Posted by Robin
on
9 October 2010
So March (of Perfume Posse) and I are talking about chocolate this weekend. She wrote about texture issues with chocolate bars yesterday; today I’m writing about citrus-flavored chocolate bars.
March started off by pointing out that she knows even less about chocolate than perfume. I’m pretty sure I’ve already come clean on that score, but it never hurts to repeat: I know absolutely zip about chocolate. Those single-origin estate chocolates that true chocophiles pay a premium for hold no interest for me. What I want is simple: a dark chocolate (around 60% cocoa) bar with something fun added. That’s not quite the chocophile’s version of the sweet generic fruity florals I turn my nose up at around here, but I’m guessing it’s close…
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Posted by Robin
on
14 May 2010
Last time I wrote about chocolate I promised another article about Chuao Chocolatier, mostly because I had eaten up several of the products too quickly to properly review them. So I did another order, and made myself slow down in the interest of science. Happily, in the interim Chuao had introduced two new chocolate bars, unhappily, they introduced yet another (Coffee & Anise) a couple days after I made my order. Oh well, next time.
First up: Chuao’s new CoCo bar. I’m a huge fan of coconut in chocolate, in fact, I still love a Mounds bar every so often. But let’s face it: the dark stuff covering a Mound’s bar only vaguely qualifies as “chocolate” these days. Chuao’s version, with coconut, almond, cinnamon and coriander, might be a Mounds for grownups: it’s sweet but not deadly sweet (it’s a 60% cacao bar). There’s lots of coconut interspersed with small bits of toasted almond; the bar is more chewy than crunchy. The spices are mild — much milder than in the Chinita Nibs bar. I found the CoCo bar very enjoyable, and a far cry better than the Seeds of Change Playa del Coco. I would definitely buy it again, but there’s a lot of competition for the best bar over at Chuao, and as much as I like this one, it isn’t my absolute favorite…
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I’ve never referred to myself as a “chocoholic.” I enjoy chocolate, but I’m an equal-opportunity sweets lover, and I’m usually more likely to seek out cookies or ice cream or a really good piece of apple pie than a cocoa-based dessert. Today, however, I rounded off my lunch with a slab of chocolate cake. I think the last long weeks of winter have finally gotten to me. In this spirit of unexpected cravings, I’ve rounded up a handful of chocolate-fragrance body products for your delectation.
I’m fond of Villainess’ vaguely steampunk aesthetic, not to mention its range of unusual scents. Its Dulces en Fuego (“fire candies”) blend mixes cocoa with cinnamon and black pepper and a touch of musk. The dense, sugar-based Smooch! Warming Body Scrub actually does seem to give off heat when it’s first applied to the skin, and the matching Dulces en Fuego soap (shown above) looks dangerously dark before it foams. The scent of Dulces en Fuego reminds me of the tiny cups of rich, spiced “Aztec” chocolate served at Mariebelle in New York, although it probably doesn’t taste as good…
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Posted by Robin
on
6 March 2010
We don’t stray off topic too often, but it does happen: I wrote three posts about chocolate back in 2008, and I tried, but mostly failed, to talk about perfume at the same time.* After that I went on eating lots of chocolate but I kept my chocolate talk confined to Twitter where I occasionally announce my bar of the day. Then Jessica told me she was going to do a post about chocolate-scented body products and perfumes, and I figured I’d go ahead and share two recent discoveries. You have to eat to keep up your strength for all that perfume testing, right?
Some time ago I tried a Mo’s Bacon Bar (applewood bacon + alderwood salt + deep milk chocolate) from Vosges. Bacon + chocolate is not a taste combination most of us are used to…
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Posted by Robin
on
21 May 2009
To celebrate the 400th anniversary of the arrival of cacao beans at the port city of Bayonne, the French postal service (La Poste) is issuing a set of stamps depicting scenes from the history and manufacture of chocolate…
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