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B.T. McElrath ~ Salty Dog Chocolate Bar

 

 

B.T. McElrath, Minneapolis, MN.

I used to sell B.T. McElrath products while working for Formaggio Kitchen a few years ago. I haven't seen their products in a while so it was nice stumbling upon them at Beacon Hill Chocolates. The Salty Dog sounded like just right thing too. Butter Toffee pieces in dark chocolate with with salt. God bless sweet and salty products. 

This is a really cute about page they have set up on their website.

 

A beautiful innocent 19 year-old server caught the eye of the chef de cuisine at a country inn on the Mississippi River. So he tossed a few peas and carrots at her. Stunned, she retaliated with ice cubes. Duly impressed by her quick response and sure aim, the chef married her. And together, they started a thriving artisanal chocolate company in 1996.

Meet Christine: Wife, Partner, Visual Designer, and Chief Taster.
“Brian opened my eyes to the world of cuisine, and fine chocolates. He’s a true artist in every sense of the word. From the freshest whole ingredients, he blends and balances flavors and colors with natural finesse.”

Meet Brian: Meticulous Artisan Chocolatier, Visionary, (still impishly young and doesn’t care about age; a Libra through and through, balance is his watchword in taste and in Life). A graduate of the California Culinary Academy, Brian worked fastidiously as a chef for 18 years at nationally recognized restaurants, bistros, hotels and clubs in the Midwest including the Nicollet Island Inn and Interlachen Country Club.

Read more about them here. 

 

At first when looking up their products, there wasn't much listed on the product pages about the chocolate being use. But luckily they have a pretty good FAQ page. 

 

Are B.T. McElrath Chocolatier products organic?

Cacao trees, grown only in the tropical rainforests, are part of a wide variety of plants, animals, and insects which provide a complex, natural pest-management system. On family farms, pesticides are expensive to buy and difficult to apply to cacao trees, making most cacao farms inherently organic.

While organic certification verifies farming practices, it does not ensure the quality of the cacao and/or the fermentation of the beans, two factors that fundamentally affect the flavor of chocolate. We are ensured of the quality of our chocolate ingredients through the well established relationships with our trusted suppliers, which go back for generations.

What kind of chocolate do you use?

Our chocolate products are sourced from premier chocolate makers in the U.S., Europe, and South America.

Our proprietary 70% dark chocolate blend is made exclusively for B.T. McElrath Chocolatier by Guittard Chocolate Company of Burlingame, California, under their E. Guittard family of products. We find this relationship forwards our mutual commitment to innovation, tradition, and a sustainable global community.

Our proprietary 40% milk chocolate blend is created in our kitchens with chocolate sourced from Wilbur Chocolate Company of Lititz, PA, one of America’s oldest manufacturers of fine chocolate, as well as several European manufacturers.

What is your policy regarding socially responsible sourcing?

Our commitment to quality extends to supporting global efforts towards sustainability and partnering with suppliers who are pioneers of socially responsible business practices which match those of B.T. McElrath Chocolatier.

Our chocolate suppliers are members of the World Chocolate Foundation (WCF), Cocoa Livelihoods Program (CLP), UTZ certified, Rainforest Alliance, and are licensed by Fairtrade Labeling Organization.

Our suppliers are actively involved at origin and purchase through agents selected by the farmers and in some cases bought through direct relationships with the farmers. A premium price well over market value is paid. These are long standing relationships and we are proud to be a part of that global supply chain.

 

 

Salty Dog Chocolate Bar

 

Type: Bittersweet, 70% filled.

Varietal: Unknown

Ingredients: Dark Chocolate (chocolate liquor, sugar, cocoa butter, soy lecithin), toffee (pure cane sugar, butter, soy lecithin, bicarbonate of soda, salt, natural flavor), sea salt.

Sample Size: 3oz or 85g. 

 

Big chocolate-y aroma of almonds, butter, smoke, berries, tobacco and hints of nuts. Nice deep dark brown chocolate color, shiny surface on a simple molded tablet with fat tabs. Simple monogrammed molding with some minor scratches on the surface. 

Salty and rich dark chocolate. Smoky flavors on the chocolate with a little bit of char, pen ink, and berries, that comes through even with the salt. Virtually no toffee to speak of, however. Pretty disappointed with that since that sweet and salty combo was what I was really looking for. Small, skimpy specks of it scattered throughout the bar.

I was hoping for that crunch factor with the toffee, but it came from the waxy chocolate. While it was smooth chocolate once it sat on the tongue and began to open, it was way too hard to bite into. The molding has everything to do with that leaving overly large and fat tabs. The salt lent for some nice crunch for a second until it dissolves on the tongue. 

Despite the disappointing lack of toffee bits, the chocolates flavor and aroma was good and strong. Lot's of good flavor characters in it and a good balance with the salt. The only issue here is lack of toffee and a hard texture. 

This could have been so much more had the Toffee been actually present. The chocolate was good and rich, and the salt was a good balance. I really need chocolate makers to start putting put products that are what they say they are on the packaging. If it's toffee, then there needs to be significant toffee in it. This is my main issue with Vosges skimping people on the bacon in their bacon products. You don't put it in there, or you go really skimpy on it, then you get a low score for misrepresentation.

I've never had this problem before with B.T. McElrath. I don't know what's changed. Hopefully this was just a fluke. It's been known to happen. But for now, C-. 

 

  score
 C-

 

Beer And Chocolate Pairings At The Star Bar, Denver

 

 

For all of my Denver chocolate and beer nerds, this post if for you guys. Or anyone who is a lover of beer and chocolate, or Great Divide fans. 

The Star Bar in Denver is one of my favorite newish bar discoveries. It's a small dive bar, that has tons of awesome craft beer, and a skilled cocktail maker behind the bar who also specializes in beer cocktails. You can bring food in from across the street which is perfect because the most awesome hot dog joint in all of the land happens to be right across the street from the Star Bar. Biker Jim's! So, not only is there awesome beer, outside food, and cocktails, but there is a pool table and it's a dive bar. Greatest discovery of Denver. I am in Denver at least once a year for the Great American Beer Festival and this is pretty much where I hang out. 

