Imagine the intensity of 100% cacao, a chocolate without ANY sugar! Next, imagine the intensity a Laphroaig Single Malt Scotch Whisky, which is known to be smoky and peaty. Now, what if you combined those two very polarizing flavors?! These Mademoiselle Miel smoked honey bon-bons with scotch will blow your mind! 🤯
Thanks to Susan Brown (aka Madamoiselle Miel) for sending me a couple of sets of these bonbons for this Alphabet project. My apologies for not tasting them sooner, but I can assure you they were still SO VIBRANTLY flavored!
I enjoyed learning that Susan, who is both a beekeeper and an award winning chocolatier, collects honey from rooftop hives throughout the Twin Cities (Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota). If you’d like to learn more about Susan and Mademoiselle Miel, here is the link to a Well Tempered podcast episode.
Let me be honest, I’m not a big fan of unsweetened chocolate…it’s a little overwhelming for my palate. Scotch whisky, especially one that is smoky/peaty, won’t be at the top of my wish list either. BUT WOW, combining those two ingredients together is a revelation.
These bonbons are like tiny jewels unto themselves. Just
look at how the edible, copper colored lustre dust shimmers in the sunlight.
Popping one of these morsels in your mouth is a multi-layered experience. The thin, bitter outer shell easily gives way to the semi-liquid center. The honey is smoked over sweet hickory wood and then paired with the Laphroaig. Not sure if the mouthfeel is supposed to be slightly grainy/crystallized; maybe it’s because I waited a little too long or perhaps that’s just what happens when alcohol interacts with honey. The comparatively sweet center disappears quickly and the smoky/leathery taste coats your palate. The flavors linger and there is a short-lived astringency/drying of the mouth once the chocolate is gone.
With 3 more bonbons left, now I’m curious to pair them with a dram of Laphroaig. Wish me luck! 😲
According to a Laphroaig timeline, their whisky was “officially” born in 1815 when they decided that it was more cost effective to distill alcohol than raise cattle. Check out their website to learn more about their products.
If there is a whisky or chocolate lover in your life, might I remind you that Valentine’s Day is just around the corner! ❤️
Surprisingly “K” was an elusive alcohol letter to find paired with chocolate; I thought for sure that a Kahlúa chocolate would be available, but no luck 😲
When a subscriber to this blog commented on my Honey Brandy post and mentioned Hawaiian maker Manoa, I discovered that they made a bar called KōHana Rum. Woo hoo, problem solved! Luckily, I was able to contact Manoa before they traveled to Seattle for the Northwest Chocolate Festival in November and I sourced this bar without paying for shipping – then again, even overnight mail from Hawaii would have been MUCH less expensive than my trip to Seattle, but I digress.
From the inside of the packaging: “We teamed up with local rum distiller KōHana to create this bar. KōHana Agricole Rum is meticulously crafted from farm to bottle. They grow single varietal sugar canes that are hand harvested, pressed to juice and then distilled to perfection – resulting in one of the world’s finest pure cane rums. Our Hawaiian cacao nibs are soaked in their rum, which we then process into chocolate.”
I’m not much of a rum drinker, so I wasn’t familiar with all the types of rum out there. That’s where this VinePair article came in super handy.
Classic rum is distilled from fermented sugarcane products, usually
molasses, a syrupy byproduct of refining cane or beet sugar.
Rhum agricole differs from [classic] rum in that it’s distilled directly from pressed cane sugar instead of fermented juice or cane byproducts like molasses…
“Agricole” means “agricultural” in French. Because it’s so pure, drinkers can really taste the terroir. In rhum agricole’s case, this generally means a grassy, slightly funky taste.
It was great to read that last description, because this
chocolate bar is indeed funky; though I would describe the flavor as leather
rather than grassy – maybe the rum itself is grassy?!
Love the deep, rich, dark brown color to this nearly pristine bar with a detailed mould design. The aroma reminded me of wet tea leaves or used (already steeped?) coffee grounds. The bar segmented easily with a medium to soft snap. Super smooth & creamy during the slow even melt. As mentioned earlier, there was a unique flavor to this bar & I struggled with descriptors until I read someone else mention that Agricole Rum can sometimes taste leathery. Bingo! That’s it!
