20°N & 20°S

The RuPaul Chocolate Bar

 

 

 Sweet Hollywood, a candy store in Los Angeles, has designed a chocolate candy bar in honor of the fabulous RuPaul. A portion of the proceeds of this bar go to the Jeff Griffith Youth Center for homeless LGBTQ youth. A fantastic cause that helps offer support, feed, shower, and helps employ LGBTQ youth in need of help.

 

 

Now, I am glad to help pitch in for these kinds of causes, but I am not going to lie, I bought this bar for the packaging. I don't even care what it's made of. I started seeing this pop up on twitter and bought it immediately. I love RuPaul and everything he represents. He is an icon. But admit it, look at how fierce this package is. I love Drag Culture and I couldn't be more thrilled to have my hobby life intersect with the fabulous life.

So, what does it taste like?

It's a peanut butter bar in milk chocolate and has sea salt. It has a very soft milk chocolate shell and a gooey peanut butter filling.

I can't seem to find the full list of ingredients for this bar, but the bar was made in The Chocolate Lab for Sweet Hollywood. They do a series of customizable bars, as well as an LA series of neighborhood bars dedicated to the iconic neighborhoods of of Los Angeles. I have a few of those that will be coming up for review too. But I don't know how natural the bar is or all th ingredients in it. This bar has been labeled fair trade, and is with 33% cacao content for the milk chocolate.

 

On the surface, it's a light mahogany color, it's outer milk chocolate shell is so soft there are cracks on the surface and some noticeable air bubbles. And at least we know it's a handmade product because the finger prints on the surface are not mine!

It's aroma is a rich milky butter smell of milk chocolate, and deep roasted peanuts. Great aroma. It just smells like candy, smells like Halloween.

It's very sweet and although the aroma suggests it might have a full roasted peanut butter flavor, it's not very nutty. The saltiness is only there for a second and then the milk chocolate sweetness over takes it. It's very sweet. There is salt in this bar but some bites are more sweeter and some are more salty than others. It's still pretty good though. The peanut butter is a blend and not a full peanut butter center. It's more of a gooey peanut flavored paste. But the best part is the milky characteristics of typical milk chocolate (the lingering milk after taste) don't weigh heavy on the mouth which makes it more enjoyable than most. It tastes like peanut butter bon bon's in a bar form.

All in all it's not bad but it's not high quality either. But that's not really the point. A novelty candy shop making novelty chocolate bars is fun and it serves a purpose of charity. I would eat this again and again. I would buy more to support, but I wouldn't compare it to anything artisan.

 

Chocolatier Blue

 

 

Chocolatier Blue out of San Francisco with shops in downtown Denver. This was my birthday box of goodies from my husband.

Handmade truffles with seasonality as a factor in certain flavors of truffles. The bases used for the chocolate are from Domori. World class Italian chocolate.

And a little blurb about Chris Blue the chocolatier from their website:

Chris Blue spent his childhood summers on a self-sustaining family farm in Nebraska. It was on the farm that Chris learned about organic agriculture, the importance of supporting local farms, and the meaning of hard work.

In time, Chris decided that he wanted to be a chef and he asked his Mom for advice concerning what type of culinary school he should attend. His mother’s advice was to learn about what he liked eating the most: chocolate.

It was decided that the French Pastry School in Chicago, where Chris would learn the intricacies of French chocolate making, would fit the bill. Always the perfectionist, Chris threw himself into chocolate candies and spent every spare minute mastering the techniques. While learning his trade, Chris began working at Charlie Trotter’s world-renowned restaurant and was able to combine his childhood experiences with organic agriculture to craft new, innovative confections.

In pursuit of a more perfect confection, Chris traveled the country, learning as much as possible at a variety of acclaimed establishments.

This experience led to the opening of Chocolatier Blue, a creation Chris shares with his fiancé Jessica Steeve. Jessica, an art major from the University of Iowa, has honed the aesthetic appeal of each chocolate to reflect the exquisite taste of each filling. While the flavors and designs of the chocolates change frequently, Chris works diligently to maintain the highest standards of his craft.

