Really weird chocolates from Vosges

When I ate a tobacco-flavored chocolate from Richart in Manhattan some years ago (which was surprisingly not bad), I thought I'd experienced the ultimate in weird chocolates. I was wrong.

The latest mail order catalog from Vosges features "The Groove Collection," which is twelve different chocolate truffles, each named after a different style of African-American music, and supposedly "reflecting a popular ingredient of the time period." "Blues" is free range applewood smoked bacon, milk chocolate, and bacon pieces. That's right, bacon-flavored chocolate. And the "Rap" is horseradish, lemon zest, praline, dark chocolate, and cocoa nibs. In this case it's as much the combination of ingredients as the presence of horseradish that strikes me as bizarre. (And what does this have to do with rap, for that matter?)

To be fair, the other chocolates in the collection aren't nearly so outlandish, and if I liked Vosges' truffles in general more than I do, I'd be tempted to buy a box just out of curiosity -- except that a box of twelve costs $75. (It also comes with a booklet and CD, but I doubt anyone will be buying the box for those.) You can also buy the same twelve chocolates in a fancier box for $275; presumably this is aimed at corporate buyers.

I have tried their exotic candy bars and am hooked. I love the goji berry with the sea salt. Very delicious. And expensive. Do you think I will live longer?

I think I'll wait for the reggae-themed chocolates they're coming out with next year.

Josephine wrote:I think I'll wait for the reggae-themed chocolates they're coming out with next year.

Actually, that was the Fall collection. ("Collection of Zion") Candyblog reviewed them here.

germuska wrote:

Josephine wrote:I think I'll wait for the reggae-themed chocolates they're coming out with next year.

Actually, that was the Fall collection. ("Collection of Zion") Candyblog reviewed them here.

Wow mon, er, Joe, I was just joking (and thinking about some brownie flavors that were wildly popular in the 1970's).

I do like Vosges' exotic candy bars. My favorites are the Barcelona, with hickory smoked almonds and grey sea salt, and the Red Fire, with ancho and chipotle chilies and Ceylon cinnamon. (I've never had the Goji Bar; Walnut St. Tea Company in Champaign IL, where I live, carries several of the bars, but not that one.)

They carry the exotic candy bars at Whole Foods market.

Bumping this topic: I like some of the Vosges bars (especially the Barcelona) and was interested to try the truffles. I finally got to the Michigan Avenue store and had a Rooster truffle (taleggio cheese) and my friend had something more conventional-- dulce de leche I believe. The truffles are expensive and TINY and I'll stick with the bars from now on. I loved the idea of cheese and chocolate but the Rooster did not have as much cheese flavor as I expected. (Is it just me, or do Vosges candies vary a lot in terms of how strong the flavors are? In some bars, I find listed flavors hardly discernible.)

The Vosges shop was fun; very crowded with people discussing chocolate and drinking little sample cups of hot chocolate which were pretty good.

I really like the Goji and the Barcelona (plus some others)...does anyone sense a "sea salt" theme with me? I just made the #2 winning cookie recipe from the Tribune's holiday cookie contest (chocolate peanut butter bars) and one of my first thoughts upon trying them was, I should have sprinkled some sea salt on the top.

(BTW, in case you're tempted to make them, I have to say I was surprised it was the second-best recipe they got. I wasn't particularly wow'ed by them.)

I made the peanut butter drizzles too, and even though I added extra cream, my topping never got to drizzle-consistency. I had to spread it on the bars and they looked a little sloppy. Not bad but not out of this world, either.

Bibi rose, your conclusion about Vosges truffles is the same as mine. I've tried the Rooster truffle, and felt the same way as you did about it. I've also tried the Rasta (iirc) truffle, which was good, but not good enough to justify the high cost, which was about twice as much as comparable truffles from other chocolatiers.

Since my last post I've also had a chance to try the Goji bar, which I did like, although it didn't taste much different from the Barcelona to me. I've also had some of their "Aztec Fire" (iirc) hot chocolate, at their Lincoln Park (Chicago) store, which was very good, and was indeed hot, in the sense of taste, if not actually fiery. (The hot chocolate was served in a small glass, which was several inches tall and about an inch in diameter. Ironically, this made it more difficut to take sips, since you have to tilt it so far to drink from it.)

My favorite by far is the "budapest"

- paprika and dark chocolate truffle


image from http://www.vosgeschocolate.com/explore_truffles

~GS

I strongly recommend the naga. Who knew curry and chocolate were such a delicious combination? (Ok, maybe everyone but me knew that, but seriously, it is heaven.)

We have enjoyed chocolates from Wen Chocolates of Colorado. So far we have tried the Mocja and Savannah truffles, both very smooth with some serious spice! Both times, very prompt delivery.

https://www.wenchocolates.com/catalog/

Thanks, Adam. It's great to compare notes. Next time I'm going to put a slice of Taleggio cheese on top of a piece of chocolate and be good to go.

I like the Naga bar very much. Even though I prefer dark chocolate in general, I think the Vosges bars based on something lighter tend to be better. Both the Gogi and the Barcelona, as well as the Naga, are based on milk chocolate.