A fellow chocolate blogger recently posted about pairing this bar WITH the rum that was used to impart the distinct flavor. Take a look at her post, if you’re curious about it.
As a side note, you’re probably thinking: Hey, did I miss the letter “J”? Well, truth be told, over the last year I’ve lost enthusiasm for this round of Eating the Chocolate Alphabet. After some soul searching, I’ve decided to feature only the bars that were already set aside for this project, but won’t be fulfilling every letter or filling in the gaps. My apologies for those completionists out there & thanks for your understanding!
On a date, at a cozy French bistro in a trendy part of Los Angeles in my early 30s, wanting to appear cultured and chic, but daunted by the wine list, I came upon Neige (apple ice wine). I ordered it and fell in love (with the wine, mostly; but with the guy as well, if I’m being honest).
Since then, I’ve always had an affinity for sweet wines: late harvest varietals and ice wine (grape or apple-based), in particular.
According to Wikipedia:
“Ice wine is a type of dessert wine produced from grapes that have been frozen while still on the vine. The sugars and other dissolved solids do not freeze, but the water does, allowing for a more concentrated grape juice to develop. The grapes’ must is pressed from the frozen grapes, resulting in a smaller amount of more concentrated, very sweet wine. With ice wines, the freezing happens before the fermentation, not afterwards.”
When a Canadian friend saw my alcohol-related Eating the Chocolate Alphabet project, she offered to find me chocolates made with ice wine; Canada is one of the largest producers of ice wine since the weather consistently gets cold enough there. How could I refuse?!
Love that the quintet of detailed, maple leaf-shaped bonbons are served individually in a little tray inside the shiny (and hard to avoid an accidental selfie while being photographed) outer box.
The outer shell is milk chocolate and in the center there is
a small dollop of crumbly ice wine flavored cocoa butter. Overall this
confection is too sweet for my taste and I wonder what it might have been like
with either white chocolate or dark chocolate as the shell.
Granted, these are not “craft” chocolates, but they do provide a fond nostalgia for time gone by.
Over the years, romance with the guy withered and died, but my affection for the wine has not. On the whole, I can’t complain about that turn of fate, it’s opened a world of opportunities for me 🙂
If you know of another ice wine chocolate that I should try, please leave a comment below!
Maybe it’s a bit of a stretch, but I say that honey brandy counts for the letter “H” in this round of the alcohol-related Eating the Chocolate Alphabet!
If I remember correctly, Violet Sky’s Instagram feed first mentioned a Honey Brandy Barrel Aged Monte Grande in August 2017 and I think I acquired this particular 72% dark chocolate bar in early to mid-2018, so yeah, I’ve been “aging” this in my stash for a while.
But, OMG, I wish there was smell-o-vision to go along with this post because both the aroma and the flavor were unlike anything I’ve ever encountered, in the best possible way!
The moment I removed the bar from the iridescent “snake skin” outer paper wrapper and the thin, purple/magenta colored foil inner wrapper, the aroma was so vibrant, unique, unusual and hard to describe. The best I can think of is floral; like a jasmine or an orchid, but that’s just about a tenth of all the scents that wafted to my nose.
The mold design is nondescript and there are a few burst air bubbles here and there, but the bar has a glossy shine that seems to catch the light and reflect its surroundings.
It is easy to segment and break rectangles in half with a medium to sharp snap. Placing a tasting morsel on my tongue created another rainbow of flavors that overwhelmed my senses. It was on the verge of being spicy/peppery like leather or tobacco and it reminded me of something that had just the right amount of burnt char. Was that a wisp of raw/unroasted pecans or black tea? Wait, now it’s savory like cheese. No, it’s botanical like gin! I’m getting light tip of the tongue tingles…what does THAT mean?
Slow/even melt, with a palate-coating, creamy (yet juicy) mouthfeel along with a drying sensation on the sides of my cheeks and lips. If you choose to take a bite, then it’s like a dense fudge, with a slight crumbly chew.
I don’t have much experience with the Monte Grande origin or Guatemalan cacao for that matter, so I’m wondering if aging the nibs in Virtuoso Distillers honey brandy barrels created this symphony of flavors and aromas or if these notes are inherent to the cacao itself. If anyone can provide more details on this, please leave a comment below!