I can't say what the shop looks like, I haven't been in yet, but I can say the truffles are not made in house. They flown in fresh from San Fransisco. A little disappointing that they are not made locally, but fresh is still important and the store person assured my husband that they are flown in either daily or every couple of days.

 

 

 

 

**Truffle descriptions via Chocolatier Blue.

 

Sugar Cookie - The Cookie of the season is baked fresh, mixed with white chocolate and encased in chocolate for a holiday bite.

I am not sure if cookie of the season means it changes for each season. But I am assuming that's what the description means. With that, I am not sure which cookie has been used for this particular truffle. It smells buttery and a little creamy. It tastes creamy and buttery but is a little dominated by the white chocolate. It's sweet and little sugary but the chocolate shell on the outside lends to a lingering milk chocolate taste. It tastes like a butter cookie.

I liked this one. I was kind of hoping for more of a cookie dough center rather than a white chocolate blend. But two bites in and the dominate white chocolate taste goes away for more of a buttery taste. First impression was ehh, but it ended up finishing strong in my opinion.

 

Mulled Wine - This tantalizing brew of the best red wine and rich spices in dark chocolate is sure to leave a lasting warmth.

 

Smells spicy but a mellow spicy kick not too strong. Big spicy flavor though. Lots of cinnamon and cardamon, a rich and very soft buttery center and sweet dark chocolate case.

Really good balance. The spice is strong right up front but all are showcased here with the rich creamy center and the sweet and sharp dark chocolate finish. The spices do dominate any real wine flavors but the combination is still perfectly balanced and superbly rich. Great truffle.

 

Sweet Potato Casserole - A classic crowd pleaser is made with fresh-roasted sweet potato caramel and layered with marshmallow wrapped in a milk chocolate shell.

 

The real reason we're here. I was looking up chocolate cake on my birthday and found this shop. When I saw they had creative truffles like my holiday favorite sweet potato casserole, Todd was sent on a mission 10 minutes later for chocolates.

It has a very mellow aroma. Mostly the milk chocolate. It tastes like a savory truffle of butter and sweet potatoes. not spiced, a little bit of the marshmallows. First bite is a little obscure, second bite is exactly like a sweet potato casserole only covered in chocolate. Very fun truffle and very holiday appropriate.

 

Cookies & Cream - No need to dunk oreos in milk when there are blended into white chocolate filling with a rich dark chocolate shell.

 

The aroma smells like the shell of the truffle. The taste is interesting. The cookie covers up the white chocolate milk taste, but the white chocolate filing tones down some of the chocolate-y cookie taste of an oreo. This truffle was okay but could have been a lot better. I am not sold on the white chocolate blended centers kind of like the sugar cookie truffle.

 

Vanilla Rum - Fresh Madagascar vanilla bean are the idea enhancement to dark spiced rum in a white chocolate filling with a dark rich shell.

Lovely vanilla aroma. Soft and pretty. Soft buttery taste without a big boozy kick. You can taste the rum and the vanilla blended up with a butter white chocolate filling. The dark chocolate did not interfere and was a very nice after finish taste. Great balance on this truffle. The alcoholic in me wished it had a bigger hit of booze to it but then the rum would be too over powering.

 

Sage Honey - Wild California sage honey is blended into white chocolate and encased in dark chocolate for a perfect harmony of flavors.

Soft nose. But sadly the rich honey flavors are lost by the white chocolate filling it's blended with. The dark chocolate at the end seems a little out of place as a last minute flavor on top of the white chocolate. Sage is a robust flavor and should have been more pronounced even from sage honey. While it's there there, it's too subtle to pay attention to and the honey flavor is also lost. White chocolate is the dominate flavor.

 

 

Lemon - Fresh local lemon zest and juice is intermingled with rich milk chocolate for a perfect balance of tart and sweet.

Apparently I didn't want to wait before cutting into this one and take it's picture so there is only one to see. But at the top of the post is a picture of the box and in the bottom right hand corner that's the surface image. Really enjoyable truffle and again good balance.

