Chicago's Best Sweets of 2025 - Full List

This week we explore the Top 25 Sweets in Chicago. Those marked wth an asterisk are new entries since the original list back in 2018. (Jump to the full reviews of #21-25, #21-25, #16-20, #11-15, #6-10, and #1-5.)

• • •

It's been a great week exploring the top sweets in Chicago. Click the links above for longer write-ups and tips. Here's the full list:

(1) Afternoon tea bun at Lost Larson*

(2) Caramel cake slice at Brown Sugar Bakery*

(3) Goat cheese cashew caramel gelato at Black Dog Gelato

(4) Strawberry rhubarb pie at Bang Bang Pie (rotating menu)
(5) Ellen from Alliance Bakery

(6) Bread pudding at Bar Roma*

(7) Valrhona chocolate iced doughnut at Firecakes

(8) Iced housemade chai with ube syrup at Del Sur Bakery*

(9) Panna cotta at Spacca Napoli

(10) Earl grey swirl ice cream at Bartleby's* (rotating menu)

(11) Vanilla sour cream doughnut at Downstate Donuts*

(12) Sour cream dutch apple pie at Hoosier Mama Pie Company (rotating menu)

(13) Cookie dough peanut butter milkshake at Chicago Diner

(14) Authentic drinking chocolate at XOCO

(15) Lemon-raspberry brioche French toast at M. Henry

(16) Purple velvet cupcake at Jennivee’s Bakery

(17) Tiramisu at "Original" Ferrera Bakery

(18) Pecan caramel crisp popcorn from Garrett Popcorn

(19) Death by chocolate sundae at Vaca's Creamery*

(20) Chilled drinking chocolate from Katherine Anne Confections*

(21) Cinnamon rolls at Ann Sather*

(22) Earl grey custard and sea salt caramel Japanese soufflé pancakes at Hanabusa Cafe*

(23) Raspberry pie at Shaw's Crab House*

(24) Tagalong cake at Defloured (rotating menu)

(25) Oreo frosted brownie from Sweet Mandy B's*

Honorable mention: Pretty much anything from Mindy's Bakery*

Gone, but not forgotten: Chai-infused French toast from Orange (R.I.P.)

Favorite non-Chicago dessert spot in Chicago: Jeni's Ice Creams (nationwide, originally from Columbus, OH)

Chicago's Best Sweets of 2025: #16-20

This week we explore the Top 25 Sweets in Chicago. Those marked with an asterisk are new entries since the original list back in 2018. (Jump to the full reviews of #21-25.)

• • •

(16) Purple velvet cupcake at Jennivee’s Bakery: As I've said before, while purple velvet is also available as an airy cake slice, the dense cupcake is the better choice for this particular flavor. While ube can sometimes be a delicate flavor, as a cake frosting, it packs more punch. The denseness of the cupcake helps bring the flavor back down to earth.

(17) Tiramisu at "Original" Ferrara Bakery: Everyone has their preference of what component of their tiramisu should be front and center. Is it the espresso? The chocolate? The ladyfingers? For me, it's the custard, offset by the cocoa dusting on top. And that is why this is the perfect tiramisu. One of several tasty items at Ferrara.

(18) Pecan caramel crisp popcorn from Garrett Popcorn: I defy any dessert-loving omnivore to pass by a Garrett Popcorn without salivating; they pump the intoxicating scent of melted butter and sugar out into the street in front of their stores, making such resistance an impossibility. Most Chicago popcorn fans will point you toward the cheese and caramel popcorn mixture, but I say hold the cheese and add pecans.

(19) Death by chocolate sundae at Vaca's Creamery*: Vaca's offers delectable vegan soft serve in chocolate, vanilla, or twist with homemade vegan toppings based on nostalgic treats. Death by chocolate has chocolate shell--their version of magic shell--and brownie bites. Gobs of chocolate here. They also offer two additional soft serve flavors of the month along with pints of other flavors featuring mix-ins.

(20) Chilled drinking chocolate from Katherine Anne Confections*: A perennial favorite for me at the Andersonville farmer's market, Katherine Anne is best known for the chocolates and caramels. The chilled drinking chocolate features some salted caramel, homemade whipped cream, and cocoa nibs for texture. Simply divine.

Chicago's Best Sweets of 2018 - Full List

This week we explore the Top 25 Sweets in Chicago. (Jump to the full reviews of #21-25, #16-20, #11-15, #6-10, #1-5.)

