Chocolate

[Athena]

Surprised we didn't have a thread for this already. Let's talk about all cacao bean related products!

[Athena]

1 minute ago, StatisticalOutlier said:

I'm scared.  People who are chocolate snobs connoisseurs can really look own on those of us who like our chocolate light and sweet.

*nudges* Don't be. I think chocolate of all kinds... including white is welcome in this thread.

15 hours ago, StatisticalOutlier said:

Target also sells Ritter milk chocolate. 

I also don't like strong chocolate, and my favorite is from Switzerland:  Cailler milk chocolate.  I first got it there 30 years ago, and it was grocery store chocolate.  Very smooth and sweet.  Then I found out they sold it at Macy's in NYC, where I'd stock up when there, but they stopped many years ago, so I've gone without.  But then I had a friend who went to Switzerland last year and I had her bring some back.  It was just as good as I'd remembered.

But at the same time, I was hitting some Canadian Walmarts in Montreal and Quebec City (and maybe Toronto--I can't remember for sure), where I saw they had a Great Value (Walmart brand) milk chocolate for $1 for a 100-gram bar (about 3 ounces--about twice the size of a regular candy bar in the U.S.).  Dirt cheap, so I gave it a shot and it was really good.

So I did a blind taste test among Ritter, Cailler, and Great Value.  When I tasted the Ritter near the others, I definitely didn't like it as much as the others.  Much better than anything else readily available, but I try not to eat indulgent things if I don't absolutely love them.

What was very surprising was that it was pretty much a tie between the Cailler and the Great Value.  The GV does say "product of Switzerland" on the label, but still...I'm shocked.

But of course the Great Value is available only in Canadian Walmarts, and I can confirm only ones in Montreal and Quebec.  I found it on the Walmart Canada website, although they don't ship to addresses outside Canada.  But here's what it looks like:

http://www.walmart.ca/en/ip/great-value-milk-chocolate-bar/6000192235381

And, hello!  It turns out Cailler started selling on Amazon in the U.S. late last year.  The story I read says they're positioning themselves as a high-end chocolate, but I think that might be just new marketing because my friend didn't balk at the cost of bringing me a bunch of it, and I know it was cheap when I bought it there myself, and not grossly expensive at Macy's.  It's owned by Nestle.

And they're pricing it like a high-end chocolate:  $17.95 for a 100-gram bar, but that includes free shipping to the U.S. from Germany. 

https://www.amazon.com/Cailler-880094-CAILLER-MILK-100G/dp/B004W0Z3ZQ/

When I was trying to decide whether to bug my friend to bring me some, I found other sites to order it from in Europe, but the shipping was so high I decided to bug my friend. 

I'm bummed.  I had 10 bars of the Great Value and 5 of of the Cailler, and I'm down to one of each (I'd actually forgotten about them).  I was all excited to see the GV on the Walmart website, and to find out Cailler was available on Amazon.  But the devil is in the details.  But if you're in Canada or know somebody there who'll ship them or you, at $1/bar, it's definitely worth a try.

Great post by the way. I am rarely at Wal-Mart but I am in Canada and close to La Belle Province, I'll keep an eye out.

I love chocolate, lived in Europe, and bake regularly with chocolate and cocoa powder. I have tried many brands and different levels. I was in Germany last year and went to the Ritter store where you can design your own bar. It's really fun. I also bought a lot of chocolate including variety packs. I tried all their milk chocolate. I have to say that I really like their 70% dark and up. Maybe even more so than the Lindt dark varieties. A lot of the Ritter milk is a tad too sweet and I think I prefer Swiss milk chocolate.

White chocolate is not my favourite, but I have had some decent versions of it in Europe notably in posh specialty stores.

[MargeGunderson]

White chocolate is my favorite. There, I said it. Please throw all of your white chocolate at me.

[scriggle]

Dark chocolate. Milk Chocolate. White Chocolate. Yeah, I'll take all of them.

I do like Ritter milk chocolate.  When I was in the UK years ago I came back with probably 10lbs of Cadbury milk chocolate.

[Sandman87]

Chocolate, yes! Not a big fan of white chocolate or anything with nuts though.

The crap they put in the candy bars at the supermarket checkout is not chocolate, I don't care what the FDA rules allow them to claim.

Best chocolate I've ever had was in a little place that was owned by a German-Swiss couple who were friends of my folks - Chocolate mousse made from imported chocolate, with imported dark chocolate chunks in it.