Soft lemon aroma mixed with milk chocolate on the aroma. Big bright lemon flavor. Great balance with the milk chocolate. Soft creams and bold tart lemons. Great little pop and lived up to it's description.

 

Pistachio - Highly esteemed Sicilian pistachios are slowly roasted and delicately blended into a smooth creamy filling with milk chocolate.

 

Another soft aroma, rich buttery filling nicely balanced with the milk chocolate shell. Nice truffle but to be honest, the nutty flavor wasn't as rich as I hoped it would be. It's more creamy and buttery than it is nutty with pistachios. Still the milk chocolate was a nice accompaniment to filling.

 

Grapefruit with Rosemary - Fresh rosemary is used to craft a creamy caramel with-farm cream and fresh rudy red grapefruit for a combination that is second to none.

A soft herbal aroma with citrus. The center was not a soft caramel but more of a creamy ganache filling. The grapefruit comes off more as an orange flavor with a slight hint of the rosemary. To be honest it tastes like something else entirely. As with the Sage Honey, the rosemary is offset and dominated when it was a flavor I was really hoping would come through more. Orange and chocolate is not my favorite combination and because the grapefruit tastes like oranges, it's not a winner for me.

 

White Russian - Fresh brewed Flying Goat coffee and vodka in tempting dark chocolate is a tribute to this classic drink.

 

Smells nutty and roasted. The chocolate makes the coffee smell a bit like coffee grinds. Tastes like creamy coffee and slightly like Kahlua. The coffee should be more pronounced than it is and I wish it had more vodka esters or heat on the finish. There are some esters that come later in the finish, but very slight. It's okay.

 

 

Pumpkin - Fresh sugar pie pumpkins are slow roasted with a touch of pumpkin and a bit of white chocolate for a taste that rivals any holiday dessert.

Nice spicy aroma. Spicy creamy taste. Like pumpkin pie but finishes with a white chocolate taste. There is an odd plastic taste to it. It might be from the spices and the white chocolate flavors. It completely interferes with a perfectly good truffle. I don't know what causes that kind of flavor. The spices on the first taste were a good blend and even the creaminess of the white chocolate lended a good buttery taste. But something else is interfering making this not very good and a complete plastic taste. Spices can be hard to maintain. I learned about this with pumpkin ales. If they are over spiced, they can sour a beer once it begins to warm to room temp. I suspect something similar happened here.

 

Passion Fruit Caramel - Fresh tangy New Zealand passion fruit juice is finished into a creamy decadent caramel with a touch of dark chocolate.

Nice passion fruit aroma. Very zippy little truffle here. Very bright and tart passion fruit flavors finished with nutty and almost coffee-like flavors on the dark chocolate. Nice butter caramel center on the second taste. Good flavors all around. Tart, fresh, passion fruit taste, creamy, buttery, and a nutty coffee chocolate-y finish. Nice roller coaster of flavor here.

 

75% Dark Chocolate - Single origin dark chocolate from Domori blended with cream and organic butter for a flawless chocolaty indulgence.

 

Of course you know what I am going to say here. Which origin? Nerd Alert: to chocolate geeks, it makes a huge difference knowing which origins were talking about. Madagascar is hugely different than Vietnam cacao, or Venezuelan. Let's see if I can take a gander here at which origin.

Tastes like a classic fudgy brownie truffle with a butter cream taste. I am afraid I can't tell where this comes from.  Sometimes I am that good. This time I can't tell. Fudgy brownie qualities are hallmarks of Ghana cacao. But the butter and cream could muddle it and make it something South American as well. I know I should call the shop and ask. But I don't want to out of defiance. It should be listed already. If it's from south America, it's possibly Peruvian. If it's from Africa, it tastes like Ghana cacao. I will update if I ever find out.

 

Espresso - California Flying Goat coffee is steeped in fresh-farm cream then blended with organic butter and a rich dark chocolate creating a perfect luxury.

Nutty coffee grinds aroma. More buttery than coffee. Not as rich and luxurious as mentioned. It's slightly nutty and coffee-ish but nothing really stands out here as an espresso truffle. They seem to hold back a lot on flavors or the flavors dissipate quicker than expected. It's a fine truffle just not as rich as I hoped.

