Sprouts: Milk Chocolate

Let me start off by saying that I highly recommend reading this article that I came across recently. It addresses what people mean when we talk about fair trade chocolate, both the important need for it and the problems that still persist even with chocolate that does have a fair trade label. I've been experiencing slight burn-out from chocolate reviewing in the past few months. I'm not as interested in trying new chocolate and I feel like I've already said what I have to say. And it's, frankly, difficult in between all the rest of a regular life to have time to find new chocolate and review that chocolate. It partly takes away my enjoyment of chocolate. And I also question why I am consuming chocolate with such regularity as one new product a week when part of my philosophy around pursuing fair trade chocolate would also be to consume less cocoa.

So if I have been reviewing less chocolate lately, partly it's because life gets busy but it is also for all of these reasons. Reading that article only further reinforced all of these thoughts.

However, chocolate reviewing is so much a part of what I do after a whole decade of it. So I'm continuing on with it. Maybe I'll go down to a review every other week; maybe I'll keep it at once a week. We'll see. Either way, I'm going to try and stop seeing it as a pressure and simply as a hobby, one that I pursue while sticking to my self-imposed rules a little better than I have been doing of late.

The next two bars I'll be reviewing come from Sprouts Farmers Market. I don't overly care for Sprouts (Natural Grocers is my store of choice). It's like a bigger Trader Joe's (I do shop a little there, too, and it used to be my main store, but now it isn't quite what I want); they have some good things, but also some things that just aren't quite what I seek. That being said, they do have enough values that their store brand chocolate is organic and fair trade. I don't know for how long they've had store brand chocolate since I don't shop there often enough to know, but this was the first time I had seen it.

As you'll know if you've read that article (or if you were already familiar with the fair trade system), having a fair trade label, well, sometimes it only means so much. But I still pursue the labels (or simply information about the specific cocoa farms and working with the farmers and all of that) because it's at least some progress and effort.

The blue packing is pretty and basic at the same time, with a traditional look that could be in either a good way or a bad way. I'm not sure which. It reminds me of dish soap and Andes mints. The chocolate is quite pretty, though, with starbursts on the light brown squares.

Perhaps disappointingly, the aroma is not entirely unlike Hershey's. That buttery, milky, sweet scent. But is that truly a bad thing? Look at how much Hershey's chocolate sells; people like it. So why wouldn't that be a style for a store brand to emulate?

Moving into taste, though, the chocolate is a little different from Hershey's. It's very Swiss. Yes, it has that intense creaminess and milkiness, but it also has a hit of rich cocoa that Hershey's does not offer but that Swiss milk chocolate tends to. There is no vanilla in here, which is surprising for store brand chocolate, and yet there is a deep taste as of vanilla.

It isn't one to wow the palate, but it's a nice, creamy milk chocolate for when you want milk chocolate. As more chocolate is coming with some kind of fair trade label, such chocolate is becoming more readily available and so the range of things that I can review is in fact increasing. So I'm still finding things to review even as I miss out on the artisan chocolates. It's nice but also sad: I'm not having as much of that artisan chocolate and while the system is improving, it's only improving slightly and yet in such a way that we're imaging the problems are all fixed when they're not.

So that's where I am right now when it comes to chocolate--and this bar was probably the perfect way of illustrating to you where my headspace is right now.

Chocolate Chocolate Chocolate Company: Waffle Cone Caramel Milk Chocolate

Back to the shelves of World Market. Currently they're selling some offerings from a company named Chocolate Chocolate Chocolate Company. I'll say it once and then no more: I do think that name is a bit ridiculous. While the Waffle Cone Caramel Milk Chocolate that I chose to try first didn't appeal to me too much in the store, at home it is in fact rather appetizing as a dessert milk chocolate.

The style of the card box has quite a bit going on but tends to look simpler than it is because of all the neutral tones: white, tan, and brown. The food photography is fine. I do like that the Fair Trade logo is there but the packaging otherwise doesn't make a big deal out of it (the company converted to fair trade chocolate in 2014, a decision I'd love to continue see happening with more companies). I don't, however, like the "craft chocolate" label up on top: it should be obvious from a chocolate's traits, not its labels, that it's craft chocolate (and actually I don't know that I would call this bar craft chocolate, so trying to call it something that it isn't hurts my impression of a product rather than improves it).