 

 

Justin Lloyd, the owner, created one of my favorite beer cocktails and it's currently featured in our BeerAdvocate Magazine Issue #59 Dec. 2011. 

 

Mole Yeti

1 oz Dagave Extra Agave Spirit, or any quality Anejo tequila

3/4 oz Leopold Bros. Three Pins Alpine Herbal Liquor

1/2 tsp Crushed Chipotle powder

6 oz Great Divide Chocolate Oak Aged Yeti Imperial Stout

Combine spirits with ice in mixing glass, stir to mix and chill, and strain into a clean mixing glass. Then add the crushed chipotle powder, and stir vigorously to completely incorporate the spirits and spice. Strain into a goblet or an hour glass Pilsner glass. Pour in chilled beer with a two inch laced head. 

 

 

The Star Bar partnered with The Chocolate Therapist of Littleton, Colorado to come up with a beer and chocolate pairing. They featured Great Divide beers, another personal favorite of mine. Brian Dunn is the nicest guy in craft beer and his beers are some of the best out there. 

I wasn't at this pairing event so there are no pictures are accompanying these pairings. But I will be as detailed as I can with what I know about chocolate and the beers featured. 

 

Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter and Sea Salt / Great Divide Oak Aged Yeti Imperial Stout

I can imagine this combination working with the peanut butter and natural chocolate-coffee flavors on the beer as well as the wood flavors from the oak. The sea salt more than likely helped tame the sweetness of the oak aging on the beer. 

Milk Chocolate Amaretto Cappuccino / Great Divide Grand Cru

The Grand Cru is a Belgian-style dark ale with an 11% abv. The milk chocolate was more than likely the right pairing for the malts. As sweet as milk chocolate can be, the nuttiness and milky quality of it will help with the sweet overbearing malts of a big Belgian-style like this beer. Sometimes you have to pair sweet on top of sweet to allow the flavors from both beer and chocolate to come through. Otherwise the sugars will take over everything. Sweet on Sweet will allow the subdued flavors to come forward. The cappuccino flavors would no doubt add some depth of flavor and tame the boozy esters from the high abv. 

Milk Chocolate Orange / Great Divide Hercules Imperial IPA

Hercules is a big malty double IPA. That means bigger hops and bigger malts which leads to a higher abv. These are technically imbalanced beers. Having the cold is the way to drink them and as they warm up the imperfections of the doubling come through. Sticky sweet malts, or the excessive bitter hops. This is what people love about these beers once they have warmed and open. I personally prefer mine very cold so the balance is still intact and all the ingredients are still on an equal playing field. 

The orange is all about the hops. Bitter citrus flavors of hops and sweet orange oils and flavors are a natural fit. But the milk chocolate is all about the malts. As explained in the pairing above. Sweet on sweet and probably drew out some natural creamy milk flavors and nuttiness. 

Dark Chocolate Covered Ginger / Great Divide Hoss Rye Lager

I am surprised about this pairing. Dark chocolate, at least 65% is great with rye beers. Rye tends to have a bit of a drying effect on the palate and the dark chocolate interacts well letting sweet flavors and deep fruity complex flavors of chocolate come out. With Hoss' natural fruity flavors, they probably brought out the best in each other with fruit flavors. The ginger is the surprise for me. For me ginger is spicy and soapy. Sometimes it has a clean flavor and other times it's all soap. I can only imagine this working with the spicy rye flavors and the malts rounding out the earthy flavors from both rye and ginger. 

Milk Chocolate Maple / Great Divide Hibernation 2009

I am not sure what the 2009 flavors produced for this beer, but as a fairly big English-style ale with dry hopping and big roasted malts I can imagine this pairing working with the milk chocolate nutty flavors again and big roasted malts, but also the maple probably drawing out more toasted flavors from the malts. 

Cayenne Pepper Savouries / Chocolate Oak Aged Yeti Imperial Stout 

This one is a wild card for me. I am not sure what type of chocolate was used here but like the cocktail posted above, the cayenne pepper spicy heat just mingles and marries good heat with chocolate flavors from the Yeti. I am sure the chocolate also drew out the natural toffee and roasted flavors from the beer. 

 

Chocolate and beer are a wonderful together. A lot of people tend to dismiss beer still thinking it all tastes the same or it's like Bud/Miller/Coors. To some of you reading this, this is a no brainer, but to others this might be an eye opener. Beer and chocolate can and do work amazing together. And to be honest, beer has such a larger range of styles than wine, especially American styles, and has endless combinations to explorer. So if you are interested in thinking outside of the box, start taking bar of chocolate with you to your favorite bars that serve a good range of craft beer and start experimenting. Start buying bottles of beer from your local package store and do some exploration at home with some chocolate samples. It's fun and it's a lot cheaper to crack into a beer than it is for some wines. 

 

Pairing tips: 

** Using beer review sites like BeerAdvocate.com and gathering a collective of opinions from various reviews is a great way to begin to understand a beer before you try it. Look for the similarities in reviews. Similar flavor notes and flavor descriptors. 

** Hops and chocolate are not a good match. IPA's especially are not the best match for chocolate, but IPA's work well with cream or fats. So think of chocolate covered caramels, soft caramel or mou's. And even think about toffees or chocolate cheese cakes or rich cream based truffles as a place to start with IPA's. Chocolate covered fruits are a good place to go with IPA's too. Not just chocolate covered orange peels, but lemon peels, mangoes, pineapples, anything with a nice tart citrus flavor. It's tough to get IPA's and chocolate right. It doesn't mean it can't be done, it just means that you will need a variety of influences for a pairing other than just chocolate.

** Imperial Stouts are not always the right match for chocolate. It seems like it's always supposed to be imperial stouts and chocolate but some American Imperial Stouts have a hop flavor that is just too strong for the chocolate. Make sure you understand which stout you are buying into. Beware over overly roasted, acidic, or bitter stouts. They could be too robust for the chocolate. And if you have a chocolate with the same characters, you could be burying or cancelling out those flavors that make the beer or the chocolate distinctive and unique. 

** Have fun and try not to over think things. Taste is subjective. If you find something that works for you but others may not like, it doesn't mean the pairing is wrong. 