 

Root Beer Float - A perfect after dinner treat of fresh vanilla root beer filling poured into a thin dark chocolate shell.

Smells like root beer and licorice root. It tastes exactly like root beer. It's more like a root beer caramel but the spices and flavors are more pronounced than the buttery notes like the other truffles and caramels. It's a good match and a good blend. If you are not into root beer you won't like this. But if you remember that taste its a great little truffle and leaves a lingering licorice taste with the dark chocolate.

 

Hazelnut - Award-winning Ennis hazelnuts are meticulously roasted with fleur de sel salt and blended into a flawless textured filling.

Really good. Gianduja is a fantastic flavor. Blended chocolate and hazelnuts. Good balance of salt and little crunchy pieces. This is simple, classic tasting, and very good.

 

PB Crunch - An over the top peanut treat created with homemade peanut brittle ground into fresh peanut butter and enclosed in milk chocolate.

You had me at peanut brittle. Not as crispy as I was expecting but the taste is everything. Good sweet candy taste of the brittle almost like pb and honey, roasted peanut butter and good salt balance. I am a big fan of peanut butter and this was a good little truffle. I just wish it was slightly more crunchy for more of that brittle texture.

 

Peanut butter and Strawberry Jam - A little milk chocolate with fresh ground peanut butter is layered with strawberry jam for an instant summer flash regardless of the time of year.

Peanut butter and strawberry jame is how I eat my sandwiches at home. I am a lover of this combo. And it tastes like pb & sj. I wish it had a slight bit more of the strawberry because the peanut butter is a big flavor. But that's a small observation. It's a nice truffle worthy of childhood memories or your favorite lunchtime sammie.

 

 

Todd gets points for being a good husband and bringing his wife fun holiday truffles. He gets negative points for failing to get a Chili truffle in the box and a Cranberry-Sage truffle to try.

Overall these are good truffles. I wish some of the flavors were bigger or more pronounced. The coffee truffles were lack luster on the coffee flavors. As were some of the more creative spicier truffles like the Sage Honey and Grapefruit Rosemary. Some of these were very original in flavors. I loved the idea of cookie dough and sweet potato casserole. I would love to try the cranberry-sage next time too. Some of them were a miss for me. I am not a big fan of white chocolate. It muddled some of the flavors in my opinion.

I'd say the Passion Fruit caramel was a big win for me. The Hazelnut, Vanilla Rum, Mulled wine, and the Lemon were the best in this box. The peanut butter truffles were great too.

 

Coco-Bananas Preacher Cookies

 

 

Realizing I was sitting on some samples of awesome organic flavored peanut butter from PB Crave, I decided to empty a whole jar practically into a double batch of Preacher Cookies also known as No-Bake Peanut Butter Oatmeal cookies. An experiment well worth trying.

Apparently there is some debate about the origins of the name of these cookies reading up on other blogs. I grew up with them just being called no-bake peanut butter oatmeal cookies. I have heard on more than one occasion that the Preacher part of the name came from housewives being able to quickly whip up a batch for their preachers who paid house calls. They can be made quickly and served during a visit. According to The Revivalist, other names include cow patties. I think have heard that one too. Preacher cookies are the simplest thing to say, so I go with that.

For this recipe I used Coco-Bananas. PB Crave is the best organic peanut butter I have ever had. I am usually into purer, natural foods. This does not count for my addiction to McRibs, but peanut butter is the worst natural product out there in my opinion. They are always too dry, separated oils, not salty enough, not creamy enough, not enough sugars. I am so hopelessly used to processed crap peanut butter. But then PB Carve sent me their samples and it's smooth delicious natural peanut butter with flavors added in. I have written about their Razzle Dazzle (Raspberry, white chocolate and dark chocolate) peanut butter and it was my morning routine to toast an English muffing and smather copious amounts of that peanut butter on it. You don't need anything else except for a cup of hot tea. I like the flavors but hopefully they will put out a plain version so I can buy it regularly. I make one crazy savory dish with peanut butter called Peanut Butter Pork Chops. It's delicious but I need regular peanut butter for that kind of thing.

