I walked into the Friendly City Food Co-op with a craving. I made my way over to the shelf I regularly pause at while shopping, but rarely indulge. A shelf of probably over-hyped chocolate bars with wrappers fitting categories of overwhelmingly vibrant or sleek, previewing the flavors of the show inside. The kind of chocolate bars with poems and company commitments written on the inside of the packaging, nestled up against the chocolate bar itself, wrapped in gold foil. Tantalizing claims of “Rainforest Alliance Certified,” “Non-GMO,” “Fair Trade,” and “Organic” spelled out in bold wavy script or slapped on an official-looking seal encompass the major marketing strategy.
After some serious deliberation, I settled on four different varieties from four companies: 55% Dark Chocolate with Almond Toasted Pieces from Equal Exchange Chocolates; Cinnamon, Cayenne, & Cherries + 60% Dark Chocolate from Endangered Species Chocolate; Ginger Crystallized in 65% Dark Chocolate from Chocolove; and Turmeric Spice 70% Dark Chocolate from Theo Chocolate. I purchased the handful of dense colorful blocks, satisfied at the variety I had chosen.
Starting with the lowest percent dark chocolate, the 55% Dark Chocolate with Almond Toasted Pieces from Equal Exchange Chocolates. Certainly the sweetest of the bars, and probably the one with the most exciting texture. The nutty flavors from the almonds marries well with the milky chocolate taste that finds itself somewhere between milk and dark chocolate at 55%. The chocolate is fair trade, organic, and sources ingredients from small farms in Latin America and Africa.
Next up was the Cinnamon, Cayenne, & Cherries + 60% Dark Chocolate from Endangered Species Chocolate. This chocolate bar caught my attention with the addition of cayenne high on the ingredients list. True to promise, the flavor is fairly normal until near the end, and then the pepper hits right in the back of your throat, leaving you wide eyed and in fact a little shook up. I appreciated this little surprise, especially in conjunction with the contrasting pockets of cool, tart cherry pieces scattered throughout as well. This chocolate bar was almost overwhelming in the best way, and tied with the ginger bar as my favorite.
Chocolove’s Ginger Crystallized in 65% Dark Chocolate, starts to move into the territory of real dark chocolate, while maintaining the smooth texture of the milkier varieties. The ginger pieces embedded in each chocolate section are a textural wonder, while also providing a sweet, tart, and flavorful punch. A little heat at the beginning wanes quickly, almost like a dollop of wasabi on a piece of sushi. The inside of this Non-GMO and Rainforest Certified bar’s packaging contains a poem from Astrophil and Stella written on the wrapper itself.
Finally, the Turmeric Spice 70% Dark Chocolate from Theo Chocolate came up last in my rankings. It is a marvelous piece of chocolate, but lacked a little of the excitement I was hoping for illustrated in the elegance of the simple wrapper. A robust dark chocolate bar, notes of indian food mixed with Christmas dessert drifted in and out as I moved it around slowly in my mouth. It felt warm, although not from anything spicy, but rather the concoction of spices mixing and matching to form a chai-like aroma. It was simply a fairly normal chocolate bar with a more complex flavor profile.
While all wonderful experiences to taste, Endangered Species Chocolate and Chocolove came out of this test slightly above the rest. Both for novelty of flavor and quality of ingredients, these two bars took the gold. Certainly an exciting treat and great models of environmentally and socially conscious companies, the price tag on this dessert deters a lot of people from having this experience. Nonetheless, if you see anything by these companies on sale, or you are in the mood to treat yourself to a little high quality chocolate, I say go for it.
