DeBrand for Free People: Milk Chocolate Coin

It's rare to find a non-chocolate company providing a chocolate of true quality from a partnership (or whatever you would call it) with a separate, chocolate company. So even though Free People is, while not a designer brand, a step above certain other clothing stores, I wasn't expecting much from the Christmas coin they had for sale this past season. But it's pretty, so I wanted it. Naturally. 

The coin is not foil-wrapped; instead, it it two sides of gold, plasticy material. This makes it easy to open and to close up again. The whole coin, when you buy it, sits inside a a cloth bag with the same reindeer design (in pink) that is on the coin. I'm using this bag to store my Christmas star for my small tree. 

One third time, the reindeer appears on the face of the coin; it's really a charming little design. It blends well with the look of Free People's store and clothing. 

Now, it's true that there are worse brands to partner with than DeBrand Fine Chocolates; Free People could have done worse. But the thing about companies like DeBrand is that they produce a large quantity of chocolate, and when you're doing that, the type of quality is different from what other, smaller companies can provide (if they choose that attention to detail, that is). So this 40 gram coin has a very standard milk chocolate aroma. It barely smells different from Hershey's. 

There is a little more to the flavor, fortunately. In addition to the nutty notes, there is an almost smokey flavor, which is rather unusual for a milk chocolate. At least there are no oils added to the mix: this isn't overly greasy chocolate. It melts cooly and smoothly, a cleaner type of milk chocolate. So I can't say that it's terrible junk. It isn't. It's okay; I'm eating it. But the best thing about this chocolate remains its origin: the shelves of Free People. I and, I imagine, everyone else bought it for looks. It's been decorating the space by my jewelry for a couple of weeks and the bag will decorate my Christmas storage box for much longer than that--certainly much longer than the memory of the chocolate will last.