** If you are tasting big ester-y alcohol notes more than you are tasting flavors in the beer or chocolate, then it is a wrong pairing. The same rules apply for any alcohol and food pairing. 

 

Supporting Your Local

 

 

I support my local. If given a chance to order chocolate from far away or support the local makers in my community, obviously I am going to support the local makers. With more and more people venturing in to making their own chocolate or making their own truffles and confections, the choice is pretty easy these days. I count my blessings for all the new shops and new makers in the Boston area opening up. 

Over Thanksgiving, I decided I was already baking and making enough food to feed a small army. I didn't want to spend that much time baking more desserts. I had already made my own fig jam and port wine truffles and chocolate cake, not to mention several other things. I remembered a great local truffle maker in my area, Valerie Conyngham of Vianne Chocolat. I had tasted some of her treats before, but she now has several new truffles. She tweeted out that she had some Mulled Cider Caramels. That's what I had to have. That's what I wanted on Thanksgiving Day. It just sounds like the holidays. It was cold that day too. They worked like a charm. Plus I love her packaging. It's so cute and makes for great little gifts to pass around with the family and taste all the yummy goodness. 

Luckily for me, she came and met me for a drink and delivered me a nice big order of fun things. I ordered Mulled Cider Caramel Cups, Peanut Butter Hives with a Kick, Irish Whiskey Truffles, and Pumpkin Cups. 

The Peanut Hives with a Kick were my favorite. Lovely peanut butter truffles with a touch of honey and a really nice kick of heat from cayenne pepper that does exactly what I want, slowly build on the palate. I am a wuss about hot and spicy food. So if it's not a slow builder, then I don't want it. These were great. I don't have pictures of them because they were very popular at Thanksgiving. But they come in cute hive-shaped truffle molds. 

 

 

Irish Whiskey Caramel Cups

This wasn't supposed to happen. They are pretty popular and she said didn't have any left, but fortunately one box did make it into my bag. Thank you Valerie! 

These are my kind of caramels. Belgian chocolate shells, boozy aroma straight away, as soon as you open the box as a matter of fact. A little green shimmer hand painted on each one. Soft, runny burnt caramel center with a nice boozy kick of whiskey. What's not to love? Butter, caramel, nutty chocolate, and whiskey. Good stuff. 

 

 

Pumpkin Cups

Dark chocolate shell with pumpkin seeds on the top and real pumpkin puree in the center. So many times things that say pumpkin are usually about the pie spices and not actually about the squash itself. This is largely the case with many pumpkin ales, but that's a story for another blog. This has the puree in it and you can taste it. The spices were great too because the truffles were lightly spiced. Pumpkin pie spices tend to be over done and end up cloying. Add a little but of nuttiness from the pumpkin seed and we got a winner here. Perfect holiday truffle. 

 

 

Mulled Cider Caramel Cups

The reason I'm here with this post today. Dark chocolate cups filled with mulled cider caramel and dried apple bits on the top. Very sweet and buttery. Spiced just right like the Pumpkin Cups, soft and runny, buttery burnt caramel center flavored with mulled cider. The dark chocolate leaves a nice lingering coffee-like flavor. Perfect after dinner caramel. 

 

Valerie is really nailing it with these wonderful caramel cups and truffles. I recommend sneaking in a last minute order for your holiday gatherings. A box of one of these these flavors would make for a really nice gift for someone at work too. The packaging is so cute and chic. 

Galler ~ Kaori

 

I have to preface this post by saying my customer service experience at Galler has changed. And when I say changed I mean it was a night and day difference in the attitudes of the people who work there. 

The first time I walked into Galler, in Central Place in Brussels, the woman behind the counter was rude, bored, and barely lifted a finger to help me. Offered no information about anything and it wasn't because of a language barrier. She spoke English and was completely rude. But that was last year. 

This year I was back in Belgium only this time I was in Bruges, when I found another Galler store. I reluctantly went in, but found an excellent shop person behind the counter. He not only talked to me, he went through every product, even let me sample some of the chocolates on his own prompting. He gave me a curry truffle and it was fantastic. Beautifully spiced, not over done and balanced well with milk chocolate. I was so happy and completely over the moon with the night and day difference in customer service. I even told him about what happened the last time I was in Belgium. He said no more. Galler had made it a point to focus more on customer service. This makes me wonder who else had issues in the past. But no matter, things have definitely changed and for the better. They have also taken a more hands on approach to the chocolate. When I went to buy the Kaori sets, he told me he just packaged them. They make and package certain things right there in the small stores now. Freshness is important. I couldn't be more pleased. 

 

Kaori: Perfume, scent, fragrance. 

"The Japanese call a beautiful calligraphy 'calligraphy with taste'. The emotion is in the movement and in the expression of what resonates within us." 

 

Chocolates: 

Saffron

Cardamon

Yuzu

Ginger

Vanilla and Coconut

Strawberry and Balsamic

 

Compositions: 

Orange and Cocoa Nibs

Matcha and Opium Poppy

Kalamansi

 

The idea is to take each flavored chocolate stick, which is kind of like a truffle or bon bon stick, and dip them into the flavor pots creating different flavor combinations. Unless you lick each chocolate before dipping, it doesn't work so well without the Kalamansi which is the pot that looks like honey. Kalamansi is an Asian citrus fruit with tangy, sour notes. 

The orange and nib pot is pretty flavorful with orange and slight tannins with the bitter cocoa nibs. The matcha and opium poppy pot is very earthy. 

 

The best flavor profiles: 

Vanilla and Coconut with the Kalamansi and Matcha and Opium Poppy.

Cardamom with Kalamansi and Orange and Cocoa Nibs.

Ginger with Kalamansi and Matcha and Opium Poppy.

Saffron with Kalamansi and Orange and Cocao Nibs.

Yuzu (so tangy and powerful in it's own right) works well with both. 

Strawberry and Balsamic with Matcha and Opium Poppy. 

 

This is a wonderful and unique tasting experience. The flavors and spices were perfect and the tasting cups were a fun and interesting mix and match set up. This is a perfect gift to bring over to a dinner party or to share with friends who really like tastings and flavors. For people who really appreciate this kind of thing. And no, I won't say foodies because I deeply hate the term and the obnoxious trends around it. This is for people who enjoy nice things. 

