Alter Eco: Mint Creme Truffle Thins

Last week, we took a look at the Silk Velvet and Classic Dark Truffle Thins from Alter Eco. Now it's time for what is perhaps the more exciting of the Truffle Thins line, the Mint Creme variety. The obvious product comparison here is Andes Mints. Ingredients-wise, Andes Mints contain artificial flavors and colors, in addition to the palm oil (versus the coconut oil that Alter Eco uses). So even if you don't consider coconut oil enough of a step up from palm oil, there is a definite step up in not having those artificial ingredients. Everything with Alter Eco is also organic and in theory the cocoa is fair trade. 

As soon as you open the foil seal, the peppermint oil aroma breaks free. Like with the other Truffle Thins, Mint Creme is also a regular truffle from Alter Eco. So it's the same concept here as with the truffles, just smashed into a chocolate bar instead of a sphere. We have the same white filling, just in a thinner layer. The result, once more, is that you can taste much more of the chocolate. If we're making the comparison to Andes Mints, the basic effect is the same, just much purer and more chocolatey. This is true dark chocolate here. While it isn't strong or deeply dark, it does have simple dark flavor that isn't overpowered by the peppermint oil. If you enjoy tasting the chocolate, that alone makes this a superior product.

The mint is still strong, of course, as mint is. You also get some sweetness from the sugar and milk and added cocoa butter, giving it that sweet indulgence feel. All of the different flavors, particularly the two elements of mint and chocolate, are well-balanced. It's been a while since I had a Mint Creme Truffle, but I do believe I prefer the proportions here. Of course, though, I'm sure that will vary depending on the person. 

Because of its familiarity, this is a super straightforward product. But it's enjoyable. Though I have little specific to say about it, I do call it a success. 

Alter Eco: Truffle Thins -- Silk Velvet and Classic Dark

When taking a look at the Peppermint Creme Truffles from Alter Eco this past December, I mentioned my excitement to try their new Truffle Thins chocolate bars. The comparison for the mint version will, of course, be to Andes Mints--but those will come next. First we're taking a look at the plain versions, the Silk Velvet and the Classic Dark, which correspond to existing Alter Eco truffles.

The basic concept is the same as with their truffles: coconut oil is used in place of fresh cream so that the chocolates can have a long shelf life in order to be on grocery store shelves. You may want to note that both of these chocolates do still have milk in them, so the purpose of the coconut oil isn't to make them non-dairy. The difference in having the ganache as a layer inside of squares of chocolate versus inside truffle-sized spheres is significant. 

You get more chocolate this way and less ganache. This is preferable to hide the ultra smooth texture. What do you mean hide the smooth texture, you ask? I realize that coconut oil is a preferable oil to use than others--but is still gives a slightly different texture than cream does. So when you have a smaller proportion and thickness of the ganache, you're going to notice that texture difference less, if at all. If you really enjoy that extra smoothness, that might be a downside. But if you prefer having more chocolate, then this format may be your preference. Generally, a rounder texture feels smoother and more luxurious because it has to melt in your mouth more. (Think about the difference eating a Hershey's Kiss versus a square of a Hershey's bar.) So the overall feel of the Truffle Thins versus the truffles is a little darker--with the ganache as an element rather than the main focus.

The Classic Dark is described as dark chocolate with a chocolate creme filling, whereas the Silk Velvet is supposed to be a blend of milk and dark chocolate--I believe it's still just dark chocolate on the outside, but with a milk creme filling. Both fillings still contain whole milk. There is a subtle difference, though perhaps not the one you would expect. I find I prefer the Classic Dark because it feels more, well, classic and straightforward. Whereas the Silk Velvet, though somewhat milkier, feels somehow darker, as well. It does have more of a contrast between the idea of milk chocolate and dark chocolate. 

While perhaps I should be advocating to eat more plain chocolate versus chocolate with added ingredients, like the coconut oil here, I do really like the idea of these chocolate bars. It would be nice to see them in a smaller size, as well--sort of a more candy bar like style. They're an everyday indulgence type of chocolate. I'd much rather reach for Alter Eco cocoa than many other brands--and the coconut oil is the "worst" ingredient. As a halfway place between a chocolate bar and a truffle, this is a satisfyingly indulgent product. 

