New Chocolate Website: Capital Bean

I've launched my new website! I'm no web professional, so it's very simple, yet will suit my needs perfectly. It's called Capital Bean and you ought to check it out right now. It'll primarily showcase my chocolate reviews, but I'll also do other things such as discuss politics affecting the chocolate industry, note new products, talk about companies, and so on. The first post is a recycled review I know, but I've got to have something to get it going, and there will be new reviews on Wednesday and Friday.

From now on this is where I'm going to do most of my writing. Musing Aloud is still technically alive, but by and large I'm going to concentrate on my Galt's Gulch project and Capital Bean. I'm doing a much better job isolating my essential values and changing my habits around them.

Hope you'll follow my new location. There's an RSS feed you could use to subscribe in a feed reader or even e-mail, a Facebook application, and my Twitter.

Thoughts on Chocolate

Oooh I'm terribly excited for tomorrow's chocolate review. The photographs I took really do a significant job in enhancing the text, though it calls for a major readjustment of my habits, such as the residing temptation to verbally describe something even though the picture is sufficient. It'll be awkward for a while, but at the very least I'm going to be changing my review layout very significantly. For one, I'll take to being more conservative on the Amazon links within the text, instead saving them for the bottom of the review after all has been read. Additionally, I'll also be posting links to my Flickr account to the specific set the specific chocolate photos are gathered, giving access to a few more angles and closeups, and more commentary on the aesthetics.

I'm happy and proud of myself in where I've taken this hobby. First it was merely me incoherently posting my views on my Facebook profile as to what I thought about the chocolates I was eating, and now it's come to this where I'm taking photos like a semi-professional. Perhaps it might soon come to the case that I'll receive samples from companies for review? That I would consider the next stage of achievement.

I have to wonder, though, if I should do chocolate reviews more than once a week to call more attention to them and gather more readers. What do you think? On this point, I'm at least considering a trial, perhaps by doing three chocolate reviews next week. Would you like that? On one hand, it might bring in a greater audience and attention, and perhaps begin establishing a stream of income sufficient to make the hobby self-sustaining. On the other, it'll make me go through my chocolate stocks a lot faster, and with my current finances it would be difficult to keep my stocks full given my current finances. I'll do more thinking, but I guess I've got to take a risk to see what benefit it might have, no?

Be sure to be here tomorrow for the review!

Here It Is!

I got to toy with my camera. Some samples, with yours truly as a model:





I still need to work on getting the most quality I can out of my shootings, but for now I'm pleased with myself. The camera is a Canon PowerShot A3100 IS with 12.1 megapixels. If you click the photos they'll take you to my Flickr account, which will become increasingly more active over the weeks, or you could click/bookmark/whatever this URL: http://www.flickr.com/photos/benpercent/

And one last photo. You know what's inside of it. After that incident with the mouse this is how I store my confections to protect them. What security it is to have it full and hard to lift.



I've already taken some photos for this week's chocolate review, and I have to admit I'm very pleased with the results given my frugal setup. I feel one step closer to making this a professional hobby. Hopefully you're looking as forward to this week's review as I am.

More on My Food Photography

As mentioned in my weekly summary, I finally managed to purchase a camera, which will soon satisfy part of my new year's resolution to practice food photography. I'm pleased by the writing skills I've developed in writing my chocolate reviews, but I've always thought it a severe disadvantage that I haven't been able to post photos of the products. Furthermore, the lack of photos actually hold back the writing itself, as I absurdly have to resort to word descriptions where pictures would be better, and am prevented from using ideal wording by not being able to commentate on a graphical presentation. There's all sorts of other obstacles too, such as awkwardly commenting on the packaging when the linked product either has a different picture or no picture at all. As such, it's high time that I arrive at this point.

The camera is still shipping, but I do at least anticipate being able to use it by next Friday's review, hopefully. Aside from the photos I post on here, I'll also begin establishing a Flickr photostream, where I'll likely maintain a greater variety of photos of a product than presented in the article alone. You'll get links when the time comes.

Of course, my first few weeks might be pretty awkward. I have no experience with photography and have never handled a camera of this caliber. (I'll note the camera type in my About My Chocolate Reviews page when I start using it.) I've been unfruitful in finding a good educational source on photography, particularly for food. The only one on food that I could find assumed entirely a thorough knowledge of photography and instead concentrated on preparing the food. For now, I'm going for trial and error. I'm going to shoot the product atop a white satin pillow case for contrast and adjust my lighting with my OTT-Lite lamp. It might not be the best of practices, but we'll have to wait and see. Besides, I'm not in the sturdiest of finances right now, so I'll work my way up.

Additionally, I'm also considering rereviewing some chocolates I've done in the past. I want to do this not only because the photography ought to enhance them greatly, but also because I want to correct some amateurish mistakes I made in my early days when I wasn't all that skilled in both my tasting and review writing. Some chocolates, I think, are worth revisiting given more trained abilities.