Inside of the box, the chocolate bar comes in a clear wrapper instead of foil. On one side, you can see a solid surface divided into eight squares. On the other side, there are sprinkles of ice cream cone pieces. The look of the clear wrapper plus the sprinkled cone reminds me of those chocolate bars that you can "design" yourself (you know, the ones where you go online and choose what ingredients you want them to throw on top). Or of chocolate bark. This is neither good nor bad.

The aroma? Vanilla, like the chocolate in a confection shop, all sweet and nostalgic like that scent on Main Street, USA in Disneyland. Ah, I do love Disneyland.

There is a surprise when you bite into this chocolate. No "the caramel flavor comes from the vanilla in the chocolate." No "crunchy caramel" that's more like toffee. No, no. Here there is in fact caramel inside of the bar. The caramel is inside of each square; it doesn't quite reach to the edges of the squares, so think of it as similar to the Caramel Ghirardelli Squares. I don't come across this use of caramel often. It's more of a candy bar approach to a chocolate bar, I guess, and yet it's for that very reason that I like the style.

In fact, I like the entire concept of this bar much more than I thought I would. The caramel gives you some chewy texture and some flavor for those moments when you don't get as much crunch from the pieces of cone (which, as you can see, aren't exactly evenly sprinkled since they sit away from the edges). The solid chocolate edges of the squares give you a little extra vanilla chocolate time for variation to it all. I just wish it all tasted better.

Don't get me wrong; it doesn't taste bad. It just doesn't taste great. The taste is nice as a casual chocolate, something you can eat quickly when it's a confection-type experience you want. But I just wish it were better. The chocolate is very light (there is no listed cocoa percentage), so it tastes more like sugar and vanilla than chocolate; this is, however, typical for confections. The caramel tastes similar to the caramel in Rolos, though certainly better and not nearly as rock hard as those candies tend to be. The ice cream cone pieces are typical ice cream cones: crunchy without much particular flavor. I think I'm fine with how the caramel is, though, and even the cone; it's the chocolate that I need to be better.

With that said, I'll still happily eat the rest of this bar, and if someone gave me another one I'd probably get excited to eat it, as well. Because we all do like to eat sweets sometimes and since I don't buy a lot of other sweets, milk chocolate is one of my sweets. I do think that the concept of this bar works well; if you look at it as a confection, it's good. If the chocolate were a little better, then the concept would be elevated into the gourmet candy bar type of zone.

ChocXO: 37% Milk Chocolate

Some chocolates are like people: you have the feeling that you already know them, or at least that they remind you very much or someone else you once knew. That's how ChocXO's 37% cacao Milk Chocolate is: so familiar, like something I have tasted before but can't quite place. 

In the town of Carlsbad, about 45 minutes above San Diego, is a place called The Chocolate Bar; they sell coffees and hot chocolates, desserts, truffles, and an assortment of other candies and chocolates. There I found a selection from ChocXO, a company based out of Irvine, CA that I had never heard of and therefore had to investigate into. This was one of those occasions where I felt inclined to choose the milk chocolate over the dark chocolate. I can't say why exactly; that was just what I felt like choosing. Anyways, a milk chocolate is generally as good of a marker of a company's talents as a dark chocolate. 

As usual when a chocolate has to travel home with me, this poor little 40 gram bar went through a little wear on the way, and yet when I unwrapped it I still found it quite a sight. Is it just me that thinks this chocolate is a beauty? The design is simple: nine rectangles divided by criss-cross lines in alternating directions. Yet I find it perfect. Maybe it's because I like chocolate bars that divide into small pieces, and yes, you can break this chocolate along all the lines to create a set of 18 little triangles if you so choose. 

Strongly fragrant, this chocolate tastes of vanilla, resulting in a caramel nuttiness that reminds me so much of another chocolate. I just can't be quite sure of which one. Or maybe that should be plural: the taste may be the flavor generally belonging to generic milk chocolates sold in the U.S. that are labeled as being made in Belgium. Yes, I think that may be it: that high vanilla content and that nuttiness, that's where I've tasted them before. 

