Last time I wrote about chocolate I promised another article about Chuao Chocolatier, mostly because I had eaten up several of the products too quickly to properly review them. So I did another order, and made myself slow down in the interest of science. Happily, in the interim Chuao had introduced two new chocolate bars, unhappily, they introduced yet another (Coffee & Anise) a couple days after I made my order. Oh well, next time.
First up: Chuao's new CoCo bar. I'm a huge fan of coconut in chocolate, in fact, I still love a Mounds bar every so often. But let's face it: the dark stuff covering a Mound's bar only vaguely qualifies as "chocolate" these days. Chuao's version, with coconut, almond, cinnamon and coriander, might be a Mounds for grownups: it's sweet but not deadly sweet (it's a 60% cacao bar). There's lots of coconut interspersed with small bits of toasted almond; the bar is more chewy than crunchy. The spices are mild — much milder than in the Chinita Nibs bar. I found the CoCo bar very enjoyable, and a far cry better than the Seeds of Change Playa del Coco. I would definitely buy it again, but there's a lot of competition for the best bar over at Chuao, and as much as I like this one, it isn't my absolute favorite. They are sold in sets of three bars, 80g each, for $18.
The second new bar is Honeycomb (dark chocolate, 60%, with caramelized honey). The bits of honeycomb sprinkled throughout the bar give it the perfect crunch, and despite the addition of a sweet ingredient, the overall bar is not at all too sweet. Chuao says "the honeycomb chunks take on a slightly savory role that creates a luxurious balance in the overall flavor experience" and that's exactly right. This is a truly fabulous bar, and along with the Chinita Nibs and Panko, it's now in my top 3 from Chuao. The Honeycomb bar is also $18 for three bars.
Gingerettes are small disks of caramelized ginger (the texture of the ginger is very like that of jellied fruit slices) covered in dark chocolate and sprinkled with chipotle chili. They are seriously addictive: there is just enough chipotle to make the first touch on the tongue a surprise, but not so much as to overwhelm the also-strong spicy ginger. I went through the 6 oz package ($7) in very short order. Highly recommended.
ChocoPods are individually wrapped pod-shaped "mini chocolate bars" with flavored fillings. They come in "matchboxes" holding six 11g pods for $6. The Modena ChocoPods, filled with strawberry caramel and balsamic vinegar, are simply outstanding (they are one of the products I ate too quickly last time to review) and sadly they were out of stock when I reordered. I can now see why: they were by far my favorite of all the ChocoPod flavors.
The Candela ChocoPods, filled with "spicy macadamia praline", are very good. If you're a huge macadamia fan I think you will love them as the macadamia flavor is quite strong. I'm not a huge macadamia fan, and wanted more of the "spicy" part — I found them a bit too bland, and probably won't order them again. The Banana ChocoPods, filled with "banana brown sugar caramel" were likewise very good (and the banana tastes surprisingly fresh), but not outrageously so. Just good. I had no trouble finishing them, but again, they're probably not something I'd go out of my way to get my hands on. The Passion ChocoPods, which are filled with passion fruit caramel, were slightly better: they have a bright but intense flavor, fruity but not too sweet. But none of these have the unusual combination of flavors that make the Modena ChocoPods so attractive.
The Picante ChocoPods were closer to what I'm after: they are filled with a smooth, creamy cabernet wine caramel lightly spiced with pasilla chile and cayenne pepper. The chile and pepper are subtle but lend a slight kick, and help cut the sweetness of the fruity wine flavors. They can't beat the Modena, but they're my second favorite of the ChocoPods.
And now of course I have a slight stomachache. If you've tried any wonderful chocolate lately, do comment!
Note: you can find all of the products mentioned above at the Chuao Chocolatier website. You can also find a (very limited) selection of their products at selected Whole Foods and Wegmans stores.
Looks like I’ll have to walk over to the Chauo shop at the mall near my office today! I tried that Panko bar on your recommendation and it is my favorite chocolate bar ever! My boyfriend loves ginger and chili, so I’ll have to get him some of those gingerettes. And maybe a honeycomb bar for myself and of course, the Panko bar!
I cannot tell you how jealous I am that you can walk over there. Please try the Coffee & Anise for me! I cannot do another order now til Fall, it’s too hot to ship unless you pay to have it sent overnight.
