New Chocolates!

Every Saturday, I meet Deece for coffee and knitting. Then we mosey on over to Expressions so that she can buy her 10 pounds of chocolates for the week. I keed, I keed…it is probably only like a pound or so, I have a tendency to exaggerate in my chocolate induced euphoria.

Anyway.Back to my point.

Expressions has relocated to where the Wine Cellar used to be right there by Coffee Care on the way up to Capitol Hill. The shop is bigger and filled with more goodies than before. I think that it started out as a scrapbooking store, then she added the candy bar which was shelves of Hoosier jars filled with all kinds of gourmet confections. Everything from chocolates to Jelly Belly jelly beans, she even has chocolate covered gummy bears (eww!). Now, she carries fancy honey and teas along with imported cheeses and pate.

Along with a new line of chocolate bars, Vosges Haute Chocolate. I picked up a few of the smaller bars to try them out. At $2.50 each, they are a bit pricey, but it is better in my opinion, to buy a few small ones and figure out which you like rather than plunking down $7.50 for the big bar and end up hating it.

What I bought:

For DH:

• Red Fire Bar – Mexican ancho & chipotle chillies, Ceylon cinnamon, dark chocolate (55% cacao)
• Naga Bar – sweet Indian curry powder, coconut flakes, deep milk chocolate (41% cacao)
• Oaxaca Bar – guajillo & pasilla chillies, Tanzanian bittersweet chocolate (75% cacao)
• Black Pearl Bar – wasabi, ginger, black sesame seeds, dark chocolate (55% cacao)

For Me:

• Macha Bar – Japanese macha green tea, deep milk chocolate (41% cacao)
• Mo’s Bacon Bar – applewood smoked bacon, Alder wood smoked salt, deep milk chocolate (41% cacao)
• Creole Bar – New Orleans style chicory coffee, Sao Thome bittersweet chocolate, cocoa nibs (70% cacao)

The verdict:

DH has eaten the Red Fire, the Naga, and the Black Pearl Bars. He says that they are very good, but he really can’t taste the extra stuff in them. I was disappointed that the Black Pearl bar wasn’t more potent for him, he really likes wasabi, ginger, and dark chocolate.

I have had some of all three of mine. The Creole Bar, whoa! I don’t usually have much caffeine so this one made me jittery. I adore New Orleans chicory coffee, and used to consume it regularly when we lived in S. Louisiana. I wish I had a bag now. For the time being, this will do! I would buy this in the big size. The Macha Bar…disappointed. I couldn’t taste the green tea at all. Plus, having just come back from Japan and bringing home a box of green tea chocolates from Gion, Kyoto…I was a bit spoiled to begin with. Now, the Bacon Bar…I didn’t like it at first. Seemed strange to me. Bacon & chocolate? But it is GOOD! There are little bits in there (must be the salt) that are a unique texture and the bacon is a nice smoky flavor. I would totally buy this in the bigger bar.

So there you have it. I know, I need to get pictures up from our Rota trip. But I have been distracted y chocolate. Did you know that Webs is having a hugeungus yarn sale? Good God, Cascade 220 for less than $5 a skien? *want, want*