I'm not sure if I'll post any other kind of photography, but I might. For now, my concentration is entirely on my chocolate reviews, though I plan on branching out to photographing my meal preparations as well, once I get to more serious culinary practice.

I'm glad to have reached this point. For a while I was afraid I might never be able to afford to go through with this new year's resolution, but good luck and a good price has helped me see it through. Better still, I've managed to restore my stocks of review fodder, so now I have several months worth of material to keep things steady, whereas I was just down to my last two bars a week ago.

My start may be sloppy, but I'm looking forward to getting to it. Hopefully you find that it makes my chocolate reviews more worthwhile than ever before.

Chocolate Review: Ghirardelli's 60% Espresso Escape

It always bothers me as a connoisseur to see a chocolate taken off the store shelf permanently. Some of the best chocolates I've ever been introduced to were often nearing the end of their store presence, and within a week or two my cravings for them could no longer be satisfied. It's dissatisfying since they often aren't replaced by anything finer, making the selection become yet more run-of-the-mill. Are fine chocolate tastes rare? Or are consumers not being adventurous enough to go out and try these great things? I never forgave that one Walmart for introducing me to New Tree chocolates, especially after it made me attached to that lovely ginger bar and took it away within the month. It seems that my local Target is victimizing its own worthwhile chocolates, as I picked up Ghirardelli's 60% cacao Espresso Escape bar in the clearance bin, now vanished.

I don't drink coffee. In fact, I dedicate myself almost solely to water, excepting fruit smoothies and coconut juice as rare treats, though I like raw milk too. But coffee is dandy in chocolate, and that's just where I like it. How could I neglect this given the euphoric experience I had with Green & Black's own 67% espresso?

Overall, it's plenty satisfying. The cardboard sleeve has an excellent eye-catching design and color scheme, and from a technical advertising perspective I am appreciative of their economical usage and variety of information, with precisely separated sections on the back and no wasted space. Beyond the lovely silver foil -- I'm always so tempted to collect it, perhaps make a giant ball like Pee Wee Herman's foil ball -- appears an expertly designed bar with a wonderful, full-textured Ghirardelli emblem on each square, a great aesthetic touch. It's glossy, though not shiny, and has a quiet, crisp snap. The aroma comes out with a trio of chocolate, coffee, and maybe a hint of nuts. Seizing upon the eating, the flavor complex consisted of powered dairy -- though not texturally -- sugar, coffee, and a chocolately tone permeating the background throughout. In contradiction to the tasting notes, I did not sense any sort of spiciness or cherry-like fruitiness. The chocolate melts goodly, but unevenly and with lumps.

To my fortune I do not seem sensitive to caffeine, for even the consumption of this entire bar did not put me on a high or set me up for a crash, so maybe I have a helpful immunity in sampling a great quantity of coffee things. All in all, I'm pleased, but just cannot say it's superior to Green & Black's, and I nearly cannot list any advantage the competitor has except that the flavors are just higher quality and more intense. That, and I just like the better, more gooey and smooth mouthfeel that the thicker bars G&B's provide. Nutritionally, the lower cacao content of the Ghirardelli bar may be more preferable to those sensitive to caffeine, as the lower content might mean less caffeine, though it doesn't escape me that the G&B's bar contains cocoa instead of cacao, which makes things more difficult to judge.

In the end, I have to say it was pleasurable, but it just doesn't seem to match the quality of G&B's. I'd recommend this if it's all you have access to or can include in your budget, or if you have nutritional reasons for consuming it (e.g. possibly lower caffeine, different nature of cacao from cocoa), but otherwise my coffee chocolate preference lies with Green & Black's.

Chocolate Review: Equal Exchange's 80%

Equal Exchange's 80% Panama dark chocolate was amongst those I picked while paralyzed in Whole Foods' humongous chocolate section in Dallas. It took me nearly a half hour to decide what to pick, but the very simple and dominant blue wrapper of Equal Exchange stuck out to me, eventually persevering in my sight long enough to come home with me. This company is seemingly more keen on promoting its fair trade practices than some other participants I've seen, such as Endangered Species. This bar also happens to be soy-free in its ingredients and list of possible trace elements, so those meticulously trying to avoid soy should appreciate that.

The wrapper protecting the bar weirds me out. Instead of a foil, the bar is enclosed entirely in some kind of white plastic that feels like slippery paper. Against the norm certainly, but I guess it's practical for protecting it against foreign flavors and scents. At least it's not like the foils that come with New Tree's large bars, for I can't open one of those without breaking it.

Unwrapped, the smell is very fruity and earthy, and the flavor profile starts with a satisfying hit of sweet cacao, lasting up until the middle where it begins to quiet down to a fruity finish and ends with a very earthy chocolate aftertaste. It's crunchy and takes a while to melt, but at least it melts. The surface has a streaky shine, but is cleanly formed without notable defects like shatters or smudges, and has a perfect snap.

