Rust General Store: Rum Candies

While in the Historic Old Town District of San Diego, one of the places that I like to visit is Rust General Store. They sell soap and things and food products like spices and tea and candy and chocolate. I felt like there was less chocolate this time than before, but I think it was the same. It just wasn't new to me anymore. Still, one can't pass up opportunities to buy chocolate that one doesn't always come across, so I picked up another bar from Eclipse Chocolate and some of Rust's chocolate candies.

Last time I was there, I chose the Rose Petal Savories. This time I switched from girly to the perhaps more masculine option of Rum. And, you know, it's candy, so why not go for something reckless?

These are little round pieces of shiny chocolate like before, except that these came in a small rectangular container versus the larger pouch from last time. I did find a surprise when I attacked the first one: I found a sugary coating inside the chocolate that held a liquid inside. I realized I'd been expecting for the rum element to just be blended in with the chocolate.

Besides the fact that I hadn't expected anything liquid, I also found this odd because usually I associate the liquid alcohol-flavored chocolates with the ones that you need to be 21 and over to purchase. There were, however, no such restrictions for this one. This liquid tastes alcohol-y to me, but must not really be much, after all. Maybe they just overdosed the vanilla extract on purpose, eh? (And I can't look at the ingredients list for help because there is in fact no ingredients list.)

The overall taste is definitely better than that of the aforementioned 21 and over chocolate candies (the ones that are usually shaped like little bottles). The alcohol element in those just tastes weird to me and the chocolate is ridiculously cheap. This chocolate is better. It's more of what I want to call average chocolate but is in fact a little above average (average chocolate, unfortunately, means bad chocolate). The sugary coating throws me off a bit, though it does help to give that sweet rum effect.

Probably I personally preferred the Rose Petal Savories. And sure, a handmade rum truffle would beat these easy. Yet they're nice little nibbles, something to share as dessert perhaps.

Rust General Store: Rose Petal Savories

As I was referencing before I left, I just spent some time in California, mainly around Anaheim and the San Diego-ish area. While out there I bought tea, chocolate, wood (I'll explain when I do my August Favorites), Disney pins, more tea, and more chocolate. I thought I hadn't been buying much chocolate, but when it was all over I counted three (4-piece) boxes of truffles, four chocolate bars, various candies with chocolate in them, and these Rose Petal Savories. I plan to review everything except for the candies (some of which I have already eaten and none of which I would have much to say about).

I'm starting with the simplest and most casual, which also happens to be from one of my favorite stores in San Diego. The Historic Old Town District is a beautiful area with old buildings that now house different types of stores. I like the candy store and the main museum store and one corner of the Marketplace store and the Rust General Store. If you love old things and food and old-looking food (that sounds bad . . .) and good food products, you'll love this store. They have a good chocolate selection, some nice candies and mints, lots of sauces and spices, local soaps, honey, and that sort of thing. And they're one of the most historical-looking stores even in the historic district. I get so excited in there that I literally don't know the price of these savories: they weren't marked and I didn't ask when I paid (I had a lot of things and I figured they wouldn't be more than $15 and would therefore be low enough that I would be willing to pay for them). 

Certainly you've gathered by now that I'm fond of rose as a scent and as a flavor. So while this style of chocolate candy doesn't interest me as much as a plain chocolate bar I've never tried before, the fact that one of the flavors for sale was rose petal had me. And, you know, it makes more sense to buy something like this at a store like that, too: while rose is still used as a flavor, it isn't used as often (in the U.S. at least) as it once was. Kind of a shame, really: rose is so soft and ladylike, floral but also almost fruity.

The clear plastic box (which is really more like a pouch than a box) could be more interesting looking but it serves its purpose and has a handy top that opens and closes easily--being someone who doesn't like to eat a chocolate or candy all in one sitting, I appreciate the ability to close a package again after opening. The pouch is about 5 by 3.5 inches and so is able to hold many little chocolate circles. 

Coated thinly in shine, the savories are a light dark chocolate with a full rose petal flavor. The rose is as a strong as a bite of Turkish Delight and has the flavor of rose water (as opposed to other possible "rose" flavors). Dark enough to form a base for the rose flavor, the chocolate still steps back to let the rose take center stage, and that's the right way for it to be. 

I like them best two or three at a time, truly as "savories" and not so much as candies. They're not quite truffles--but maybe they're something like after dinner mints: little tidbits of full flavor to enjoy in small doses in quiet moments. They'd be perfect for putting in a mint tin to keep in your purse, or just for keeping in your desk (my favorite place for both candy and chocolate).