Alter Eco: Peppermint Creme Truffles

Christmas is just sneaking up on us this year, isn't it? It was all about Thanksgiving coming up, then suddenly all my December plans were here--including some that want to squeeze in but may or may not be able to. So let's hurry and take a look at this year's new grocery store holiday chocolate find. Along with the usuals we've seen before, I saw this green box of Alter Eco Peppermint Creme Truffles. I do see them for sale on their website in regular packaging, which must mean that they are not a seasonal flavor. But it's new to me, so let's indulge in some holiday peppermint.

The holiday element to the little box is light. Besides the green color and a mild floral design, there are just a couple of star shapes. But the green is sufficient, especially on the truffle wrappers themselves. They don't need Christmas trees printed on them to be a welcome addition to a stocking, gift bag, or candy bowl. I like festivity, but I'd rather have a good product that's light on the holiday-specific decorating than a novelty product that is no good to actually eat.

The truffles are the usual round shape with lines cut across the surface. They cut open to reveal a solid white inside. I tasted a little chip of chocolate that broke off to find that there is peppermint oil in the chocolate itself, as well. It's a 58% dark chocolate, so it's definitely on the lighter side. But that's fitting for a candy type product like this, especially when the peppermint oil is going to overpower nuances--and when they're going for the specifically creamy peppermint angle.

Inside, that white creme has that texture that everyone is familiar with who has had Alter Eco truffles. They, of course, have their method of using coconut oil in lieu of cream to give their chocolates a long shelf life for the grocery stores but to also avoid the questionable oils and such that other companies use. Coconut oil yields that silky yet non-plasticy texture (and no coconut flavor). Here, it has more of the peppermint oil and yes, some cream flavor. There is milk listed in the ingredients--so the substitution of coconut oil for creme here isn't to be non-dairy, just for the aforementioned shelf life. 

Naturally, the American mind will taste these and think of Andes Mints. But they are noticeably better, in terms of both the chocolate and the filling. And I don't just mean because these are made with higher quality ingredients. Andes Mints are thin, while these chocolates are fat globes that therefore bring more chocolate and peppermint creme to each bite. That proportion difference on its own gives quite an elevation.

Alter Eco has kept it very classic with these chocolates, and that's what makes them a success, whether as a holiday flavor or later on just as as an addition to their standard line of flavors. I do see that they now make Truffle Thins, which bring the style of their truffles to a chocolate bar shape. That looks even more like Andes Mints--and also looks like a brilliant idea that I will try as soon as they show up at my store.

Alter Eco: Hazelnut Butter Bombs

Sometimes we experience disappointments. Such, unfortunately, is one of Alter Eco's newer products, their Hazelnut Butter Bombs. When I first heard of these, I couldn't wait until they showed up in my usual grocery store. I do enjoy hazelnut and chocolate (not Nutella--Nutella is just oil). But now that I have them, well, I could do better without them. Let me elaborate because perhaps you will feel differently.

The bag contains nine individually wrapped chocolates. Below the rainforest greenery is a combination of blue and purple that, when carried onto the wrappers, gives a spacey look. (Or maybe I'm just thinking too much sci-fi these days now that I renewed Netflix so I can watch Stargate.) Really, don't they look like little round globes?

Colors aside, both the wrapper and the shape, though, aren't exactly new. This is the same concept as with Alter Eco's truffles, except that there is hazelnut butter inside. (There is also an Almond Butter version.) Not to many visual surprises with the filling: it's pale tan. There is perhaps a slight hazelnut aroma to it. The surprises come on tasting.

Okay, surprises is probably too strong of a word. The gist of it is that this isn't quite the effect I had anticipated. While normally Alter Eco's truffles have such a winning texture (for grocery store truffles) because of the coconut oil, here it is the texture that is off. Here there is an element (I think in the chocolate) that is too silky and slippery, as well as an overly buttery element in the filling. The filling also tastes too buttery, without having the sweetness of sugar to balance it out. (There is sugar added to the chocolates, but apparently not much.) And then you get a slight bitter twinge from the chocolate that doesn't go along with the butteriness. There is hazelnut flavor but not much; it gets lost.

So the texture is wrong as well as the flavor. I thought I might be exaggerating the slight bitter twinge of the chocolate until I saw the tiny print on the back that says that the shell is 80% dark chocolate. Now, 80% on its own is fine; I often enjoy that percentage more than the more common 70%. I'm just saying that it felt a tad too dark for this context. If the hazelnut filling gave more richness rather than butteriness, maybe darker chocolate would make sense. On the opposite side, if the filling were a tad sweeter and the dark chocolate a tad lighter, then things might feel more cohesive. Whether we're going for rich and dark or for sweet and nostalgic, pick a side.

