Product Report: Lindt 70% Dark Chocolate Bar

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AllenOK

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I had to do some running around today. My first stop was at Bed Bath & Beyond. As I was checking out, I spotted a display with several different brands of Dark Chocolate bars. Now, I'm a big fan of Dark Chocolate. I noticed a few things right off the bat:

Ghiradelli 72% $2.79 + tax
Lindt 70% $2.19 + tax
Hersey's 60% $2.59 + tax

I settled on the Lindt, as I doubt I could taste a difference in 2% of the mix, and the fact that Lindt is cheaper.

The sales clerk was obviously concerned about quality of the product, as he didn't want me to accidentally drop and break the bar. Of course, I told him I was going to break that bar as soon as I could :LOL:

This is DEFINITELY Dark Chocolate. It's not to bitter, and not to sweet. It took me a bit to get used to it, then I started noticing a "sweet" taste that was somewhat like honey or raspberry.

I would definitely buy this again, especially if I was making something that calls for dark chocolate.
 
Hershey's is now making a dark chocolate cocoa powder that is good also. If you are a purist and use the big name cocoas, then you may or may not find it to your standards. But I made a chocolate cheesecake for T'giving that was certainly over the top using it.
 
I love dark chocolate and I haven't been to Bed, Bath & Beyond for quite a while. Now I do remember that they carry candy.

They have a Nutrition Bar that is the best and it is mixed with dark chocolate and nuts. I always buy about 10 when I am shopping there.

It is interesting how your were able to see the percentage of dark chocolate that were in the 3 bars.
 
I'm a big fan of El Rey chocolate from Venezuela, from their milk chocolate all the way to 70%. Over 70% gets a bit bitter for my tastebuds.

I usually buy a couple hunks of random chocolate from the chocolate section at Whole Foods every couple weeks. They have a lot of stuff. Picked up some Valrhona hunks a few weeks ago... :pig:
 
I had a neighbor who went to Switzerland and, knowing I was a dark chocolate fan, brought back a huge bar for me.

Couldn't read a thing on the package, not that I took the time, but it was delicious. Somehow I even saved four squares for my sister in law.
(they were small squares)

I wonder what percent they use there in the heart of chocolate heaven?
 
I just read about the Amadei brand of chocolate from Italy. It beat out Valrhona for several awards for the year.
 
Valrhona was good, but not exactly spectacular in my book. I'm not a big fan of Lindt either. The best chocolate I've had was the Venezuelan El Rey brand.

Here is their site...
http://www.chocolates-elrey.com/home.html

I hate to say it, but Hershey's new "Cacao Reserve" line of dark chocolates are actually quite tasty! They have a bar with cacao nibs throughout the chocolate that is very-good/excellent in my book. You can't find 'em everywhere, but my local grcoery store actually stocks some.

They made a great website for 'em...
http://www.hersheys.com/cacaoreserve
 
I'm glad my husband is computer-illerate, he'd have me out buying this stuff. He's a chocoholic!!! I bought him two big bars last night, he does NOT need anymore. LoL
 
Nicholas Mosher said:
I hate to say it, but Hershey's new "Cacao Reserve" line of dark chocolates are actually quite tasty!

Sorry Nick, but I have to call you on this just a bit. Why do you "hate" to say it? What's wrong with admitting that an American (vs. a European or other) manufacturer makes a decent product?
 
Oh, I'm not saying American Chocolate is bad, just that most Hershey products are very large scale and tend to be, well, less than spectacular. Take for instance the Hershey Bar. It pretty much tastes like a hunk of sugar to me.

Whereas Ghiradelli milk chocolates (another American brand) taste very nice! I do tend to slam the big-chain/mass-scale "service"/production that is ever present in our society, as the majority of it to me is quite poor. These new Hershey Cacao Reserve bars are a welcomed exception. A lot of it has to do with our culture to. Given a static price, many people view quantity rather than quality as the value. I guess I'm someone who looks at quality first, and would give up quantity for it even though it means less volume. In other words, I'd take three 1/2oz squares of Ghiradelli dark over a 16oz block of Hershey "Special Dark". I may not have as much, but I enjoy the flavor and texture much more. Just my $0.02.
 
Another example would be kitchen equipment. People see a 32 piece set of stamped knives in a wood block at Walmart, and would rather have that than a nice forged Chef & Paring knife set simply because they are getting "more". It ends up being quite depressing to me, as it drags down the quality of almost everything that is locally available sacrificing quality for quantity.
 
I understand what your'e saying, Nick, and actually agree with most of it.

I submit that in many instances Hershey's is the iceberg lettuce of chocolate, but I guess my point was that it could have been stated as "I am delighted (or pleasantly surprised) that Hershey has made something quite tasty."

BTW, I remember as a kid buying Hershey's semi-sweet chocolate bars at the movies instead of popcorn.
 
I was in our area World Market yesterday and noticed that they had several brands, none of which I can remember at the moment, of dark chocolate. Most of them in 80+% range. I love dark chocolate and was sorely tempted. I'll be back there on Wednesday and might succumb. I'll let you know what happens. If I buy any and, if so, how it tastes.
 
Another great brand that I love is "Flyer" brand chocolate. The dark and milks are incredible. Whole Foods stocks it sometimes. Expensive, but it's one of the best all-purpose chocolates out there (to my mouth anyways). I made hot chocolate with it earlier this year for a couple people. I'm always one to share every recipe I have, but I held out on these two chocoholics just to be evil... :LOL:

I like the dark the best, as it's great for putting in your mouth and letting it melt and it's also perfect for making hot chocolate. Long lasting chocolate flavor that is as perfectly balanced as any I've ever had. There are almost zero bitter, fatty, or sugary components. It just tastes like intense chocolate with that "swiss" type aroma. Almost has a little of the marshmallow essence. I imagine it would make amazing s'mores... :)
 
Chocolate chocolate chocolate by the Pound....well I am glad I found this forum of people talking about fine chocolate....I have tried amedei, valrhona, lindt, and hershey's...I am not a fan of lindt....lots and lots of fat in their bars and I just don't think the taste is there....Great brands in my opinion are....

Guittard(USA)
Scharffenberger(USA)
Valrhona
Amedei
Domori

and a few others....but I really like Guittard of the USA...I think they are the best by far in the United States! check them out...

I gotta agree with whoever said it....EL REY is the kind of White and Milk Chocolate! They have a great brand that only makes chocolate from Venezuelan Beans and it shows...there is such an earthiness to their chocolate...when you taste it you will think you are standing in a rain forest!

Robert
Chocolate
 
i've been trying to get ahold of some amadei for a couple of years now but, regretfully, it doesn't seem to be available here in japan and on-line shops in the states don't ship internationally.

however, there are a lot of european chocolates available, and recently even the mainstream hersey-type japanese manufacturers have begun to bring out a couple of fairly decent bars.

on the other hand, there are a lot of high-end chocolate candies available too, none of which do anything for me, godiva included.

until they come out with a chocolate filled with a quarter-shot of remi-martin, i'll stick with a plain chocolate bar, somewhere in the 85% - 97% range. unsweetened chocolate works pretty well for me, too.
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You are a high cacao range person? Man I don't know how you do it...I just can't get past the bitterness....my Range is 65-75%...I do upwards but don't enjoy it as much...
Different palates for different people...

Robert
Chocolate
 
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