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2 Chicks with Chocolate – Cocoa Tiles and Chocolate Pops

Chris Urban — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 01:42:02 +0000

As regular readers are probably aware by now, I’m on a simple quest to try and find the best spicy chocolates I can find. Dark, milk, whatever, as long as it’s gots some of dat heat!So, I spent the last weekend in Atlantic City at the Food & Wine show, surrounded by free samples of crabcakes, beer, wine, more wine, more beer, spicy barbecue sauces, more wine, and, (wait for it) chocolate.
Down the back aisle from my booth, were a group of chocolate ladies handing out free samples, led by an awesome chick named Elyissia. When asked if I would like to try some chocolate, I responded by asking if they had anything spicy. One of the girls handed me a milk chocolate pop – a truffle-sized chocolate on a stick, with beautiful red and gold flecks. One bite, and twenty seconds later, I’m overcome with a blissful sensation of creamy milk chocolate interspersed with cinnamon and cloves, a playful bite of ginger and the warm reassurance of cayenne. Then, to smooth things out, there’s the sensation of sea salt.
Let me tell you, these little suckers are simply awesome. But wait! There’s more! (inside joke…)
The chicks at 2 Chicks with Chocolate, from northern New Jersey – yes, that is their name, and they are awesome – make the same chocolate in an even more convenient and addictive bar size – packed in a box called, unobtrusively and deceptively simply, Cocoa Tiles. Intrigued? you can visit them online.
While they are not as visually stunning as the flecks on the pops, you get all the flavors, and get to enjoy them a little longer than the pops. And, a minor correction: the spicy chocolates are in fact called Spicy Tiles.
Now, I’ll be the first to admit, I’m partial to darker chocolates; I think they’re best at around 60%. But these are milk, at 38% cocoa. But in this case, I think the creamy milk fares better, especially with the sea salt on the finish. I’d be really interested to try a similar mix with darker chocolate – it’d be more austere, more earthy, and I think it’d have a wider spectrum of flavors…
I also managed to get a Signature Collection box, full of yummy chocolates, but my true favorites were the spicy tiles and pops!
I hope I run into these ladies again at the next food-oriented show!

Dolfin Chocolat Au Lait Au Hot Masala

Chris Urban — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 03:34:20 +0000

Dolfin is a fantabulous Belgian chocolate maker. They have a number of interesting sounding chocolates, so on a recent trip to NYC we picked a couple up to try. Two words made this an easy pick: hot masala.
For the uninitiated, what exactly is hot masala? It’s essentially a spice mix: start with ginger, add cloves, black pepper, cardamom, and cinnamon.
What an awesome flavor combination: creamy, vanilla-y milk chocolate, and then the flavors creep in and take over.
I need to make a mention of the fantastic gourmet packaging, too: this chocolate is packed exactly like a pouch of rolling tobacco. Inner plastic pouch, wrapped in a plastic wrapped paper wrapper. An absolute pleasure to open and handle! This was not too expensive either, $3.95 for a 70g bar.
Needless to say, if you come across this bar, try it.

New Tree Sexy Ginger Belgian chocolate

Chris Urban — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 03:06:57 +0000

Another interesting chocolate we picked up courtesy of our friends at Chelsea Market Basket in NYC. It has ginger flavor, and, unexpectedly, guarana extract. Yes, it’s Red Bull in a chocolate. Even more bizarre, is the marketing on the back panel of the chocolate. See, from the front, you read “Sexy” first, then “Fine Belgian Dark Chocolate.” Then, on closer reading, the smaller type: “Ginger” and finally, “Energizing” well, of course its energizing silly, it’s chocolate!
Ok, so back to the back – there’s a violator across the panel that says:

Advantages
1 bar = 3 cups of coffee

Now, what the heck is this? Chocolate as a energizer bar? How bizarre is this?
We should have known when we read:”NewTree Sexy is chocolate in stilettos… …Naturally stimulating guarana extract adds an extra perk for a seductive treat.”
Ahh… it’s not an energizer or monster bar, it’s a Viagra bar. Yup.
Ok, it’s 73% cocoa, it’s Belgian chocolate. It’s got some ginger shavings. I think the ginger is purely to hide that weird guarana taste. The chocolate is good, it’s smooth, and balanced. The jury is still out on this one.

Dagoba Organic Chocolate Lemon Ginger

Chris Urban — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 22:20:50 +0000

Found this other organic chocolate line from Oregon – a nice base chocolate, with crystallized ginger and a hint of lemon. The chocolate is well-made, smooth and even-tasting: not too bitter, not too sweet. Ok, so maybe for my taste it’s not too bitter, I admit I like chocolate on the bitter side, to better enjoy the true flavor of the cocoa beans. I think a contributing factor to the semi-sweetness of this chocolate is that Dagoba uses evaporated cane juice instead of sugar? This is a nice chocolate, but it’s just okay – not tremendously memorable.