Besides sugar, other ingredients in here are agave fiber and butterfat, as well as coconut oil of course. No wonder there is so much slippery texture and buttery flavor. If they weren't going to add more sugar (I can't believe I'm asking for more sugar), some salt could have done wonders. Because of Reese's Cups, Americans already have an association between peanut/nut butters and salt. But these are marketed as being Keto--does Keto have anything against salt? I frankly have no idea. 

Back to the chocolate. I know I mentioned it seemed darker than expected. But remember that I also said it felt like it added to the slippery texture element. So my question is, is the chocolate the one with the coconut oil in it? If so, it's smart from a manufacturer's standpoint: you can use less chocolate that way and also portray a silky texture that people less picky than I am might even appreciate. But I feel like I can taste the coconut this time, whereas I usually don't notice it in Alter Eco's truffles. 

So I'm obviously not satisfied. Both the texture and flavor are off for me. However. Let's get back to that Keto thing. I've been seeing a lot of companies making chocolate energy ball type products these days. They'll stuff them with random "healthy" ingredients and market those ingredients or their health benefits. So more than reminding me of truffles or chocolate candies, these butter bombs remind me of such chocolate energy balls. That is, someone might buy them because they need something that will fit into specific dietary desires rather than something that simply tastes great. They taste fine; they're not detestable. I just don't particularly like them and would gladly give away the rest of the bag. So if I really needed a nut butter chocolate and this was somehow the only product that fit within certain restrictions, I'd be okay with them. I'm just not sure what those restrictions are. I would think there are other products on the market already that would fit the same restrictions and yet would be more palate-pleasing. But again, I don't know the details on Keto or plenty of other diets. So if something about the ingredients makes these appealing to you, they're worth a try. Otherwise, I'd recommend passing them up.

Alter Eco: Salt & Malt

Normally I associate malt with cheap, milk chocolate candy or milkshakes. So when I saw Alter Eco's Salt & Malt Dark Chocolate (that is, dark chocolate not milk), naturally I brought it home with me immediately. I'm not sure whether or not it's a new flavor from them; it was just new to me. (Checking out their website to see if they had it labeled as a new product, I did see their new Hazelnut and Almond Butter Bombs--I will certainly be hoping my store gets the hazelnut ones soon. Please and thank you.)

The card box folds out to the usual info about biodiversity for the ecosystem and stability for the cocoa farmers. All good and well. The cocoa industry certainly has its wrongs to right, but it's great how there are companies taking the initiative to not just make not just make "fair trade" chocolate but to make a product that enhances the environment for the land and the people both. Funny how those two go hand in hand, isn't it? 

Inside its silver wrapper, the chocolate far is smooth on the front with a bumpy underside. That I wasn't expecting. The look is similar to crisped rice showing beneath the surface. Like I said, when it comes to malt and chocolate, normally I expect candies like Whoppers. I can't think of having ever had malt within a chocolate bar format before, though the difference in form didn't occur to me until I opened the seal (I had just been thinking of the dark chocolate). So if you don't have individual pieces of malt candy covered in chocolate, then I suppose it follows that you would make smaller malty pieces to stick inside of a chocolate bar. 

The aroma has an enticing, fudge quality. The flavor, then, is somewhere between semisweet and bittersweet. At 70% cocoa, the chocolate is mild with just a touch of sweetness and a dash of nuance; it's a solid 70% pleaser. Its flavor comes with a pale crunch from the malt crisps and a touch of salt. The malt doesn't really add strongly to the taste; perhaps this is why it's helpful to have the added flavor of the salt to tease the palate. 

Yet I'm not complaining. The texture of the malt crisps (or crumbs as the ingredients list calls them--they're basically made of flour, malt, and sugar, but that's just a summary) is quite unique. It isn't quite a crispy or crunchy texture. Not at all like crisped rice. The closest comparison might be to Crispy M&Ms--but that's difficult to say because of course the candy shell of M&Ms makes it difficult to zero in on the crispy texture (besides the fact that I don't come across Crispy M&Ms at all often). Anyway. The crunch is very light and delicate, especially because it is in such small pieces as compared with the size of malt balls. 