[GreekGeek]

My favorite is--wait for it--Hershey's milk chocolate. Talk about getting a bum rap from chocolate sophisticates! I like its slight tang. European milk chocolates aren't bad by any means, but I find them a bit too sweet and hazelnut-tasting. I like dark chocolate for baking, though.

[vavera4ka]

I'm not too much of a chocoholic lol I like to say that my sweet tooth was removed when I was 9 and this very nice German family that hosted me for a month on Christmas overfed me with sweets lol

My choice of poison though is Lindt, especially their truffles. The store opened at a mall that's about half an hour away from me, and they also have a hot chocolate bar where they infuse their coffee and HC with their truffle flavors. I'm glad i'm not a chocoholic lol

Halloween candy is Kit Kat or gtfo lol

Milka bars are good too, but I can at most eat one row lol to sweet and too rich

Out of American chocolate, not gonna say no to Ghirardelli, but will throw hersheys back at the person who gave it to me lol

I also really liked stuff from Seroogy's - Wisconsin chocolatier

 

also... white chocolate is not chocolate lol *hides*

Edited September 23, 2016 by vavera4ka

[StatisticalOutlier]

On 9/22/2016 at 10:33 AM, Athena said:

Great post by the way. I am rarely at Wal-Mart but I am in Canada and close to La Belle Province, I'll keep an eye out.

I'm remembering that I know I got Walmart chocolate in Ottawa (actually, Gatineau).  What I can't recall is if that's where I bought my 10 bars of it because I found out about it before that, or if that's where I discovered it and I bought more in Montreal or Quebec City. 

(I hate Walmart, but I go when I'm in Canada because the product mix is different and I find new stuff (witness: the chocolate), although I'm now wondering if it's worth it to find something I like that I can't get once I leave.  Grocery stores in that area also carried bags of frozen green beans and carrots that I loved, and that I've been unable to find in the U.S. (they ALWAYS have peas here) except at Hannaford stores in New England.  And the milk in bags in Canada--that took some getting used to.)

Back to chocolate:  I just found one remaining bar of the Walmart chocolate and one of the Cailler in my pantry.  I'm not sure I can even enjoy eating them knowing they're the last ones.

My post quoted above mentioned how I eat indulgent things only if I really love them.  So chocolate chip cookies?  I don't eat them because I don't love semi-sweet chocolate chips.  (I like my recipe for ones with milk chocolate chips, but I can't be trusted to have cookie dough in the house.) 

M&Ms?  I'll eat peanut ones, but only if they've been left on a dashboard to get melty (or put in the microwave for 1:05 for one of those little bags with something like 8 of them in there).  Reese's cups?  Only if they've been in the refrigerator.

I like chocolate, but I don't looooooove it.  That's probably why I like the light sweet stuff.  I got a giant thing of toffee at Costco once and would use my front teeth to chip off the chocolate (it comes off in a sheet if you do it right), leaving only a little bit of chocolate around the edges.  That was the chocolate : toffee ratio I liked.

But I like fudge, which has  a pretty intense flavor.  But I don't know if that's even chocolate, now that I think about it.

[NewDigs]

On September 21, 2016 at 9:30 PM, Mittengirl said:

The dark chocolates that Aldi's sells are very good, especially their Moser Roth brand dark chocolate with orange and almond.  

Ikea makes (sells) a decent bar of dark chocolate. Surprisingly good and I think it was only 99 cents.

I'm a darker-the-better chocolate person but still once in a while enjoy a Hershey's with almonds. And the Hershey's Special Dark is quite good. 

Right now I have a bag Ghirardelli's Intense Dark Sea Salt Soiree individual squares. They sometimes help with portion control.

And World's Finest is, imho, not. Bought a bar from a friend's kid (school fundraiser) but remembered them being much better. But I'm sure my buds have changed too.

[NewDigs]

4 minutes ago, forumfish said:

Portion control? Chocolate? *falls off chair laughing*

If you hurt yourself I just happen to have a square, or two, of Ghiardelli's that might help.

Hey! I said "sometimes". lol

[NewDigs]

7 hours ago, forumfish said:

Ghiradelli's always helps! I always say that chocolate is my drug of choice.

I'm not even a huge chocolate lover but I went into work one day totally stressed out and a woman I worked with told me to run across the street and get a Snickers or something. I thought she was nuts but... Worked!