It's not very unique when considering the whole range of offerings, but perfectly satisfying for a chocolate fix, worthy of being ranked with the likes of Lindt's 90%, Green & Black's 85%, and all that. If I came across it again I'd absolutely consider purchasing and eating it again. Definitely recommend.

More Passion for Cooking

Recently I've had a rather disturbing revelation. I was just tossing around my cloth in the air, practicing my pizza throw as I said in my weekly summary, when suddenly I noticed the time and desired a break. This came as very disturbing to me. A break? After less than half an hour of practice? It then dawned on me that not enough of my life is dedicated to my career, at least not in time dedication. I haven't been reading enough, thinking about cooking enough, trying new things enough, tasting enough, and so on. For far too long I've been content leading one life at work, practicing my chocolate connoisseurship at home, and leaving my time for everything else up for grabs. If I have a passion for my field, then where's is it?

This has given me immense motivation to hurry and solve this problem, lest I perpetuate the deviation. If not fixed, then I am ultimately betraying myself, as after all my great aim in life is to realize my total and maximum potential. I can't do that if my greater concern is to settle down for the night with Sherlock Holmes on Hulu than I am with my culinary reading, can I? Geez, where has my head been?

For the most part, I really need to step it up with my culinary studies (i.e. reading) and take a more serious approach to my cooking. I didn't mention my restaurant job because I'm quite satisfied with the steady stream of self-improvement goals I keep thinking up there, leaving me never stagnant in my abilities, though I do have something study-wise in mind. There may be more areas, but it is these where I think the most essential changes need to be made.

For reading, it's simple: More time dedication, more effort! While I've been doing well to get back on track this week, I'm still far from restoring myself as a voracious reader as I was in my greater youth. For pete's sake I have in my ownership the great Cookwise and haven't even finished it, and have taken no where near full advantage of my copies of Good Eats: The Early Years and Good Eats 2: The Middle Years. And yet, I pine for more selections from the library? In addition to working my way through more chocolate books, I've got to give more attention to my own bookshelf once and a while.

I'm not sure what exactly to do about my cooking endeavors beyond a few vague specifics in mind. You might remember that I've had severe recipe frustrations in the past, not knowing of any good system for storing them or cycling them for my reference. Beyond that my finances are incredibly tight, as I'm living paycheck to paycheck at the present, so saying I have a tight budget isn't justice enough. Searching out a new ingredient or food each week might be worthwhile, but it's still hard to say how much my budget will allow of that. Plus, I rent a room, so my access to cooking utensils is somewhat restrained by the limited space, my selection, permissions, and my unfamiliarity with certain things. At the very least I could be doing much better to be more thoughtful in my cooking by actually thinking about what I'm doing rather than just focusing on sustenance. Furthermore, I could be doing better to cycle the ingredients that I know are well within my budget rather than depending on routine. There are some other limitations to my efforts, but I'd rather not mention them right now. More thinking needs to be done in this specific realm.

So concretely for now my determination is to up my efforts in my culinary reading and studying, and to be more intelligent in my cooking endeavors, such as my reading my knife book to see if there's a new cut I could practice on an ingredient. For work my study idea is to study the menu so that I have a more intricate knowledge of the culinary profile of my own employing restaurant, which is something I've been stupidly neglecting and forgetting.

I'm glad I've had this revelation. It may have been disturbing, but it was a needed kick in the pants. I feel my passion growing for my work once more. Hopefully now I can keep myself on track this time without unthinkingly wondering off.

Chocolate Review: Divine's 70% Mint

Time for another foray with my favorite class of herbs, mint. As you might know, mint chocolate is positively one of my favorite foods period, and in assessing companies I am always naturally tempted to select their mint offering. At my nearest World Market I got my hands on Divine's 70% mint dark chocolate. Admittedly I am not particularly enthused by this company, but mint is mint.

The thing that strikes me as odd is that they didn't advertise, at least on my package, that they added crystallized, minted sugar for a more crispy texture, as that seems it would be an important facet to note about the bar. I was surprised to come across the snowflake-like bits in the gradient after wondering what the crunch was all about. But anyhow, the bar is only mildly minty with an unpleasant bitter grassy theme, with the chocolate being virtually undetectable. The grassy notes are not at all tasty like New Tree's, making me feel as if I had eaten some from the yard. The bar smells of mint and grass, and looks dusty, smeared, and even has scratches on the back, though snaps with a sturdy sound. The melt is just okay, as it seems to be predominantly crunchy with some crystal-like crisp from the sugar clumps.

I deplore those angled lines used as the decoration. Why bother if so little effort is to be exerted? At least I really enjoyed the gold wrapper: It reminds me so much of wealth, money, and the good things in life. The cloth-like texture almost makes me want to keep it.

