Warning: if you haven’t had anything sweet recently, this post may cause drooling.
Let’s start off with a favorite.
TCHO is just such good chocolate, both in quality and flavor. Some bean to bar chocolate is too rough for my liking, but this stuff is stellar. It’s organic and fair trade too. It went on sale a month back and I bought the max (8) that they allowed and have been slowly opening them. The sea salt and almond is my favorite so far. The cappuccino is also fantastic if you like coffee flavored chocolate. I would eat it a ton more frequently if I didn’t go to bed so soon afterwards. TCHO is usually pretty $$$ though so it’s not one I get as often as I’d like.
Holiday flavors from theo. Theo is another chocolate company I am pretty loyal to. Their bars are always good. Some are great. The peppermint was awesome, but the nutcracker brittle was just so-so.
It didn’t have enough stuff going on in it to make it much different from a plain chocolate bar. If it had upped the brittle component I would be way more into it. I am a sucker for brittle.
Which brings me to…
My ALL TIME FAVORITE. This has toffee and sea salt and is just about the most heavenly thing ever. For the record, I also tried the dark salted brown butter Alter Eco bar and it wasn’t that good. With a name like that, you’d think it would be orgasmic, but it was too bitter for me. The dark coconut toffee though…ohhhhh buddy. It’s seriously the best. In my top 3 for sure, if not the top spot.
Trader Joe’s does a decent job of creating fun seasonal flavors that tempt me enough to buy them at least once. This one was basically a messier and harder to eat version of their caramel sea salt bar. It has caramel filling and “gingerbread” crumbs on top (which I couldn’t really figure out). It was okay, but not worth buying again.
Dark chocolate covered [fill in the blank] are high on my list of favorites, especially ginger and almonds. Those two are standards. Ginger all day every day.
Lula’s is a local chocolatier (their stuff is sold at Nugget) and Kyle surprises me with their goodies every once in a while. I haven’t tried one I haven’t loved with a capital “L” so far.
This sample platter has a little of the dark california toffee, as well as a choclolate orange slice (TJs), and more TCHO.
This was my birthday present “from the kiddos.” In order of most favorite to least favorite: mauna loa dark chocolate macadamias, ghirardelli dark chocolate cashews, endangered species dark chocolate with hazelnut toffee, and moonstruck dark chocolate.
The moonstruck got lost in shadows of the others because it was plain.
The endangered species was good but didn’t have enough stuff in it. If you promise me hazelnut toffee, I’m gonna need that adequately backed up.
Chocolove has so many flavors I want to try and yet, I always end up getting the same few. I’ve tried a bunch of their flavors, but some are just okay. The good things about Chocolove is that they go on sale all the time at WF so you can usually get them for a pretty good price, which makes them a staple. The dark chocolate with sea salt and almonds is my favorite. They have one that is stuffed with almond butter, but it wasn’t as good as it sounded. This toffee and almonds one (above) is amazing, but because it’s milk chocolate I have to watch myself. That’s the main problem with Chocolove – all the best sounding ones are lower cacao % so I don’t get them.
There’s more Lula’s and theo.
And theo and coated cashews.
I got another one of these bars from “Santa” and took an inside shot…
See that stuff on top? They call it gingerbread cookie crumbs, but I’m not sure what it was! It was kinda flavorless to be honest, but it hardly mattered because it mostly fell off when you broke off pieces to eat anyway.
Our Christmas stash, looking as ridiculous as ever. I got those salty honey toffee milk chocolate covered crackers for Kyle and he said they were the best thing he ever had. I think it’s essentially Christmas crack.
I took my time getting through this bad boy. See’s is also in my top tier, although they have so many different chocolates, it’s hard to figure out how to rank it. In general, the nuts & chews box is the best way to go, but if you can get into a store and make your own box, then you can get all the good stuff and none of the weird jelly ones.
Last but not least, my beloved firecracker/fireworks bars.
