Chocolate Tasting #2

Back at the same little grocery where we found such surprisingly divine chocolate a few weeks ago, we picked up two new bars today: New Tree's "Sexy" and a new type of Vosges, the Creole Bar. Here are the results of our mid-afternoon sampling.

I admit that we bought another bar of the Vosges Barcelona bar that took the prize last time, so we started with that, although it cost us $5.79 this week! That bar just gets better and better: I recommended it to a friend and she ate the entire 3 oz. bar in a single sitting.

Next we tried New Tree's "Sexy" bar ($4.09 for 2.82 oz.), which they advertise as "energizing" - what with the caffeine from the chocolate and guarana extract, which is a Brazilian high-caffeine berry, the whole bar has 3 cups of coffee worth of kick. Not so interested in its energizing qualities, I bought the bar because it is Belgian, 73% cocoa and ginger-infused. This is not a shy treat: the ginger actually stings the tongue and the cacao has a bitter bite, but it is, surprisingly, simultaneously sweet - a compelling, if complex combination. I have one complaint: the graininess (and chewiness) of the ginger is a bit displeasing if you let this chocolate melt. Nibbled bit by bit, it does much better. And thank you, New Tree, for not being skimpy with the real chunks of ginger.

Finally, our new Vosges adventure. The Creole bar ($5.79 for 3 oz.) is 70% cacao and contains espresso, cocoa nibs, chicory and bittersweet chocolate from São Tomé, Portugal. Creamy and gritty (from the nibs, of course), it is a lot less aggressive, surprisingly, than the New Tree bar. I think the espresso is lost a bit in the overwhelming chocolate flavour delivered by Vosges. On the other hand, who can complain about tasting too much chocolate? The espresso seems to come out a bit in the final few grains left on the tongue after the rest of the chocolate is gone, but other than that it is a decidedly mild coffee experience. The nibs remind me: I need to taste some on their own - I've missed out completely on the current rage, to my shame. Perhaps the next time we head east on our bikes I'll buy some Scharffen Berger nibs. Or perhaps a visit to the factory is in order...