Hmm, I’m not a coffee or anise fan, but I think my coffee-loving boyfriend might be up for that one!
Could you taste the cinnamon in the CoCo bar? I’m always looking for chocolate with cinnamon.
Yes, but it’s light…more like a slight cinnamon aftertaste. There’s a bar with more cinnamon, but can’t think of the name. Might be one of the Tazo round bars?
Sorry, that’s Taza (Tazo is tea, I get them mixed up), and you want the “Cinnamon Chocolate Mexicano”.
Wow – you know your chocolate! And I will have to get a few of those discs. The salted almond sounds nice too. Usually they put cinnamon and chili together in chocolate, which is fine, but sometimes I don’t want the chili. Thanks!!!
They are “ground chocolate” and have an unusual texture that you will either like or not like. I can never decide if I love them or not!
And I had never thought about not being able to order chocolate in summer. Hopefully a shop near you will start carrying them!
What, still no Firecracker bar? Will have to send you one. You know, in the interests of science and all.
Must try those strawberry choco-pods. Though after this review I have no doubt they will remain sold-out for some time to come. Luckily, I think my local grocery store carries them…
P.S. Been testing Nuit de Tubereuse. Totally see why you’re on the fence, while still being impressed–it is very strange, but very beautiful. That opening practically fizzes! I have a feeling I’m going to need a bottle…
I almost ordered them, but gosh — you can’t believe how much this last order cost me, esp. because I waited until late April & it got kind of warm so had to have it shipped w/ ice packs & all. So let them go. You can send me one in October!
That NdT is so well done. Wore it one more time, decided I’m never going to love it, but it so increases my feelings of goodwill towards LAP, you know what I mean?
Just consider me your on-the-ground chocolate source! Am pretty sure that even USPS overnight would be less than what you paid to have something shipped with ice packs. Sheesh. Though I do admire them for being such sticklers about their product!
Totally know what you mean about L’AP. Though I also admire Duchafour for being able to create something that is truly interesting, but also (I think) will have have some mainstream appeal. What a balancing act. It makes me want to stand up and cheer!
I think what I did is pay for 2 day shipping? And they don’t charge extra for the ice packs IIRC, but 2 day shipping was not cheap — it’s far wiser to order in the winter. My local Wegmans usually has a few of their bars, that’s it, and people tell me they’re at Whole Foods but have never found them there. I think they’re supposedly also at World Market, but couldn’t find them there either. It’s too bad…my local grocery actually carries lots of obscure chocolate brands, but none as good as Chuao.
Which company makes the Firecracker? I checked Chauo and didn’t see it listed.
Really? Darn! It is them, but maybe it was just a temporary run? Hope not, because it was both hilarious and delicious: dark chocolate, sea salt, chilis and…pop rocks! Totally works.
Meadowbliss, it is definitely Chuao, see if this link will work:
http://store.nexternal.com/shared/StoreFront/default.asp?CS=chuao&StoreType=BtoC&Count1=750606715&Count2=667747139&CategoryID=5&Target=products.asp
Oops, didn’t work for me. But look around at the store, you’ll find them!
Of the products featured so far today, this is hands down the most interesting to me. Sadly, with the stellar efforts from teasing, gentlemanly, and prestige-like fragrances, the Corpse Flower easily gets second place.
I’ll be hitting Whole Foods this weekend for sure.
Good luck, hope they have them! They’re definitely not at all WF stores.
That’s okay – I’ll search until I find them.
This is for Robin–my hands were shakin’ so hard :o) looking to cure my chocofix I didn’t see the Firecracker at first. I did find them, though. Whether that’s a good thing, don’t know – I love niche chocolate. I’m glad you mentioned the shipping cost as I ordered some cheese from a pricey import store and was excited until it came-packed in ice with the delivery charge almost more than the cheese!
I did know the cost up front….they don’t hide anything, but still, it was a lot. When I ordered over the winter & didn’t need fast shipping, it was a much better deal, and they do run free shipping offers from time to time when the weather is cooler (pretty sure the first time I ordered I had a coupon code). So worth signing up for their newsletter!
My local Wal-Mart (of all places) carries the Panko, Firecracker, and… what was it, Maya? the spicy one. Tried the Panko and liked it very much – I am a total sucker for Bits Of Stuff in my dark chocolate. The Firecracker will hit my grocery cart on Monday. You know, I *think* I might have seen the Coffee & Anise too. In the interest of scientific research, I must go back and find out, don’t you think?