I would have expected something like this to be made with milk chocolate rather than dark. Even that tang from the salt is a reminder not to be too serious and can even put in mind salted peanuts or something like that--something that, again, has more of an association with candy. But again I'm not complaining: it all works so well with the dark chocolate. It's rarer than one might think to come across a good, casual dark chocolate that has both sweetness and nuance while still not being too sweet. While I do enjoy milk chocolate, as well, it's nice to have the option for a good dark chocolate, as well. And of course besides flavor preferences, if anyone prefers or needs to avoid milk, then this is also a good alternative. Primarily, though, it's just a good bar of chocolate. It's unique and yet so smooth and seamless. 

Alter Eco: Silk Velvet Truffles (Easter Edition)

I realize that I say Easter in the title even though this box does not in fact say Easter on it (though Alter Eco's website does call this the Easter edition). In fact, it doesn't say anything seasonal at all. Not spring, not holiday, not limited edition, nothing. But there are colorful eggs and a bunny head, and those are undeniably Easter images. I don't know how much Easter chocolate I'll be looking at this year. This might end up being the only one, or I might go crazy at Black Butterfly or maybe pick up a couple things from Zak's Chocolate--we'll see. So that's why I'm getting an early start here just in case there ends up being more.

My first instinct was that there was no need for a review. This isn't a special flavor. But I was curious. The packaging isn't really a box; it's some sort of fold-out design. From the outside, you can see a grassy inside, but what else? Would it unfold to create a pop-up booklet or springy scene? My curiosity led to the purchase, thinking perhaps it would be something worthwhile to talk about. As I picked up the first box, though, I did find one of the truffles falling out. So the design could use some reworking for next year: no one wants to risk buying a set of chocolate only to get home and find that some of it has fallen out.

Being that I'm not much interested in all the pink, cutesy bunnies and such of Easter decorations, I appreciate that the color scheme here is based on green and cream and that the design is kept simple. The box opens like a greeting card, just one simple lift to open it up. There you will find the grassy scene and six truffles sitting in little nooks. It's certainly more straightforward than I'd been expecting. The idea is that you're picking up the chocolates from the grass like you would eggs during an Easter egg hunt. 

I get the idea and it's a nice idea. But visually I'm not sure. It seems like there is too much effort not to pay attention to visuals. And yet the visuals don't offer much. It isn't a "set out on display" look. It's more of a "open up by yourself and take delight in pulling out each chocolate and eating it" look. Maybe it was designed for someone stuck at home this year and unable to see family for Easter? Or maybe it's simply meant to appeal to adults' nostalgia for Easter egg hunts. (Which reminds me, maybe I'm less than enthused because I don't really have a lot of nostalgia around Easter or egg hunts.)

The six chocolates are Alter Eco's Silk Velvet Truffles, which are made with a 39% cocoa milk chocolate. They come wrapped in light blue wrappers proclaiming that they (the wrappers) are compostable. I'm seeing this more and more often now, but the nice thing is that these are supposed to be suitable for both home and commercial composting. So there is actually a chance that more people will be able to compost them if they don't need to be taken to a very specific facility for it. 

As I've mentioned before, Alter Eco makes their truffles in a style like Lindor--except that they use better ingredients than Lindor. And of course Alter Eco also uses fair trade chocolate, which I consider especially important for Easter. You'll notice, too, that the box mentions the use of milk from grass fed cows. That's great, too: we want healthy animals for any of the animal products we're using. And of course Alter Eco was one of the earlier companies I can remember using (actually the first I think I came across) to use coconut oil in their chocolate. In the case of their truffles, it takes the place of cream so that they can have a long shelf life so that we can buy truffles in a grocery store instead of just from a chocolate shop. (And as an alternative to partially hydrogenated oils and palm oils and all of that.) 

The result is a creamy, smooth truffle. These are light and sweet in the best traditions of mild milk chocolate. There is a richness here, even though the milk chocolate is light and not at all dark. There is also zero coconut flavor; the creaminess remains a dairy creaminess, which is a positive for those of us who don't care for the flavor of coconut. Again, the purpose of using it here is not in order to make vegan chocolate, so there is still milk involved. 

Well, I satisfied my curiosity to learn more about the packaging. And I got six indulgently sweet chocolates to enjoy. So while I wouldn't say that the seasonal/holiday theme was very strong, the chocolate is nice. And I don't believe I've seen Alter Eco do much with holidays in the past, so it makes sense that they would stick to something simple to start with. 