As for the term “honey brandy,” sadly I’m not able to find much information online about that either. Is it a mead that was distilled to brandy strength? Is it honey fermented in brandy barrels? I looked for Virtuoso Distillers and only found a company in Mishawaka, Indiana that makes gin, rye and vodka. Even their URL (http://18vodka.com/) refers to vodka that’s been distilled 18 times. Could it be that in the 1-2 years since I’ve acquired the bar that they changed their portfolio of spirits?
Soon I’ll be sending samples of this bar to friends around the world to get their impressions! Maybe one of them will find the words that eluded me?
Up until about five years ago, I wasn’t much of a drinker. I’m not fond of wine (unless it’s sweet/dessert/Late Harvest); mass produced beer smells and tastes like pee (I’ve since discovered that I like craft beer sours); and I thought that all cocktails were served on the rocks or blended with ice (my throat doesn’t do well with super cold things). My boyfriend is a firm believer that everyone should cultivate an acquired taste, so gin became my thing! He also opened my eyes to cocktails that are served “up” (meaning that they are chilled, but come sans ice) and my world has never been the same since. 😂
I love the complexity of gin! This spirit can be distilled from seemingly almost anything. I’ve tried one made from clementine oranges and another from grapes, as well the more traditional grain distillation. Each gin is distinct depending on the blend of botanicals used. Most makers keep their ingredients a secret, others proudly detail that it contains juniper, bergamot, orange peel, angelica, coriander as well as many many other herbs and spices. My recent gin acquisition has a vibrant purple hue thanks to butterfly pea flowers that changes color when citrus juice is added! 😲
Confession time: I’ve been planning and gathering bars for this alcohol-related Alphabet for about a year now and this round has been rolling out at a much slower pace than the previous three, so the first two bars featured below have (unfortunately) past their prime after languishing in my stash, waiting for their moment in the spotlight…one of the drawbacks of being a chocolate hoarder! 🤦
First up is Zotter’s Gin Zitronic Hand-scooped bar:
A fellow gin lover and chocophile from the UK visited the Zotter factory in Austria over a year ago (yes, I’m shaking my head too) and sent me this bar. The label is entirely in German, so I’ve been struggling to translate it to English. I’m pretty sure it says something about Josef Farthofer’s O. Gin (the O meaning organic) and that this gin has 24 different herbs and spices, with juniper and orange called out specifically.
Don’t you just love the undulating waves of 60% dark milk chocolate that enrobe this bar and how you can see each distinct layer?
The bar is like a soft fudge and doesn’t snap, so it’s advisable to cut off portions with a knife. The lightly crisp, thin dark milk chocolate top and bottom fall away easily so that you can taste the creamy dark chocolate ganache layer and the citrusy lemon cream layer separately.
Deconstructing all the elements allowed me to better enjoy the latent botanical flavors as well as discover tiny pieces of citrus zest that add texture and enhanced flavor. Again, based on my rudimentary translation, I think the lemon cream is made with their house-made lemon soda + vermouth, though it’s really not boozy.
Another thing that baffles me on the label, is that the “zi & r” of Zitronic are in green, whereas everything else is in black…if anyone knows the significance, please fill me in!
Next up, is Cultura Craft Chocolate’s Limited Release 75% Gin + Juniper bar:
Based on the label description, Belize dark chocolate was infused with Denver-based Leopold Bros Navy Strength gin and finished with juniper sugar; piloncillo (unrefined brown sugar) in particular, I believe.
What is “Navy Strength” you might ask? Well, the quick answer is a spirit that is bottled at exactly 57% alcohol by volume (ABV). The longer answer is that during the 18th Century, the UK Royal Navy mandated that a certain quantity of gin be carried on board as a way to combat scurvy or malaria as they traveled around the world. Since suppliers were notorious for watering down alcohol, mariners would test the product by igniting the liquid with gunpowder. If it failed to light, this indicated that they had been duped. Only gin that passed the gunpowder test were classified as Navy Strength.
