gleam wrote:Anyway, Valrhona, Lindt and many others have been selling candy bars in the 70% range for a while, so it's not really such a rare thing.

Veering rather a bit off thread here, I was given a 90% bar of Wawel chocolate for easter. I actually found it revolting. I felt like I was eating a bar of coffee grounds. I shared it with a few other people who agreed. None are hard core chocophiles, although none dislike chocolate.

I think my wife said she liked hers.

If it had been chili-spiced coffee grounds, I may have found room for it in my heart.

germuska wrote:

gleam wrote:Anyway, Valrhona, Lindt and many others have been selling candy bars in the 70% range for a while, so it's not really such a rare thing.

Veering rather a bit off thread here, I was given a 90% bar of Wawel chocolate for easter. I actually found it revolting.

Not surprising. You're basically eating pure hardened cocoa liquor at that point (with a touch of sugar). Way to bitter for plain consumption. I think it is generally accepted taht anything above 85% is "unsweetened". Blech.

Best,
Michael

anyone tried the new Vosges Bacon chocolate bar yet? Worth getting?

Snark wrote:anyone tried the new Vosges Bacon chocolate bar yet? Worth getting?

Yes and yes, although that assumes you find any candy bar "worth" $7.00. The chocolate is high quality, the bacon tastes a bit too much like the Hormel bag of "real" bacon bits and actually the predominating flavor in the bacon is salt. But it was a fun indulgence.

the description says applewood smoked which is Nueske's signature. I bet it is Nueske's because that's the big gourmet bacon that local Chicagoan Chef's like to use...(Alinea, Blackbird, RL, NoMi, etc...) and I know Vosges likes to stay current with trends...

Snark wrote:the description says applewood smoked which is Nueske's signature. I bet it is Nueske's because that's the big gourmet bacon that local Chicagoan Chef's like to use...(Alinea, Blackbird, RL, NoMi, etc...) and I know Vosges likes to stay current with trends...

No doubt. I think the issue may not be the bacon, but the application of that bacon in a candy bar. I just can't taste the subtleties that make Nueske bacon so good, after it is ground into tiny bits and smothered in rich milk chocolate. Like making Sangria with first-growth Bordeaux. They coulda used the Hormel, for all I could taste the difference.

JimInLoganSquare wrote:Yes and yes, although that assumes you find any candy bar "worth" $7.00.

Or you could just follow Mike Sula's lead and make your own chocolate covered bacon.

I will probably try the bacon bar at some point as it's the only one I haven't had.

I feel as if the success of the Vosges flavors varies wildly-- both in the bars and in the truffles, but especially in the truffles. My sisters and I went through a box of truffles together; some were great and some we couldn't even tell what they were supposed to be. Not that the flavor was unidentifiable; just that they were pretty flavor-free. I'm sticking with the bars now. I have got to say, Vosges dark milk chocolate is the only milk chocolate I've been enamored of-- especially the salty flavors.

We really fell in love with the Vosges chocolate-covered tortilla chips, which they were offering samples of one day when we were there. My sister has started making her own with good tortilla chips and a blend of dark chocolate, chiles and salt. Remarkable.

The 2 varieties I like the best are the Barcelona bar and the Goji bar but I've found that QC isn't very good, as the quantity of salt in the bars seems to vary wildly. Sometimes it's to the point where they are no longer palatable.

Also, I tried the bacon bar and I agree with JiLS. It was hard for me to appreciate the bacon in that form, even though I love the idea behind it.

=R=

I'm inclined to agree with the general sentiment on the bacon bar -- aside from the texture and saltiness, there's not too much in the bar that clearly says "bacon" for me. I prefer the Barcelona bar, which has a stronger, and cleaner (read: less greasy) salt flavor, along with the added bonus of easily identifiable almonds.

The owner released a recipe some time ago for a layer cake based on the Black Pearl bar (probably available on the Vosges website). This was an excellent cake, FYI. A little labor intensive, but it captures well the combination of ginger, wasabi and dark chocolate.

I should not have read this thread right before lunch when I was headed to Hannah's Bretzel. One Black Pearl bar coming up!

