It’s not often that I get to review a local candy but I got an email recently from a chocolate company that just happens to be local to me – Red Light Chocolates. After a couple of emails, I was in possession of a beautiful box of their artisanal chocolates to try.

Red light Chocolates use the finest, freshest ingredients they can find. All of their flavorings are natural – pure fruit purees, organic mint leaves, and Madagascar vanilla beans to name a few. All of their artisanal chocolates are handmade in small batches. They don’t use preservatives, so they encourage you to enjoy the chocolates within two weeks of receiving them. Sounds delicious, doesn’t it?

Read More »

Just in time for Halloween, the Twilight film franchise has released New Moon themed Halloween candies. The folks at the National Confectioners’ Association sent me three flavors to try.

Do you remember Sky Bars? For those of you who have never had the pleasure, a Sky Bar is a chocolate bar made of different sections, each of which contain a different filling. So in one chocolate bar, you got caramel, vanilla, peanut butter, and fudge fillings. Awesome.

Well this classic candy is getting a modern makeover. Instead of putting all the fillings in one bar, now some of the segments have their own, individually-wrapped candy bar with different Twilight New Moon characters on different flavors. I tried the Edward caramel and the Bella creme. Edward’s chocolate is etched with a family crest and says “Cullen.” Bella’s is shaped like a heart and says “Bella.” Both are good-sized chocolates.

Read More »

I had the distinct pleasure of sampling Amella’s Artisan Cocoa Butter Caramels and OMG they are decadent and scrumptious. These caramels have an incredible texture – just a bit chewy and so creamy and buttery that they just melt in your mouth.

Passion Fruit: Out of the three flavors I tried, the passion fruit was my least favorite and it was still excellent. The caramels include real passion fruit, cocoa butter, and Tahitian vanilla and are hand dipped in milk chocolate. The passion fruit flavor is really strong and tangy – if you’re into passion fruit these will make you do the happy dance. Since I think passion fruit is just ok, I’d have preferred more caramel flavor. But even so, yum!

Read More »

If you’ve ever shopped for a new car or had to hang around a dealership while your mom or dad or granny or Uncle Ned argued with a car salesman with hair as slick as motor oil about the supposed need for rust proofing, then you’ve probably thumbed through a glossy automobile brochure or two. Maybe you wanted to check on your model’s options, or just pass the time. But I don’t care if it’s a Bentley or a Yugo, the brochure’s text and pictures always make it sound like this car will revolutionize the way you slice through the wind! Yeah, sure.

Recently I received a well-insulated box of 10 gourmet “Garden Ganache” chocolates from Kohler Original Recipe Chocolates for review. Aside from the bubble wrap, a press release about a nice mention in Oprah’s magazine, a CD ROM full of photos and a flavor guide, Kohler included a twenty-two page, 8 x 11 ultra-glossy candy brochure that made me think I was back in a new car showroom. I mean, the blurbs and full page photos had me wondering which delectable-looking candies came with leather upholstery. And of course, these treats were “acknowledged unparalleled” by early tasters, while Kohler “seeks to explore the limitless opportunity in taste and texture with natural raw materials.” Do they mean they try different ingredients… ?

So, yeah, these things look good in the brochure. But are they Bentleys, Yugos, or something in between?

Read More »

As if chocolate wasn’t a spiritual enough experience for me, I recently found out about Intentional Chocolate. Get this: the chocolate comes infused with good intentions. “Advanced meditators – some of whom trained with the Dalai Lama” add good intentions to each and every product.

In fact, it says so right on the bag: “Whomever consumes this chocolate will manifest optimal health and function at physical, emotional and mental levels, and in particular will enjoy an increased sense of energy, vigor, and well-being… for the benefit of mankind.”

OK, that’s all really groovy but how does it taste?

Read More »