I leave disappointed. It's not all that minty, the grass is yucky, and the chocolate just isn't there. It seems to be a continuing problem with mint chocolates in that they're either not minty enough, have terrible additional attributes (like the rye taste in Theo's), or overwhelm the chocolate. To date I maintain the opinion that Endangered Species offers the best mint bar out there, with the mint being of just the right intensity, in perfect balance and harmony to a chocolate that can hold its own. In second place I would suggest New Tree's 73% mint, for while the mint is milder it does have a delicious grassy tone, and the green tea extract never fails to make my head feel all cool inside, my favorite aftereffect to a mint experience. This Divine bar just doesn't do well, so don't seek mint fulfillment here.

Chocolate Review: Green & Black's 34% Milk Toffee

I picked up Green & Black's milk chocolate with toffee while I was out buying a smorgasbord of chocolate one day, and was attracted to it since toffee is one of my developing confectionery interests. In its most simple form it is but sugar, butter, and salt, so it's quite nearly a Paleo treat. That a toffee variety is carried by such as good brand as G&B's only tempts me more.

While still a solidly delicious milk chocolate, it misses its aim. The butter flavor of the toffee comes off as way too sweet and not at all salty enough, though the luscious caramel overtones with nutty attributes make up for it, finishing on a very sugary note without being unpleasantly intense. I was entertained by the nearly taffy-like texture of the bar as it bent and pulled before breaking apart, and in the mouth is has that delightful fatty texture and viscous melt known of good milk chocolates, with a touch of crispness from the toffee. It smells slightly pungent, but not offensively so, and has dominating traits of milk, nuts, and caramel. I don't know why I kept sensing nuts, but I did. Aesthetically the bar has a light, kind of pinkish brown with a healthy glow, the inner gradient hiding bits of butter colored jewels.

The chocolate itself was perfect, but it overwhelms the toffee it carries, not to neglect the toffee itself isn't that good. I could recommend this as a great milk chocolate with a nice crisp to it, but not for its toffee. Also, note that glucose syrup that is used in the toffee is wheat derived, so it may possibly not be gluten-free.

Given a choice I'd still stick with Endangered Species' 72% Coexist toffee pieces as my toffee-chocolate of choice. The chocolate may be lesser in amount, but it's potent enough to hold its own in the complex of flavors, and the thickness of the toffee chunks delivers fully on the butter and salt traits that you'd crave.

I thoroughly enjoyed this G&B's treat, but it's more of a plain milk chocolate given the strength of its cocoa. If you want your milk chocolate to have some crisp texture to it then go for it, but for plain milk chocolate or chocolate toffee I'd suggest looking elsewhere.

Chocolate Review: Hachez 88%

Hachez chocolatier is one of my company interests by virtue of the fact they offer fruit infusion bars at the very high cocoa percentage of 77%, whereas most companies usually only produce stand-alone chocolate beyond 75%. I'm particularly fond of sweet and bitter combinations in my treats, hence my curiosity. While the texture needs some work, I'm fond of their 77% blackberry bar, and now have reached in my stash their darkest offering, their 88% cocoa Premier Cru bar.

Unfortunately, this chocolate was a huge disappointment. The only thing I could find that I liked about it is its bold red cardboard sleeve, which, while the empty space could be used more constructively, is very eye catching and elegant. The bar itself is a huge flat rectangle, square around the edges, with the Hachez brand signed on each square division, making for just acceptable aesthetics. Additionally, it's "dusty"and covered with bronze specks, but at least has a heavy snap. It smells faintly of dull cocoa and has the monotone taste of stale chocolate that's so mild it's almost flavorless matter. The texture is atrocious in that each bite almost positively refuses to melt in the mouth, making for a very crunchy and dry experience that makes me think I'm eating a child's plastic building blocks. Nothing about this was particularly bad so to speak, but everything is so bland, flat, and unimpressive that this bar was not at all worth bothering with. Worse yet, I paid nearly five dollars for the thing.

I'm very skeptical of Hachez's status now since at their website they like to advertise their ideal processes, such as 72 hour conching, but my tasting obviously indicates that particular products such as this variety doesn't undergo these ideal processes. I think they're trying to word their manufacturing habits in a misleading way that makes it sound as if all their products were produced that way, when the reality is that only some, or maybe none of their offerings go through these motions; or else they word matters in meaningless generalities. When they word their conching process as lasting "up to" 72 hours that's only an upper limit which does nothing to explain how many hours they actually conch their chocolate for.

Nonetheless, the sweet and bitter pairing of the blackberry bar was still a satisfying experience, so I'm still anticipating with gustatory excitement other of Hachez's treats. This one in isolation is worth staying away from, unfortunately.