Really fun, really tasty, and a simple elegant design. You can sit around for ages reflecting on each flavor and each combination. Cardamon was my favorite stick flavor. The yuzu was my least favorite only because it's tanginess surpassed the other flavor combinations. Though it did work quite well with both, it was just a bit too tangy.

If you bring one of these over for a dinner party, you will be a big hit amongst your friends.  

**Forgive the appearance of the chocolate sticks. They suffered through some heat issues traveling back to the States with me. This was due to the aggravating situation at the Le Meridian Hotel in Brussels. They had no working a/c, only heat and it was dreadful and miserable for the one night staying there. It was the reason my Westvleteren 12 truffles had melted to ugly shapes. That's in another post. I expect other chocolates that I brought back in bar form to have the same issues. But the ashy appearance is due to that. When I opened one of the Kaori boxes on our beer boat cruise in Belgium, they were shiny and beautiful. 

Vosges ~ Woolloomooloo Bar 45%

 

As part of the exotic bars collection from Vosges, the Woolloomooloo bar is an Australian inspiration. If the name didn't give it away that is. Or the macadamia nuts. 

The inspiration:

Macadamia nuts, native to Australia, were originally harvested by the Aboriginal people who occupied the eastern slopes of the Great Dividing Range. This chocolate bar is named after the famed suburb Woolloomooloo in Sydney and meant to honor the Aboriginal claim to the scrumptious macadamia nut.

I have been to Australia before and I do recall Woolloomooloo. I never went there specifically but I was close. It was one of those names that is so distinctly Australian.

One of the best things about Australia are the macadamia nuts. Something everyone must try when visiting are the Weis Ice Cream bars. Half and half mango and macadamia nut ice cream bars. It's to die for and you can find it in any corner store or convenient store in Sydney. Or just buy a large tub of it. But this post is about chocolate. I must stir myself back or I will get lost in my own thoughts about Sydney and Australia. My favorite place in the world.....

 

Don't Judge A Book By It's Cover.... Unless it's a Vosges Bar.

 

 

 

 

Woolloomooloo Bar

Type: Flavored/filled Milk chocolate, 45%

Bean Varietal: Unknown

Ingredients: Milk chocolate [sugar, cocoa mass, cocoa butter, dry whole milk powder, soy lecithin, vanilla], roasted macadamia nuts, hemp seeds, coconut, salt. Chocolate ratio: 36% cocoa solids, 15% milk solids. 

Sample Size: 14g or .5oz

 

Appearance: Darker milk chocolate color, appearance of seeds and chopped nuts on the surface, monogrammed molding with inspirational message, Matted surface, no shine.

Score: 64

Snap: Very low and dull thud snapping sound. Very soft snap. 

Score: 73

Aroma: Big milky and creamy caramel-like aroma. Soft roasted cacao and a strange vegetal aroma almost like alfafa sprouts or mold. Very earthy.  

Score: 94

Taste: Slight earthy hemp taste up front but is quickly over taken by the sweet sugars and salt from the macadamia nuts, slightly nutty, milky, 

Score: 94

Texture: Creamy smooth chocolate, very quick melt-time. Slightly crunchy seeds, particle size nut pieces and chewy but scarce bits of coconut. 

Score: 93

 

It's funny that the message is "Don't judge a book by it's cover." Did they need to have that there to cover up for the fact that none of their bars ever have a desirable appearance? I have yet to have one bar from Vosges that has a nice surface or appearance. 

I had a hard time deciding on the aroma. I liked it but it's strange. I liked the creamy and milky aroma. Lovely soft roasted cacao, and then a strange green and vegetal aroma that smelled like mold or alfalfa sprouts. Very earthy, but it seems out of place with the sweeter and creamier milk chocolate. 

It tastes good but the palate is overwhelmed with milkiness, cocoa, and salt. The nuts barely leave a tangible nutty flavor, the coconut is skimpy and the hemp seeds seem irrelevant for the most part. They left a richness to the aroma but the taste was overwhelmed. This is due to Vosges going skimpy on the ingredients. Everything sounds good on paper, but when it comes to executing it, they skimp so badly. And it makes me mad because their prices and fancy packaging lead you to think that they are something more than they are. 

The coconut is so scarce that it leaves no impact on the flavor unless you happen to be lucky enough to get a piece of coconut to chew on. The hemp seeds leave a slight marijuana taste, with some earthiness and green taste up front but it's not enough to hang on or greatly impact the flavor. There is virtually no nuttiness to speak of except for some slight hints and the salt. There are some lingering seed tastes at the end, but that's only if you get pieces big enough to taste. The micro particles of macadamia nuts leave little or no flavor, but plenty of salt. Can we be sure there are even macadamia nuts in this bar and not just large kosher salt bits? 

The sweet and salty balance is fantastic. And for a milk chocolate it's great. But pretty underwhelming for the bar it claims to be. How is this an homage to Australia? Where are the macadamia nut chunks? Pretty weak and pretty pathetic if you ask me. And if I were Aboriginal, I would feel cheated. 

This is exactly the same problem I had with Vosges and their bacon and chocolate bars. Flavor wise the bacon taste is there, but the pieces in the bars are so pathetic. And these bars are not cheap. I want more. I want more macadamia nut pieces. I want more bacon. 

This was a good tasting milk chocolate bar. It's due primarily to the salt content of this bar. But overall I am not impressed with this. It should have been prettier than this, it should have been richer in flavor from the added ingredients. 

Final Score 83.6

   score
 C+

Zotter ~ Labooko Soya & Green Tea

 

Artist: Andreas H. Gratze

 

** Archived notes. 

 

 

Zotter

Labooko Duo bars Lactose Free Soya and Green Tea

Duo flavor bars from Zotter with soy and green tea flavors. Both lactose free for those with special dietary needs.

As mentioned on the packaging, both bars are soy bars with soy powders replacing the milk powders. This would otherwise, qualify as milk chocolate with the lower cocoa percentages and balance of milk solids. And as promised by the Zotter brand, these are organic bars with organic and fair trade ingredients and non-genetically modified soy products. 

