I resist the idea of buying a food because it’s politically correct. I have to admit I find Seeds of Change interesting, though – their mission is “to make organically grown seeds available to gardeners and farmers, while preserving countless heirloom seed varieties in danger of being lost to the ‘advances’ of modern industrial agriculture.” And they donate a percentage of their sales to support organic farming.

But let’s face it: none of this matters unless the stuff tastes good. Because if it doesn’t taste good, they don’t have any sales to donate a percentage of, right?

Looking at the flavors of their new line of chocolates, these people totally have my number: dark chocolate with mango and cashew, dark chocolate with cherries and vanilla, milk chocolate with “puffed grains,” dark chocolate with coconut. If they only had dark chocolate with ginger, I’d think they’d installed a chip in my brain and were reading my thoughts.

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I was recently given the opportunity to try a box of Ococoa’s Butter Cup Collection. I thought I knew chocolate. I thought I knew what flavors go well with chocolate (peanut butter, mint, and Sunkist, to name a few). I thought I knew what to expect from a box of chocolates. Then came Ococoa.

I get a lot of mail and have been receiving two to three packages per week for the last few months. When a box arrived last week, I assumed it was a homeschooling product I was expecting and didn’t bother to look at the return address. I got a knife, sliced the tape on the box, opened the flaps, and said, “I smell chocolate….”

That is a very pleasant, very enticing way to open a package.

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Seldom do I get as excited about candy as I did when the shipment of Zingerman’s Zzang! Bars arrived after a long workday. The hip, slick packaging, the simple mixed with fancy ingredients, and the interesting flavor combinations promised a unique treat. And, with three varieties, I felt sure my palate would be artfully stimulated.

I tore into the Original first, because I wanted to use it as a base to compare to the other flavors. Zingerman’s marketing team made me salivate with anticipation:

“Starting with a honey nougat made with natural peanut butter, we dip it in a sensual caramel made from muscovado brown sugar. The biggest and best butter roasted peanuts we can find come next, and the whole endeavor is finished off with a dip into a rich bath of dark chocolate.”

It looked great and smelled good, but the taste was disappointing. It was very peanutty and rich, but left an odd, almost smoky, aftertaste in my mouth. I expected the bar to be sweeter, and was left wishing I’d eaten a Snickers instead. Dang. Next…

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