Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate Bar Toffee with Walnuts and Pecans

3oz (85g) bar

Ingredients: Chocolate liquor, cane sugar, cocoa butter, butter, corn syrup, walnuts, pecans, soy lecithin, water, vanilla, sea salt

14g sugar/43g serving (32.6% by wt.)

Sometime after I tried last week's Trader Joe's caramel-filled bar, I happened to be back at the store and spied the other bar in the same line, Toffee with Walnuts and Pecans, though this one contains inclusions rather than a filling.

Appearance: First of all, I love these box designs, a crowded and colorful riff on the detailed, Victorian-style illustrations Trader Joe's uses on its promotional materials. That aside, the bar is thin and flat, with a uniform, glossy surface, solid brown color, and little bumps visible on the back.

Smell: Not particularly strong. Pleasant, rounded, fruity.

Taste: This bar contains small nuggets of toffee and flecks of nut. The chocolate is good in a generic way, so while it's not complex or intense or smoky or anything else you might like personally, it's also pretty dark and doesn't have any “off” flavors or no flavor at all, and I suppose that's a good way to appeal to a lot of people. The toffee pieces are large and salty-buttery enough to be enjoyable (I'm looking at you, Endangered Species), and the small nut bits are pretty forgettable, but given how many people buy chocolate bars containing little pieces of delicately flavored nuts, maybe others get more out of them than I do.

Conclusion: Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate Bar Toffee with Walnuts and Pecans doesn't stand out, but it's inoffensive and fun, and for $1.99 you get a gourmet-ish bar in a nice box.

Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate Bar Caramel with Black Sea Salt

3oz (85g) bar 
Ingredients: Chocolate liquor, cane sugar, cocoa butter, cream, corn syrup, soy lecithin, water, vanilla, Hawaiian black sea salt, sea salt 
13g sugar/43g serving (30.2% by wt.)

This 70% cacao Trader Joe's bar is basically the exact same thing as last week's several-dollars-pricier Vosges bar, except it varies just enough (not organic cream, a sprinkling of salt on the back, higher sugar content) that Vosges clearly doesn't produce it, at least not as an identical copy. I haven't been impressed by Trader Joe's chocolate in the past, but who knows who makes it or how many manufacturers the grocer has used over the years, not to mention this is a filled bar rather than a single-origin, super-dark bar that relies heavily on its beans, so I might feel entirely differently today. It's hard to go wrong with caramel-filled chocolate.

Appearance: Big, thin, flat, matte, uniformly textured, a solid, medium-dark brown. As with last week's caramel-filled treat, this thin, sharply molded bar holds its soft filling well. 

(It only broke just before I took the photo above, when I caught it on the wrapper inside the box.)

Smell: Mild, slightly spicy, dried fruit, no sharpness.

Taste: This is the Bam! version of the Vosges bar, with a less interesting chocolate, just-a-bit-thicker and significantly but not unpleasantly sweeter caramel, and to my mind one major improvement, that restrained if uneven sprinkling of salt on the back that hits the tongue quickly and livens up all the flavors. Without it—as I said, it's unevenly applied—the whole package isn't nearly as interesting, because there isn't as much to the caramel or the chocolate, but most people will find this an entirely acceptable substitute for the more expensive Vosges bar.

Conclusion: Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate Bar Caramel with Black Sea Salt isn't super-complex, but it's pretty darn good for the price.

Vosges Black Salt Caramel Bar

3oz (85g) bar

Ingredients: Cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter, organic cream, corn syrup, soy lecithin, water, vanilla, sea salt

11g sugar/43g serving (25.6% by wt.)

Corporate Info: Vosges is based in Chicago and produces a pretty wide variety of adventurously flavored bars and confections, among them the famous bacon chocolate. The last time I sampled a Vosges bar I was annoyed by the pretentious copy on the back of the box, and it's silly here too, but the website keeps the flowery text off the front page, and of course it's not as important as the chocolate! This filled bar just sounded like fun.

Appearance: Wide, thin, and flat, nicely molded, very smooth, medium-dark, a bit ruddy. I'm impressed such a thin bar contains a filling!

Smell: Not particularly unusual, but tangy and creamy.

Taste: Very nice. The caramel's flavor is rich, creamy, and deep but relatively subtle and surprisingly not too sweet; I personally might like it more toasted, but this is just a matter of taste, and it's well-made as it is. Texture-wise, the soft caramel oozes but fortunately doesn't all flow out like water, so I can take a chunk off without losing the entire filling. The 70% cacao chocolate is just tart, sweet, and complex enough to hold its own against the filling, neither dwarfing nor being dwarfed by the low-key caramel. I've almost forgotten the salt, which as part of the caramel isn't a standout ingredient but rather an integral flavoring element. There's a lot going on here, though you'll have to pay attention if you want to taste the nuances.

Conclusion: Vosges Black Salt Caramel Bar is balanced, not too sweet, and won't shout to be heard, but if you like this sort of thing, it's worth your money and effort.

World Market Chili & Lime Dark Chocolate 64% Cacao

3oz (85g) bar

Ingredients: Cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter, soy lecithin, vanilla, chipotle powder, natural flavor

15g sugar/43g serving (34.9% by wt.)

Corporate Info: See last week.

Appearance: Lighter in color than the Sea Salt bar, smooth and thin, with a touch of red.

Smell: Almost none, very very slightly like cocoa beans, chili powder, and lime Tostitos.