 

 

Green Tea

Type: Soy, 30%

Bean Varietal: Unknown

Ingredients: Cocoa butter, raw cane sugar, soy milk powder, whole cane sugar, sesame, green tea powder, vanilla, salt, cocoa mass, soy lecithin.

Sample Size: 35g or 1.23oz

 

Appearance: Creamy soft green color, monogrammed molding with signature blown dry ripples on the surface, *broken piece*, small flecks of green tea or matcha mixed in, large chocolate particle pieces on the surface. 

Score: 91

Snap: Light crisp snap, clean break lines, decent snap sound. 

Score: 93

Aroma: Cream and matcha, earthy, dirt, and copper.

Score: 94

Taste: Green tea, matcha, creamy, milky, earthy and dirty, fresh tea, lingering soy flavors, sweet, fruit flavors, possibly strawberries, no cocoa flavors. 

Score: 94

Texture: Hard, long melt time, waxy. 

Score: 82

Tastes like a creamy, milky cup of sweetened green tea. Delicious and not one ounce of real milk in this bar. A little bit of lingering soy on the finish. Clean finish despite the robust matcha and cream flavors upfront. Sweet but not sugary, an excellent balance. And a little bit fruity. I can't tell what kind of fruit I am tasting, but it's got that fruity vibe making an appearance at the finish. Almost like strawberries. 

The texture is the only issue with this bar. It's not soft, it's fairly hard and waxy and doesn't really open up to a quick melt or softer center. It's full flavored, but not silky or creamy in texture. The nose gives off an impression that it might be creamy, soft. 

I recommend this to people who may not be fans of white chocolate. It has all of the hallmarks of delicious white chocolate, the creamy aroma and milky taste without the lingering milk aftertaste. The soy helps make the creamy flavor pop, but also keep it's in check on the finish. It tastes like full earthy green tea and cream and not loaded with sugar. This would make a great introduction to white chocolates despite not being actual white chocolate. A starter chocolate or gateway chocolate if you will.  

**I am not deducting from the appearance based on the broken bit. This chocolate has travel quite a way to get to me and anything could have happened. I noted the broken bit but again, points weren't taken off for that. 

 

Final Score: 90.8

  score
B+

 

 

 

Soya

Type: Soy, 40%

Bean Varietal: Unknown

Ingredients: Raw cane sugar, cocoa butter, soy milk powder, cocoa mass, sesame, whole cane sugar, vanilla, salt, soy lecithin. 

Sample Size: 35g or 1.23oz

 

Appearance: Soft milk chocolate color, up close it's a bit like lightly creamed coffee and a touch translucent, monogrammed logo with signature blown dry ripple marks on the surface, a little ashy, and chocolate particles on the surface. 

Score: 91

Snap: Very firm snap, clearly audible, clean break lines.

Score: 96

Aroma: Soy, tiny hint of astringency, slight hints of nuts, cream, mildly smoky tobacco, and black licorice. 

Score: 94

Taste: Soft cocoa, cinnamon and licorice up front, creamy soy in the middle mixed with the spiciness of the licorice and cinnamon. Soy milk finish. 

Score: 93

Texture: Hard, waxy, a bit drying on the palate, and slightly chalky, long melt time.

Score: 84

 

There is a lot going on with this chocolate. Insanely good snap quality, interesting coffee like color, and the complexity of the nose and flavor make this an odd yet delightful bar. 

The nose smelled like soy and had a tiny bit of tartness or astringency up front, that goes away once the bar has breathed a bit. The cream, tobacco, and licorice dominate giving it a unique aroma. The taste is all cocoa and licorice with cinnamon and cream. Soy completely dominates and rounds out the finish with tiny hints of lingering cinnamon and licorice. 

Once again the texture is the worst part of this. Of all the crazy good things happening with the aroma and taste, the texture doesn't match. It's hard and waxy and a bit chalky. It does open a bit creamier than the Green Tea, but still in the same boat, too hard. 

But what a surprise this turned out to be? So many interesting flavors. I wish I knew which origin or blend of cacao Zotter decided to use for these bars. If they could just manage the texture better, these make for some very good tasting bars. A bit heavy on the soy taste for the Soya bar, but with everything else going on in the flavor, it balances nicely. I do think some milk purists might take issue with that especially on the Soya bar, but not so much the Green Tea bar. It's creamy and milky. As a milk lover and purist myself, I rather enjoyed these. And besides these aren't for the milk lovers anyway. These are for the lactose intolerant. 

Final Score: 91.6

 score
B+

The Chocolate Line ~ Bruges

 

 

Left virtually abandoned by my chocolate twitter pals on where the good chocolate is to be found in Belgium, I was forced to fend for myself in a barrage of terrible tourist chocolate. Bruges, the historic and beautifully preserved Belgian town, is not unlike Brussels when it comes to the onslaught of crappy tourist chocolate. Someone really needs to publish a guide book on how to navigate the throngs of chocolate shops. 

Having said that, there are some saving graces. In Bruges, the saving grace is a popular and crowded little shop called The Chocolate Line. It was as though people had come from far and wide just to visit this shop. I found it online when I had a rare internet connection. Good thing I found them too. There is a lot of bad chocolate around Bruges. And it all claims to be the "Finest Belgian Chocolate."

The Chocolate Line was founded by Fabienne De Staerke and Dominique Persoone in 1992. Dominique dubs himself a "Shock-o-Latier," to push the boundaries in flavors. 

The people who worked there were very nice despite the crowded shop. The pushy and rude patrons did not discourage me from getting a taste of something worth while. Although, I wished I had more time to linger and search the store. I really wanted to buy the Tequila. The gentleman behind the counter with glasses, forgive me, I can't remember his name, patiently gathered up truffles for me and even recommended a few to try like the Bacon truffle and the Sun-Dried Tomato truffle. He even slipped me a Snobifram, raspberry cream chocolate cup to try while purchasing my goods. Very generous and thoughtful. That raspberry cup was fantastic too.