I don't mean exactly to call this bar a generic chocolate. Because here is the thing: this is bean to bar chocolate made with all organic ingredients. Just cane sugar, cocoa butter, milk powder, cocoa paste, and vanilla. And that's the preferred way for chocolate to be, whether you're craving a complex dark chocolate one time or a simple milk chocolate another time. It's important that chocolate can be made with quality and integrity no matter if it is intended to be complex or simple. This is a simple milk chocolate, creamy and sweet, and yet it is made with organic ingredients. Though I keep calling it "simple," this is a stellar replacement for candy bar chocolate and yet it'll still satisfy those cravings for something sweet, while also being a better thing to purchase.

Yes, I paid $4 for 40 grams, but you can easily split this bar into three sections if you find the price a little high. And ChocXO is smart for keeping the bar size down: $4 is less intimidating than $8 for a larger, 80 gram bar. 

The milk chocolate passes the test. Now I find myself curious about the dark chocolates that I left behind--but it isn't as if I can rush back to Carlsbad for them. Until next time then. 

Theo: Congo Coffee & Cream

It's been too long since I had any Theo chocolate. I hadn't realized how much I'd missed their products until I unwrapped this bar and delighted in its markings (really, doesn't Theo have a great logo?) and then in its specific flavor. This is their Congo Coffee & Cream milk chocolate, which comes in a nice and solid 45% cacao. I love a deep milk chocolate.

As you can see from the bar's wrapper, this chocolate was made with coffee from Eastern Congo; a portion of sales also goes to the Eastern Congo Initiative. All the ingredients are organic and everything except for the milk powder is marked as fair trade. And there are, of course, only a few ingredients. So now that we have all the ethics and quality down, let's move on to taste.

It's called a Coffee & Cream bar, which implies something sweet and milky, despite the high (for milk chocolate) cocoa content. But remember, Theo is the one who does that lovely Creamy Milk Chocolate bar, which also happens to be 45%. I love that bar and it's one of my favorite, easily-accessible chocolates to share with other people. So the Coffee & Cream, it would seem, uses the same chocolate, just with the addition of coffee. The resulting flavor is like a perfect cafe mocha (you know, coffee with chocolate in it).

The chocolate is rich and warm without a hint of darkness, very creamy and yet not very sweet. The coffee, well, it's in those fine pieces; maybe it isn't so fine as ground coffee, but it's close enough that if you let the chocolate melt away, you'll be left with strange coffee grains in your mouth. So I would recommend more of a chewing approach; that'll also be the best way to blend the coffee flavor with the chocolate.

It's quite something to take an existing idea (creamy, rich milk chocolate) and combine it successfully with another flavor. Everything balances together. Because it's a milk chocolate, this bar is like a semi-sophisticated confection (I don't, however, mean that it's mediocre confection quality). It has enough milky and sugar flavors to remind you of candy chocolate, but then it has that edge of richness from the higher cocoa content and the darker flavor of the coffee. So it satisfies a few different kinds of cravings at once. Well done, Theo. I'm happy.

Clever Candy: Halloween Milk Chocolate

I wish I were going to get a free bag full of candy tomorrow . . . in costume, I could probably pass for under twelve, anyway, right? I should do that sometime, pretend I'm eleven and go trick-or-treating. Since, however, acting half my age is not in my plan for tomorrow, I have to get my own candy. One bar of chocolate that has come into my ownership is this milk chocolate from Clever Candy, distributed by Nassau Candy.

While the paper wrapper is standard Halloween fare, I'm pausing over the tagline at the bottom: "Milk chocolate to share with your dark side." On Chocablog, we used to talk about the Dark Side in reference to (usually very dark) dark chocolate. So maybe that's why it sounds odd to me to talk about the dark side in reference to milk chocolate. But I think what the line is supposed to mean is that it's sweet chocolate to bring out your good side and banish away the bad/dark side. A cute-style approach to Halloween.

The chocolate is a lovely bar of ten smooth squares. While the vanilla is artificial (why? why?), there aren't any added oils and such. It's perhaps less melty and greasy than Hershey's, but fairly akin in flavor. Those sweet caramel notes are there, but maybe accompanied by a little more of a nutty flavor than you get with Hershey's. 