Chocolate Review: Green & Black's 60% Hazelnut & Currant

Green & Black's 60% dark chocolate with hazelnuts and currants is my second foray in dealing with this mysterious currant fruit, which I've never heard of until coming across it in chocolate. It doesn't say what type of currant is used, but they taste so much like raisins that you might as well think of them as that. Hazelnuts are my least favorite nut, but paired with other things, such as toffee, I can find it tolerable and even pleasurable, so I thought to give this a try.

Like with G&B's milk almond bar the amount of nuts incorporated is very generous, ensuring some in almost every bite, and they can be easily counted by the round bumps on the back. The display side of the bar appears very "dusty" and has an amount of smudging that eliminates any shine, but has a very solid snap. Most disappointing is the weak aroma that is very hard to perceive even when smelling up close, though the sole tone of currants can be detected, and the flavor profile consists of equally matched hazelnut and currant (/raisin-y) tones against a bittersweet cocoa background, finishing with the currants becoming more apparent and isolated. The currant berries offer some moisture and stickiness, and the hazelnuts are not at all crunchy; rather, they're hard enough not to be soft, but at the same time aren't crisp, so they're in that intermediate point which has no name. The chocolate melts quickly, but with some graininess.

It has its imperfections, but it's enjoyable to say it's at least worthwhile. I tend not to like hazelnuts for the somewhat sharp sweetness that represents them, but here is a pairing where I find the flavors all get along and come off well. The chocolate definitely could use some work on its texture, as well the the appeal to the olfactory sense, but overall it's a pleasing experience I don't think you'll be disappointed in, especially if you're a Raisinets fan as I was in my non-Paleo days.

Now where can I get me some Brazil and macadamia nut chocolate?

New Page

Hey guys, if you hadn't already noticed, I created a new page for my blog that details the intricacies of my chocolate reviews, such as why I do them, what my standards are for choosing chocolates, and more. Embarrassing I know, but I've only now discovered the page feature for Blogger.

I've detailed all this stuff in previous articles before, but I don't think it's sufficient given that those posts will quickly be buried and forgotten, so I think I should have something easy to reference for those newcomers who may wish to know something like how I pick chocolates. I'll update the page here and there, but nothing big enough to make worth checking it periodically.

Let me know if there's any other information or questions you'd like me to include.

Chocolate Review: Lindt's 70% Cocoa Almond Brittle

Lindt has recently announced the arrival of two new entries into their Excellence lineup, 70% Cocoa Nut Crunch (walnuts) and 70% Cocoa Almond Brittle. I was excited to see both of them at my local Target, but unfortunately only the almond brittle bar is qualified for review, as the walnut variety has the dreaded "artificial flavorings" listed in its ingredients. Lindt generates mixed feelings for me given the mixed quality of their products. Their 85% and 90% dark varieties are great, and I've been dying to get my hands on their 99% bar which I just can't find, but by and large their extensive product line contains artificial ingredients which are just unpalatable to my dietary guidelines. I guess we'll just have to enjoy what values there are. Please note, however, that the almond brittle bar contains glucose syrup derived from wheat, so it's possibly not gluten-free.

I'm particularly impressed with it. The bar looks immaculate in its precise uniformity free of any bumps from the brittle or chips off the surface, and you can't see the brittle integrated unless you break in to look at the gradient. It has a smudgy shine and no snap, but the mouthfeel has the wonderful complexity of being liquid smooth and incredibly crispy at the same time. The scent is very strong with toasted nuts and sweet caramel, and the flavor is a dance of nuts intermingled with notes of caramel and a surprisingly fruity chocolate, slightly stronger at the finish. The sweetness made the back of my mouth ache a little bit, being a smidgen too high, but it's not too bad. Overall it defied my expectations and pleased me.

I guess in viewing Lindt as overly using artificial stuff I had established the prejudice that it was a poor quality chocolatier, leading to mixed expectations in coming to taste this. My prejudice is duly uprooted. However, despite how pleasing the experience was, the sweetness is something that doesn't motivate me to keep coming back for more, so I'll probably only eat this once and consider it satisfying in bringing new experiences.

I know it's comparing apples and oranges, but given the similarity I found myself immediately thinking of Endangered Species' 72% Coexist toffee pieces and concluding that I would much prefer the buttery and saltiness of that over the brittle. I still recommend this Lindt variety, but I view it more as a one-time thing. The toffee is my preference.

Hershey and Child Labor

Via Jim's Chocolate Mission I've learned that there was recently a protest against Hershey regarding their usage of child labor in Africa. It was cited that they made a vow about a decade ago to cease such a practice, and yet to this day still continue it.

Chocolate, believe it or not, is quite wrapped up in politics, and I'm certainly concerned about a company's practices when I contemplate regularly consuming their products. I still have a lot to learn as to what the current issues are and where companies stand, but I've heard that some companies even indirectly fund slavery in the cacao plantations they purchase beans from, though I haven't heard any names accused or conclusive evidence. But as far as things go in this article, I think things are far too sketchy on whether it's proper to condemn Hershey or not. It notes specifically that they're condemning child labor, not slavery, so it is of great question as to how we should evaluate that practice.