 

 

Admittedly, these truffles were meant to be eaten on the boat. We were on a barge for a beer cruise that took us from Amsterdam through Antwerp, Ghent, and Bruges. I could have had them boxed, but the kind man beind the counter said it would be cheaper just to take them as is. I agreed and had intended to eat them after dinner. But our fantastic dinners on our boat were so fantastic and filling, we simply had no room to eat them. This was probably a good thing anyway. I am never stingy and will always share. Now, I selfishly have them all to myself. The condition these truffles are in are because I traveled with them from Bruges to Brussels, and then in my carry on the way home and stopped at 3 airports. They managed to survive relatively intact, but their appearance was not the way the store had given to them to me. 

 

The Bacon

Sadly the one truffle that suffered the most abuse on it's journey to my house. Milk chocolate coating, smells of salt and bacon fat. Creamy peanut butter and tastes like cured ham. Small bits of crispy bacon. Perhaps a bit too skimpy on the bacon, but the flavors are full and very apparent. 

Like Vosges, the bacon flavor is full but the bacon itself is lackluster. I need my chocolatiers to stop being stingy with the bacon and please put in real pieces. Go big or go home! Truffles are not meant to last so why not be realistic with the bacon? Your fans would appreciate it. Trust me on this one. 

 

Framboos

Bitter ganache with pure raspberry juice.

Firm deep rich chocolate ganache, extremely sour, tangy, and tart with the pure raspberry juice. A bit of a puckerer this one is. Full of flavor, but the raspberry is way too tart. Stick-you-in-the-glands-of-you-neck sour. While some people will surely love the extreme tanginess of this truffle, I found it to be over-the-top. Lingering chocolate on the aftertaste, but it is virtually destroyed by the raspberry. You get rich chocolate right up front and then it's all but destroyed and left whimpering on the final lingering finish of this truffle. The ganache was super rich too. Kind of sad really. 

Definitely different than the overly sweet and sugary raspberry truffles on the market. But this is a palate killing truffle. The Snobifram is much better and much more delicate.

 

Wasabi 

 

Bitter ganache, marzipan, with Japanese wasabi. 

Pungent but not spicy hot wasabi. Chocolate shell, top layer of green wasabi marzipan, and deeply rich chocolate ganache. Wasabi is very dominating right up front, but quickly dies away and leaves a wonderfully rich chocolate ganache taste. Delicious truffle. This had the balance the Framboos was missing. It has very bold and strong flavors and each one is allowed to shine. 

 

The Havana

 

Ganache with a distillate of Havana leaves. 

Again, not the prettiest shape they could be in due to traveling. But the cigar design is intact. Tastes like smoky leaves and rich chocolate. Not lit leaves, but rich natural smoky flavor. The ganache almost has a boozy quality to it. I am not sure of the distillate was an alcohol or a hydrosol, but it definitely has a boozy quality to it. That smoky tobacco leaves taste is fantastic. You won't feel like you are puffing a Cuban, but it certainly tastes like you had one in your mouth before you lit it. Definitely has nice, rich lingering tobacco notes on the finish. 

 

Italiaanse Javanais

 

White chocolate ganache with fresh basil, a chutney of sun dried tomatoes, marzipan with black olives. 

I thought this one was just going to be a sun dried tomato truffle. I am very happy to lean that this is a complete foodie truffle. 

It ends up being too funky. Basil dominates right up front. It tastes like a sweet candy pizza. I wanted to like this one too. The black olives are there but not as much as I would have hoped for. The tomato is there too but the sugary marzipan interferes with the natural sweetness of the tomato chutney. While the cool factor is there, it's not enjoyable at all. The chocolate does not match at all with the flavors of this truffle. 

The savory flavors do end up lingering on the palate which isn't a bad thing, but the flavors shoudln't have been mixed with all that sugar. 

 

 

Cabernet-Sauvignon

 

A caramel with Cabernet-Sauvignon and pine seeds praline. 

Big oak-y wine flavor right off the bat. Tangy wine mixed with soft runny caramel. It's a bit of a shock at first with that tangy wine, but then it finishes with extremely oak-y flavors. It's a bit of vinegar taste mixed with the buttery caramel at first, but then it finishes sweet with the chocolate and levely pine seeds. There is definitely a lot going on with this caramel. The wine is a bit of a shock and almost out of place but ends up being balanced or smoothed out by the chocolate, butter in the caramel, and pine seeds. 

Overall I like this quite a bit. But it's a bit odd and almost doesn't work at first. 

 

Espelette 

 

Bitter ganache with mazipan and slightly smoked "Espelette."

Another truffle that took a beating as far as it's appearance goes. But so far despie what they look like, they have all tasted fine. Fine as far as freshness goes. I can't speak for the Italiaase Javanais. 

A bit of a jelly or gel-like consistency in the middle. Virtually no pepper taste at all. A mild numbing sensation on the tongue at the finish of the truffle is all you get that indicates chili pepper. There is no smoky flavor. It's just a sweet jelly-like chocolate ganache center full of rich chocolate flavors and a bit f a nmbing at the end. No heat, and not chili flavor. Bit of a let down to be honest. Chocolate and chili's are wonderful together and in chocolate, it's one of the few ways I can tolerate spicy chili heat. 

 

The Creole

 

Bitter ganache with Arabica espresso coffee. 

Soft rich ganache but again, another let down of a truffle as far as flavor goes. Where is the coffee. Arabica espresso should have yeilded a nice bitter and roasted rich flavor. There is virtually none. I even saved this truffle for last anticipating a big robust taste. It's a delicious chocolate truffle. There is nothing bad about it. It's super rich and chocolate-y. But the coffee flavor or lack there of is weak. There is just a tiny bit of lingering coffee grinds taste on the finish. Takes a while to present itself. It's Europe people. Once again, go big or go home. 

 

I liked these truffles. A few misses with the coffee, and bacon and a big miss with the candy pizza truffle. But this is a chocolatier who isn't afraid to play around with flavors. Perhaps maybe a bit too timid on some flavors and then over the top on others. The Havana and the Wasabi were the best.  Still, this was better than 99% of the tourist chocolate crap to be found all over Bruges. Brussels is no exception. The Chocolate Line will be recommended should anyone need chocolate advice for Bruges. Maybe stay away from the candy pizza truffle, though. 

 

 

My favorite way to have hot chocolate lately. Chocolate on a wooden spoon to be stirred into some scaled milk. An ingenious idea really. But this looks like a huge block of chocolate for one hot chocolate. I got it in milk because I felt like the dark chocolate would have been too rich. I think even this milk chocolate block will also be intensely rich. 