Your Walmart??? Ok, now I’m really jealous. Is it one of the Walmarts w/ a whole supermarket? My Walmart only has a small food section.
Yep, one of those Wal-Marts on growth hormones.
Gah. Not a huge Walmart fan, but if they carried Chuao I’d get over that.
You can enter your zip code on the site and it tells you local stores that carry the line. Of course, mine turns up the now-defunct World Market, and a whole bunch of Pier 1s…though I swear I looked there to see if I could find chocolate when WM went under, and saw nada.
If I want to shop anywhere else, I would have to drive an extra 12 miles for a Kroger or a Food Lion.
And there ain’t no sich thing as Wegmann’s or Whole Foods in my area, much less a World Market. (Although there are some tiny little Asian-food markets in the next town over, near the university.)
OMG! here I was chewing my fingernails trying to figure out how the heck I was gonna lay hands (and teeth) on some of those CoCo bars before fall –WALMART ? ooooo….I haven’t been to walmart in ages but there is a really big one now too-too far away….
I hope you all know this post throws a real wrench in my big LOSE 10 LBS plan. ……sigh, maybe I should just buy bigger jeans….
Last time I had chocolate it was a big ole Charbonnel et Walker Easter egg filled with pink champagne truffles. Not my absolute favourite but very enjoyable nonetheless.
I shouldn’t have read this post, I’m trying to lose weight so no chocolate for me at the moment. I promised myself a bottle of Bandit when I reach the goal weight!
Oh, I should set myself a prize like that! Somehow, fitting back into warm weather clothes isn’t enough motivation when I spend most of the warm weather hours in a freezing office.
Yup, somehow the idea of being slim AND smelling great is far more motivating than simply fitting into summer clothes. Probably because it’s so cold here it feels like mid March so having to wear said clothes feel like a pretty distant prospect right now.
I need to lose 5 lbs, just like every spring. Not going to happen today.
If I just needed to lose 5, I’d probably skip it. Sadly, thanks to my ridiculously desky desk job, I’m up 17. I’m chalking 5 lbs up to age, but the rest needs to go.
I’ll definitely have to do some digging around. Our World Market was victimized by the recession, our WF is small (and inconveniently located, and just not that alluring)…and I can’t bear to set foot in Walmart for a whole host of reasons. Several of these sound fantastic. My favorite recent discovery is the Valrhona Guanaja Grue (dark chocolate w/nibs). Dark chocolate is often too chalky for me, but this one is just rich and satisfying. Love it!
Haven’t tried that one, will add it to the list!
Mmmmmm… Chocolate… [drools like Homer Simpson]
🙂
Funny, I was just in Cost Plus last night perusing the chocolate and was — SERIOUSLY disappointed. For some reason, their choco inventory is shrinking, at least for the time being. No Chuao! I actually really like their Spicy Maya and haven’t tried any others, I don’t think, but the CoCo bar sounds good. To be honest, I still love Mounds & Almond Joy.
Cost Plus did have Vosges Bacon Bar and Goji Berry Bar — and I’m dying to try both — but I’ve decided that I draw the line at a $7 chocolate bar. Gotta cut somewhere. I ended up buying an old standby: Cadbury Fruit & Nut (milk chocolate). Have only eaten half… but I’m in trouble because the only candy in this office right now is Hershey’s Kisses, and your article has me salivating! I’ll just have to make do until this afternoon when I can dash to the campus convenience store, which might actually have something other than Hershey/Mars products.
Did you try the Kisses with coconut they had out around Easter? They were just about perfect…and I’m not always a big fan of coconut.
I didn’t try those, but you know, all those flavored kisses they’ve started making are nasty to me: raspberry, cherry cordial flavor, candy corn, pumpkin spice. Nas-ty. The only decent ones are the original, the almond, the caramel filled ones, and ones called “chocolate meltaway” with a soft choco center. I just checked the site and there are a LOT of variety kisses now! LOL. I actually don’t mind them, and I like milk choco equally as well as dark anyway.
I haven’t liked those either, even the ones I expected to like (raspberry, for example), but the coconut truly was outstanding.
The Bacon Bar is worth it, because you really only need a little bit at once and it lasts a while. And I can pound down the choco, so I’m not one of those delicate flowers that only ever has a nibble.