Most essentially, what is the economic context of the workers? If things are so poor there and everyone badly off, then voluntary child labor would actually be a good thing, because otherwise the alternative would be an even poorer people and perhaps starvation. If that's the case, then even such an unpleasant practice becomes desirable by the overall good it does to the workers. On the other hand, if it's superfluous and unnecessary, then I'd consider it an irrational practice that isn't worthy of supporting, but at the same time isn't worthy of condemnation given its voluntary nature. In either case, if it's true that slavery isn't involved here, then I think protestors are making a mountain out of a molehill.

I suspect that it's the case that poverty drives these people to employ children, because otherwise a more prosperous society would have enough wealth to allow these children to stay home and pursue other activities, such as schooling. How good of workers could they possibly be anyhow in comparison to grown men? It's likely out of economical necessity that they find themselves in this position.

As such, I see no reason to abstain from consuming any of Hershey's products. I see no sufficient evidence that they're actually guilty of an immoral practice, and will not condemn them as such.

Chocolate Review: New Tree's 51% Dark Milk

While I should be refraining from buying chocolate at the moment, Target was having a clearance sale on this particular item, so the threat of it disappearing forever prodded me to add it to my stocks. New Tree, among a few others, is one of the companies I'm very interested in, not to ignore that their ginger bar is one of my top three favorite chocolate bars period. I find New Tree most memorable for the aesthetic beauty their bars offer in their subtle designs, and more broadly New Tree is known to add various extracts and whatnot to their chocolates to up the health properties, though that is debatable from various dietary perspectives depending on the specific add-in. The treat in intrigue today is New Tree's 51% cocoa dark milk chocolate.

Is New Tree the first to try such an odd combo? I think they are, for I've never heard of it before. Anyhow, in this particular variation they add extra fiber and reduce the sugar by 30% in comparison to the average competitor, and otherwise it's just a good old chocolate bar. It smells of cream, cocoa, and caramel, and tastes luxuriously of caramel with a perfect amount of sweetness and constantly held intensity. I couldn't really sense the vanilla as is indicated in the tasting notes, but I think that means it's well fused into the experience rather than being absent from the taste. I love the mouthfeel: it's very firm without being crunchy and melts into that fatty deliciousness notable of chocolates with low melting points.

The appearance struck me as odd, however. Unlike other of New Tree's products, this one merely had lines traveling down at an angle on each square, not those wonderful leaf veins I've seen on the mint and ginger bars. Why the switch-up in such great aesthetics? Moreover, why does the packaging show the chocolate as having leaf veins when it doesn't? Otherwise, it has an okay shine, though no snap.

I'm glad the wrapper is different. This one is much easier to rip and isn't sealed entirely shut like some of the other products are, which makes the confection much easier and quicker to get to without damaging it. I deplore the strong and sealed wrappers I came across before, as I kept breaking the bars 100% of the time when trying to get into them.

In conclusion, this is certainly a unique combination for sure, one that looks paradoxical on the surface, but New Tree has pulled it off well enough to leave me extremely pleased. The caramel sensation and fatty mouthfeel are just right, making this my milk chocolate of choice, which I would absolutely recommend.

Continued Thinking on my Purpose in Life

Just about as always, I've been doing some thinking as to where I want to go in the culinary field as per my purpose in life, and more and more I've been realizing lately just how much I love an intellectual direction. At first I thought I'd might like to own my own restaurant or restaurants, but I'm confused on that matter for the moment.

After observing myself these past weeks after someone made a significant comment about my character, I've learned that I do my best and am my happiest when I'm feeding my mind and putting it to work. Pure muscle-type labor is out, as not only would I be discontent, but I'd also perform poorly since my mind would be severely dulled and undermine my efforts by wandering to other thinking to gain stimulation. On the other extreme, it doesn't seem I'd enjoy too much the pure intellectual realm either, just writing articles and stuff.

I noticed how important my mind is to my work through working a very looong shift of dish washing at my current job. I came in fine, but several hours in I started losing control of my pacing and felt empty-headed. My brain simply felt deprived. However, to gain temporary relief from his duties a coworker offered to trade places with me, so he could wash dishes to restore himself while I chopped lettuce for salad. Instantaneously I felt recharged at the prospect of learning and developing a new skill, and during the task I got so excited that I literally got an adrenaline rush and could hardly refrain from blasting with energy. Afterwards I took to washing dishes with renewed vigor. Learning is a must in my career.