 

 

 

I did pick up some chocolate lipstick. Will I ever wear this as real lipstick? Sure! It goes on dark and then rubs into a light brown color that isn't Halloween-ish. The only problem is, it tastes like brownies and won't last five minutes on my lips without being licked off. 

 

Westvleteren 12 Truffles

 

 

As some of you may or may not know, I have just come back from a fabulous boat cruise through Amsterdam and Belgium. The trip was dedicated to beer. One of the prized locations we visited was the abbey of Sint Sixtus of Westvleteren in Belgium. Makers of one of the most sought after beers in the world, Westvleteren 12, a Belgian Quadruple ale that sits around 10% abv. Sint Sixtus is a Trappist monastery that makes beer to sustain their peaceful and quite lifestyles that they solely dedicate to God. 

The reason the beer is so coveted is because it is not sold in stores. There are rumors that this will be changing for a few places around Belgium, but out of respect for the monks, they ask that the beer is not sold outside of the monistary. Unfortunately their efforts have gone in vain for some who seek to exploit them. Ebay, greedy restaurants who happen to have a stock pile, and other selfish for-profit traders have shone a bad light on this coveted beer. Now, there is a limit from the Abbey as to how much you can buy, sometimes they don't even sell it to you at all. Their intentions were to make a beer that would sustain their lifestyles, not create greed and fervour. 

Other reasons are it's intensely rich flavors and strong abv content. Seems like a lot of hardcore beer geeks covet the abv factor over drinkability at times, but that's not to slight Westvleteren 12. It is a delicious beer. Their blonde ale goes largely ignored by the geeks as does the bruin which is a fabulous and rich beer in it's own right. They rate highly, but are never talked about or traded as fiercely. 

 

Conditions Westvleteren Trappist is sold only to individual customers. Every customer agrees not to re-sell the beer to any third party.

In our case we were allowed to visit, buy beer in very generous portions, and even sit with the monks for a very special prayer service. This was most generous of them and a moment I will be forever grateful for. It was a Lou Reed-kind of moment with perfect weather, and a grateful group of tourists. 

 

When we arrived, we sat in the cafe, In De Vrede (In the Shadow of Sint-Sixtus Abbey), located at the abbey to enjoy a little lunch and some free flowing Westvleteren beers from draft. They had a small gift shop where I found the truffles. They sell a variety of items such as gingerbread, Westvleteren washed-rind cheese, and pates. 

We proceeded to have lunch and beers. 

 

Westvleteren 6 or Blond and Westvleteren 8 or Bruin. 

 

Pumpkin soup with fresh cream. 

 

Ham sandwich and chicken sandwich. Belgian-style! 

 

 

And of course the famed Westvleteren 12.

 

 

This beer has not been a particular favorite of mine. I have found the beer to be too big, too hot, and too sweet to be enjoyable. Maybe I have had improperly stored beers before. Now, I like it much better from the source. I always knew it would be different having it fresh at the source, but previous experiences with the beer haven't been that great. Today, I am happy to report it is a much better beer than I anticipated. It's much smoother and not at all hot like I had tasted before. Still not my favorite though. The blond is truly the underrated beer of Westvleteren. But the 12 is perfect for chocolate.

 

These were supposed to be opened and tasted on the beer boat cruise, but we had so much food and beers that no one really had room to eat it. I am reserving the post about the food served to us on the boat for my Pork Chops & Chicken blog. Unfortunately, while staying in Brussels at the end of the trip for one day, it ruined my Westvleteren Truffles. At least in appearance. The room we stayed in had no A/C and was overly hot. We couldn't even open windows to air the place out. It was miserable to even sleep in there let alone try and store chocolate. So the truffles melted a bit. I was able to recover them by putting them in the fridge as soon as I got home. They just aren't pretty anymore. 

 

I have almost no information about these truffles except that they were made at the cafe and with the Westy 12. I have no idea what kind of chocolate they used or it's percentage. 

The aroma on both is very boozy, sweet, malty from the beer. The plain or rolled in cocoa powder truffles have no characteristics of the chocolate except for some very slight nuttiness. Taste is like eating brownie batter with a bit of some heat behind it. Taste a little fruity too like some deep cherries hidden underneath the chocolate. Faint, but still there. Nice lingering beer taste on the finish. These are delicious and much like the beer, a very nice surprise in how different it tastes. I was expecting rich chocolate and overbearing beer tastes due to it's nose. It's quite the opposite. It's quite the surprise. 

The coconut ones have a sweet and light aroma of coconut as well as a big boozy aroma too. The coconut adds a nice, sweeter flavor and richer note. Same brownie batter like taste with some boozy heat. But much softer and better with the coconut. 

The texture has smooth chocolate for a the shell and a bit cake-y in the center which gave way to that brownie-like taste. 

These are pretty awesome and very different than I expected. They will make a fantastic gift if you ever get yourself to Belgium to visit the abbey. Just make sure you store them right until you get home to eat them. 

Beacon Hill Chocolates

 

 

Beacon Hill Chocolates

I had a very nice time stopping by this little gem on Charles St. in Boston. I had been meaning to get over there for some time. I finally got my chance and I was very happy with them. The ladies who work there are very attentive and sweet. They are passionate and will engage you in good conversations about chocolate. They will gladly walk you through everything in the store. I haven't run into customer service this good in a while. 

This, however, is their evil plan. They are so nice to you that you wind up with the whole store in your hands before you leave. At least I did anyway. I went in for one thing and came out with more bars of chocolate, S'Mores pops, a scoop of mint chocolate gelato, truffles, and hot chocolates. It could have been a lot worse. I already have a ton of bars back logged for review and archived notes to post, but no, I just had to walk out with even more stuff. Their evil plan of "kill with exceptional kindness" completely worked on me. 

Today I am going to highlight the S'Mores Pops and the mixed truffle assortment I bought. Click to enlarge pictures. 

 

Handmade S'Mores Pops. 

 

 

 

Truffles

Creme Brulee: White chocolate vanilla bean ganache with raspberry Chambord jelly in a white chocolate shell.