Lindt makes some dark choco truffle things that are really good. Smoooth.

[Lovecat]

On 9/24/2016 at 4:33 PM, NewDigs said:

Right now I have a bag Ghirardelli's Intense Dark Sea Salt Soiree individual squares. They sometimes help with portion control.

I imagine it would, because 1 bag = 1 portion, right?  RIGHT?!??

[NewDigs]

On September 24, 2016 at 7:03 PM, forumfish said:

Portion control? Chocolate? *falls off chair laughing*

 

4 hours ago, Lovecat said:

I imagine it would, because 1 bag = 1 portion, right?  RIGHT?!??

Note to self: If in the company of PTVers hide the chocolate.

[MargeGunderson]

On September 24, 2016 at 4:33 PM, NewDigs said:

Right now I have a bag Ghirardelli's Intense Dark Sea Salt Soiree individual squares. They sometimes help with portion control.

Me too! I am only eating dark chocolate these days (less sugar) and one piece is all I need. Now, if it was white chocolate, all bets are off.

[Blergh]

I always go for dark chocolate (the closer to that 99% number, the better). To those who say chocolate isn't 'healthy' ,we need to keep in mind that it started out as a bean just like tofu!

[woodscommaelle]

Hershey's Kisses are my favorite.  Used to be M&Ms but since I started Weight Watchers they just don't taste the same to me.

Edited November 2, 2016 by woodscommaelle

[MsTree]

Best chocolate in the world is Ethel M's.  Once you try it, everything else fails in comparison.

[JTMacc99]

18 hours ago, woodscommaelle said:

Hershey's Kisses are my favorite.  Used to be M&Ms but since I started Weight Watchers they just don't taste the same to me.

Heh. Now that I've moved to maintaining my weight, I'm less militant about logging in food. But I did go ahead and look up fun size Milky Way bars, after I ate one, and discovered that two of them equal 9 points. That's like my entire lunch on a normal day. That's like two beers. If I'm going to hit the chocolate (or beer), I'm going to go for the good stuff. 

Which, actually, is exactly what do. 

[woodscommaelle]

35 minutes ago, JTMacc99 said:

Heh. Now that I've moved to maintaining my weight, I'm less militant about logging in food. But I did go ahead and look up fun size Milky Way bars, after I ate one, and discovered that two of them equal 9 points. That's like my entire lunch on a normal day. That's like two beers. If I'm going to hit the chocolate (or beer), I'm going to go for the good stuff. 

Which, actually, is exactly what do. 

Wha????? 9 points for a fun size?  Nope.

Edit:  I see its 9 for two.  Still a lot! And still nope ;).

Congrats on maintenance!!

Edited November 3, 2016 by woodscommaelle

[JTMacc99]

21 minutes ago, woodscommaelle said:

Congrats on maintenance!!

Thank you. I'm actually okay with putting back a little weight, but without changing my waist size. As far as I can tell, peanut butter cups and Milky Way bars are not going help me in this part of the program.

[woodscommaelle]

29 minutes ago, JTMacc99 said:

Thank you. I'm actually okay with putting back a little weight, but without changing my waist size. As far as I can tell, peanut butter cups and Milky Way bars are not going help me in this part of the program.

But oh man they taste so good! :)

Keep it up.

[PRgal]

I like my chocolate dark.  The darker the better.  I am 100% okay with eating pure cacao.  Which I've had. 

[partofme]

I love Hershey's chocolate.  I actually don't like expensive chocolates. 

[Sandman87]

On Thursday, November 03, 2016 at 8:31 AM, JTMacc99 said:

 If I'm going to hit the chocolate (or beer), I'm going to go for the good stuff. 

Which, actually, is exactly what do. 

That's one of Niven's Laws: "Never waste calories." If the calorie count is the same, eat the good stuff.

[callie lee 29]

I like chocolate, though I'm more of a cake person. I really don't like milk chocolate, I had some friends bring me back some very nice Belgian and swiss chocolates when they were over there last year - I felt so bad as I really didn't like them. Event eh dark was too milky. My preference is probably Godiva dark. See's and this truffle shop out of CA;  though weirdly I also like Hershey's Special Dark even though it is a little sweet. 

I'm really picky about what my chocolate is mixed with: no coffee, no fruit bits (though fruit creme is okay); nuts are okay, caramel is okay, nougat is okay, but not mixed.  And no jelly. 

