Chocolatiers these days have it tough. Not only are consumers becoming more and more aware of what good chocolate is, but they’re also discovering new flavors to go with it and the potential health benefits. That is partly why I was so excited when I discovered Chuao Chocolatier when I was at the All Candy Expo. They have a product, called the ChocoPod, which combines all three things – good chocolate, new flavors and health benefits.

Each ChocoPod is wrapped in its own brightly colored wrapper which really makes these very portable. Inside, there are attractive chocolates in the shape of a cacao pod with the beautiful lettering of “ChocoPod” decorating the lightly lined surface. The chocolate is a beautiful dark color and it smells rich and sweet. I’d expect no less from El Rey, where Chuao gets all their chocolate. The ChocoPods come in two kinds: solid and filled. On to the tasting!

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One of the many companies I spoke to at the All Candy Expo were the extremely friendly people over at Chuao Chocolatiers. I was so impressed with the quality, taste and creativity of their chocolates, but also how enthusiastic they all were about their craft and products. They were also sweet enough to participate in the Candy Addict Birthday Giveaway we held earlier this month.

Chuao (pronounced chew-WOW) is an artisan chocolate company founded by chocolatier Michael Antonorsi in Southern California, and they have an impressive array of chocolates that not only look beautiful, but taste amazing.

Chuao wants to awaken your senses with chocolate, using only the finest ingredients in unusual, unexpected and delicious ways. They start with a strong base by sourcing El Rey Venezuelan chocolate and then combining it with the finest ingredients to make such flavors as strawberry pulp and balsamic vinegar caramel, Hawaiian macadamia praline spiced with smoky chipotle and ginger ganache infused with green tea. A few months ago, David got to sample these unique flavors in Chuao’s Chocopods.

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It’s always fun to come home to a big package from FedEx, especially when it’s something you didn’t have to pay for and it contains chocolate treats. This time the sender was Chuao Chocolatier and based solely on their packaging, they appeared to be a fairly upscale brand. As we all know though, packaging is probably the least important part of eating chocolate – we all know it’s about the taste.

The samples they sent me were from the ChocoPod line, which are small individually wrapped chocolates, shaped like cacao pods. Aside from banana, all of the flavors are made with Dark Chocolate and all of the flavors except Candela are filled with a gel-like filling.

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