Vosges is costly, it’s true. That dark bacon bar though, mmmm…..
I don’t know much about the world of haute chocolate – my favorite chocolate bar is Ritter Sport with whole hazelnuts – but I recently tried a Vosges Red Fire bar. It was delicious! Chili + cinnamon + chocolate is an inspired combination.
That one is nice! Also love their Black Pearl bar.
I’ve tried the Passion ChocoPods! Found them in a shop called Gourmet Boutique in the Westin Copley in Boston. They had a number of obscure chocolate brands. Great place to find unique chocolate products. I’m crazy about passion fruit, and can’t say that these blew me away, but they were good.
One chocolate company I’ve been curious about – Mast Brothers in Brooklyn, NY. Of course, I’m nowhere near Brooklyn. Only read about them in an article somewhere! Sounds like they’re pretty expensive, though. $11.99 for a 2.5oz bar! Yikes!
Local favorites:
Harbor Candy Shop – http://www.harborcandy.com/
Monica’s Chocolates – http://www.monicaschocolates.com/
And the local gourmet brand – Black Dinah – http://blackdinahchocolatiers.com/
Karin, thanks, all of those are brands I had not heard of. $11.99, wow! I had not thought about my price barrier for a chocolate bar, but that might be too much even for me.
I just went to Whole Foods by my office to look for these, and I couldn’t find any Chuao bars. I’m going to pass by Wegmans on the way home, and since I need groceries anyway… Thanks for planting the seed for yet another indulgence!
My Wegmans usually has 2 or 3 Chuao bars. Last time I was there they had the Chinita Nibs & the Caracas, I think.
The Gingerettes are making me drool. I have a couple of possible retailers fairly near me, so I hope I can find some of this brand, at least, if not those, specifically. Like I need chocolate! I have a ton.
I have a feeling those Gingerettes are only at the Chuao stores, but not positive. They are really fantastic, and sorry I ate the whole package.
The Gingerettes sound wonderful. I love chocolate-covered ginger. I also love candied orange peel covered in dark chocolate. Any good new orange-chocolate confections out there?
Thanks for the reviews, Robin. I see I have some tasting to catch up on!
As it happens Chauo makes those too, and they’re quite good but nothing really unusual about them…just straight up chocolate over orange peel.
Thanks!
I love these chocolate reviews Robin – so cool! I’m going to surprise my husband with some of these – as much as I enjoy good chocolate, he’s definitely the chocoholic around here.
My husband likes chocolate too, but luckily, we like very different chocolate so there’s very little stealing 😉
They don’t ship to Canada *cries* I will definitely be on the lookout for these in local stores though.
Aw, sorry!
Dagoba Chocolate bars are my current fave. though I LOVE LOVE LOVE Divine Dark Chocolate & their Dark Chocolate-Raspberry (it’s the only chocolate-raspberry combination aside from the OLD formula Godiva truffles that does *not* taste artificial). My favorite Dagoba is Lavender-Blueberry in Dark Chocolate – YUMMY!! (FYI, all Dagoba bars are 2 for $4 @ WF right now – not affiliated, just enabling!)
Recently picked up a Dagoba bar for the first time – that is some really good chocolate! The place I bought it from doesn’t seem to cary them anymore, so I’ll have to keep looking.
Oh, and I should have read your whole comment first – I’ll be going to Whole Foods soon!
I like Dagoba too, but their chocolate is not quite as smooth/creamy as I like. It’s probably better chocolate, I wouldn’t know — I am not a real chocolate connoisseur. Single origin dark chocolates, for instance — no interest at all.
Robin, I agree that Dagoba is not as smooth & creamy (but darn, I adore their flavors!). For smooth & creamy I think the Divine is TOPS! Have you tried their chocolate?
I tried one bar. IIRC it was a 70% bar and I didn’t love it — rarely do love 70% though. What I like is a 60-65% bar with something (preferably something weird) in it — I’m really very limited!
Think I could get seriously worked up over the Coffee & Anise. I’m feeling slightly sick at the moment after polishing off a whole bar of Lindt’s Dark Chocolate with Sea Salt. which was amazingly good.
I love the anise bar by Dolfin, and have several favorites on the coffee front. But never had them together! And have not tried that Lindt, will look for it.
I found that one a little disappointing, though I love their chili bar (orange is good too). My favorite sea salt bar was actually World Market’s store brand. That was a really yummy one.
