How seriously do you take your chocolate bars?

Question

There was an article in the New York Times on the best chocolate bars, and although I admit I turn up my nose if I'm offered a standard Hershey milk chocolate bar, I can't imagine spending that kind of money. I wouldn't exactly say, to use the authors' phrase, that "anyone paying more than $2.00 for a candy bar is a pretentious sucker," but I'm perfectly happy if I find Lindt or Ghirardelli on sale for $1.50.


http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/12/30/dining/mast-brothers-taste-test-bean-to-bar-chocolate.html

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/12/29/dining/best-chocolate-bars.html

Answer

This article is specifically and only about US chocolatiers who make bean to bar chocolate- no mixing of various sources of beans. 
It's a niche market and specialty that is just a completely different sourcing strategy, creation, and production than any large mass market company. 
Just not comparable to Lindt/valhrona/etc. because the process and product are so different. 

Like a $10 bottle of locally made in small batches beer vs a $2 bud light. Both might taste great but they're not really comparable. 

I thought the article was very interesting and i have a lot of respect for the passion and artistry that it takes. Unfortunately my disposable income is such that $10 or so a bar is a rare indulgence, but nice to know there's a plethora of choices!

Answer

Give me a Snickers or a Mounds....

Answer

The dollar store always has Falize dark 4 oz. chocolate 74% cacao for...... wait....... yup $1.00. They also have milk chocolate, dark with sea salt and mint.

Answer

I am a chocolate lover plain and simple. There is something about Hershey's plain and especially almond that I just love. Maybe it's a taste memory from my youth that I find comforting.
That being said: I also love and appreciate finer more exotic chocolates especially dark varieties. Several of the European brands knock my socks off. 
Run of the mill chocolate bars in Mexico and South America don't taste so good. Maybe it's the hotter climate taking its toll.
While vacationing in Cartagena back in the 70's I was yearning for some chocolate, any chocolate. I went to a local market near my hotel and saw a box of malted milk balls in one of those boxes that look like a milk container. I bought a box and went back to the hotel. Oddly enough I could not hear the rattle of the milk balls in the box. I opened the box to find they entire contents had melted into one square mass at the bottom of the container. WTH???
I tore open the box and went at the Malted Milk block with a butter knife, breaking off chunks and enjoying my chocolate treasure.
I realized that back in the day Cartagena had a shortage of electricity and would have rolling blackouts in each section of the city for a few hours each day but for enough time that the refrigerated case in the store heated up enough to slowly turn the malted milk balls into one big malted mild cube.
Thanks for letting me share.

Answer

My wife bought me a sampler pack of bars from Amano for Father's Day a few years ago. For the price, I probably would not indulge again, but I have to say that each different bar had a distinct flavor profile and one small square from each bar was enough to satisfy my appetite. I couldn't see eating an entire bar in one sitting so you have that difference from a "standard" chocolate bar like Hershey's.

Answer

Joe's 72%. Three bars for $1.79. Made by Callebaut.

Answer

I am perfectly happy with Lindt dark bars. I do not go for Ghirardelli or Godiva, or most of the more expensive ones I find in the stores. Every once in a long while I will enjoy a bar from a chocolate boutique, but it's to have something different, not better.

Answer

When Christmas-decorated candy was marked down 75% at a fancy grocery store I bought a bar of Seattle's Best Hot Buttered Rum milk chocolate (for $1 instead of $4) and thought it was the best chocolate bar of my entire life. It beats Lindt, Suchard, Cadbury, Godiva, everybody. I really wish I hadn't made that discovery. Next Christmas I am going to have to chain myself to the sofa to keep from going back and buying up their entire reduced inventory. Nevertheless, I would not pay the regular price. There is such a thing as common sense.

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How seriously do you take your chocolate bars?

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