longbough

I'm a chocoholic.
Doesn't mean I eat it all the time.
Rather, it's like I have long moments where I don't touch the stuff and then, suddenly, get the craving for world-class chocolate. I'm in that phase right now and I ordered some stuff online.

So I want to share with you my favorite brands and get your input, too.

If you haven't tried any of the ones mentioned please beg, borrow or steal to try them - they are worlds apart from most other chocolates ...

Simple chocolate quality - Galler, hands down the best!
They make the chocolate for the royalty of Belgium! Just try a simple milk chocolate bar and you'll understand.

they have other varieties. White chocolate with pistachios, etc. But it's their basic quality that stands out. Galler leaves Lindt and others in the dust ....

Anthon Berg - delightful liqueur filled chocolate. Who could resist this?






I'm enjoying a small chocolate Cointreau bottle as we speak ... I just want to share my indulgence and hopefully provoke the same in someone else.... mmmmm.

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"I do believe that, where there is only a choice between cowardice and violence, I would advise violence. Thus when my eldest son asked me what he should have done, had he been present when I was almost fatally assaulted in 1908, whether he should have run away and seen me killed or whether he should have used his physical force which he could and wanted to use, and defended me, I told him that it was his duty to defend me even by using violence." - Mahatma Ghandi

noodle

You know, everyone at work (they're all women and chocoholics) think that I am insane because I really and truly do not like Dove chocolates. They're all obsessed. My favorite chocolate indulgence is the simple little Ghiradelli squares. Any flavor, and just one or two at a time. And I love Hershey's Special Dark and kisses. Apparently I'm not only uncouth, but "ghetto." Some of the more refined chocolates actually remind me of those godawful coins and chocolate bunnies from Easters past. Even the stuff I got in Sweden seemed too grainy to me. Maybe I have simple tastes.

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Willravel

Ghirardelli is my favorite brand of chocolate by far. I very rarely indulge, but when I do I drive to San Francisco to Ghirardelli Square and get a sunday. La Maison du Chocolat and Dagoba are good, if expensive, but for my money it's simply Ghirardelli.

Meditrina

For some reason, I knew I'd be craving chocolate after reading this thread. I am a chocoholic too. I am partial to dark chocolate. I have never had the ones you mentioned, but will start looking for them now.

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longbough

I almost forgot.

Here's a chocolate I discovered when I was in Italy - "Pocket Coffee" Each one is a small chocolate piece filled with espresso. It is said that one chocolate is 1/3 of an espresso. I just think they taste gooooood!



If you were only here I'd convert you in an instant.
Galler is the smoooooooooothest milk chocolate you'll ever find.

I forgot to describe these:
This is Anthon Berg's Apricot with brandy:


This is Strawberries with champagne:

__________________
"I do believe that, where there is only a choice between cowardice and violence, I would advise violence. Thus when my eldest son asked me what he should have done, had he been present when I was almost fatally assaulted in 1908, whether he should have run away and seen me killed or whether he should have used his physical force which he could and wanted to use, and defended me, I told him that it was his duty to defend me even by using violence." - Mahatma Ghandi

robot_parade

I'll have to try the ones you recommend - I *looove* chocolate too. I like Valrhona a bit.

By the by, I also like Ghirardelli, though when I went looking for chocolate reviews to decide what to try next, I've seen a lot of 'bad' reviews of it. Is it just because it's not 'gourmet' enough??

I personally don't like it as much as Valhrona or some others, but it's really very good, I think.

I don't like Dove much either - it tastes too 'waxy' to me. It does taste 'smooth', I guess, but...bleh.

ngdawg

Godiva truffles...mercy!
Any chocolate will do. Hell, I've eaten spoonfuls of Hershey syrup when desperate!
A local winery sold these little squares of raspberry chocolate and they were like buttah! I believe the name was Rothschild's, but can't be certain...
Rothschild's also makes this chocolate 'dip' for pretzels, etc. It's got the consistency of canned icing, but a million times better tasting(altho I will eat canned frosting til I'm sick!)

