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 #2: chuao - dark

1. ***orange-a-go-go - "Candied orange harmonizes with the essence of bergamot orange in dark chocolate" - The first thing I notice is it smells of orange. There is a good texture with bits of candied orange. Nice balance of flavors. I’d pick this over a chocolate orange (which kind of says a lot).  
   
   
2. ***ohh ahh almond - "Crunchy whole almonds, kettle cooked in sugar & sea salt, delight in dark chocolate" - I am such a sucker for almonds and chocolate. Salted almond takes it a notch further. I really had to work hard to stop eating this bar and move on to another. 


3. ***salted chocolate crunch - "Crunchy, toasted breadcrumbs dusted with sea salt and swirled in dark chocolate" - I’m starting to really like this whole breadcrumbs-in-chocolate thing. Love the saltiness with the crunch of the bread in the chocolate. Yum Yum!


4. ***spicy maya - "Seductive cinnamon, pasilla chile and warming cayenne bedded in dark chocolate - This bar was surprisingly lovely. The first smell is of cinnamon and the chile and cayenne is fabulous. I’m not a huge fan of spicy spicy...so this is done quite well! It  warms to warm you right up and could really come in handy in the winter.


5. **pretzel toffee twirl - "crunchy mini pretzels and buttery toffee dance in dark chocolate" - This bar is reminicent of a gourmet Take Five, minus the carmel (which is fine by me!). I do wish there were more pretzels. I should have take a picture of how neatly the pretzels are aligned on the back of the bar. I love the way chuao does that with what they put in their bars. But, I am a big fan of getting all the flavors in every bite and that just wasn't possible with the small number of pretzels and how they were arranged. Also, I’m really starting to feel like toffee is overdone. 
    
6. **honeycomb -  "Lusious amber honey, caramelized into crisp bits and enrobed in dark chocolate" - The honey adds a nice sweetness to the dark chocolate. The caramelized bits add a nice crunch texture. This is a good bar. There are a lot of others I would pick before this one though.


7.  *triple nut tempation -  "A decadent array of whole roasted almonds, hazelnuts and pistachios nestled in dark chocolate" - This bar is not so much of a temptation for me. I think it’s the pistachios that throw me off here. Yup. I’m also not a huge fan of hazelnuts...which is crazy right (it’s true I think Nutella is meh...it’s good but I’m not crazy like the rest of the world and that’s because of the hazelnuts…)? I hope Jordan likes this one, cause I’m not going to finish it. Back to ooh ahh almond for me!


8. *firecracker -  "Sultry sea salt, smoky chipotle, and popping candy exploding in dark chocolate" - The exploding candy is awesome, again. But I’m glad they have it in the pop corn pop because the spice has more kick in this one...a little too much for my liking. But a very interesting bar. I would not buy it for ME but I would buy it for someone else who likes spice with a good kick. 
   
   Have you ever tried a Chuao bar? What do you think of my rankings? As luck would have it, the DAY after I finished eating the dark bars, they released two new flavors...

So...I may have to do a round 3 of Chuao tastings...which I'm certainly NOT complaining about! 

Cheers!

Power Rankings #1 : chuao - milk

this scale will be used in all further power rankings

Here we are. My first Power Rankings revealed...

I had a great time tasting all of the chuao bars. I found the chocopods to be the PERFECT size for tasting (though for some of the best bars, I wished I’d had the full-sized to munch on). The flavors are very unique and interesting. The packaging is lovely, eye-catching and modern. The descriptions of the flavors on the packaging were VERY accurate (these descriptions are italicized in the rankings below). Also, I didn’t notice until one of the last bars (I wasn't even looking at the chocolate as I shoved it in my face...), but each piece has a delicious word on it: 

I didn't have such a great time finding all of the bars. Central Market sells 12 of the 15 flavors:

The "firecracker" I picked up in my 8 piece chocopod variety pack from THE CHOCOLATE BOX ($16). But there were two in particular that were more difficult. I found the "oh my s'mores!" at REI ($6). The Pretzel Toffee Twirl (a dark bar), I had to get online from chuaochocolatier.com ($4, on sale from $6 + shipping).

