Power Rankings #8: Seattle Chocolates BONUS

Spring has sprung and so have a few new bars from Seattle Chocolates. They were on sale, like the others, for 2 for $4 (through the end of March). I just noticed them in the Easter section of Central Market the other day when I was out chocolate shopping and decided I had to try them and rank them. Ok...that's not really true...what really happened is that I bought them with the intention of surrendering them to the Easter Bunny to add to our Easter baskets. But when I got home...I wanted to eat them. So I asked the hubby if he thought I should just eat them or save them for Easter. He didn't really care either way...so I ripped right into them! This is not the first time my seasonal chocolate purchases have not made it to the actual holiday they were intended for...but hey, no regrets. I didn't think they really fit in with the regular bars since they are seasonal. So here are some bonus power rankings! 

1.***SPRING SURPRISE - coconut, almonds and sea salt dark chocolate truffle bar - Go figure that my favorite of these bars is the DARK chocolate one...People keep telling me that I should prefer dark...but I just plain don't. This bar however, is perfection. Ate it all in one sitting.

2.***FRESH MINT - milk chocolate truffle bar with mint cookie chunks - Did you not buy enough boxes of Thin Mints this year from the girl scout down the street? Have no fear, FRESH MINT is here! The flavor balance is much like the normal MELTAWAY MINT bar, but the cookie chunks kick it up a notch! I always love some crunchy texture. 

3.*FLUFFY TOFFEE - milk chocolate truffle bar with marshmallows & toffee - Don't read too much into the single star status of this bar. Toffee is just too sweet. Marshmallows and milk chocolate and toffee is just too much sweetness for my mouth. Sugar overload. 

Hopefully my chocolate impatience is your gain and you pick up one of these delicious bars for YOUR Easter baskets. But hey, if they don't make it...no judgement here. :)

CHEERS!

Power Rankings #7: Seattle Chocolates

"what happiness tastes like"

...what a perfect description of chocolate.

I had high hopes of getting this post published earlier in the month (since they are on sale till the end of the month), but obviously...that didn't happen. We did some traveling and have been pretty busy lately. BUT, don't worry...I have a few posts and an Easter Shopping Guide in the works. So get excited!

But, on to the subject of this post...

I purchased these Seattle Chocolates bars at Central Market in Mill Creek. They were on sale for 2/$4 (reg $2.99 each). All are vegan except denoted by "^". 
 

1.***PERFECT PEANUT BUTTER^ - dark chocolate truffle bar with roasted peanuts - Quite a bit of cocoa butter bloom on the back of this bar. Couldn't stop eating it though. Thought it was strange that the first ingredient was white chocolate, maybe it's in the peanut butter filling though... 

2.***MELTAWAY MINT*^ - milk chocolate truffle bar with peppermint infusion - The first thing I noticed was the aroma-almost an after-dinner mint flavor. Sweet mint and definitely melty. This is a fantastic flavor combo. I bet the coconut oil really enhances this bar also.

3.***SALTED ALMOND* - dark chocolate truffle bar with almonds and sea salt - This bar is perfection. One of these days I will have to power rank the salted almond bars. Great balance of salt and almond. Wouldn't mind a little more chunky, but great flavor all around. 

4.***COCONUT MACAROON* - dark chocolate truffle bar with coconut and sea salt - Love the sea salt in this coconut bar. Also a great flavor combo. 

5.**/***SAN JUAN SEA SALT*^ - milk chocolate truffle bar with sea salt and toffee - The flavor masks the not up to par quality of the milk chocolate. There is a nice amount of salt which balances out the extra sweet of the toffee.

6.**EXTREME DARK* - dark chocolate truffle bar with roasted cocoa nibs - I like the nuttiness that the nibs bring into this bar.

7.**WHIDBEY WILDBERRY - dark chocolate truffle bar with cherries and strawberries - the fruity berries work well with the dark chocolate in this bar. I like that it's not just cherries, because I'm not a huge cherry fan. The mix is brilliant. 

8.*RAINIER CHERRY* - dark chocolate truffle bar with praline pecans and cherries - I noticed the "truffle bar" ness on this bar especially, the bottom of the outer shell kept sliding around and breaking off. The nuts didn't taste great. Not the best bar, in my opinion. 

9.*MILK CHOCOLATE*^ - milk chocolate truffle bar - definitely beats a Hershey milk "chocolate" bar. I know that the flavor and quality is not sufficient when I don't devour the whole milk bar in one sitting. Still decent.

10.*DARK CHOCOLATE* - dark chocolate truffle bar - the flavor really reminds me of mass market dark chocolate. It's not BAD. But it's not GREAT. At least not as a standalone bar. Obviously, with other flavors to mask the lower quality it's quite delicious. And as I said before, much better than Hershey's.