 

Very pretty truffle. I love the surface design. Very sweet, good creamy white chocolate and white chocolate vanilla bean ganache, with lovely raspberry Chambord filling. But I failto see how this is really like creme brulee except for the vanilla bean. It's very vanilla and lovely raspberry, but no burnt sugar taste. Still a very pretty truffle. I liked this one a lot. 

 

Key Lime: Hand painted white chocolate shell and key lime ganache.

 

Tangy truffle, buttery white chocolate balance. Lingering flowery key lime taste. Very nice truffle. 

 

Salted Butter Caramel Butterfly: Robust, burnt caramel is enhanced with savory salted butter in a milk chocolate butterfly shell.

 

Sweet, buttery, and creamy with very soft and gooey caramel center, nice milk chocolate shell. A little burnt flavors, but not as described and no salty characters. This is a delicious sweet caramel truffle, but the lack of slat was a little disappointing. I can't say it wasn't great though. It was awesome. It just didn't taste like it was described. 

 

Chocolate Martini Truffle: Dark chocolate ganache flavored with Grey Goose Vodka, dipped in a rich dark chocolate shell with a hand painted martini glass.

 

Deep rich chocolate, robust vodka flavor, no heat or esters, but definitely there on the vodka taste, and almost has a hint of cinnamon to it. Very rich truffle. 

 

Blood Orange Fleur de Lis: Dark chocolate ganache infused with lush blood orange inside a hand painted Fleur de Lis dark chocolate shell.

 

Deep bitter, but fresh orange taste, deep rich chocolate. The Blood orange balanced sweeter with the chocolate and has very nice lingering orange oils. 

 

Pumpkin Spice: Hand painted milk chocolate ganache with pumpkin pie spices. 

 

 

This was a mystery truffle at first. I didn't have a list of the truffles I bought. But then I took a bite and was happy to find it was a pumpkin pie spiced truffles. I am not sure if this actually has pumpkin puree in it, but it was creamy, soft, very warming, wonderfully spiced, and buttery. The milk chocolate was the right way to go with this truffle. Loved it! 

 

These next truffles are a little ashy due to me having to wait to eat them. I reviewed half the box because I couldn't sit here and eat 12 truffles in one sitting. Then I had to go to Denver for the Great American Beer Festival. The ashiness is due to me leaving them, and were not the condition I bought them in. See the box of truffles pic above. 

 

Dragonfly: Dark chocolate ganache with essence of Kaffir Lime leaves and silky coconut milk embedded with a piece of candied ginger.

 

This one wasn't my favorite. This is my problem though. I am not a big fan of candied ginger. This however was very light in flavor. It was pleasant and not overwhelming except for the ginger to me. There was barely a coconut taste, the ginger dominates but is toned down by the chocolate and the Kafir lime leaves were a nice rounding flavor on the truffle. It's actually quite nice. You will just have to forgive me as I can't personally stand candied ginger. 

 

Lavender Truffle: A delicate milk chocolate truffle infused with French lavender blossoms, coated in 64% dark chocolate.

 

Very robust lavender taste. This was a bit too much for me. It wasn't fresh lavender, it was musky like stinky, French soap. Perhaps milk chocolate was too soft for the lavender. The shell was a lot more illustrious when I first got it. This picture isn't doing it justice on how pretty it was. But frankly speaking, it was too funky for me. 

 

Seduction: Combination of Portuguese Port Wine and chocolate ganache.  

 

 

 

This is a really nice truffle. Deeply rich, and fruity. Complex fruits like deep raisins and a bit of a balsamic taste. Very nice. 

 

Chile-Limon Mayan Truffle: A special blend of dark and milk chocolate ganache infused with Southwestern chilies and house-made lime marmalade.

 

Lightly spicy as far as the heat goes, a little warming, but spicy chili taste, and slightly tangy. Soft smooth texture, but I wish it had more of that lime taste. And as someone who is a total wuss about spicy heat, I felt like it could have been more on the chili's. But the flavor was right. This was a pretty cool truffle over all. 

 

Dark Chocolate Cat: Extra-bittersweet ganache in the shape of a cat with sunflower seeds for ears, enrobed in dark chocolate.

 

I call this the Bruiser because it looks like one of my wild "chirruns," Miss Bruiser Alstrom. This is a straight up super rich dark chocolate truffle from Moonstruck in Oregon. Cute and fun Halloween truffles. This may be a bit too rich for kids, but still cute none the less. And little sunflower seeds for ears. 

 

Olive Oil and Sea Salt: Dark chocolate ganache infused with a touch of olive oil and topped with sea salt. 

 

Nice savory olive oil taste and good balance of salt with the dark chocolate. I kind of wish this one was a caramel. But the dark chocolate held on to the olive oil taste well. Really nice truffle. 

Dan's Chocolates

 

Local handmade truffles by Dan Cunningham in Vermont, to be found at Whole Foods and natural grocery stores. Made with ingredients sourced from 100 miles (as much as possible) of the factory except the cacao beans of course. Consciously made chocolate truffles and bars. They use Blommer as their chocolate base. 

This is a perfect way for Evil Wholefoods to snag you with an impulse buy at the register. Only instead of using crappy Lindt truffles, they use a locally made version. 

 

Via their website:

Local Ingredients, Local Producers

In the past few years we have tried to locate all of our supplies within 100 miles of our factory. This is not always possible, so we are not at 100%. But it accomplishes several things:

• It reduces the amount of fuel, and hence carbon emissions, as ingredients and packaging is shipped to Dan's.
• It supports local producers and the local economy around us. While many bigger companies such as Hersheys move their chocolate factories to Mexico to save on wages and health care, Dan's is actively supporting local producers.
• It saves us money, as fuel and transportation is expensive.
• It allows us to save money in both inventory and cooling, as we need fewer supplies on hand, because we can inventory less.

 

Peppy-R-Mint Peppermint Chocolate Truffle (64% cocoa)
 
 

Trail Hound Cranberry Raisin Truffle (Milk Chocolate)

PB Ecstasy Peanut Butter Truffle (64% Cocoa)

Orangadu Orange Chocolate Truffle (64% Cocoa)

Caramel River Caramel Chocolate Truffle (Milk Chocolate)