Alter Eco: Grass Fed Milk Chocolate

At first it just sounded like an interesting concept. Grass Fed Milk chocolate. I mean, when I buy beef, I buy grass fed--so why not include that as a marketing tag in chocolate, too? I wondered if it would be different in flavor from their regular milk chocolate. Making positive changes in ingredients is a good thing even if it doesn't noticeably affect flavor, but if flavor isn't noticeably changed then it might not be worth me doing a separate review, see?

Then, though, I realized that I don't seem to have ever reviewed milk chocolate from Alter Eco. Which then caused me to realize that I don't remember ever seeing milk chocolate from them before. (If this seems unknowledgeable of me, remember that I've been reviewing chocolate for eleven years. That's a lot of chocolate to try and memorize.) Correct me if I'm wrong, but I do believe the Grass Fed Milk line is their first foray into milk chocolate (though one of their dark chocolates is 47% cocoa and this milk chocolate comes in at 46%, which is pretty close). That's exciting, then, the concept that they started off with just dark and now feel like they've found a comfortable way to approach milk.

And they who provide the milk are Swiss cows from open pastures in the Alpine Valleys. In case you were wondering.

The aroma is certainly rich and milky, as you might expect from milk chocolate that is both Swiss and of a higher cocoa content. The flavor, though, has kind of a dulled out cocoa taste, almost watery. That is to say, it isn't as rich as I tend to expect from a darker milk chocolate. Yet it also isn't quite as sweet as I'd expected from the aroma.

So what is it then if not chocolatey or sugary? Milky, I suppose. The mild dark chocolate flavor combined with this makes this chocolate bar not entirely unlike a scoop of chocolate ice cream. Which is not necessarily a bad thing, just not what I favor.

I do also notice a certain taste that makes me think of Hershey's, not so much a Hershey's bar but a Hershey's Kiss or something like that (the thickness makes a big difference for flavor). Along with the raw cane sugar, cocoa beans, cocoa butter, and whole milk, you will also find butterfat in the ingredients of this chocolate bar. And butterfat is of course something that Hershey's also uses. So perhaps it's that extra fatty milkiness that I'm tasting? Granted, it is better than a Hershey's bar. If you enjoy Hershey's, you'll probably quite like this one. The line at the bottom of the card box does after all, say "creamy nostalgic smooth." And Hershey's is nostalgic.

For myself, however, I'm less than thrilled about that association. Usually when I get a milk chocolate bar, I gobble it up much quicker than the dark chocolates. But this one has been sitting around for a few days without being attacked. Of course, Alter Eco still gets points for their positive values and ingredients and this chocolate is better than other fair trade milk chocolates on the market (am I pointing too closely at Equal Exchange?). It's worth trying out to see your personal opinion on it. But I'd much rather reach for something from Theo, for instance.

Alter Eco: Dark Salted Almonds

I'm returning this week with another flavored chocolate from Alter Eco; I always seem to buy Alter Eco bars in pairs now. And I find that, while I'm sometimes hesitant about buying flavored chocolate, I am enjoying Alter Eco's flavored bars. (Part of the reason for my hesitation may be that I know I can only save the plain chocolates to use in brownies and flourless chocolate cake, and I do like to always be ready to make either of the two recipes.)

The Dark Salted Almonds bar contains the same 70% cocoa dark chocolate as last week's Dark Salted Burnt Caramel had. This time the added ingredients are exactly what you would expect: small pieces of roasted almonds and some sea salt. The almonds are pretty visible from the back of the bar and even somewhat from the front. Here I do have to apologize for the ugly face of the chocolate; that was my fault. (Story time: I was out of town for a couple of days, so I left the air conditioning off, and this chocolate was in the cabinet, so of course it got warmer than it should have.)

There are quite a few almonds in here, probably more than I would have expected--and I'm glad. While small, the pieces aren't tiny; they're big enough that you can get the texture of that specific almond crunch. You can taste the salt fairly strongly, as well, which of course goes well with the almonds. In fact, the salt plus the plentitude of almonds makes this chocolate a little reminiscent of a peanut butter cup. That's definitely a nice effect.

Of course, at 70%, this chocolate is darker than what you'll find in most peanut butter cups (even the dark chocolate ones are usually lighter, often significantly so depending on the brand). It can even taste somewhat unsweet at first--or at least that's how I generally feel when chewing on dark chocolate versus letting it melt. But once I moved on to the second piece, I had adjusted and the chocolate became a nice and consistent base element for the almonds and salt. Those took more of my specific attention.