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BadNick

Ahhh, Belgian chocolate. The best I've ever tasted. Last time I came back from Belgium, one of my suitcases was as stuffed with chocolate as I could fit. Please don't report me to customs. I did have a small carry-on bag of chocolates that I did report and ate on the way home. As far as the brands, without searching back I don't even recall the names; I just asked the Belgian folks I was working with (...are they all "Flemish"?) to take me to a good chocolate shop in Brussels and help me choose some good ones.

One of our California customers sends us a large box of Ghirardelli chocolates each year for the Thanksgiving holiday. It is a highlight of our Thanksgiving week in work. Hey, that's coming up soon, I can hardly wait!

Craven Morehead

I love chocolate - any kind at all. Hershey Kisses to high end. Milk chocolate or dark chocolate. Makes no difference. Its all good.

longbough

One brand that shocked me was Nestle Quality Street (also not always easy to find in the US).
The gaudy packaging makes it look like cheap, crappy hard-candy but it is actually delightfully good chocolate!

__________________
"I do believe that, where there is only a choice between cowardice and violence, I would advise violence. Thus when my eldest son asked me what he should have done, had he been present when I was almost fatally assaulted in 1908, whether he should have run away and seen me killed or whether he should have used his physical force which he could and wanted to use, and defended me, I told him that it was his duty to defend me even by using violence." - Mahatma Ghandi

NurseNell

You got me from Hello...I am also a chocoholic, but i have to say i really don't like American chocolate...too bitter for me, i prefer the UK chocolate thats very sweet!

longbough

Yes.
I lived in the Westmidlands for a year during my medical training (I'm a doc).
There I discovered all the wonderful Cadbury candy bars we don't have in the US.
*sigh*
Picnic

Flake (dipped in ice cream)

Double Decker ....

I also loved the Yorkie bars (made for Men)

__________________
"I do believe that, where there is only a choice between cowardice and violence, I would advise violence. Thus when my eldest son asked me what he should have done, had he been present when I was almost fatally assaulted in 1908, whether he should have run away and seen me killed or whether he should have used his physical force which he could and wanted to use, and defended me, I told him that it was his duty to defend me even by using violence." - Mahatma Ghandi

Paq

ghirardelli dark is one of my faves of all time, partially bc it is not 'too' expensive, but it also has a very smooth texture, tons of nuances and just goes well with whatever i'm doing. I usually have it with coffee for dessert.

godiva is ok, but it lost its appeal for some reason. I think it's when they dropped from being the 'exclusive' place to 'the place where yuppies go who don't know any better'

there is some type of something sold in target stores that is really good..i forgot the name, though, but it's organic dark.

dove is smooth..but waxy and misses a few of the bass notes that make dark chocolate a joy for me.

the anthony berger and galler look really good, so i'll have to try them out asap.

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amonkie

I'm extremely Partial to Cote de Or, and Kraft is held in so much more regard in Europe - the standards are higher! The pic shows a praline and a caramel box, but I love the dark 73% cocao dark chocolate from them.

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noodle

You can get almost all of the Cadbury bars at World Market here. Including Picnic and Flake. Don't like 'em, but they're almost always sold out.

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longbough

I found sources for these bars in the US and they weren't as good as I recall - still, I think they're better than the general US chocolate bars.

__________________
"I do believe that, where there is only a choice between cowardice and violence, I would advise violence. Thus when my eldest son asked me what he should have done, had he been present when I was almost fatally assaulted in 1908, whether he should have run away and seen me killed or whether he should have used his physical force which he could and wanted to use, and defended me, I told him that it was his duty to defend me even by using violence." - Mahatma Ghandi

BadNick

I don't recall the exact name, but about a week ago as I was checking out of the local supermarket, I grabbed a small tin of carmel filled chocolates under the Hersey name but with a "high end" qualifier in the name, I just don't recall the name. But I thought they were the best Hersey's chocolates I've ever had.

little_tippler

One of my favourite chocolates, is from an italian chocolate brand called Leone. They also make sweets.