The small (0.9 ounce) bar has no mold design and a nice amount of sprinkled inclusions. Once out of the inner wrapper, the aroma was herbal, like hay or grass. Sharp snap with a smooth, slow/even melt. Fruity/juicy notes with a tart tang at the back of the throat. Chewing a tasting morsel brought out more vibrant fruit notes. Returning to melting a piece on my tongue after chomping a few bites, now I was able to get the botanical notes that are characteristic of gin.
Since I don’t like to be pre-influenced when tasting chocolate, I didn’t read the label until AFTER trying the bar. I was pleasantly surprised to see Leopold Bros, since I just happen to have one of their gins on hand: mine is the Summer Gin. By the way, I always feel so guilty about drinking alcohol too early in the day; so I tasted and photographed the chocolates at lunchtime, but waited until an appropriate “cocktail hour” for the pairings.
The Summer Gin on its own is quite citrusy, but also smooth
enough to be sipped neat. Paired with the Belize chocolate, this brought out
raisin/stewed dried fruit and floral notes. What a delightful combo!
Last, but not least, Hunted + Gathered Four Pillars Rare Dry Gin bar:
How can you not smile when you see a cheerful sticker saying “time for more chocolate”! This should be my mantra, wait it IS my mantra 🤣
From the packaging, Four Pillars Gin botanicals were ground
through with 70% Dominican Republic cacao to produce this bar. Granted this is
my most recent acquisition (since a friend traveled to Australia within the
last 6 months and brought back this bar for me), but it was also the one that
MOST smelled like gin: VERY herbaceous!
The mold design makes me think of a tic tac toe board or a large Rubik’s cube panel. Forgive the lightly frosted surface appearance…remember, it traveled QUITE a distance to get to me!
Resounding snap, sending botanical aromas to my nose. This is like eating gin in solid form! Intensely juniper with resin/pine too. Bitter during the melt and long lasting flavor on the tongue during the finish. I was surprised to see that the ingredients list mentioned coconut sugar and dried orange.
While on a shopping spree recently, we spotted a Four Pillars Gin and knew we *HAD* to have this for the perfect pairing!
On its own, the gin has quite a kick (the first sip was
mellow and then that second sip was WOW!) Paired together, I get all kinds of
licorice-y and anise notes. Quite robust and complex!
Tomorrow I’m going to try a non-alcoholic juniper bar since it’s gin-adjacent! Follow me on Instagram to find out more.
If you know of any other gin bars out there that I shouldn’t miss, please leave a comment below.
Cheers & Happy Thirsty Thursday to all! Should we blame or congratulate my BF for corrupting me?! Regardless, I’m off to make myself a cocktail…with gin, of course 😉🍸
If you’d like more information on any of the makers featured here, please check out their websites:
Oh, the things we do for this Alphabet project…and by *we* (in this case), I mean both my “anything can be found on the internet if you try hard enough” boyfriend as well as Jess (aka Dessert Geek), the most intrepid and knowledgeable vlogger I know.
About a decade ago, I was introduced to fernet by someone I was dating at the time. He mentioned that it was an acquired taste, but that bartenders and restaurant industry types swore by this liqueur for an end of a long shift pick-me-up. I was game to taste it & instantly hated it the moment I took a sniff, let alone when it touched my lips! That initial disgust faded from memory such that I was genuinelyeager to feature fernet as part of this project, the only issue was actually finding it combined with chocolate!
A couple of months ago, a mysterious package arrived addressed to me & I noticed that the shipping origin was a company in Italy. I know I probably should have waited until my boyfriend visited that weekend before snooping since he was secretly so proud of himself for saving the day yet again…but, I couldn’t help myself. Not patient enough to be surprised, I googled the business name (Dulcioliva) & discovered that they have a licensing partnership with Fratelli Branca Distillerie and make fernet branca bonbons! I excitedly called up my boyfriend profusely thanking him for finding my elusive alcohol-related chocolate & he was perplexed as to how I knew that information or that the box had come from him. ;-p
Since it’s always better to have options rather than to be left empty-handed, Jess was simultaneously working her magic with Intrigue Chocolate Company, because she remembered in the past they had made fernet flavored truffles. I ended up receiving THE LAST ONE in existence!
What is fernet, you might ask? Well, the simple answer is that it’s a type of amaro, a bitter and aromatic spirit. Fernet Branca happens to be one of the most popular brands of fernet.