At the same time, I've been wondering about my capacity for culinary creativeness. Truth be told I don't seem to be very active in the realm of thinking up new dishes and combinations, but still I do think about food a lot, distinct from hunger. At this point I'm considering chefdom a point in my career, not an end-point, I think. Then again, perhaps my culinary creativeness is simply due to being unsophisticated in that realm, as I can't afford to eat at restaurants currently, live on a budget Paleo diet, and haven't started my second job at the country club yet, meaning I don't get a lot of exposure to culinary artistry and flavor sensations. Before I reach a definitive conclusion on this point I'll need to eat out more, experiment more at home, and advance forth into the hot line at work.

As for the short-term, after reading more and more chocolate-oriented blogs and articles I have been experiencing a desire to write more regularly about chocolate, much more often than my once-a-week chocolate reviews. I may not want to be a fiction writer as I did while growing up, but writing is still a value to me, and it seems that I may be being pulled in the direction of chocolate, whether it be about recipes, farming, political activism, or the like. And come to think of it, I've been terrible at carelessly discounting chocolate's potential role in my career, haven't I? I like it an awful lot after all, and it's been a value to me that's just growing stronger as time passes. Maybe I'd like to manufacture my own line in the future . . . ?

For now, what I think I should do is get into my second job, increase my exposure to more sophisticated cooking, eat out more after stabilizing my finances, experiment more at home, and see if there's some way I could stimulate my writing urges with chocolate-based topics. I thought my thinking was more clear on the matter of which direction I'd like to go, but that doesn't seem to be the case now. Not yet.

Chocolate Review: Divine 70% with Raspberries

Yet another discovery made at one of my new favorite stores, Cost Plus World Market. I've been discovering brands of chocolate left and right since moving to Texas, and Divine Chocolate  is amongst those that I've never seen before. It was actually hard to decide to purchase some since the packaging is so appalling with its gaudy symbols, making me think of dollar store wrapping paper and poker cards, but we shouldn't judge a chocolate by its wrapper, should we? Eventually I convinced myself to pick up a bar of their 70% dark chocolate with raspberries.

Terrible packaging aside, the bar itself looks pretty plain, almost exactly what you would think of if asked to visualize the stereotypical symbolization of a chocolate bar. It's divided up into tiny squares marked with horizontal and vertical lines meeting at an angle, making for the blandest of aesthetics, and it lacks a good shine, but it still has a crisp snap and appreciable amount of raspberry pieces, as indicated by the rough and bumpy underside.

The aroma is potent enough with its tones of mild chocolate, raisins, and assertively fruity raspberries, but the chocolate itself is lackluster. It is very mild and simplistic in tasting only of ordinary sweetened chocolate, but the vice is somewhat made up for by the deliciously tangy raspberries that dominate the show and intensifies at the finish. Mouthfeel-wise it is somewhat lumpy, but still pleasurably thick and gooey nonetheless. After many tastings, I have come of opinion that the thickly formed chocolates tend to provide a more satisfying texture, like Green & Black's, as opposed to the thinness of confections such as Lindt's.

I came for the chocolate and received instead a dominating berry, so my overall impression is that of being neither pleased nor disappointed. The chocolate is disappointing for sure, but the fruit makes up for it in a way. I'd rate it as roughly equal to Endangered Species' 72% raspberries, though might go for ES' offering for the sake of better chocolate and brand loyalty. All in all I am too unstimulated by this to be able to give it a recommendation, so satisfy your palate elsewhere.

Chocolate Review: Green & Black's 55% Maya Gold

Green & Black's 55% Maya Gold is another one of those chocolates that makes me glad I'm loosening my review standards a little bit, because otherwise delectable treats like these would be absent from my sensual life. I but picked it up randomly while purchasing a slew of G&B's products, so what luck. It especially intrigues me since it's one of the most central products in G&B's lineup, for it was created in the company's early years using as inspiration a spiced chocolate drink from Belize. It also earned the first Fair Trade designation in the United Kingdom, meaning they pay cacao farmers above average prices for their crops in order to keep them in the cacao farming business. You can read more here.

The packaging is secretive as to the nature of the spices involved in the recipe, so I took it as a fun challenge to try and identify the traits. In the aroma I pick up bitter orange and spices like cardamon and ginger, maybe nutmeg, and overall it smells like the warm spice reminiscent of gingerbread. Flavor-wise I got a mix of bitter orange zest and the succulent sweetness of the fruit flesh, intermingled with peppery tones without the heat and tangy, lemony citrus notes at the finish. The tasting notes on G&B's site mentions the inclusion of nutmeg, cinnamon, and vanilla, and while I could get nutmeg in the aroma, I didn't really get it in the flavor, and detected none of the cinnamon and vanilla. The mouthfeel is great, as seems to be the case with most of G&B's products, as the bar is very thick and soft, and melts quickly into a smooth liquid.  The appearance could be worked on a little bit, however, as the bar looks dusty, has no shine, and has too soft a snap.

Strangely enough, I didn't like the chocolate the first time I ate half of it, but when I came back to it a few days later I found I took a liking to it. A really, really, good liking it. Perhaps it's a flavor you need to get used to. It goes to show you that a hesitancy in trying new foods could lead you to exclude potential values. 