Chuao is SO overpriced, so I would never buy it for myself, but Kyle occasionally surprises me with this one. I’ve also tried the honeycomb one. Both are fantastic. But you know what? So is the TJs knockoff. And I like them both equally, so I may as well buy the cheaper one! They are kinda spicy and have texture that makes your mouth feel all kinds of fun stuff and it’s one that I can enjoy slowly. Definitely in my top five.
So that’s just a sample. By no means inclusive of all my loves (because my TJs chai and almond bar isn’t in this post and that’s still my current #1).
What bar do I need to try next?? Give me homework!
I like the chocolove dark chocolate coffee crunch flavor and enjoyed the endangered species mint-though i agree with you on the brand… not enough chunks in there! I did like the raspberry flavor though. I am going to have to give some of these bars a shot! Thanks for sharing
An entire post about chocolate!! Right up my alley lol! I will be keeping an eye out for the TCHO now. If you ever have a chance to go to a Moonstruck Cafe, try their triple chocolate bark if they still have it. We tried it a few years ago on a trip and it was the best chocolate I have ever had. I was so excited to start seeing their bars in stores where I live but unfortunately they’re not nearly as good as that bark.
The raspberry chocolove has always intrigued me…may have to give it a try now…
Good to know! Where is moonstruck chocolate from??
The cafe we went to was in Portland, OR and I think that’s where they started.
This is EXACTLY what I needed to see right now. I am literally on my way to TJ’s because I am experiencing an intense chocolate craving.
We have very similar tastes, and chocolate consumption needs! I was so sad that Theo replaced their holiday flavor of dark chocolate peppermint + coconut that I’ve passed by the dark chocolate peppermint bar out of sheer annoyance, but I should really just give in and enjoy it. But whyyy the original version was so. good.
I see you don’t have any Lindt or Ghirardelli listed, but I tend to buy those since they go on sale and are available at the grocery stores near me. If you ever venture down that path, I’ve been obsessed with the dark chocolate with cocoa nibs lately. So tasty.
Ghirardelli is definitely a top contender with the sea salt soiree…I do like the caramel ones too…and I’ve been known to get bags of the mini sizes at the store in SF. I agree they do go on sale frequently and are available all over – I get it at target all the time! I haven’t tried much lindt to be honest, but thanks for the rec!! Any particular one I should try first??
YES!!!!! Get it girl 🙂
Hmm I see your reply in my email but not here…so I’ll just add a comment. My Ghirardelli recommendations are: (MUST TRY) dark chocolate with cocoa nibs (I’ve only found this at Walgreens for whatever reason), as you mentioned the sea salt soiree is a fav, and since I like some fruit flavors with my chocolate, I’ve been enjoying the raspberry radiance and cabernet matinee flavors also. For Lindt, I mainly just go for the dark chocolate w/ a hint of sea salt and dark chocolate with coconut, over and over and over. When I’m really wanting a big sugar hit I’ll devour the dark chocolate with caramel and a hint of sea salt, but that’s usually reserved for peak stress time during finals. I also love the intense mint dark chocolate bar, but I have a harder time finding it. They also have this dark chocolate bar with bite sized pieces in a red wrapper, where its bar shaped but each piece is an individual bite of chocolate, and you should definitely try them — they are slightly gooey on the inside and melt oh so well in the mouth.
whoaaaaa that last ine sounds like heaven. ok they all do – thank you!!
whoaaaaa that last one sounds like heaven. ok they all do – thank you!!
my favorites are chocolove raspberry, theo orange, vitacost ginger or chili/cherry and endangered species blueberry and lemon poppyseed. I am a total chocolate snob so I always love to see your suggestions!
WHOA blueberry and lemon poppyseed???? I’m off to google everything you just said. You are speaking my language and I love it!
OMG have you seen this!!! https://www.amazon.com/Endangered-Species-Chocolate-Chimpanzee/dp/B010GJNZG0