[MargeGunderson]

It's finally peppermint bark season. HOORAY! 

[callie lee 29]

So I recenetly tried two new chocolate box brands. I got Lake Forest Chocolate box at Dillards, it has a couple of tea based truffles, toffees and caramels. The only ones I didn't care for was a banana peanut butter. 

I also got a box of gray salt caramels from Fran's CHocolates - very good, if a little too salty. 

[DeLurker]

Canada Has Been Hiding Cadbury Oreo Eggs From Us

[Quof]

I hate Cadbury Creme Eggs. I will happily send all of them, including the Oreo ones, to any posters in the US who will regularly send me treats from Trader Joes. I'll even throw in some ketchup potato chips and Coffee Crisps. 

[DarkRaichu]

I am a fan of dark chocolate.  The darker the better.  Dark chocolate covered almond is my go to snack.  

I used to like Rocher, KitKAt, and Snickers but they are too sweet now as I am older

 

Sorry, but white chocolate is NOT technically chocolate :P

Edited January 13, 2017 by DarkRaichu

[MargeGunderson]

6 hours ago, Quof said:

I hate Cadbury Creme Eggs. I will happily send all of them, including the Oreo ones, to any posters in the US who will regularly send me treats from Trader Joes. I'll even throw in some ketchup potato chips and Coffee Crisps. 

I am seriously thinking of agreeing to this minus ketchup potato chips but adding a Nanaimo bar.

[Quof]

Damned straight, DarkRaichu. That's not chocolate.  You know it, I know it, God knows it.

[theredhead77]

On 1/13/2017 at 8:00 AM, Quof said:

I hate Cadbury Creme Eggs. I will happily send all of them, including the Oreo ones, to any posters in the US who will regularly send me treats from Trader Joes. I'll even throw in some ketchup potato chips and Coffee Crisps. 

Hello, I'd like to apply for your courier opening. My summers growing up were spent in Nova Scotia where I became hooked on candy I can't get here. And candy that no longer exists. RIP Neilsen liquid four flavours.

[blueray]

I love chocolate, especially the more fancy kinds that you find during holidays. For New Years this year, my husband and I were talking about how you shouldn't just buy those for yourself. So we decided to each buy each other a box while we were at the store ;).

Edited April 5, 2017 by blueray

[callie lee 29]

So I'm trying to fight the urge to buy the See's Easter eggs!! The ones with the nuts and cherries, so good. Unfortunately, my browser and facebook remembers when I bought them the past few years and keeps tempting me.  Will power is not my strong suit. 

[Spunkygal]

I don't have much of a sweet tooth but sometimes I want just a bite or two of chocolate after a meal. I am now fighting an addiction to a brand that is sold at Aldi, Moser Roth, and I love the dark chili flavor. Dark chocolate with just the teeniest, barest hint of a chili kick, but the kick doesn't linger too long. The chocolate has a good feel on the tongue. There are four or five little flat bars in a package and there are several other flavors. 

[ariel]

I love this & as an insider tip, the Easter chocolate usually goes on sale for half price at the website a day or two after Easter.

http://www.lakechamplainchocolates.com/

[theredhead77]

In July my mom is going to Switzerland, Germany, Amsterdam and Belgium. I told her to bring an extra bag for the chocolate.

[Quof]

When I was in Belgium, I texted a friend to ask "What kind of chocolate do you want - liqueur, nuts, caramels...? Never mind. I will just buy the cheapest stuff I can find in a supermarket and it will still be better than anything you can get at home."

[Irish Lass]

Dark Chocolate is my favorite chocolate of all, but i'll take Milk Chocolate as well.

[callie lee 29]

Heh, I'm one of the few people I know who is not a fan of belgian chocolate (truly I cannot stand it). I do like Swiss, but I've had better US chocolate from small batch companies. 

[Quof]

The best North American chocolate I've had is from Soma, in Toronto. https://www.somachocolate.com/

[Mazz]

Chocolate.... Yes please. This is one of my guilty pleasures along with Coffee and Wine. It doesn't matter what kind it is or if it has nuts in it or not I will eat it.

[Mellowyellow]

I hate tempering chocolate. It does my head in and I always get so stressed doing it! 

[biakbiak]

I don't mind it but have you tried it in the microwave? Super simple.