This impresses me as an adult confection in not being overly sweet and having complex facets to stimulate one's tasting intelligence. The next time I get a bar I'm certainly going to work and see if I can identify yet more of its facets to heighten my attention and awareness. I definitely recommend this chocolate, and can see how it's become a signature for G&B's.

Chocolate Review: World Market's 99% Cacao

One of the greatest pleasures about my relocation has been the discovery of a close by Cost Plus World Market, which has an incredibly interesting array of food items from all over the world. They even have a great selection of various chocolates, including their own line. When I saw the 99% cacao variety I wanted it immediately, as I've been wanting to try a 99% chocolate for a very long time now. I've always been on the search for Lindt's 99% variety, but it's been impossible to find so far, so World Market has made me very excited. I couldn't wait to get it in my tasting queue.

It's a good question why one would stop at 99% cacao and not just go full out 100%, but the sliver of sweetness is enough to round off the bitterness and perhaps create a better texture by preventing crystallization. Baking bars, largely, are not manufactured with the intention for them to be eaten pure that way, even though people do, so they're usually very hard and dry texturally, making 99% bars a better choice given different manufacturing practices, such as a greater ratio of fat to solids for a better melt.

For World Market, the bitterness dominates almost the entirety of the flavor profile and has a fruity finish, though nothing I'd consider similar to currants as stated in the tasting notes. The currants do exist subtly within the aroma, however, along with a mild theme of chocolate. Its mouthfeel is okay since it is somewhat lumpy, but it still is pleasurably soft and slow melting.

The aesthetics kind of perplex me. What are they going for with the packaging? It's unoffensive and alright to the eyes, but it makes me perceive it as something that would sit on a warehouse shelf, especially since the product number is listed right on the front. The bar itself satisfies but merely the basics of desirable aesthetics, having a healthy shine and strong snap, and on each square division the World Market brand is printed in a straight-lined font. For what it's worth, it all seems acceptable.

This was a let-down to be honest, as I had quite hyped up in my mind what a 99% bar would taste like. World Market's isn't very complex at all, and the bitterness is slightly unpleasant. Nonetheless, the mouthfeel is definitely much better than that of actual baking chocolate, and its bitterness is a quality I'd still like to pair with a nut butter. Best of all, it's very affordable, clocking in at $1.99 at my store. It's not impressive, but would probably taste great with other things, such as fruit, so I offer my recommendation for this being a good chocolate to pair with other things, but recommend looking elsewhere if you want something to eat on its own.

Chocolate Review: Equal Exchange 67% Mint with Peppermint Pieces

[The Blogger crash took down my polished version of this review, so this reposting is simply a swapping of drafts.]

It's probably obvious that mint is one of my favorite flavors hands down, especially in chocolate. Done right, it can offer that wonderful experience of the brain feeling as if it were injected with a cooling gel, a perfect accompaniment to the refreshing and delicious nature of the herb class. I try to keep this style of chocolate on hand constantly, in piles if possible, and now it's time to assess more of what companies have to offer in this spectrum, the focus this time being on Equal Exchange's 67% dark mint with peppermint pieces.

Pleasing, but it has some vices holding it back. Each bite is thoroughly saturated with great mint intensity, dandy for my desires, but the balance too much favors the peppermint and leaves the cacao as something merely hinted at. The experience serves to add no additional complexity, only petering out the mint intensity as time passes and leaving the chocolate statically recessive, finishing with no other attribute. It's not at all crunchy as it promises to be; rather, it's entertainingly crispy given how fine the peppermint pieces are. The fineness of the bits also serves as a pleasant, rough contrast to the smooth melt, making for a two-dimension texture. The bar itself smells very sharply of mint, almost making the nose feel cold, though aroma-wise it reminds me more of spearmint than of peppermint.

The packaging is very well done with its simple color contrasts and tasteful minimalist decorations, but the confection itself looks lazy. It has but only lines going along the length on each square, which makes me wonder why they even bothered. Put the brand name on there or something; give us some eye candy. Otherwise, the bar has a strange blend of dull and shiny spots, but is at least cleanly manufactured and has a good snap.

Given how much I like mint the imbalance doesn't bother me that much, but Equal Exchange still doesn't seem to hold up to its competitors. Endangered Species' 72% mint has an equally pleasing mint experience, better balance, more intense chocolate, less sugar, and is probably cheaper. New Tree's 73% mint may be a little more expensive and harder to obtain, not to mention having a slightly less intense chocolate, but it has the complexity of bitter grassy notes and, most favorably, consistently delivers on that brain-cooling experience I mentioned above, probably due to the green tea extract. Equal Exchange's contribution is tasty, but I can't recommend it given its superior competitors; Endangered Species still tops the mint category in my book, so I still offer that as my top suggestion.