Yes, it's still sweet and it's still candy before chocolate, but it's okay. It's okay as my version of Halloween candy since no one is going to be giving away a free bagful to me.

Theo: Gingerbread Spice Milk Chocolate

While I do like to name Amano chocolate as one of the best, when I'm sending people to a good chocolate that they might actually be able to find in a store, Theo is a brand to choose. Whole Foods and similar stores usually carry Theo, and at around $3 for a fairly large bar, it isn't expensive for good quality and organic, fair trade chocolate. And I much prefer Theo's offerings to those of brands like Endangered Species. 

You know how delighted I become at finding holiday offerings of chocolate, not just candy. Theo has chosen a good route: this bar is still in their standard size, but is a holiday flavor with a well-decorated holiday wrapper. There is just a touch of color to the brown with the red, blue, and white, and just a touch of vintage accents the gingerbread man, houses, and trees. There was also a Coconut Mint bar, but I passed it by since it had coconut (online, you'll also find Nutcracker Brittle and Peppermint Stick). The Gingerbread Spice, however, felt right at home on my little Christmas tree with a dinosaur and a beaded elephant for friends.

I'm used to most of Theo's bars having a very plain mold with no markings and about four or five rectangular pieces. But this one has eight squares, each marked with the Theo logo; I'm not sure if this is a new design or simply the mold for the holiday bars. I do, though, love this reminder of how perfect the finish is on Theo's chocolate. It's highly glossy without having the plastic shine. It's gorgeous, really. 

Now, I don't know if you know this, but I've been making gingerbread cookies every Christmas for at least seven years now. Hardly anyone makes them anymore, and store ones just don't taste right. So I have some familiarity with how a good gingerbread cookie should taste. But I suppose Theo's bar isn't a Gingerbread Cookie bar; it's Gingerbread Spice. Aptly, then, chocolate and ginger are the primary flavors. But what, you ask, is wrong with Gingerbread tasting like ginger? Nothing, except that gingerbread cookies also taste strongly of molasses. There is no molasses element in this bar, unless of course you count the chocolate; I think that Theo did intend the chocolate to take the place of the molasses. Both chocolate and molasses are rich and sweet. So the translation from gingerbread cookie to gingerbread chocolate is not exact, but it works because one element (the chocolate) comes in to take the place of the other (the molasses). There are also cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, and cardamom, but while they do add in the proper accents, they're background flavors in comparison to the ginger. 

A word more on the chocolate. You'll note that I called both chocolate and molasses rich and sweet. This is milk chocolate, but it's 45% cocoa, which is definitely on the upper percentage end of milk chocolate. Some companies (I won't name names) will even call percentages like that dark chocolate. Theo happens to make a delightful dark, milk chocolate. So whatever spices are added onto this bar, you know it has a good base. The chocolate is smooth and pure, creamy in its richness, and cool against the warmth of the spices. The ginger gives the bar a bite, so it's nice to be able to temper it with the sweet richness of the chocolate. 

Theo, you've done well once again. My holiday spirit is glad. 

Callebaut: Milk Chocolate

There has been a pretty steady downpour of rain all day. While the clouds are pretty, so much darkness is almost-depressing to those used to sunshine. So I come seeking solitude in chocolate. And not just any chocolate is this, but a special block I have been saving. It just so happens to be Barry Callebaut chocolate from New Frontiers in Sedona. 

Now, I have heard of Callebaut chocolate; I have heard that it is wonderful and that some of the talented chocolate makers use it as base for their chocolates and truffles. But I have never had any myself, so naturally I was delighted to find this block. And it is always such a delight to taste a respected chocolate brand for the first time. New Frontiers packages this chocolate up in clear wrap and sells them for about $10. Given that little Amano bars can be about that price, this really isn't that expensive: the block is thick and sturdy. It would be nice to use in a recipe where you need quality. But it is also nice broken up by a knife and served on a plate in small shavings. Perhaps at a Christmas party or Thanksgiving dinner?