• • •

1.) Strawberry rhubarb pie at Bang Bang Pie (seasonal)
2.) Ellen from Alliance Bakery
3.) Cioccolato at Osteria Langhe (rotating menu)
4.) Goat cheese cashew caramel gelato at Black Dog Gelato
5.) Strawberry mascarpone doughnut at Firecakes (seasonal)
6.) Apple pie at Chopping Block (only at Apple Fest)
7.) Sour cream Dutch apple pie at Hoosier Mama Pie Company (rotating menu)
8.) Chai-infused French toast at Orange (pictured above)
9.) Cookie dough peanut butter milkshake at Chicago Diner
10.) Tagalong cake at Defloured (seasonal)
11.) Panna cotta at Spacca Napoli
12.) Chocolate chip cookie at Publican Quality Meats
13.) Authentic drinking chocolate at XOCO
14.) Stuffed French toast at M. Henry
15.) Almondolas from Amy's Candy Bar (seasonal)
16.) Katie cakes at Taste of Heaven
17.) Purple velvet cupcake at Jennivee’s Bakery
18.) Pumpkin cupcake at Molly's Cupcakes (seasonal)
19.) Tiramisu at "Original" Ferrera Bakery
20.) Pecan caramel corn from Garrett Popcorn

21.) Cheese and honey gelato from Frio Gelato 

22.) Cherry pie from First Slice Pie Cafe 

23.) Strawberry milkshake at Allende

24.) Mango Italian ice at Miko’s Italian Ice (closed during the winter)

25.) Coconut bao at Wow Bao

Chicago's Best Sweets of 2018: #11-15

This week we explore the Top 25 Sweets in Chicago. (Jump to #21-25, #16-20, #6-10, #1-5.)

• • •

11.) Panna cotta at Spacca Napoli
If you close your eyes, you might think you are eating the silkiest vanilla gelato ever, punctuated by fruit and a balsamic drizzle. This jiggly Italian custard delivers.

12.) Chocolate chip cookie at Publican Quality Meats
This cookie is the best cookie I've had that wasn't made by a family member.

13.) Authentic drinking chocolate at XOCO
From Chicago chef Rick Bayliss, this spot offers tortas, churros and, the best of the bunch, Mexican drinking chocolate. Mexican drinking chocolate hot chocolate.

14.) Stuffed French Toast at M. Henry
I take all of my out-of-town guests to M. Henry. Usually when I go to brunch, I like to split with a friend, so we can get half savory and half sweet. At M. Henry splitting isn't necessary because the morning sugar high is worth it.

15.) Almondolas from Amy's Candy Bar
These are chocolate hazelnut paste-covered almonds. They are seasonal, because Amy likes to play with our hearts. Either that or because she also injects some elf magic into them.

Taza Chocolate Factory Tour in Somerville, MA

Taza's two best: Chocolate Mexicano 70% Dark Chipotle Chili and Coco Besos

You may be familiar with Taza Chocolate. It comes in two round discs, has a course texture and boasts itself as being "Mexican Stone Ground Chocolate." But that isn't all there is to know about their product. Here are some things I learned when I went on the Taza Chocolate Factory Tour:

Molino.

What are the origins of Taza Chocolate? 
Alex, the founder, went to Oaxaca where chocolate is primarily for drinking, not eating. While there, he studied with molineros (mill experts). Taza started in 2007 in Somerville, MA. The goal was to make the Oaxacan style chocolate, but in a way that was both good for eating and drinking. Today Taza still uses molinos (stones used to grind chocolate) from that region, though Taza carves the ridges into them themselves to their chocolate-making specifications.

What is the benefit of the stone ground method?
There is no conching. Conching pulverizes the bean. Taza's stone ground method doesn't pulverize because pulverizing causes chocolate to lose some of its nutrients, like magnesium and antioxidants.

What is the process for making stone ground chocolate?
All of the bean harvesting is the same: the cacao pod is cut from the tree, the beans--actually seeds--and white fruit are removed and placed into wooden boxes to ferment for up to 7 days, the beans are dried on wooden slats for up to 8 days, and then they are packed and shipped.