If you love hazelnut, this is the chocolate for you:



check out their site if you're interested:

http://www.pastiglieleone.it/index.aspx

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Whether we write or speak or do but look
We are ever unapparent. What we are
Cannot be transfused into word or book.
Our soul from us is infinitely far.
However much we give our thoughts the will
To be our soul and gesture it abroad,
Our hearts are incommunicable still.
In what we show ourselves we are ignored.
The abyss from soul to soul cannot be bridged
By any skill of thought or trick of seeming.
Unto our very selves we are abridged
When we would utter to our thought our being.
We are our dreams of ourselves, souls by gleams,
And each to each other dreams of others' dreams.

Fernando Pessoa, 1918

Sultana

longbough, I don't believe you. You'll have to convince me personally!

I'll be up next weekend.

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At night, the ice weasels come." -

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My goal? To fulfill my potential.

Walking Shadow

Strange Famous

It certainly tastes nice... but all the stuff Ive seen recently about the whole industry exploiting and supporting child slavery in Africa kind of puts me off.

Still... all money is shit I suppose, so if you go deep enough into any commodity, you get to the same thing in the end.

ummm... my favourite type of chocolate bar is a Topic, just to not go too off topic from this thread.

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for all things are plain in the sight of Heaven. For nothing
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Walking Shadow

Bwahuh??!!

The vast majority of cacao, which is the main ingredient in chocolate, is grown in and comes from Central and South America. I don't know where you get the African children thrown into slavery thing, but mayhap you're confusing the diamond industry with the chocolate industry.

If not, I'd really love to see a few legitimate cites for your claim.

Cynthetiq

maybe he was thinking of the Oompa Loompas..you know that could look like kids being short and all....

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roachboy

http://www.american.edu/ted/chocolate-slave.htm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6517695.stm
http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=12754

just a suggestion:
looking things up sometimes helps if you dont know what is being referred to.
the allegations of child labor/slave labor primarily concern the ivory coast, but also mention mali, ghana and burkina faso.
see for yourself.

as for chocolates. hm. i am addicted--entirely and without qualms--to lindt dark chocolate truffles and pistachio filled truffles.
but i really like dark chocolates with strange things added like chilis or blueberry.
you can find them in most co-ops. fine stuff.
chocolate ice cream too. especially mayan chocolate, which has a bit of cinnamon in it. other variants too, but those are the current favorites.

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Cynthetiq

Thanks for those links. I had no idea that there was a chocolate trade in Africa at all. I guess that's probably why I prefer the european chocolate flavor?

I'm going to the Fancy Food Show at Jacob Javitz on Sunday, last show in San Francisco there was lots of chocolate representatives. I'll have to pay attention as to where the raw chocolate comes from. And yes, they had some interesting combinations from cranberries, blueberries, and other fruits with chocolate. I too like some of the spicy chocolate flavors, but they seem to be rare to comeby.

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snowy

I like organic, fair-trade chocolate, especially the stuff made by Equal Exchange.

http://www.equalexchange.com/chocolate-bars

I get them at my local food co-op.

For cooking, I liked to use Scharffen-Berger, but I've become suspicious of their products since they were bought by Hershey. So now I use Ghiradelli. And Will, I am so with you on the Ghiradelli sundae...every time I get to Ghiradelli Square I have a hot fudge sundae.

My favorite European chocolate would have to be Droste, particularly the orange-flavored pastilles. My family's Christmas tradition was to get a Droste chocolate orange and a Droste chocolate alphabet letter (usually one of our initials) in our stocking. http://www.droste.nl/data/content/engels/index.php

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BadNick

An interesting twist for flavors in chocolates that I haven't see mentioned here yet, though roachboy touched on something similar, is combining hot spices with chocolate. Since part of the business I work for is involved with bbq stuff, naturally habenaro peppers play a role; so we roasted habenaro peppers, ground them up to a powder, added them to good molten chocolate, and made little habenaro choco sticks. I was kinda surprised how good they were ...if you like hot spicy.

opus123

Here is Seattle we have two (that I know of) chocolate stores that carry Belgium chocolate. Flown in weekly they say. And I love it. I ate too much cheap chocolate when I was young so now it gives me migraines when I eat it. However, lack of sleep can cause migraines as well with me.

If given a choice though, I will choose peanut butter and honey bars over chocolate chip cookies.

I do like Lindt chocolate when we were on our honeymoon in Germany. Not sure if the recipes are the same here or not. I guess not.