My next experiment will be to make these Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Bars with PB Crave Choco Choco.

 

Following the recipe from The Revivalist:

½ cup butter

4 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa (I went all fancy and used Erico Unsweetened cocoa powder from Quebec City)

2 cups sugar

½ cup milk

1/8 teaspoon salt

3 cups quick cooking oatmeal

¼ cup peanut butter (PB Crave Coco-Bananas Peanut Butter)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Mix the cocoa powder, butter, sugar, milk, and salt in a double boiler. (Don’t tell Mother, but I just use a regular pot.) Bring to a rolling boil and boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat. Add the peanut butter, vanilla, and oatmeal—not the new, instant kind, Mother emphasizes, just quick oats. Slop it all together. Drop them on a plate. (Wax paper is even better if you have it.) Pop in the fridge for a few hours and enjoy.

 

I don't refrigerate mine. I just let them cool on the counter tops and them pop them in a storage container. My cookies are a mixture of generic 365 Quick Oats and Quaker Quick Oats. I need to say that the Quaker Quick oats are very different from what I remember. They used to be more chopped. Now they are very solid and hard even for quick oats. I like them in these cookies but in small doses to add a little more fiber to the cookies.

Patric Chocolate ~ PBJ OMG

 

 

**Archived notes

 

Back to what works. This bar was reviews a month or two ago, but I have the taste in my mind right now remembering how good this bar is. I was supposed to have reviewed this last year, but I let it slip and then it just got too late to post it. So, I ordered a fresh round of Patric and decided to start over again.

The notes are not that much different from last year to this year. This year's batch was a little less jammy than the year before. Patric Chocolate is one of my all time favorite American bean-to-bar producers. He is finally having a lot of fun and coming up with insanely good new creations. Most recently reviewed was the amazing Salty Signature Seventy. And now my second time around with the PBJ OMJ.

While I think the name of this bar is corny, it is anything but in it's taste. Alan McClure blended peanut butter in just the right amount with jammy Madagascar dark chocolate to give a roasted peanut butter and defaulted jam flavor from the natural berry/fruity flavors on the chocolate. It's a brilliant idea and it's executed so well. Patric's Madagascar was some of my first introductions to Madagascar cacao and I have rarely run into anyone with the same level of quality and flavors.

 

 

PBJ OMG (Seasonal)

 

Type: Flavored dark chocolate

Bean Varietal: Unknown

Ingredients: Cacao, cane sugar, natural peanut butter (roasted peanuts, salt), cocoa butter, sea salt.

Sample Size: 2.3 oz or 65g

 

Appearance: Rich beautiful orange-ish brown color, monogrammed molding with no tab squares, matted textured surface from molding, but shiny and smooth surface. (Minor scratch on the surface came from me.)

Score: 95

Snap: Very soft snap, a little rubbery but still had a slight snapping sound and clean break lines.

Score: 83

Aroma: Nice full but simple aroma of roasted peanuts and jammy fruits. Sweet and rich cacao too.

Score: 94

Taste: Rich roasted peanuts right up front, a little bitter from the dark chocolate, good balance of sugars, fruity notes but more buttery and savory, a little tangy, faint hints of coffee, and Madagascar woody finish.

Score: 92

Texture: Super soft and creamy. Medium-fast melt-time, smooth texture.

Score: 93

 

I have to say, I am not a fan of the new molding from Patric. Well, not so new anymore, but I don't like the splatter paint design at all. His molding before was so much more sophisticated. Putting that aside, look at how gorgeous the color of this bar is. It's a great color, no surface blemishes, and a great shine despite a textured surface. It's a beauty of a bar.

The peanut butter has the same taste as the year before. Adds a nice richness and even some slight coffee notes with the roasted peanuts and bitterness of the cacao. It's a little less fruity than the previous year. But not by much. It's less tangy but more savory and buttery this year. Still has nice fruits that give off the intended effect of peanut butter and jelly. Leaves a classic Madagascar wood flavor on the finish from retro-olfaction.

