So March (of Perfume Posse) and I are talking about chocolate this weekend. She wrote about texture issues with chocolate bars yesterday; today I’m writing about citrus-flavored chocolate bars.

March started off by pointing out that she knows even less about chocolate than perfume. I’m pretty sure I’ve already come clean on that score, but it never hurts to repeat: I know absolutely zip about chocolate. Those single-origin estate chocolates that true chocophiles pay a premium for hold no interest for me. What I want is simple: a dark chocolate (around 60% cocoa) bar with something fun added. That’s not quite the chocophile’s version of the sweet generic fruity florals I turn my nose up at around here, but I’m guessing it’s close…

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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…

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