Taste: Subtle, with a brief hint of lime, then just mild chocolate, then a slow, lasting, back-of-the-throat burn, then the lime Tostitos fade in and out, though they're pretty low-key. I'm not getting much actual chili flavor or lime, and I wonder if the chocolate maker uses that same powdered lime substance that Frito Lay does. Overall, I think this bar is too sweet and could use more flavor all around—lime, chili, and chocolate—but I bet it would make good hot cocoa. I'll try that tomorrow.

Conclusion: World Market Chili & Lime Dark Chocolate 64% Cacao is dull and too sweet, though the long afterburn is fun. As I said last week, I'm not sure I'd buy World Market's 64% cacao flavored chocolate again.

[Update the next day: It does indeed make good hot cocoa!]

World Market Sea Salt Dark Chocolate 64% Cacao

3oz (85g) bar

Ingredients: Chocolate liquor, sugar, cocoa butter, soy lecithin, vanilla, sea salt

15g sugar/43g serving (34.9% by wt.)

Corporate Info: So I don't know who actually makes World Market's (a.k.a. Cost Plus World Market) chocolate, but I was there for other reasons and liked the sound of their flavored chocolates, including this week's Sea Salt and next week's Chili & Lime. None of it is listed on the site, so I guess there are two questions here. First, how well do the flavors work? And second, if you're at World Market buying beaded chair cushions or Finnish soda or something, should you throw in some of their store brand chocolate?

Appearance: I dunno, medium brown. Fairly dark, actually, darker than I would think for 64%. A big, thin bar, and you can just barely see the shapes of sea salt flakes under the chocolate.

Smell: Mild, sweet, fruity of the apricot/peach variety.

Taste: Woah. The chocolate is very mild and sweet and not especially fruity, and the texture is fairly creamy. What's weird is that the flakes of sea salt sneak up on you, because they're not super small but are incorporated into the chocolate, not on top where you know where they are and they'll start melting right away; you're chewing your mild, milky chocolate and then suddenly there's a tiny crunch and salinity comes out of nowhere. I like sweet and salt together, but I'm not sure this entirely appeals to me, plus the chocolate isn't all that great. Maybe less sugar would have worked better with this mild chocolate.

Conclusion: World Market Sea Salt Dark Chocolate 64% Cacao is mild and a bit too sweet for me, and the incorporated salt is kind of jarring. I'm not sure I'd buy World Market's 64% cacao flavored chocolate again.

Coppeneur Chuao 70% Dark Chocolate

50g (1.76oz) bar

Ingredients: Cocoa mass, cane sugar

Unbeknownst to me when I wrote this post, apparently I'd previously bought a Coppeneur product, this super-schmancy—which is to say expensive—Venezuelan bar (click on “English,” then “Products,” then “Cru de Cacao,” then “Chuao”) newly carried by Marie &Freres.

Corporate Info: Coppeneur is a German company based in a spa town (Bad Honnef), and the founders' last names are Coppeneur and Bernardini, so the whole brand feels thoroughly European. The company produces single-origin bars, the previously-discussed truffle bars, and confections. This bar comes from Chuao, where they grow a cacao varietal that is a crossbreed of the better-known Criollo and Trinitario. The box is sealed with a plastic imprint of the Coppeneur symbol, and inside there is not just the bar but also a little 39-page ad booklet, with color photos and both German and English text. Definitely schmancy.

Appearance: Thin and flat, reddish, with fancy molding of a cacao pod.

Smell: Quiet, sweet, light, dried fruit.

Taste: I splurged on this bar after tasting it in the store, and now I remember why. It's punchy and unusual, initially bitter like roasted coffee and vodka, but so, so creamy that the bitterness is super-clean and then quickly calms down, like sipping a good, smooth liquor. FYI, the website says “Flavors of plums and red fruits. Nuances of ginger and pepper.” Maybe...I can see red fruits rather than caramelly dried fruit or something tropical, I guess, but none of what they're claiming speaks to my overall experience. Nevertheless, it's a fun one.

Conclusion: Coppeneur Chuao 70% Dark Chocolate is initially bitter, then super smooth.

Taza Chocolate 70% Dark Stone Ground Organic Chocolate

3oz (85g) bar

Ingredients: Organic direct trade cacao beans (Dominican Republic), o. cane sugar, o. cocoa butter, o. vanilla beans

Corporate Info: Taza Chocolate is pretty lovely. The bar I'm holding comprises only organic ingredients, sources its cocoa beans using a variation on fair trade principles called Direct Trade, was made in the U.S., and is wrapped in recycled paper. What Taza produces is interesting too. Rather than being smooth throughout, the chocolate is made from stone-ground cocoa beans and not conched, both of which make for a gritty chocolate with discernible sugar crystals. In addition to bars, Taza produces Chocolate Mexicano Discs that are just sugar, cacao, and flavorings as well as baking chocolate and other items, including a neat Chocolate Mexicano Extract.

Appearance: Reddish.

Smell: Rich and complex, beany, fresh. “Together”: Yes it's complex, but there's nothing that stands out as particular sharp or dominant.

Taste: The texture is dense with a fine graininess; it reminds me of homemade fudge—the crumbly kind, not the soft kind you often buy in tourist shops. Flavor is indeed fresh, with a pleasantly tart beginning that fades into a light bitterness, like a light red wine. To my taste the chocolate and sugar balance each other well, as more sugar would be too sweet and less would make it just sour. I'm not sure I'd want this tart flavor profile every day, and for what it's worth, ten minutes later my tongue still tastes bitter...but it's very good, and I'd like to try some of Taza's other products.

Conclusion: Taza Chocolate 70% Dark Stone Ground Organic Chocolate is tart and complex, with interesting flavor and texture. Worth trying.