In addition to all of the interesting and new things I saw when I was at the New York City Chocolate Show, there were some old favorites as well that I was just as excited to see. One of those was Peanut Butter & Co, which is a company that specializes in gourmet peanut butter and has its own restaurant here in New York.
What’s a peanut butter company doing at a Chocolate Show, you may ask? Well, what does peanut butter go so well with? Chocolate, of course! Out of all the gourmet flavors of peanut butter that Peanut Butter & Co make, two of them are with chocolate: “Dark Chocolate Dreams” and “White Chocolate Wonderful.” All I can say is, when I tasted the White Chocolate Wonderful several years ago for the first time, I knew I couldn’t eat regular peanut butter ever again. It’s that good.
At the Chocolate Show they were excited to unveil their newest peanut butter creation: the Ultimate Peanut Butter Cup Collection! The collection has four different kinds of peanut butter cups: Milk Chocolate, Dark Chocolate, White Chocolate and Inside out (Peanut butter chocolate with chocolate peanut butter center). They come in a lovely box in which you get a generous helping of four cups for each flavor.
They were sweet enough to send me a box to sample, so on with the tasting!
Milk Chocolate: It smells very sweet and coconut-y with no hint of peanut butter. The chocolate is a nice light brown and very sleek looking. I was surprised on how much I taste the dairy in this chocolate, so much so that I get a bit if tang to it like I do with European chocolate. The smooth peanut butter center works nicely with the chocolate, with neither overpowering the other, but working together. It’s everything one expects from a good milk chocolate peanut butter cup: smooth, sweet, a little salty and completely satisfying.
White Chocolate: The smell of peanut butter just permeates this cup. The white chocolate is beautiful looking: pure, crisp and snow white. The chocolate is nice to bite into: not too hard, not too soft. The flavor, like most white chocolate, is subtle and creamy. I found this white chocolate to be not as sweet as other varieties I’ve had, but it works really well here so the peanut butter can shine. Oh, and of course the peanut butter. It’s very thick and rich and salty and just delicious. I think out of all the cups, this one really lets you experience the peanut butter flavor to the fullest.
Inside Out: This one is the smallest in size of the four. The color is that of creamy peanut butter! Picking up this one I had horrid flashbacks to the Reese’s Inside Out I had before, but they were soon dismissed when I realized a few things. Firstly, this peanut butter cup isn’t greasy at all! It’s dry and firm to the touch. Secondly, it actually tastes like peanut butter! Hear me Reese’s? Granted, it’s not an intense peanut butter taste, but there’s a reason for that. The coating is indeed peanut butter flavored, but it’s light and delicate so the inner peanut butter center can still be the main flavor and focus. I don’t get much chocolate flavor from the peanut butter, but I can understand how difficult a task that must be since peanut butter is such an oppressive flavor. This one is done right.
Dark Chocolate: Really beautiful and dark looking. It has a regal sort of feel because it’s so dark and rich looking. The chocolate is very hard, and has a wonderful flavor to it. I get notes of coffee and cream and some sweetness from sugar, but it’s not overpowering at all and it’s very chocolaty. The peanut butter center is not like a Reese’s, which is dry and crumbly, but like a real fresh scoop of creamy peanut butter was inserted into this cup. I really like the textural contrast of the hard dark chocolate and the super creamy peanut butter. Also the sweet/salty going on too. So good. A real winner.
Peanut Butter & Co now not only has me addicted to their peanut butter, but these too! I’m just crazy about this collection. The packaging is cute, the peanut butter cups are delicious and there’s enough of them to share and still have some for yourself. This would be a perfect gift for a peanut butter lover in your life. And for $15 a box, it’s pretty affordable too. I know a few peanut butter lovers myself and I know what I’m getting them for the holidays this year.
My mouth was watering all thru your review—I do need to order these for myself :)
Yummmmmmy!!!! that sounds and looks so good!! I love this site!!!
Excellent review…makes me want to eat every one of those right this minute! Good descriptions and I got a great image both in my mind and in my mouth, making me wish I had bucks to order these for myself. Thanks for a great review! And I agree, Reese’s Inside Out was gross. Hard to dislike anything Reese’s, but I really was so disappointed in that edition!