Once again, this was a pretty nice bar. It's good for snacking and munching. I want to call it something you could bring on a hike (almonds just make me think of hiking, I guess). Depending on the type of foods you buy, this can even be a replacement candy bar chocolate since it is reminiscent of peanut butter cups. Note that I use the word reminiscent loosely: it all depends what your taste buds are accustomed to. If you buy a lot of processed food and food with artificial ingredients, this probably won't remind you of peanut butter cups (not to say that you won't enjoy it--it'll just have a different effect). But if you're more into whole foods, this'll be a great indulgence.

Alter Eco: Dark Salted Burnt Caramel

After enjoying the caramel truffle from Stone Grindz so much last week, I had to pursue more caramel with this Dark Salted Burnt Caramel bar from Alter Eco. Caramel, however, can mean many things, and this chocolate bar was completely distinct and separate.

Once you unwrap the bar from the earthy orange card box and the silver foil, a wonderfully sweet and smooth caramel aroma emergences. It's reminiscent of the inside of a Lindor truffle--that same butteriness, just in smell instead of flavor.

This chocolate has, as you can see, a standard 70% cocoa content, Ecuadorian in origin. The salt inside is specifically Fleur de Sel de Guerande. And it looks like the caramel is made with butter and cream, among other ingredients. You can see dots of the caramel on the front of the ten square bar, though not really on the back. And yes, in case you missed the "deep salty crunch" description in small lettering on the label, this caramel is indeed crunchy, almost more like toffee. Not the same texture as toffee, but more like that than like the usual sticky caramels. This is what they mean by "burnt" caramel.

The first flavor to emerge is a little darkness from the chocolate; this isn't quite a bitter flavor, yet it is darker than what you might expect from a caramel chocolate. Then you start crunching into the little pieces of caramel and you taste the salt along with a mild buttery flavor. The effect of all the flavors isn't very sweet, and the salt is stronger than I'd expected.

So I did find that I had to readjust my expectations. I had to get used to the idea of a toasted, salted caramel. This is deep chocolate, as well. And while I say that there was more salt than I'd been expecting, I don't mean that as a complaint. Lately I've been coming across salted chocolate that doesn't have enough salt, so this bar came with a welcome balance of salty flavor. It's still just one flavor note in there, nothing to overtake everything else--yet there is enough of it. Just the right amount.

Now, while there are enough caramel pieces in the chocolate that you do get some with every bite and they do add a butteriness to the flavor, you can't expect them to affect the taste in the same way that a traditional caramel would. This is just a different experience. The chocolate provides a serious base and the caramel pieces add sweetness and a kind of milkiness--and the salt links the two together. I did need to get used to the effect at first, but once I did, I found this chocolate irresistible.

It's a unique chocolate--and yet one that doesn't feel odd or strange. The elements all feel familiar; they just come together in a singular way. The only other chocolate I can think of that was similar was Theo's Bread and Chocolate bar, which had salt in it and little pieces of crisped bread (instead of the toasted caramel here). Though it's been enough years since I had that one that I can't say how specifically similar these two bars are, I do remember loving Theo's Bread and Chocolate bar.

I'm also hooked on this Dark Salted Burnt Caramel. The caramel pieces mean it's a chocolate bar to munch through and chew (rather than letting each piece slowly melt), and both the salt and the caramel keep your taste buds asking for more.

Alter Eco: Dark Blackout

It's been a while since I reviewed anything from Alter Eco, and since World Market had all of Alter Eco's chocolate on sale a couple of weeks ago, I snagged this blue bar of 85% cocoa content chocolate, the Blackout bar. It's labeled to be "bittersweet cocoa" with "deep fruity intensity." I do tend to love chocolate in the 80% range, maybe especially after all of the mid-range chocolate I've been looking at lately.

Alter Eco is, of course, organic and fair trade. They have some info on the back about the cocoa, which is grown in Ecuador and then shipped to Switzerland for roasting and conching. That last bit is interesting; if I knew that Alter Eco (which is based out of San Francisco) made their chocolate (or at least this chocolate) in Switzerland, I had long since forgotten the fact. Start folding open the card box and you'll find some more info, specific to the co-ops that grow Alter Eco's cocoa and the trees that they plant in order to reinvigorate and support the rain forest. All very good; now let's move on.