Overall this was a delicious chocolate tasting experience. The bars were lovely. Very rich. The perceived size is deceiving. The bars are THICK. There are 4 sections in each bar, a serving is only two sections...which kinda makes you laugh at first...but then after the second one...it kinda makes sense. 

Looking beyond flavor and taste...a few thoughts on quality. I think these bars are priced well for their quality. They are good quality. Just not GREAT quality. The ingredients list is evidence of this. There's "non-hydrogenated coconut oil" in most of these bars (deonted by "*"). That could be a contribution to the characteristic silky texture and smooth finish of this brand. Another evidence of the mid grade quality is that that straight chocolate bars are significantly not as good as the inclusion bars. You can taste the difference. 

These may become a "go-to" brand for me considering their affordability and overall taste. So go check out "what happiness tastes like."

Cheers!

Power Rankings #6: Michel Cluizel

Oh my, WOW. This was the most enjoyable chocolate I have ever tasted. Ever. They sell a few bars at Central Market and Whole Foods. But, I got this 16 piece box on amazon.com for $13.50 (though it is currently $16.95). Next, I'll have to try the 28 piece box because there are two more types. These are "single estate" chocolates which means the cocoa beans used to create it are taken from a single plantation. This gives each piece a VERY distinctive and unique flavor profile. The squares come from 5 different plantations: Mokaya, Los Ancones, Vila Gracinda, Mangaro and Maralumi. The box came with a nifty pamphlet with a description of each of the plantations and a map showing where they are in the world. Way cool. #chocolatenerd

This is exactly the kind of chocolate experience I was intimidated of a few short weeks ago. Don't be. Just go for it. The difference between the cocoa flavor in this chocolate and the lack of ANY flavor in American mass market chocolate is astounding. The flavors are complex and evolve. I went all out with this brand, breaking in my Chocolate Tasting Kit. I also even made sure to "cleanse my palate" between each piece with apple slices and room-ish temperature water (cold water will cool your mouth too much and the chocolate won't melt as nicely).

 Flavor cards to help identify specific flavors/aromas/nuances.

Rubbing the chocolate with your finger can help give you a sense of quality. If it feels oily, that is bad. A nice smooth feel and good smudge is most desirable. 

on a scale from 1-10 I'm a 12 #GoHawks #WinForever

Finally, the snap. The sound of the snap can also tell you about quality. A poor snap is an indication of poorly stored or tempered chocolate. 

 

1.***Mokaya (Mexico)-  66% cacao - This was my FAVORITE because the flavor was kind of milky and sweet. In comparison to the others, the flavor was simple. The flavor evolved leaving a slight pepperiness  the end. As I wrote in my notes "SOO GOOD!"

2.***Los Ancones (Saint Domingue, Caribbean) - 67% cacao - This piece had a very dark, fruity flavor, which was quite different from #1, but still delicious! I can't explain enough how awesome it is to have the flavor stick around for such a long time. This was a VERY smoooth too, which is something I highly value!

3.***Vila Gracinda (Sao Tome, Africa) - 67% cacao - I was trying hard to identify the aromas with the flavor cards I have. I thought I smelled a little licorice. This definitely had a darker, fruity and spicy flavor to it. It is so interesting that the cocoa beans vary so much in their flavor. It's awesome.

4.***Mangaro (Madagascar) - 65% cacao - This was a really interesting taste. I really hated it the first go around. There's a distinct acidity to it. But there were three of these squares and when I tried a second...I really enjoyed the complexity of the flavor. I never really understood what "acidic" really meant when it comes to chocolate, so it was nice to get that.

5.**Maralumi (Papua New Guinea, Australia) - 64% cacao - This was the most distinctly complex tasting piece I had. The beginning was smooth and milky which was great. The flavor then evolved to an acidic and spicy flavor. But finished out with a fruity, sweetness. Very interesting.

So...do I want to taste all these bars again? 

No. 

Were they all worth trying? 

MOST DEFINITELY. 

What an awesome experience it was to taste this type of chocolate. It's definitely not for sitting on the couch and scarfing down while watching cheesy movies. BUT, delicious all the same! Hopefully reading this takes some of the intimidation out of truly gourmet chocolate for you, too! Just go try it! You really won't regret it. It's like the difference between Kraft singles (not cheese) and Tillamook sharp cheddar. Or the difference between McDonalds chicken nuggets (not chicken) and a nice panko breaded chicken tender. I will still enjoy my go-to faves like Snickers and a Hershey Almond Bar...but they no longer taste like chocolate to me. It's something entirely different. And my friends, if you haven't tasted chocolate yet...you are really missing out. 

CHEERS!