The texture was fantastic and smooth, the aroma was to die for, and it tasted fantastic. Just a little weak snap was the only thing really wrong with the bar. It bent quite a bit before it snapped. But it still gave way to a slightly decent snap sound despite how soft it is.

Excellent flavored chocolate. A great blend of peanut butter without making it PEANUT BUTTER. It's such a dominating flavor. While, this bar is definite on it's roasted peanut taste, it doesn't take away from the gorgeous Madagascar cacao. I love that about this bar. It's a great blend that really shines on both elements.

 

Final Score: 91.4

   score
  B+

PB Crave ~ Razzle Dazzle

 

 

Razzle Dazzle

Raspberry, dark chocolate, white chocolate, honey flavored peanut butter.

 

Okay so this review might be a little random for Chocolate Advocate, but there is chocolate in this product so it totally counts. Who am I to say no? Once again we start our story with an, "I am just kidding if you're just kidding. But I am serious if you're serious" post. Random people following each other on twitter and then I happen to see a tweet about sending out samples to bloggers. I am not going to lie, I asked about it and the next thing I know, not one, but four jars of peanut butter ended up on my door step. Insanely generous! They asked if I blogged, and I said yes but only about chocolate but this totally counts. They told me all of their products have chocolate, hence the four jars being sent out.

 

I was worried about it at first. It boasts as an all natural peanut butter. I have issues with natural peanut butter. It's always wrong. It's never salty enough, never creamy enough, always overly oily and then the rest of the peanut butter ends up dried out because of that separation. Commercialized peanut butter is the only form of food blasphemy I willfully except. That and the McDonald's McRib. Bring on the hydrogenated oils, sugars, salt, and pure processed grossness. Just so long as that texture is silky smooth and can last through four nuclear holocausts in my pantry, I will be all set.

But honestly this peanut butter was a huge surprise. Not only did it taste really good, all the flavors worked out wonderfully, but the texture was smooth. It did have a little bit of oils on top, but it wasn't swimming in it and it didn't completely separate. It just needed a little bit of stirring up. But again, smooth, right balance of salt, a little sweeter than a normal peanut butter and a minor lingering raspberry extract taste that hung on longer than it should, but other wise a fantastic natural peanut butter. I am so happy I can finally enjoy and all natural peanut butter.

 

Not only that, but the flavors meant no jam necessary. See I like my peanut butter in the morning time on toasted English muffins. Normally I put PB&J on it, but this just needed a little schmear of the good stuff and that's it. Honey, white chocolate, chocolate, and raspberry. Seriously, how can you go wrong?

One other thing to note, a minimum of 2% of the sales of each jar of peanut butter goes to help Project Peanut Butter. Please read more about it here.

Cookie Nookie, Choco Choco, and Coco Banana flavors will be coming up as soon I can get through one jar at a time.

Justin's Organic Peanut Butter Cups

 

Justin's organic nut butters and peanut butter cups. Happily found at Whole Foods and a special little treat it is. My husband is the shopper in my household. I give him the list, and he forages all of one block away to Whole Foods and he likes to pick up little nick knacks for me. This time he brought back these peanut butter cups.

A Colorado based company that's an environmentally sound, organic, and green company that makes nut butters, chocolate nut spreads, and peanut butter chocolate cups. They work on squeezable packs for environmentally safe packaging and for easy transport while hiking or bike riding.

 

We at Justin's Nut Butter hereby decree that all of our nut butters will be made in small batches to preserve premium quality standards and our fresh taste.

We will only use the highest quality natural and organic ingredients that are sustainably harvested and found as locally as possible.

We will be mindful with all of our business practices by working toward reducing our environmental footprint on the natural environment. We will remain excellent community and global citizens and will only do business with those who pledge to do the same.

We will continue to produce and promote fresh nut butters that will always be simple, delicious and nutritious.

Consumer packaged goods are tough on the environment. Period. Everything, from sourcing raw materials to manufacturing and distributing final products, has an environmental consequence. I like to think of our business as a part of an ecosystem with every decision and action interdependent and connected to the rest of the world.

