[quote=“smell the glove”]Anybody like Valrhona?
I had some once and it was pretty tasty.[/quote]
That’s French and they also have ‘origin’ chocolate … it’s like an ‘appelation’ with wine …
I voted white but it also could’ve been Belgian.
I was raised on white Leonidas pralines.
But white chocolate doesn’t even contain coco… so can it really be called chocolate?
Although, saying that, I had square purple easter eggs in the UK a few years back…
It contains cocoa butter …
the japanese, belgian and swiss sure know how to make exceptional chocolate
This is the best chocolate: Ritter Sport bars from Germany.
They’re awesome! I don’t know if you can buy them in Taiwan, but if you ever see one, buy it and try it. You won’t be disappointed.
Droste…they actually had it in the 7-11’s for a while. I like the combo milk & dark chocolate chips
I always look for the droste too, there are other good ones though. funny someone mentioned lindt, for some reason i am not partial to it. maybe that’s because i only go for dark, milk, nah. a little surprisingly, but not really, my rule “anything Japanese is good” applies to chocolate too.
[quote=“doraemon”]I was more talking about the ‘daily’ chocolates everyone eat. The one you can buy in supermarket for example.
After this is sure you’ll still find in most of places some chocolatiers produicing high quality chocolates, but at what price?[/quote]
You get what you pay for. That’s true everywhere.
When in New York City, I like to go to the Village to Chocolate Bar.
But, there are many places to get a fix, everyday.
I always look for the droste too, there are other good ones though. funny someone mentioned lindt, for some reason i am not partial to it. maybe that’s because i only go for dark, milk, nah. a little surprisingly, but not really, my rule “anything Japanese is good” applies to chocolate too.[/quote]
For me it is the memories as my parents used to put them in our stockings at xmass
not much of a chocolate fan but sure can’t get enough of white chocolate ( any kind/type of brands)
Thanks for all the sugg., gotta give some of those a try!
And just in case anyone needed another reason to get some…
[quote]Study: Chocolate improves blood vessel function
Story Highlights
• Test subjects ate 8 ounces of dark chocolate or a placebo each day
• Some of the chocolate contained sugar; some was unsweetened
• Both chocolate groups showed better blood vessel expansion, contraction
• Benefit was greater for unsweetened chocolate than for chocolate with sugar[/quote]
I always look for the droste too, there are other good ones though. funny someone mentioned lindt, for some reason i am not partial to it. maybe that’s because i only go for dark, milk, nah. a little surprisingly, but not really, my rule “anything Japanese is good” applies to chocolate too.[/quote]
For me it is the memories as my parents used to put them in our stockings at xmass[/quote]
you can get them at watson’s, if you didn’t know.
There’s also some excellent Dutch chocolate (someone mentioned Droste) 
But I love the Belgian Cote d’Or chocolate in the yellow paper wrapping. If you know a place where they have it… please let me know!!
In case you didn’t know, optometrists (as told by my cousin optometrist) are now beginning to suspect that cocoa may have a positive role in eye health.
The advice is to eat dark chocolate (86% and over) every day.
YMMV
The US does make good chocolates. Examples: Scharffen Berger, Theo, Dagoba, Chocolove, and Ghirardelli. In particular Theo’s Venezuela 91%, Theo’s Ghana 84%, Theo’s Ghana Panama Ecuador, and its Ivory Coast 75% have garnered very strong reviews, although I haven’t managed to try them yet. Dagoba’s dark blends, its Dark 59% and Los Rios are said to be quite good, and Chocolove’s Rich Dark 65% is supposedly a decent bar. If you see these in Taipei please let me know! Another US chocolate, Ghirardelli Dark Chocolate 60%, I have tried, and it is quite good, although it pales in comparison to [color=red]Michel Cluizel’s Noir 72%[/color] from Normandy, which I can honestly say is the best I’ve had so far. You can get Ghirardelli and Michel Cluizel at Jason’s.
Due to the recent news that dark chocolate is good for you, I’ve decided to re-explore the world of darks, and to try some of the expensive, even snooty bars alongside the cheap stuff to see which I like.
So I’ve just done a side-by-side taste test of some of the locally available bars (Hershey’s Special Dark, Always, Ghana Black, Ghirardelli Dark, and Michel Cluizel’s Chocolate Noir 60% and 72% – no, I didn’t expect the others to hold up to Michel Cluizel). I will be adding a few more like Lindt and some snobby, pricey bars shortly for comparison (other than Jason’s, does anyone know good places to buy such?), and I have to say that so far I’m absolutely delighted with Michel Cluizel’s Noir 72%. It’s absolutely stunningly good – so good, in fact, that I will probably never enjoy American commodity chocolates like Hershey’s, not even Hershey’s Special Dark, Always, Ghana Black, or any of the other mass-market chocolates again. Michel Cluizel’s is just that good. Ghirardelli Dark held up ok but didn’t have the rich darkness and wow factor that Michel Cluizel did.
seventypercent.com is a website reviewing the world’s finest chocolates (concentrating almost exclusively on DARK chocolate, though), and it generally thumbs its nose at mass-produced brands; it won’t even stoop to review Hershey’s of course, but here’s what two reviewers had to say about one of Lindt’s bars, Lindt & Sprüngli - Excellence 85% (US version):
Its Lindt & Sprüngli - Excellence 70% also got a couple of good reviews, [quote]surprisingly good for a mass produced chocolate and would stand up well against many ‘fine’ chocolate bars that claim greatness.[/quote] and [quote]Better than you might expect for a mass-produced chocolate, and a good standby if no finer bars are around.[/quote]
So I’m definitely going to have to try those soon.
[quote=“smell the glove”]Anybody like Valrhona?
I had some once and it was pretty tasty.[/quote]
As for Valrhona, the site consistently praises its presentation and texture, and often its aroma (its Porcelana Del Pedregal earned the comment “It’s hardly a stretch to say this is one of the best-smelling chocolates that has ever been made”). It gives a very strong review to the Valrhona milk chocolate Tanariva, too. However, it has fairly weak reviews of the flavor of a number of its dark bars, as it says they tend to be light and lacking complexity. (“chocolates to seduce rather than excite.”) The site is strongly biased in favor of dark, complex chocolates (as I am), so if you are a fan of milk chocolate or milder, lighter darks, or are looking for an introduction into the world of dark chocolate but are afraid of the bitterness, Valrhona may be a good choice.
Anyway, I’m hoping to score some of Michel Cluizel’s other bars, Endangered Species, Theo, Bonnat, Scharffen Berger, Castelain, and so on, so if you know some good places to shop for these kinds of bars, please do give a holler.
A lot depends on the fermenting and roasting process of the beans and than the grinding to get cocoa liquor (the finer the better) … some manufacturers add vanilla and other stuff to their final chocolate products to get some more kick in it … or out off it …
Here’s an interesting link about the whole process …
I have a bar of something called Meiji 99% in my drawer. Disgusting stuff. Barely edible, it’s so bitter.
[quote=“sandman”]I have a bar of something called Meiji 99% in my drawer. Disgusting stuff. Barely edible, it’s so bitter.[/quote]I tried that. It is awful. It’s all because of the recent high-cocao chocolate health kick thing. I’m going to make some 110% chocolate and rake in the money.
That’s for total health freaks only … or smart people use it for cooking and baking only … 
For enjoyment of the chocolate you shouldn’t go over 86% …