According to the Ultimate Bar Book: The Comprehensive Guide to Over 1,000 Cocktails by Mittie Hellmich, fernet branca is “[a] slightly peppermint-accented bitter [that] is enjoyed not only as an aperitif to stimulate the appetite, but also as a digestif that is highly regarded as a hangover cure, settling digestive distress. A deep brown liquid with an extremely aggressive flavor made from 40 herbs and spices.” The exact recipe is a trade secret known only to the generations of the Branca family who have made this liqueur in Milan, Italy since 1845.
While taking photos yesterday, I decided to re-acquaint myself with fernet. It smells and tastes like Pine Sol or an antiseptic mouthwash. WHY do people like drinking this intensely resinous concoction?!
However, did you know that this liqueur has a cult-like following in Argentina? Fernet con coca (or Fernando) is essentially that nation’s unofficial drink, making them one of the biggest consumers of Coca Cola in the world!
Now for the chocolate tastings…
First up, Intrigue Chocolate’s Fernet & Ginger truffle:
The truffle is roughly the size of a Starburst candy, but WOW looks can be deceiving. This tiny morsel is creamy, unctuous, fudgey, buttery and quick to melt on the tongue. It’s like a flourless cake that can be devoured in just a single bite.
Lucky for me, the ginger flavor dominates this chocolate and
has none of the intense pine notes that are the hallmark to fernet.
Next, is the cioccolatino al Fernet-Branca from Italy:
The individually wrapped, half dome bonbons all arrived slightly bloomed, but that’s merely a cosmetic defect.
Your teeth sink effortlessly through the thick chocolate
shell to the generous amount of dense and lightly boozy ganache.
Again, thankfully this bonbon has obliterated fernet’s signature taste until the very end when there is a burst of bitterness as the melted chocolate slides down your throat.
I’m very glad to have featured this unique alcohol as part of the Eating the Chocolate Alphabet project, but NOW what am I going to do with the rest of the mostly full bottle? Any takers?! 😆
Every time I think up a new theme for Eating the Chocolate Alphabet, the process for acquiring bars that fit each letter seems easier in my head than in reality. The only thing that initially came to mind for “E” was elderflower liqueur, but that proved impossible to find in a chocolate. So, today’s hero is Lilla from Little Beetle Chocolates. While on a reconnaissance trip to Austria, she found not one but two “E” bars as well as them containing an alcohol that I had never even heard of until now!
Introducing Enzian...
According to Wikipedia, enzian liquor (also known as gentian
spirit or gentian schnapps) is a clear distilled alcoholic beverage originating
in the Alpine region, produced using roots from gentian plants (generally the
yellow variety, though there is also purple, brown or spotted). Gentian can be
found in angostura bitters, is said to be the main flavor in vermouth and has
been used since the Middle Ages for the production of schnapps. WOW…what a
versatile plant this is!
First up is Xocolat
Alpin
The illustration on both the outer packaging and the inner glassine envelope makes me want to take up cross stitching again; the floral pattern is both intricate and satisfying in its symmetry. While I’m not certain, since I had trouble translating the German text in small cursive font on the back of the box, I believe that the beautiful design was created by hand at https://www.handdrucke.at/en/
Is it just me, or does their mould design look like ravioli
waiting to be cut apart into individual portions? The convex bulge lulled me
into believing that the bar was filled, so it came as a surprise when I bit
into a portion and discovered it was solid chocolate.
Even though sugar is the first ingredient of this 43% milk chocolate bar and there is less than 1% of gentian oil, the overall flavor is extremely bitter. I read somewhere that the bitter taste from gentian (accurately described as the “king of the bitter herbs”) can still be perceived when diluted down to 1 part in 12,000. If you’ve ever licked a pencil eraser and thought that it tasted metallic…then you have a good starting point for this chocolate! Other vivid descriptions are the packaging taglines: “with the spice of nature / with the aroma of the mountains.” When I described this bar as “botanical,” a friend very astutely asked: “Is that the nice way of saying it tastes like leaves?” Hmmm…BUSTED 😲
Medium snap, smooth mouthfeel during the slow/even melt, it’s hard to get past the bitterness and then you’re left with a lightly astringent finish. Paired with a sweet vermouth, it’s actually quite tasty! FYI, this bar does NOT contain any alcohol, just the enzian (gentian) oil.