[Mellowyellow]

Oddly enough it was the microwave that started my dramas.  I bake these biscuits  (cookies) and I normally drizzle melted chocolate ( melted via microwave) them and stick them in the fridge to harden. Boys ate these just fine, no one questioned me. 

Once I accidentally tempered the chocolate and the boys insisted they were the best bickies ever so I had to keep tempering. I'm not great at it though so it can be a bit trial and error which stresses me out. 

Edited April 26, 2017 by Mellowyellow

[Qoass]

When will I ever learn to make sure to read the next page before I post?

Edited April 27, 2017 by Qoass

[Mellowyellow]

I tempered chocolate beautifully today so YAY ME!!!!! Still feel that I'm just guessing though! 

[StatisticalOutlier]

Attention milk chocolate aficionados:

There's a post of mine upthread about the delicious milk chocolate I found at Walmart in Canada.  Well, I'm back up there, this time in British Columbia, and sure enough, Walmart has the good stuff, apparently country-wide.  Yay.  I had 5 bars in my hand, but noticed several others, and had the terrifying thought, "What if there's another one I like better?"

So I decided to do another blind taste test, this time with six types of milk chocolate.--pretty much all the types of milk chocolate Walmart had sitting right there.

There was my previous winner, Great Value milk chocolate in the purple wrapper (100 grams).  But this time, I also had:

"Our Finest" (also a Walmart brand) extra creamy Swiss milk chocolate (100g bar)

Lindt Excellence extra cream milk chocolate (100g bar)

"Our Finest" Swiss milk chocolate cramy classic (300g bar)

Waterbridge Belgian extra creamy milk chocolate (400g bar)

Waterbridge Belgian milk chocolate (400g bar)

I had Mr. Outlier break off little pieces and put them in my mouth like a communion wafer, and note any comments I had, and then he ran through them again in a different order.  The comments were pretty consistent.  "A cinnamon note." "Whoa--very different, almost a fruit flavor."  "Gets better the longer it's in my mouth."

The winner?  We have a new champeen!  I liked the "Our Finest" extra creamy Swiss milk chocolate best.  I was very pleased that this is a 100g bar because I was kind of scared of always having my chocolate coming from a 400g bar, which I know from experience will go faster than four 100g bars.  The amazing thing about my previous favorite, the Great Value one, is that it is $1 Cdn a bar, which is like 80 cents in "real" money (ha ha ha).  The new favorite is $2/bar, which isn't the steal the Great Value one is, but still competitively priced compared to "regular" candy bars, none of which I love.  Is it worth twice the purple Great Value?  Evidently, since that's the one I'm going to buy a bunch of before I cross the border again.

My previous favorite, the Great Value milk chocolate, is still very good to me, and if I hadn't tried this other one, I would have been content.  One good thing is that the Great Value one has a version with almonds, and I like chocolate with almonds, so I'll stock up on a few of those for variety.  I always want to like the Hersey bar with almonds, but I kind of endure the chocolate to get the almonds.

Also, I compared the ingredients for all the bars, and my winner had hazelnut paste way down the list.  That surprised me, since I've never even been inclined to try candy with hazelnuts (oh lord, is there another blind taste test coming??).  But that's why I did it blind--I wasn't influenced by knowing which ones had cocoa butter higher in the list of ingredients than milk, and things like that.

But as I noted in the previous post the label says "Imported for Walmart Canada," and sure enough, I haven't seen it in the U.S.  But the good news is that I found it in both eastern Canada and western Canada, and apparently it's not just certain stores--the Walmart in Trail, BC, isn't exactly a flagship.  So I'll stock up again, and I'll do like I did last time--enjoy it knowing it really is my favorite, and when it's gone, it's gone, and I'll be okay knowing I'm making a decision not to waste calories on chocolate I don't love.

I'm not sure how to do photos, but I'll give it a shot.

 

 

 

Edited September 8, 2017 by StatisticalOutlier

[coppersin]

14 hours ago, forumfish said:

On a recent trip to World Market, I bought a bar of Coco Earl Grey Tea & Bergamot, 60% dark chocolate. The wrapper is so pretty I saved it. The chocolate's good, too. I want to get the entire set, it looks like a set of books:

https://cocochocolatier.com/collections/single-origin-chocolate-bars/products/12-bar-chocolate-box

I did a double-take at that list, because haggis? But it's haggis spice, which actually sounds quite tasty.