This chocolate has a nice and dark smell, almost with those marshmallow notes to it. The taste is slightly red and almost bitter on first touch, then it develops a little more of a tang that melts outward into more bitterness that is soon replaced by a gentle deepness. Here the chocolate becomes cool and soft in taste and texture. It's fairly mild without lots of flavor notes of this or that; I would say they're kind of earthy notes, maybe like leather, just nice and simple. Mainly I find a deep chocolate taste with that accent of bitterness. It finishes with a taste of cocoa nibs, that deep blue flavor that you know is a little bitter but almost feels like it's sweet.

Sure, I probably wouldn't recommend this bar to milk chocolate lovers. It veers a little too close to the bitter edges of the dark side for that. Not all chocolate at 85% has the notes of bitterness that this chocolate has. But with that said, this also isn't a dries-your-mouth-out-with-stinging-bitterness type of bar. Not like a bitter Bonnat bar, for instance. If I recall correctly, these notes of bitterness still don't have the elegance of Patric Chocolate (it's been some years since I had their chocolate). This is more of a standard, deep, dark chocolate. Alter Eco is one of the brands that you see at many stores (World Market and Whole Foods among them). So this is a bar that you can count on: you can count on finding it and you can count on it delivering a certain type of taste.

I'm not sure it's my favorite. There are other brands that I prefer, and maybe that bitter twinge here is just a little too much for me. But I don't find that a complaint. This is a good bar of chocolate if you're looking for something truly dark. And it would also work well in recipes (I feel like I've been buying so many flavored chocolate bars lately that whenever I have a bar of plain chocolate I get excited at the idea that I can use it in case I have need to make flourless chocolate cake or brownies sometime in the near future). I perhaps haven't developed as much affection for the flavors of Alter Eco (though they do make wonderful truffles) as I have for another standard brand like Theo, but I equally support Alter Eco's approach and even if sometimes their flavors aren't as much my style, whatever products I've tried so far have been good and that isn't always the case with the "ethical" chocolate brands. Some of them I just avoid because I don't think they taste very good or are very good quality and therefore I don't see the point. So even if this sounded like a lukewarm review because I said this bar wasn't my favorite, I'm still counting my comments as positive.

Alter Eco: Velvet Truffle

Alter Eco is pretty smart with their truffles. Basically, they're the organic, fair trade version of Lindor truffles. Small, round, and individually-wrapped, they come in four flavors: Black (dark chocolate), Velvet (dark milk chocolate), Salted Caramel, and Sea Salt. I'm pretty sure I usually only see the first two for sale, though. The Black Truffles are in purple wrappers and the Velvet are in blue.

What is so convenient and enticing about these truffles is that stores will sell them individually (as sometimes the Lindor truffles are sold and sometimes Ghirardelli squares). So while you're out grocery shopping, you can just pick up one or two to have on your way home. It seems like such a simple thing, but this is a need that should be filled: small, quality, everyday treats are important options to have. It keeps you from wanting too many sweets and it keeps you from stopping somewhere else for KitKats or Entenmann's (I say somewhere else because, of course, it's Whole Foods, not Safeway or other grocery stores, that sells these truffles).

So. I appreciate the concept from Alter Eco. Good chocolate bars can be a great value because they can last a while, but little chocolates have their place, too.

I forget which of the two I prefer; I think sometimes I get one and sometimes the other. Today I'm going over the blue-wrapped Velvet Truffle (I may or may not do a separate review at some later point of the Black Truffle because, frankly, they're quite similar).

Each truffle is a round piece made of two halves put together; the seam runs around the circumference. If you cut open the globe, you'll find light lines outlining the shell that holds in a soft center barely distinguishable from the shell. In texture, you will indeed find yourself thinking of the Lindor truffles: these have that same cool and creamy meltiness. The inside vanishes so quickly, lightly, and sweetly--and then the shell follows soon after.

You wonder, for a second, if it's pretty much the same thing as a Lindor truffle. But, no, it's different--in a way that you can't quite place. Something besides just the chocolate.

The difference is the oil.

I know. I said oil. Oil generally isn't something you want to find in chocolate. But in order to have chocolates with a shelf life of longer than two weeks, well, they have to have some kind of oil. What Alter Eco has done, though, is clever. They've used coconut oil. Don't worry about getting an extra coconut flavor thrown in there: I'm not overly fond of the taste of coconut but it was a while before I realized that that's what's in these truffles. What the coconut oil does is keep the ingredients of good quality and help provide a very particular sort of texture.