Next is Tiroler Edle
At first, I thought: what a cute silver foil stamped cow logo on the front of this box. Little did I realize that this is a not-so-subtle hint as to the origin of the milk used for this 60% dark milk chocolate: an alpine cattle breed called Grauvieh in German and Tyrolean Grey in English.
The fair direct traded couverture chocolate (Ghana & Ecuador origins) was sourced from chocolatier’s partner, Felchlin, and then filled with 46% Galtürer Enzianbrand-Creme (cream of gentian brandy).
At first bite, there was a boozy burst of dried fruit flavor, but then the creamy sweet filling reminded me of Turkish coffee, smoke or leather. I have to admit that I’ve already eaten half the bar in one sitting 🙂
{Note from Trish at ETCA: This post is LONG overdue. I really should have written this more than 2 months ago; however, for the second year in a row, June was an AWFUL month for me personally. I appreciate your patience during the hiatus & please imagine this was written earlier.}
Up until a few weeks ago, I was fully prepared to skip this letter of the Alphabet until I could find a suitable alcohol-related chocolate. Then, one evening, I received an urgent text message from my boyfriend with a link to a company that would be able to supply me with the chocolate of my dreams: DISARONNO! [cue a choir of angels singing!]
Even though it was well past bedtime, I hurried downstairs to my laptop to place an order. I needed those bonbons like yesterday since my conscience couldn’t let me move forward with the Alphabet without them. I explained my project in the “notes” section of the order system and the next day I received the nicest of notes from Barbara and Terri (the “Ba” and “Ter” of BaTer Chocolates in Goldvein, Virginia).
They took extra precautions with packaging and shipping to ensure that these tiny gems, carefully nestled in an oversized jewelry box, arrive intact!
It wasn’t until I opened the box that I learned the mission and purpose behind these chocolates:
As you can see, in a dream they were guided to create a
company that would support women in need; a way for those women to make better
life choices by working for a company that could empower them.
It makes sense for them to include a crown, since their tagline is “Eat Like Royalty,” but they also honor that founding dream by including a cross as part of their logo on the vellum tasting sheet.
Scrolling down the legend, I noticed the name associated with this particular bonbon and wondered why are they calling this one “Saronno” when all the others had cute nicknames?! All of a sudden (well, it dawned on me after seeing the country of origin on the namesake bottle’s label); I realized that, in Italian, “Disaronno” meant “of or from the city of Saronno” where this alcohol has been made since 1525!
The Disaronno website provides a timeline of how this unique Italian liqueur’s legend began during the Renaissance. They dropped the “amaretto” part of their description in 2001 as a way to distinguish themselves from other competitors and their label proudly states that this is “The world’s favorite Italian liqueur.”
On a relatively cool summer day (at least by Southern California standards), I took these bonbons out to my backyard for their photo shoot along with a bottle of the liqueur I had acquired at a local shop.
You probably won’t notice this detail, so I’ll mention it to you, I’ve arranged the 3 bonbons into the Braille letter “D”! Pretty clever, if I say so myself :-p
Biting into the thin chocolate domed shell, the boozy/creamy/whipped liquor filling couldn’t wait to escape…I was almost unable to capture the perfect cross section photo!
Since then, I’ve discovered a new technique: putting the whole bonbon in my mouth to “collapse” (or sandwich) the morsel, letting the filling ooze into my mouth instead of onto the plate. It’s boozy, sweet and nutty all at the same time + the thicker chocolate base melts slowly on the tongue.
The alcohol on its own smells enticingly of almonds & can be added to cocktails or served neat. Personally, I prefer it as part of a chocolate treat since there’s no “back of the throat” burn on the finish.
Have YOU tried Disaronno? Leave me a comment to let me know!
To Barbara & Terri: your warmth, generosity and EXCEPTIONAL customer service throughout the process make me smile to this day! If I could give you a hug, I would! Please accept this post as my way of thanking you for everything you did for me to make sure my project could move forward!
