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.

Read More »

It’s about time someone engaged in meaningful political discussion. Candidates today are so consumed with the economy and war that they are neglecting some of the most important issues out there, i.e., candy. Thanks to L.A. Burdick’s chocolates, confection is now playing an important roll in our country’s future.

Burdick is offering quarter and half-pound boxes of bonbons, each designed for the two major candidates running in November’s election. Boxes are adorned with their respective party’s seal and a color-coordinated ribbon. Within each box are four flavors inspired by the background and likes of the two candidates. Team Obama is sporting Hawaiian-Pineapple, Kenyan Coffee, Kansas Corn Crunch, and Tennessee Sour Mash. Meanwhile, the McCain end includes Arizona Citrus, Hot Pepper Tequila, Peanut Butter, and Kentucky Rye.

For every box you purchase, a vote will be cast for that party’s assortment. Though the results are still preliminary, and boxes will be sold until the November election, Obama has jumped out in front to command the early lead. Are you happy about this? If not, buy a box or two or fourteen to throw your support to the McCain team. Could the promise of Kenyan Coffee be alluring enough to get even the most die-hard Republican to vote Democrat in this case? Remember, democracy only works if everyone participates (and in this instance, it costs between $15-28 per vote).

I think Burdick is really onto something here, and I would be a staunch supporter of this method of voting becoming the official manner in which everyone voted. In their words, “Vote Early, Vote Often!”

• Burdick’s Campaign Chocolates [via WRAL.com]

When I see a $7 candy bar that weighs 2.5 ounces (70g), I nearly always keep walking. Seven dollars?! I could buy a… well, a large mocha frappuccino and a couple Rolos for that. But what if it’s in a really cool square box with a red, black and green retro design? And what if it’s an all-natural “artisan” bar filled with one of my favorite nuts of all time – the pistachio? And, what’s that? It’s on sale for $3.99? Okay, now we’re talking.

So I’ve got my little Bistro Bar treasure here at home, and I notice something odd right away. The Chocolat Moderne website says that my variety has white chocolate. But the box in front of me reads: “Parlez Pistache – dark chocolate bar filled with pistachio praline.” Wow, I hope the box is right, because I’m not a big white chocolate fan, and I also imagine that pistachio will taste much better with dark chocolate. But enough imagining. Let’s check it out.

Read More »

It’s not often I find a candy maker in my neck of the woods. North Carolina isn’t exactly exactly the candy-making capital of the world. One of my wife’s co-workers found out about Candy Addict and convinced his friend, who has a business making chocolate truffles, to get a batch to me to review. This friend runs Azurelise.

The story of Azurelise is an interesting one and well worth a read at the Azurelise website. Basically, a tenured associate professor in Philosophy abandons teaching and decides to make chocolates (there’s more to it than that, but that’s the basics). What I have before me now are Azurelise chocolate truffles, made by this former Philosopy professor.

The truffles aren’t your ordinary fancy, embellished truffles. These look, in fact… ordinary. They are approximately 1.25″ x 1.25″ x 0.5″ – they have no fancy flowers on them or swirly-q or anything else. Just a simple plaid pattern and the word AZURELISE diagonally across them. I received five dark chocolate truffles and four milk chocolate truffles.

Read More »

As part of my job I have to travel to Florida several times a year. For someone who hates sun, sand, and heat, it isn’t exactly a dream come true. One of the few things that make the trips bearable are my mandatory excursions to Fresh Market and their gourmet candy section. On my last trip, I picked up a bag of Albanese Gummi Bunnies, intending to review them when I got back home to New York. They didn’t make it home; in fact, they didn’t even make it to the airport. They were that good.

So, to make up for it, I bought some Albanese Beeps on Amazon. They have served to reinforce my belief that Albanese makes some of the best gummies I’ve ever had.

Read More »