delicious chocolate. Unfortunately...they are both out of stock. But maybe it helps spark an idea or you can log it away as a great idea for next year!
7. justin's peanut butter cups - $1.99ish (at Central Market, Whole Foods, Starbucks, REI and many grocery stores) - For the peanut butter and chocolate lover. These peanut butter cups put Reese's to shame. Really. If you love peanut butter and chocolate...you HAVE to try these. They are amazing. GREAT quality chocolate and creamy real peanut butter. I'm getting a hankering for one now just writing about it...I may have to go pick some up!
8. chocolate tasting kit - $24.95 ($17.66 on Amazon) - For the chocolate connoisseur (or aspiring connoisseur). This kit has everything you need to dive into the world of chocolate tasting. I especially love the flavor cards that help you identify specific flavors in the chocolate. This kit would pair very well with #5 or any other high quality bar or set of tasting squares.  

There you have it. And not a single one of them was a heart shaped box! Help others think outside the heart shaped box this year and SHARE this with them. SHARING just might win you fortheloveofCHOCOLATE's very first GIVEAWAY ever! 

A GIVEAWAY!

This should be very exciting for all 7 of you loyal readers.  

Your odds of winning are pretty high! 

HOW TO ENTER THE GIVEAWAY:

LEAVE A COMMENT on the facebook page giveaway thread 

between now and Friday February 13th.

The lucky winner will be picked by Random.org and announced February 14th!

 The prize will be shipped out within one business day of confirming the shipping address. 

  What's the prize, you ask?

Your choice of Theo's two Valentine's bars! 

FREE CHOCOLATE, WOOT!

So do it! Right now! Leave a comment! 

WANT MORE CHANCES TO WIN?

like, share, comment, tweet, instagram or pin ANY post at

forthelovechocolate.blogspot.com 

or

facebook.com/forthelovechocolate

 maximum 5 entries

(you must leave a separate comment on the facebook giveaway thread for each thing you do)

Get SHARING and GOOD LUCK!

Cheers!

Power Rankings #3: Alter Eco

Because Alter Eco is a brand that makes a lot more than just chocolate, I went into these power rankings with lower expectations for quality. I was quickly proved wrong when even the bars I didn't care for had really nice flavor balance and quality (there was only one of the 8 bars that I wouldn't eat again). The box-type packaging was particularly useful in my case. (I keep eating all my bars before I get a chance to take photos.) The boxes make it impossible to tell how much chocolate is or is not there. ;) 

I purchased these bars at Whole Foods in Lynnwood, WA. They happened to be on sale when I bought them ($3, on sale from $3.99/bar). There are two bars missing from my power rankings- "Dark Brown Butter" and "Deep Dark Sea Salt." Deal with it. :)

1. ***Dark Velvet - "a touch of milk MELTY SMOOTH" - 47% cocoa - Nice snap, especially for a milkier chocolate. This one had me saying “MMMMMMMMM CHOCOLATE”. I LOVE a good quality milk and they are SO few and far between.

2. ***Dark Mint - "cool crispy mint BOLD AND BRISK" - 60% cocoa - There is something so refreshing about a good combo of mint and chocolate. MMMMMM. I started eating this bar with no intention of finishing it all. I had to stop and write this review before gobbling the whole thing up. And now I’m left with the delicious aftertaste - the true mark of quality chocolate.

3. ***Dark Cacao - "crunchy cocoa nibs BITTERSWEET BITE" - 63% cocoa - I like the crunchy of the nibs and the slight bitterness it adds to the bar. It is still plenty sweet. A great combo of bitter and sweet.

4. **Dark Quinoa - "nutty toasted quinoa LIGHT CRISPY CRUNCH" - 60% cocoa - This unique bar is clever. I am always a fan of crunchy chocolate, you can hardly tell this is quinoa. Upon reading the labels, there isn’t a significant nutritional difference between this and other similar bars, like one might assume.

5. **Dark Almond - "slow-roasted TOASTY NUT" - 60% cocoa - This is a good bar. Not great. Forgettable but pleasant. I feel like I’m beginning to sound like Simon Cowell.

6. **Dark Coconut Toffee - "butter and sea salt CRUNCHY AND TOASTED" - 47% cocoa - I am not usually a big fan of toffee...but this bar was so deliciously milk chocolatey smooth that I quite enjoyed it. There was some saltiness which was nice, but I feel like that is executed better in other bars. I would eat it again, but given a choice I’d go for the straight milk “Dark Velvet.” Sidenote - I don’t know why this brand calls all of their bars “DARK” when two of them were 47% cocoa and very milky in flavor…

7. **Dark Blackout - "bittersweet cocoa DEEP FRUITY INTENSITY" - 85% cocoa - I can definitely taste the fruitiness of the dark chocolate. It’s just not something I enjoy enough to choose. The nib bar was a much more preferable dark for me. Although, there are 10g of fiber and only 12g of sugar in an entire bar (2 servings)! A FiberOne bar only has 9g of fiber but also less sugar at 10g. All in all...pretty comparable!

8. *Dark Twist - "crystallized orange peel VIBRANT AND TANGY" - 60% cocoa - This bar has a good flavor balance with the orange. The “crystallized orange peel” chunks could have been smaller to give it a smoother feel. Some of them were big enough to get stuck in my teeth which makes me prefer Chuao for a dark chocolate orange fix. 

Have you ever had Alter Eco chocolate? What do you think of my rankings? We'll see this brand again when I move on to truffles. 

Cheers!

Current Faves

Alter Eco: Dark Velvet
chuao: potato chip bar
chuao: pop corn pop 
Equal Exchange: Milk
John Kelly Chocolate Truffle Fudge Bites: Peanut Butter with Himalayan Pink Salt 
Michel Cluizel: Mokaya
Theo Chocolate Classic Bar: Salted Almond Milk Chocolate
Theo Chocolate Fantasy Bar: Bread and Chocolate