Trader Joe’s Ruby Cacao Wafers

I have wanted to try ruby chocolate since I read about it two years ago. After seeing this chocolate on Become Betty, I knew I had to have it. My Trader Joe’s was a little late in getting it, but I finally picked up a package last weekend.

Inside were lots of little wafers, like flat chocolate chips. They tasted sweeter than I expected and there was a subtle fruity aftertaste, but what I noticed the most was the tangy flavor, almost like yogurt. The ruby chocolate tasted fermented, but not in a sour way. It’s a very fresh taste. I suppose these wafers reminded me mostly of yogurt chips, which I have seen occasionally in grocery bulk isles.

My co-workers tried these too, and many of them thought the ruby chocolate tasted like white chocolate. I can see that, especially because they are both so sweet, but I think ruby chocolate tastes better. And I am excited to see what manufacturers do with it. I think ruby chocolate covered strawberries would be delicious, and a co-worker suggested making dark chocolate cookies with ruby chips, as a kind of reverse chocolate chip cookie. I think that sounds cool, and I look forward to seeing more ruby chocolate at Trader Joe’s and elsewhere.

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Chocolate Chocolate Chocolate Dark Chocolate Bee-Berry Honey Caramel Bar

My co-worker Anthony R. found this bar at the grocery store nearest my house. These bars are new, but I have been going to Trader Joe’s a lot lately instead of the grocery, so I missed finding them.

Yes, the name of the manufacturer is the Chocolate Chocolate Chocolate Company, supposedly named after their three children (all of whom are named chocolate?). This bar was quite big and thick, and it was scored into eight pieces, each of which had a gooey soft caramel center surrounded by a thick coating of dark chocolate. It was quite good, and despite not really tasting any blackberry flavor, I loved it. So did my co-workers, except the ninth one who arrived too late to get any of the bar.

I’m going to have to keep my eye open for this brand!

Thanks Anthony!

Winter Pocky

I found these Pocky at my local Japanese grocery store last weekend. I had not had a new Pocky flavor since Matcha Pocky, so I grabbed them.

These pocky are only made for a few months out of the year and are usually sold only in Japan. They are called Winter Pocky because that is when they are sold and also because the chocolate is made to melt at a lower temperature, so it “melts in your mouth”. As such, they only sell it in winter so it doesn’t melt in the box.

So…how did they taste?

Well, it tasted like regular milk chocolate Pocky, with perhaps a thicker chocolate coating. It did melt in my mouth, but they all seem to do that. I liked it, but I don’t see all the special fuss over it. It’s just a good pocky stick.

Big Island Candies Milk and Dark Solid Chocolates

Carrie W., the girlfriend of my co-worker Leon B., went to Hawaii and brought back this box of chocolates for the office chocolate eating meeting.

Inside were sixteen chocolates, eight milk and eight dark chocolate.

I tried both…and I liked both! The dark chocolate ones tasted almost like a brownie, with a distinct baked-good quality to them. And the milk chocolate ones were pretty chocolatey, without any of the cloying flavor found in many milk chocolates (I am looking at you, Hershey). My co-workers loved them, with most people having seconds or even thirds!

Thanks Carrie!

MilkBoy 60% Cocoa with essential Pine Tree Oil

My co-worker Dini M. made us eat this.

OK, this was not so bad. The chocolate itself was kinda nice, but then this flavor crept in, increasing with every bite. This essence of floor cleaner, of toilet cleanser, of Christmas…that was the pine. It wasn’t very strong, but it was there. I thought this bar was OK, and that’s good because I expected it to be hideous. And most of my co-workers just ate one piece, but a couple of them had two.

I have had a MilkBoy dark chocolate bar, with 85% cacao and no pine oil, and I like that better. And I like the name MilkBoy. Take that, SwissMiss!

Thanks Dini!

Trader Joe’s Candy Coated Chocolate Peanuts

I found these new chocolate candies at Trader Joe’s over the weekend.

These are a bag of peanut M&M’s, redone Trader Joe’s style. For them, that seems to mean “safe” dyes used for the candy coating. For me, it meant a much thinner, crunch-less candy coating, over mediocre milk chocolate, all covering a very salty peanut. They tasted very much like a cheap knock-off. These weren’t bad, per se, but a real peanut M&M is much better.

Anthon Berg Chocolate Liqueurs

My co-worker Dini S. brought HUGE box of chocolate liqueurs into the office.

This box was made to celebrate the Year of the Pig (hence the gold pig on the cover) and the inside held a LOT of liqueur bottles.

I have had an Anthon Berg vodka-filled chocolate bottle before, and these were very similar except filled with cognac. They were also quite good, with decent dark chocolate for the bottle and a heady dose of alcohol inside. I had two of them and I was a little buzzed, so being a workday, I stopped there. At least eight co-workers, including a guest programmer from SpaceX, came by to try them, and they all seemed to enjoy the bottles too. It was quite the successful chocolate eating meeting!

Thanks Dini!