Everyone is familiar with coconut oil by now, right, thanks to this latest coconut oil craze? So you know about how it's solid at room temperature but turns liquid if it's even just a tiny bit warmer? I'm not a chemist (this is why I have no interest anymore in making chocolate: it's too technical), but I would imagine that the type of oil you use does influence the final texture. So. I approve of the coconut oil--I think it's a great mix. (I've also seen recipes for making "chocolate" at home with coconut oil and cocoa powder, so I suppose it makes sense since everyone with those recipes seems so excited about them.)

Oh, yes, and you may have been wondering about the sweetness level, since this is the milk chocolate version of the truffle. Not too overly sweet--but sweet enough. Looks like there is a lot of extra cocoa butter added, so I'm not entirely sure why it's called "dark milk chocolate" (which I generally consider milk chocolate in the 45% cocoa content range that's just starting to get some of the depth and richness of dark chocolate). It's just milk chocolate--not too complicated in flavor. Fairly straightforward, in fact. So if you want more depth, maybe go with the Black Truffle instead. Milk chocolate lovers, though, you won't be disappointed by the Velvet Truffle.

Alter Eco: Brown Butter

What a wonderful day is today. A morning bike ride in this gorgeous, extended spring weather (I don't get it: February is usually the coldest month here--though there is a 40 degree difference in highs and lows for each day right now). I'm off to see Star Wars again this afternoon. And I have this bar of chocolate to ponder.

I have general good thoughts toward Alter Eco, though I was having trouble remembering the specific taste of any of their bars--until I realized that it's been years since I reviewed them. So I guess it was about time. It was the title of this bar ("Title?" I'm such a book person) that got my attention. Brown butter? For a chocolate bar? That reminds me of Theo's Bread and Butter bar that I reviewed several years ago. I just had to see what this one would be like.

The earthy yellow card box has the right balance of explaining the quality and content of the bar (organic, fair trade, non-GMO, 70% cocoa content) and also enticing you with imagery. Squares of chocolate sit next to partly melted squares of butter until they, too, look like squares of melting butter--until you can imagine them melting also in your mouth. Sweet but also a little salty from the white salt specks that are visible on top.

The actual chocolate (sealed in silver) does not have specks of salt. There are ten thin squares (or rectangles, to be more exact) with a fine texture and "Alter Eco" printed on them (there I go again with the book phrasing--the words were most certainly not printed on the chocolate). The smell is almost creamy, in a rich and lightly sweet sort of way. It reminds me much of Alter Eco's truffles (which I get sometimes by the register at Whole Foods and have been meaning to review but they somehow never last long enough to review--someday, though). So is this going to be like a truffle flattened out into a bar?

Pretty much. Wow, first you get a taste that is unmistakably butter, then the salt hits you, then the chocolate comes into more dominance. And then the salt proceeds to dance around the edges, while the butter forms a warm and melty center flavor and the chocolate holds it all together. I don't entirely understand it. The texture is just one smooth and cohesive melting chocolate: there is no filling or much of a feel of the grains of salt (you can sometimes tell that they're there, but not much: they're tiny and therefore melt quickly). And yet there is so much layered flavor.

The description on the back of the card box is titled "A Bar to Melt Over." It explains that this bar "proves the motto that everything is better with butter." The butter is made from cream sourced from grass-fed, Heritage Swiss cows (in fact, this bar is made in Switzerland, though Alter Eco is based out of San Francisco). And even though I never would have thought to combine butter with chocolate in this particular way, it works completely. Somehow the butter sweetens the dark chocolate and in a more enticing way than sugar does--and without taking away any of the richness. In fact, butter tends to add richness rather than reduce it.

The cocoa, in case you were wondering, is sourced from Ecuador, and the salt is Fleur de Sel de Guerande. And when you open up the box, a little note asks you to read inside about how this bar is restoring the rain forest. I do appreciate when boxes are designed this way: it allows you to get info without having to go on a company's website but it also keeps the outside of the box clear for information about the flavor profile of the chocolate (because if a chocolate doesn't taste good, then it doesn't help much that it's eco-friendly because you're not interested in getting it, anyway).

I'd like to see more flavored bars like this. Essentially it's a very casual chocolate, something you can enjoy when you don't want to sit quietly and think about flavor notes--and it's also quite good. And in a way, it's almost like a substitute for a truffle for those of us who can't get their hands on many truffles. I would put this bar in a category near Theo's Creamy Milk Chocolate, something that I would want to share with people knowing that they would really enjoy it.