World Market keeps coming up–what is World Market? I’m in the sticks, 80 miles from a – what I would consider- big city.
World Market used to be called Cost Plus. Haven’t been in one for a while, but we used to get good wine deals occasionally at the one in our nearest city.
Thank you, Haunani. I’m on a mission 🙂 No Cost Plus here, but I did put in my zip @ WalMart and voila! they have Chuao. Only about 50 miles from here. heehee Living in the country has its benefits, but good chocolate, interesting perfume, decent wine? Don’t think so.
Yep – I’m in the country, too. Thank goodness for the internet!
Second the Lindt!
Their orange chocolate is excellent as well.
Oh my….
There’s not one, single piece of chocolate in my house at the moment, and I’m now so desperate, that I’m about to venture back out in rush hour traffic to get some!
Great post, Robin.
I hate it when I run out of chocolate!
I’ve been lusting over the Chuao Mexican style hot chocolate and am so looking forward to autumn to buy some to enjoy when there’s more of a chill in the air. But the strawberry pods sound amazing. I love strawberry and chocolate together almost as much as cinnamon and chocolate. I’d also love to try the banana and passion fruit and… and… All of them sound good, to be honest. 🙂 Ferarro Yogurette (sp?) makes a wonderful German chocolate covered strawberry yogurt that comes in little sticks that I got hooked on thanks to a very generous German exchange student when I was in high school. I was so thrilled to find an online German deli that would ship them. And of course, since they had a shipping minimum, I had to throw in some Pocket Coffee, too. Those are just delish!
Moonstruck makes some pretty good chocolates. I especially liked one they had filled with pear brandy ganache. It was wonderful. And their Mint Tingle Bells around the holidays combine wonderful dark chocolate with bits of mint almost as intense as one of my other candy passions, peppermint Altoids. They’re delicious and I try to get some every year.
Oh, and I’m another who loved the coconut kisses that seem to come and go throughout the year. The mint truffle kisses are really good, too, and remind me of a more grown-up take on the buttermints people sometimes have at parties and weddings.
I actually really liked the Payard perfumes as one of the better takes on chocolate and perfume. They’re so inexpensive and don’t last very long, like actual chocolate confections around my house, but I love to dab a bit on when I’m fighting a sweet tooth and they do seem to help.
Pear brandy ganache? Yum.
When I used to travel to Germany as a kid, I used to always go crazy for the Lindt Poire Williams bar (chocolate filled with the Liqueur). Those bars were never available in the States, and I have no idea if Lindt even makes them anymore. Of course Lindt has gone down significantly, if you ask me. I’ll never forget biting into a square of the pistachio bar and realizing it tasted like wax! Not at all like the Lindt I grew up eating!
Yum on the Pocket Coffees — those are seriously addictive.
Perfume and chocolate in one blog? Perfection! I just want to say that Now Smell This has been a fabulous discovery for me – I look forward to reading through new and old reviews and articles once my daughters are in bed. It keeps me connected to ‘me’ and not just ‘Mummy’! Thanks again!
Thanks so much!
Reporting back, post-baseball practice (okay, I confess, the field is RIGHT BY THE WALMART, I swear): Chuao Firecracker is really terrific. The chipotle is not all that hot, just spicy, and with the salt it’s delicious. The pop rocks are just fun. I was giggling. Shared it with my daughter, and she loved it too.
Mals, the first time my husband brought that bar home he gave me a piece without telling me about the pop rocks. I almost choked I was laughing so hard! But the thing I love about it is that the “pop” is really just a more intense version of the chili spice–totally addictive! So glad you got to try it!
So glad you tried one!
My favorite chocolate bars these days are from Charles Chocolates (a local company). See: http://www.charleschocolates.com/online-store/chocolate-bars. I especially like the dark chocolate with caramelized rice krispies.
I also love the fair trade chocolate bars made in Seattle by Theo Chocolate, especially the Phinney bar with nib brittle and the milk chocolate with vanilla. The bread and chocolate bar is very *interesting*. See: https://www.theochocolate.com/store/products/chocolate-bars/fantasy-flavors
I also really love the five spice bar from Richard Donnelly of Santa Cruz, but it is insanely expensive. See: http://www.donnellychocolates.com/
I’ve tried a few of the Theo bars, but didn’t know the others…thanks!