P.S. In the months to come, you’ll see more of those bonbons since the set includes other crucial letters of the Alphabet.
Chocolate paired with wine is popular…but, how about a chocolate that TASTES like wine?! Yep, Brooklyn’s Raaka Chocolate has that covered with their 68% CAC Pangoa, Peru dark chocolate Cabernet Sauvignon bar!
According to the description on the back of the outer packaging: “This chocolate is tipsy. You don’t even need a glass!”
Unroasted cocoa nibs are steamed over a simmering big/bold
California cabernet wine to infuse juicy, grapey flavors with a raisin-like
finish.
You wouldn’t know it, but this bar is almost a year old (it was part of the July 2018 First Nibs subscription shipment). I love that the detailed mold design mimics the abstract illustration on the paper wrapper.
Tasting morsels segment easily with a sharp snap, releasing a raisin/dried fruit aroma. Starting off subtle, there were bursts of bright red fruit during the slow/even melt & the mouthfeel was, surprisingly, not completely smooth. It seemed like the grape/wine flavor was more vibrant when chewing the chocolate rather than just letting it melt on the tongue. Maybe it’s my imagination (or my palate becoming acclimated to the taste), but I swear the intensity of the fruit flavors are cumulative since my second “chomp” was like eating wine in solid form! Lightly tannic and long lasting finish mostly on the tip of the tongue and back of the throat.
Normally I have so much more to say in my posts; but, honestly, bold red wine is not my favorite spirit. Give me a late harvest or dessert wine & I’ll ooh and aah. Give me a gin and I’ll wax poetically.
I’ve been told by friends who are wine drinkers, that this bar is one of their favorites! So if the taste of California red wine is your thing, check out Raaka’s website for more details!
Sorry that it’s been a while since my last post! This round of Eating the Chocolate Alphabet has been more difficult than the other ones. 😢 Yes, I’m struggling to find alcohol-related chocolates; but, honestly, I’ve had this bar since mid-January {well, to be honest, I bought 2 bars that day for photographic purposes & ended up eating one, so I had to buy a backup “prop” late last month!}
What I didn’t realize when starting this round of the Alphabet was a little thing called timing. While I tend to get great natural lighting for photos in the morning & early afternoon, tasting alcoholic chocolates that early makes me loopy and not very productive for the rest of the day. 😲 I really need to figure out a better system and stop rationalizing that it’s “5 o’clock somewhere” in the world! 🤷♀️
Anyway, back to the chocolate!
When I announced my new theme on Instagram, one of the first people to reply was Diana Malouf from Ococoa telling me that she makes a caramel bar with Bärenjäger (honey liqueur). Well, no arm twisting needed…I had found my “B” bar!
The 6-rectangle bar made with milk chocolate, white chocolate, cream, sugar, honey liqueur, butter and salt sports a cute honeycomb transfer pattern on the back. Each crisp rectangular shell is generously filled with a creamy/smooth, sweet & lightly boozy caramel filling that reminds me of dulce de leche or cajeta. 😋
During yesterday’s photo shoot, I ended up eating ALL 6 RECTANGLES! 🐷My advice when ordering this bar is to get AT LEAST two of them!
Looking online, I see that Bärenjäger translates to “Bear Hunter” in German. According to the manufacturer’s website, the beehive-to-bottle recipe dates back to 18th Century Germany and was formulated to lure bears out of their dwellings by hunters (who also ended up consuming this drinkable honey).
Diana showed me the bottle of honey liqueur at her shop (though I didn’t taste it since I was driving),
But, now I realize that what I found at BevMo was a different formulation: Honey & Bourbon
Don’t you just love the little beehive bottle topper!
In case you’re curious, the Honey & Bourbon has a warming, but short lived “burn” and a vibrant honey aroma. Now I need to try the Honey Liqueur version…for research purposes, of course! {hey Diana, I’m coming over}
Ococoa is best known for their nut butter cup collection + other seasonal confections, one of which is their Smokey Scotch Truffles, just in time for Fathers’ Day. If your Dad (or you) enjoys a peaty Scotch, those truffles are a MUST HAVE! Visit their website for more information & let them know that Trish from Eating the Chocolate Alphabet sent you! ❤️