We are on a journey towards sustainability. The 14er we are currently climbing is sourcing Sustainable Squeeze Pack Film. Right now, the technology does not exist for a fully sustainable film. Our goal is to source at least 33% renewable squeeze pack film by April 2012.

 

They even discuss on their website the carbon footprints their products make.  

 

 

 

Milk Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups

Ingredients: Organic Milk Chocolate (Organic Evaporated Cane Sugar, Organic Cocoa Butter*, Organic Whole Milk Powder, Organic Chocolate Liquor*, Organic Soy Lecithin, Organic Vanilla), Organic Peanut Butter (Organic Dry Roasted Peanuts, Organic Palm Fruit Oil), Organic Evaporated Cane Sugar, Organic Cocoa Butter, Organic Vanilla Flavor, Sea Salt.

 

Nice shiny surface and big roasted peanut aroma. I have no information about the chocolate they use, but it has a nice aroma. Not as full or fruity as the dark chocolate though. But that's usually the case with milk chocolate.

It's nice and salty. Really full tasting and sweet but a good balance with the salt. The peanut butter was a little dry though and a little texturally rough with large peanut particles. As much as I love organic and green companies, natural is always better for you, when it comes to peanut butter, I don't like the natual stuff as much. Either they are too runny, greasy, oily, or to dry. Flavor wise this is a really good peanut butter cup. And It's not that big of a deal about the grittiness of the peanut butter, but I do wish it was smoother and creamier. But the best part about this cup is that nothing about it tastes artificial. Not even the milk chocolate tastes overly processed. So again, despite it's texture, the taste is incredibly good.

**This product is Kosher, Gluten-Free, works with the Rainforest Alliance, and uses sustainable palm oil from Brazil.

 

Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups

Ingredients: Organic Dark Chocolate (Organic Evaporated Cane Sugar, Organic Chocolate Liquor*, Organic Cocoa Butter*, Organic Soy Lecithin, Organic Vanilla), Organic Peanut Butter (Organic Dry Roasted Peanuts, Organic Palm Fruit Oil), Organic Evaporated Cane Sugar, Organic Cocoa Butter, Organic Vanilla Flavor, Sea Salt.

 

A little bit of a fruity aroma from the chocolate with rich robust roasted peanuts. Again, I am not sure what kind of chocolate they use, but it carries a good aroma. It almost tasted like cookie dough at first. Same balance with the milk chocolate but a lot more rich with the chocolate. Good and rich bitter dark chocolate with a good sweet, sugary balance. But a nice balance with the salty peanut butter.

Really good peanut butter cup! It's nice and rich. The peanut butter has the same issues as the milk chocolate cups, with a dry and gritty texture, but again the flavor is really good. Nice lingering chocolate notes from the dark chocolate that I didn't expect. Usually the focus with products like this isn't quality chocolate. This was surprisingly good.

**This product is Kosher, Gluten-Free, works with the Rainforest Alliance, uses sustainable Palm Oil from Brazil, vegan, and dairy free.

 

This is a nice organic alternative to Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. An ethical and conscious company that makes a damn fine and tasty product. If there was just some way to make that peanut butter a bit more silky and creamier, they'd be on top of the world.

 

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)

Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, Denver

 

I ran into one of these Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory stores on my way out of Denver last week. I didn't have much time to linger so I made some quick decisions and ran out. It's a good thing I did too, because they were making caramel apples in so many different flavors and toppings on the caramel. I could have ran out with some popcorn too. And who knows where it would have ended if I went through all the fudge. 

RMCF is a franchised chocolate shop set up in various locations around the country and in Canada. The original shop and factory is in Durango, Colorado. This isn't a place for chocolate purists and snobs. Though I do think the Durango shop is probably worth a visit. You will need something like this after all the craft beer to be had in Durango. No, this is just a place for some creature comforts of old fashioned staples. There isn't anything extraordinary about the downtown Denver location, but it serves a purpose in a pinch. If nothing else, those caramel apples are worth it. 

Here are a few of the goodies I picked up. 

 

Haystacks

Milk and Dark Chocolate Covered Pretzels

 

Large Peanut Butter Cup

 

Almond, Macadamia nut, plain English Toffee