What did you say? A dark chocolate and bread candy bar? Yes, please.
As a man not unaccustomed to spreading melted chocolate chips on toast, Nutella on Ritz, and fudge sauce on pretzels, I was extra ready to try Theo’s 3400 Phinney specialty bar. I think bread (with its salt and texture) goes well with the sweetness of chocolate. (The name of this bar, by the way, refers to Theo’s factory address.)
The other appealing aspect to this bar: it’s certified organic and it’s Fair Trade. The first is better for your human body, the second for other human beings who farm and work in foreign countries.
That’s great, and justifies a higher price, but a candy’s got to deliver the goods, right? This one does.
Theo’s 3400 Phinney Bread & Chocolate Dark Chocolate Bar, which takes longer to say then to unwrap, brings together some fine cocoa flavor with very tasty, salty bread crumbs. What kind of bread is that, anyway? French bread, of course. (That’s “organic wheat flour, filtered water, yeast, sea salt” – just so you know.)
On the first bite, I thought this bar maybe wasn’t sweet enough. It’s 65% cacao, the bread isn’t adding anything in that department, and they’ve used a light touch on the sugar even if it’s the second ingredient after cocoa beans. But after a few bites, I reconsidered. And as I keep chomping away as I write, I’m hooked. This bar packs a flavor punch that’s complex, unique, and breadalicious.
Okay, so try this if you buy one of these. Snap off a piece (nice sound and good aroma, by the way), pop it on your tongue, but don’t chew it. Instead just move it around and let the chocolate flavor come forward. It’s got a dark chocolate edge, but it’s tasty. But now the cool part: when the chocolate’s almost melted away, you’ll find you’re left with the bread crumbs and salty bits. Now you can tell, yup, that IS French bread. And it’s great-tasting because it was covered in chocolate just a second ago. Mmmmmm.
What else? Well, if the idea of a delicious organic bread and chocolate fair trade candy bar and this review isn’t enough to get you to try this bar… just wook at dat widdle kitty and her mom on duh wabel… awwwww.
But no, really, eat this bar when you get tired of smooshing your dark chocolate bars into your baguettes.
Not that you ever do.
Buy Theo 3400 Phinney Bread & Chocolate:
- at Amazon.com
i love combining sweet and not sweet. chocolate chips on saltines is good too. and nutella is good on anything. this sounds like a great bar.
September 25th, 2008 at 1:03 pmI love this company’s chocolate. I’ve tried the coconut curry and the toffee nibs bars and they were scrumptious. I had to go back to the store to get a few bars for my mom!
September 25th, 2008 at 2:25 pmYou simply must try all of Theo’s chocolates, form both lines. Divine, most of them.
Also, if you’re ever in Seattle, try the tour of the factory. Might be a bit elementary for you, but it really introduced me into trying beans from different places, the process of making chocolate, and they even paint their machinery green or yellow to indicate if something is being processed or moved inside.
It doesn’t get much better than that.
September 26th, 2008 at 6:51 amI have the Curry one at home but I haven’t been brave enough to try it yet.
September 28th, 2008 at 7:49 pmI eat this bar all the time! I actually took a tour of the factory; the French bread is provided by a local bakery. They buy the unused loaves, toast them and then crumble them before putting them into the chocolate. Tasty!
October 6th, 2008 at 1:40 am