{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!
Interested in learning more about BaTer and order goodies for yourself? Then, please visit their website at: https://www.baterchocolates.com/ or their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/BaTerChocolates/
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.
Cheers on this “Thirsty Thursday”!