Aequare chocolates have an interesting story about the chef who started the company and how they’re single origin Ecuadorian chocolate and ingredients and blah blah. You can read their website for all that. What you came here to read is how they taste, right?

When asked if I wanted a sample of these to review, I checked them out and the answer was an immediate HECK YES. This is definitely my kind of thing. On the other hand, that means I’m a tough customer. Like, to start, I was not all that excited about the Dark Chocolate Cocoa Beans, because I don’t really see any reason to eat cocoa beans. I mean, there must be a reason that humanity invented the elaborate processes that turn them into chocolate, right?

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With the popularity of yoga and its associated clothing, mats and other accessories, I guess it was only a matter of time until the popular fitness/relaxation stretching regime got its own signature candy – Classy Karma Candy Healthy Yoga Treats. Not that it isn’t a bit illogical – what makes less sense than having a post-workout candy treat to gain back all those lost calories?

Ah, but this is a healthy treat – or so the promotional material I received at the All Candy Expo claims. It’s “12 TIMES MORE POTENT than synthetic vitamin C,” contains “ALL NUTURAL (sic) ANTI AGING properties from powerful antioxidants,” and is made with “all-natural berries and spices with no processed sugar.” (The ingredients, however, say otherwise – the first two ingredients are sugar and glucose, which don’t just pop out of the sugarcane without SOME level of processing.)

These are made by the Classy Candy Company, a new company – as far as I could tell, the candies are only available for sale on Classy Candy’s website (which was clearly written by a non-native English speaker – I found its enthusiastic, if slightly fractured, copy kind of charming).

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Woodhouse Chocolates make the most beautiful candies I have ever seen. The variety of shapes, the sharp detail – it’s like a box of jewels made of chocolate.

But, is it more than just eye candy? Let us examine this question in excruciating detail.

Thai Ginger – Contains an intensely-flavored piece of candied ginger that isn’t too sweet, and is nice and juicy, not dry like candied ginger can be. I don’t taste any lemongrass, so there’s nothing Thai about this, but I’m not complaining. I like this flavor combination and this is well done.

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I meant to have a box of this for Valentine’s and write a review of it. It didn’t happen, and this box didn’t mean to happen either. I was actually buying them for Mother’s Day. I clicked on the wrong address in my account, and some stranger at my mom’s old address got a box of chocolate. They’re too fragile to be resold after they’ve been shipped back and forth, so all I could do was reorder another box.

That was when things took a turn for the better. When I reordered, they somehow managed to send the order to me instead. Since it was their mistake, they sent another to my mom, and I got this one for myself. Obviously, we were meant to be together.

There are two main things to know about this brand: First of all, this is very much a dark chocolate experience. There are a few milk chocolate pieces, but if that’s what you prefer, go elsewhere.

On the other hand, if you’re a dark chocolate fiend, like I am, read on.

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Altoids – the name frightens me. I immediately get an image of my head bursting into flames as a small white tablet of destruction sears the inside of my mouth and then wreaks its havoc on the rest of my body. My husband and my mother love Altoids. They laugh at me because I am afraid of them don’t care for them.

Of course I’m talking about the dreaded peppermint Altoids. Whoever created those things must have been a sadistic former Gulag prison guard. Imagine my inconsolable weeping hesitation when I received two packages of Altoids in the mail to review.

Fortunately, they were not of the peppermint variety. Instead I’ve been able to sample the wintergreen and cinnamon flavors from the new Altoids Smalls Sugar Free line.

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