A friend gave me the bacon bar recently, knowing my deep and abiding love of all things bacon and chocolate. She appreciated it more for the novelty factor, but for me, it was honestly one of the best candy bars I've ever had. The salt and the slight hint of porky goodness contrasted nicely with the smooth, sweet chocolate. My mouth is watering just thinking of it. With other Vosges bars, I've managed to stretch the experience out, eating a square every day or so. With this one, I couldn't keep myself from gobbling the entire thing like the bacon pig I am.

My favorite of the Vosges bars was the Goji berry one, but the bacon bar is definitely up there on my list.

I've been eating a lot of candy bars lately, so I thought I'd look to see if LTH had any recommendations for stocking my desk drawer. I'm down to my last few Violet Crumbles.

ronnie_suburban wrote:The 2 varieties I like the best are the Barcelona bar and the Goji bar but I've found that QC isn't very good, as the quantity of salt in the bars seems to vary wildly. Sometimes it's to the point where they are no longer palatable.

I've found this to be true with the Vosges white olive bar. I have very low cacao tolerance, so this is my favorite Vosges offering. The first few of these I had were superb, but I've since had two (purchased on different occasions) that I could not eat. I couldn't tell if the problem was with the olives in the bar or the white chocolate--it was almost rancid.

To top off a wedding present, back in August I bought a few of the bacon bars because I thought they'd be a real novelty to the groom and bride. I sampled the bar in the store, and it was OK, just not my thing. I don't like smokiness in my chocolate.

GardenofEatin wrote:A friend gave me the bacon bar recently, knowing my deep and abiding love of all things bacon and chocolate. She appreciated it more for the novelty factor, but for me, it was honestly one of the best candy bars I've ever had. The salt and the slight hint of porky goodness contrasted nicely with the smooth, sweet chocolate. My mouth is watering just thinking of it. With other Vosges bars, I've managed to stretch the experience out, eating a square every day or so. With this one, I couldn't keep myself from gobbling the entire thing like the bacon pig I am.

My favorite of the Vosges bars was the Goji berry one, but the bacon bar is definitely up there on my list.

Yeah...I'd heard meh things about the bacon bar, but I loved it.

I'll also jump in on the love for the bacon bar. I had one a few weeks ago from Hannah's Bretzel and the thing was loaded with pretty decent sized bacon "bits". Very bacon-ey IMO.

"--it was almost rancid."



It's my understanding that white chocolate does go rancid fairly quickly, but I don't know where I got this from.

happy_stomach wrote:I've been eating a lot of candy bars lately, so I thought I'd look to see if LTH had any recommendations for stocking my desk drawer. I'm down to my last few Violet Crumbles.

If you like Violet Crumbles you will LOVE Cadbury Crunchies.

Christopher Gordon wrote:

GardenofEatin wrote:A friend gave me the bacon bar recently, knowing my deep and abiding love of all things bacon and chocolate. She appreciated it more for the novelty factor, but for me, it was honestly one of the best candy bars I've ever had. The salt and the slight hint of porky goodness contrasted nicely with the smooth, sweet chocolate. My mouth is watering just thinking of it. With other Vosges bars, I've managed to stretch the experience out, eating a square every day or so. With this one, I couldn't keep myself from gobbling the entire thing like the bacon pig I am.

My favorite of the Vosges bars was the Goji berry one, but the bacon bar is definitely up there on my list.

Yeah...I'd heard meh things about the bacon bar, but I loved it.

Apparently the bacon bar is their new best-seller, and they actually can't keep it in stock.

leek wrote:

happy_stomach wrote:I've been eating a lot of candy bars lately, so I thought I'd look to see if LTH had any recommendations for stocking my desk drawer. I'm down to my last few Violet Crumbles.

If you like Violet Crumbles you will LOVE Cadbury Crunchies.

I do love Cadbury Crunchies, and they're somewhat easier to get around here than Violet Crumbles. I go back and forth, but I have a slight preference for the latter just because growing up my Australian relatives sent them to me in care packages.