Sorry, sorry, I just had to display my new turkey plate from World Market; I love turkeys and I love chocolate, so I had to love them together. But picture, instead of a painted turkey, a small dessert or a piece of fruit in the center of the chocolate rim. How elegant that would be. Don't let yourself be limited by the bulk size of this chocolate block or others like it: they can still be pretty. 

Setting my turkeys aside, I must also address the chocolate. It's milk chocolate, with no cocoa content listed. But it can't be any higher than 42%, and I don't think it's even that high. Perhaps around 38% cocoa? The first piece I slipped in my mouth struck me with the smoothness of its melting. As soon as it touches your tongue, it begins to melt; there is absolutely no hint of graininess in this absolute luxury. It melts so well that eating it is almost like sipping hot chocolate. The richness of the flavor is what provides the warmth; there are vanilla and caramel notes mixed in with complete softness. It's possible that the aftertaste is marshmallows. Is it worth the wait? Oh, yes. In fact, I might even consider serving some up with Thanksgiving dessert on Thursday, perhaps on this very turkey plate. Don't you worry, pumpkin pie: I won't replace you, just accent you. 

Copper Monkey: Milk Chocolate

"I wish there were somewhere to get a salad or something. I'm not hungry yet, but there are just dirty fast food places up ahead."

Words, more or less, spoken by me two months ago on the drive back from California. It's easy to bring lunch on the way over, but harder for the way back. So our attempt to not end up with gross (even for fast food) fast food led us to a little grocery/deli place, where we picked up food to go and a couple of extra items. Chocolate, it goes without saying, was one of those extra items. 

I'm always on the lookout for new chocolate companies, and I had never seen or heard of Copper Monkey Chocolate Factory before. The company is Australian, so whether or not they are still working on a U.S. presence or are just entirely new, I'm not sure. Their snazzy-looking website gives little information. Nor does their card box, which just lists an explanation of Rainforest Alliance certification and the company's use of fine ingredients--without exactly saying much about those ingredients, I might add. But I move ahead of myself. 

Let's return to that card box. While I'm not a fan of advertising products solely on ethical claims (although a company should certainly be able to make those claims), somehow the way that Copper Monkey uses those claims works okay. All of that text on the lower half of the box is explaining what the Rainforest Alliance does (I actually didn't know that it strives to help the people, too; I thought it was just about the environment, although people are certainly part of the environment). But it's in a light brown print that blends into the dark brown background. So you can read it if you want, but it doesn't burst out into your face. The focus is more on the "100% Australian Made." And that's interesting: there aren't a huge amount of Australian chocolate companies, especially ones that make it overseas. The Copper Monkey logo, against an image like a sign, is industrial and raw, while the blue monkey is silly and fun. Those two sides pair well. It's a funny and serious tone at the same time. 

Given that it took me so long to get to this bar and that the Best By date is already next month, I wasn't expecting it to be in top condition when I peeled away the foil wrapper. But the wrapper is a sealed one, like Lindt uses. So besides a couple of little bumps, the bar was still in good condition. No bloom, no melted sections, nothing. A couple of little bubbles in the mold give it a handmade look, and you know I like the small square size. The forty little squares are just the right size for a chocolate bite. They may look small, but the bar is thick enough that it works well.

Especially for a 32% cocoa content milk chocolate, the texture is a little hard. But this may be because it isn't the newest. Even after chewing somewhat, it still melts on the slow side for a milk chocolate; not that I mind. The mouthfeel might be ever so slightly gritty, though not to a bad point. Maybe it's the monkey on the card box, but I keep thinking of bananas when I eat this chocolate. While milk chocolate frequently tastes like vanilla and caramel, I'm getting a more sprightly edge to the caramel here that gives this bar quite a unique flavor. It must be due to the cacao origin (which Copper Monkey has simply ignored supplying); I have had chocolate with banana notes before. Whether or not I'm making up the banana thing, this chocolate does have a nice flavor. For only 32%, it isn't overly sweet and the flavor is fairly layered. 

Along with Theo's Creamy Milk Chocolate (which is 45% cacao), I would feed this to the uninitiated-into-quality-chocolate milk chocolate lover. Now hand me a spoon so that I can eat the rest of this hefty, 200 gram chocolate bar.