I decided to break up my rankings for this brand into 2 groups - milk and dark.

So...without further adieu...

1. *** potato chip - "Crisp kettle cooked potato chips and a hint of sea salt mix and mingle in milk chocolate" - I tried not to eat the whole thing, but I couldn’t stop with this one. I read somewhere that the workers hand crush the chips so they are a nice size. Why have I never put potato chips and chocolate together? It’s brilliant!
   
2. ***pop corn pop - "Inspired by that familiar flavor you love, with a surprising POP in milk chocolate" - “surprising pop” is right! There is pop rock candy (unflavored) in this bar! There is a nice hint of butter flavor but it still tastes like delicious chocolate. FUN! I want more. 
   
3. ***ravishing rocky road - "Salted caramelized almonds and chewy marshmallows pave the way in milk chocolate" - sometimes, I really love a good chunk-the almonds and small marshmallows are whole. The almonds are salted to perfection to give this bar a wonderful smooth balance.
   
4. **oh my s’mores - "Fluffy marshmallows and crushed honey graham crackers reunite in milk chocolate" - very similar to the rocky road bar except, obviously, sans almonds and plus graham crackers. I think this bar would stand out more in the dark chocolate variety. Overall, it was very enjoyable...I just would probably choose another bar to eat. 
   
5. **sweet & salty - "A touch of sea salt swirled in milk chocolate" - the "touch" of salt is not enough for me...left me wanting more. It was still a good bar with smooth texture.  
   
6. *maple bacon -  "Crisp bacon, delicate maple sweetness and bonfire smoked sea salt, bathed in milk chocolate" - this is the first chocolate bar I can think of tasting that I wished I hadn't. The very first taste is sweet maple...then BAM (like Emeril) smokey smokey flavor. I like the saltiness of the bacon and the sweet of the maple but the chocolate flavor is completely drowned in smokiness. The last bite was actually much milder, but I don’t think I’d buy this bar again.
   
   
   

   
   So there ya have it! I was quite pleased with this selection of milk chocolate bars! It is so hard to find a good quality milk chocolate. So much of the good stuff is dark, and I am quite partial to milk. Anyway, I tried them all so you can be more confident in your choice. Go try one! I am pretty sure you won't regret it! Let me know what you think of the bars, if you've ever had one, where you have found them to purchase, or whatever else you want to share! Stay tuned for PART TWO coming next week!
   
   
   
   

How I will eat my elephant....er...I mean...a LOT of chocolate

It has been overwhelming thinking about where to start with this blog. The world of chocolate is as vast as the world of wine. I don't quite feel up to purchasing a $14 bar I know I won't fully appreciate till I learn more about what makes it a $14 bar. But I can't simply wait until I become an expert to begin. 

So what do I do here?  Do I simply review chocolate, one bar at a time? Do I compare chocolates? Should I use a standardized ranking system? What bars do I even start with?

Answer: Power Rankings

I will begin my journey power ranking chocolate.

Power rankings are used in sports all the time, especially in football. According to wikipedia.org, "power rankings, can be directly provided (e.g., by asking people to rank teams), or can be derived by sorting each team's ratings and assigning an ordinal rank to each team, so that the highest rated team earns the #1 rank." In other words, power rankings can be entirely subjective, or entirely objective, depending on the source.

Here, the source is me. My power rankings will be entirely subjective and wholly biased. I will tackle one brand at a time, power ranking each bar, providing a brief justification for that ranking.

The first brand I will tackle in the coming weeks is

pronounced chew-WOW

Visit their website to learn about the brand, and find out where you can get their bars near you! 

 

(they are sold at Central Market, local folks)

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