Hard Licorice

A friend I work with brought in this chocolate and let me have a sample of it. She let me break off some of the small milk chocolate squares. She didn't tell me what it was at the time, so I will describe what I experienced.

I took a bite.... first impression, the chocolates not bad, then my teeth hit the hard filling. Which of course was surprising! I let the chocolate and the filling melt and dissolve in my mouth. Most of the milk chocolate was melty when I started to taste hints of a flavor not usually combined with chocolate , though familiar. As the chocolate melted away, the flavor developed I was able to distinguish and identify what I called "anise". It was and still is, hard to tell what I really think about it. I don't think I would like it as an everyday candy, but it is an interesting and surprising taste. It could be used for a tasting of unusual flavors and hard textures.

All in all not one of my favorites , but I was glad to have the experience. Thanks Carole :)

Luscious Lavender

I have found another chocolate bar that sparked my interest. It is from Dagoba and while it is not a great chocolate on its own, it does have a great snap and pairs really well with the lavender flavor.

I have friends who say the lavender flavor is reminiscent of soap scent (I'm paraphrasing of course) And while I have similar feelings about raw ginger. I find the flavor of lavender with chocolate soothing and unique as it melts. This chocolate does not have the best mouth feel, but is not waxy. It just takes a while melt in your mouth, which I can't attribute to being a dark chocolate because I have had other dark chocolates that have good snap and still melt reasonably quickly and smoothly.



I haven't said much about the blueberry part of this bar, because the blueberry just doesn't stand out much at all. I only notice that there are dried little blueberries in it, because it says so on the wrapper . Even though blueberries and cranberries are close to the same size when they are fresh and ripe, the berries in this bar are much smaller and not at all chewy than any dried cranberries I've seen.



From the senses point of view,
These are my ratings 1- 10, 10 high.
Sight - 8.5.... Looks good no bloom, air bubbles, or mars to the bar. It doesn't have the high sheen of nicely tempered chocolate, but that could be from any number of understandable reasons even when perfectly tempered.
Sound - 10..... great snap, great sound, shows good temper.
Scent - 9 ... I really like the lavender mixed with chocolate.
Taste - 8.5 ... it is a very specific taste, probably not for everyone.
Mouth feel - 6 ... it seems just off, takes too long to melt, lacks any creaminess, even any from cocoa butter.

Total points - 42
Over-all rating - 8.4

You got peanut butter in my chocolate...

For my first chocolate blog, I decided to sit down with a cup of tea and start with a new offering from the trusted chocolate company Ghiradelli. To start with their recent release of a milk and peanut butter bar seemed a solid choice.It was good but I was expecting something a little different. The milk chocolate is sweet with hints of almost a coffee flavor. As it melts the taste starts to mingle with the creamy saltiness of the peanut butter. The one part that is a little different is the crunchy peanut butter.

I like the creamy smoothness with the flavors blending together nicely then I'm caught off guard by a chunk of peanut that gets stuck in my teeth.

Over all, its a nice and solid chocolate with filling, as long as you like chunky peanut butter. check back soon for my next post. God bless!