Lastly, I buy Dagoba Chocolate whenever I feel I am l late for a potluck. Such good varieties like Lavender and Lime is awesome and the mexican spice one is pretty great as well. *grin*

Jonathan

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==================================

longbough

please check your PM

__________________
"I do believe that, where there is only a choice between cowardice and violence, I would advise violence. Thus when my eldest son asked me what he should have done, had he been present when I was almost fatally assaulted in 1908, whether he should have run away and seen me killed or whether he should have used his physical force which he could and wanted to use, and defended me, I told him that it was his duty to defend me even by using violence." - Mahatma Ghandi

Cynthetiq

Those extra Cadbury's are readily available around here in NYC. I stumble upon them often enough to no longer horde them.

Of course the regular European Cadbury chocolate bars, are a bit harder to come by. I horde those when I find them.

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I don't care if you are black, white, purple, green, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, hippie, cop, bum, admin, user, English, Irish, French, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, indian, cowboy, tall, short, fat, skinny, emo, punk, mod, rocker, straight, gay, lesbian, jock, nerd, geek, Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Independent, driver, pedestrian, or bicyclist, either you're an asshole or you're not.

Esoteric

Twix is all I need baby.

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I got touched by a hazy shaded, God help me change
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Sultana

Milka for me--reminder of my trip to Bavaria.

__________________
"Love is a snowmobile racing across the tundra and then suddenly it flips over, pinning you underneath.
At night, the ice weasels come." -

Matt Groening

My goal? To fulfill my potential.

Jetée

'Tis a funny thing... I never really prefered or only liked chocolate at all. I had a tendency to enjoy more fufilling "fruit" candies and sweets... something that can get one's mouth watering. The only chocolate I ever cared for was those little menthes from Andes.

But, I do have to say now I am more partial to the chocolate side of life... it is a shame I have never tasted anything as rich and decadent as what ya'll care to describe.

I have only tried this, though can't say if it was good or not:



As of this moment, I think that other's love of Hershey's Reese's Cups has spread to me, 'cause that is all that is on my mind now.

Anybody have some?

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BadNick

maybe I'll fire up to old fondue pot this weekend and melt some decent chocolate, dip some fruit and cake in it. Rule #3: if you get some on your body, the other person has to lick it off

I wasn't before obsessing on this thread, but now ...

my name is Nick and I am a chocoholic

hambone

mmm....i love almost all chocolates. Even the cheap ones have their allure.

Right now I got a bag of those Hershy's Truffle Dark Chocolate ones. Works for me.

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sp0e

i heard you don't get really good chocolate over there in the USA? don't know if it's true.. and i mean compared to belgian or swiss chocolate^^

MexicanOnABike

any chocolate that's NOT white, black or filled with milk/creams is perfect for me. the best are the ones with nuts or caramels or something else with em.

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longbough

Well, our popular native chocolate here in the USA isn't very good. That's why we end up writing about all the European chocolate we love. I love my country but we need better chocolate. The closest we come is probably some "custom" chocolate shops that use imported chocolate or Ghirardelli in San Francisco. I like going to Ghirardelli Square in SF just to have one of their wonderful sundaes.

__________________
"I do believe that, where there is only a choice between cowardice and violence, I would advise violence. Thus when my eldest son asked me what he should have done, had he been present when I was almost fatally assaulted in 1908, whether he should have run away and seen me killed or whether he should have used his physical force which he could and wanted to use, and defended me, I told him that it was his duty to defend me even by using violence." - Mahatma Ghandi

Paq

this is true..very very true. our native chocolate would be something like hershey's, which is waxy, gritty, and lacking depth of flavor. It's like instant coffee compared to the freshly ground stuff.

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Cynthetiq

oh geez... i just woke up from the coma after the fancy food show....

food, the cheeses...wow the chocolates...mmmm the chocolates...from all over the world.

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I don't care if you are black, white, purple, green, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, hippie, cop, bum, admin, user, English, Irish, French, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, indian, cowboy, tall, short, fat, skinny, emo, punk, mod, rocker, straight, gay, lesbian, jock, nerd, geek, Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Independent, driver, pedestrian, or bicyclist, either you're an asshole or you're not.