Because Taza is bean-to-bar, the process in their factory starts here with roasting the cacao bean. Roasting both develops the flavor and loosens the shell. Next, winnowing separates the shell from the nib. (All there is is nib and shell, so to eliminate waste, the shells are used as mulch.) Next the nibs are crushed between the stones. One stone is stationery, while the other rotates. The nib is ground up into a paste known as chocolate liquor, which has a texture like hot peanut butter. The chocolate liquor is then combined with cane sugar in the mixing tank. At this point in the process, chocolate used for the Taza's disc chocolate is ground once more to break down the sugar crystals. Then it goes in a holding tank, followed by tempering for texture and appearance, molding and wrapping. Then you can eat it!

The process is a little different with their bars. For their bars, they use a wheel with more finely etched ridges to lightly pulverize the bean to get a smoother texture. This pulverizing is not as much as a conch used typically in chocolate making. The bars are European style, which is to say they add more cocoa butter.

Why are most of Taza Chocolate's products round?
So it can fit in a cup for drinking chocolate.

Is Taza Chocolate Fair Trade?
No, they are not Fair Trade by choice. Instead they are Direct Trade, which has less intermediaries/bureaucracy via brokers. Instead 100% used toward the product goes to farmers.

Learn anything else?
Sure did:

• Cacao plants are the size of a "fully-inflated American football." They are cut open with a machete.
• The flavor of baba, the white fruit cacao beans (seeds) live in, is like lychee, jackfruit or durian in quality. (The guide said that it is the sweetest fruit he had ever tasted.) Baba is what activates the fermentation. It's called "baba" (which translated to "spit") because originally people sucked the fruit and spit the seeds out.
• Cinnamon is originally from Sri Lanka, so the Aztecs and Mayans couldn't have used it in their chocolate drink.
• Tempering actually changes the melting point, which sounds like black magic, but heating up other foods also has an effect, like how the texture of onions changed when carmelized.
• My guide's favorite chocolate other than Taza is El Rey. Gotta check that out!

Learning's fun and all, but what about the chocolate? Was it good?
Yes! There's no denying that the rough texture of stone ground chocolate is a paradigm shift from the chocolate most people are used to, but it sure is tasty. In the shop after the tour, we were allowed to sample chocolate to our heart's content. After doing my duty for my readers and eating as much as needed for a full report, I can say that there were two Tazo standouts I would direct you to first: the Chocolate Mexicano 70% Dark Chipotle Chili disc and the Coco Besos chocolate-coconut bar. Enjoy!

The Chocolate Connoisseur's Desert Island List

Some of the winners at the awards ceremony.

Three-and-a-half years ago, inspired by the book The Chocolate Conneisseur, I made a list of my Top Ten Desert Island Chocolate Bars. The concept of the Desert Island Question is one usually reserved to subjects not known to melt in the sun--a person*, top albums**, books***--but any opportunity to make a list is a good one. 

In the years, since my original list, I've eaten a wider range of fine chocolate, thanks to the continued rise of foodie culture and increasing popularity surrounding bean-to-bar production. (Hard to believe nowadays that back in 2007, Theo Chocolate in Seattle described themselves as the only 100% organic, 100% Fair Trade bean-to-bar production facility in the U.S.) 

My Desert Island Chocolate Bar List:

• Amedei (Pontedera, Italy) - Cioccolato al Latte Bianco con Pistachio. White chocolate with pistachio. In its purest form, white chocolate is cocoa butter with sugar. This is the only one to wow me as much as standard chocolate.
• Amedei (Pontedera, Italy) - Toscano Blond. 63% dark chocolate with peach and apricot. This is my all-time favorite chocolate bar. Amedei has a gift for creating a bold chocolate that has numerous flavor notes in each taste.
• Fran's Chocolates (Seattle, WA) - Almond Gold Bar. Dark chocolate, almonds and the best caramel ever. To call this a "chocolate bar" rather than a "caramel" is a stretch, but I doubt anyone will deny me this on my hypothetical desert island. 
• Kinder (Alba, Italy) - Bueno. Chocolate, hazelnut cream, wafer. Probably more of a candy bar than a chocolate bar. Dang, is it good, though.
• Mast Brothers (Brooklyn, NY) - Goat. This isn't the only company to explore using goat's milk instead of cow's milk, but theirs is the best I've had.
• Nathan Miller (Chambersburg, PA) - Gingerbread Bar. 55% buttermilk chocolate with spiced gingerbread. This bar is my latest obsession, thanks to the awakening that is buttermilk chocolate.
• Patric (Columbia, MO) - Browned-Butter Bar. Brown sugar and browned butter make for an instant rush of happy chemicals to the brain.
• Pump Street Bakery (Oxford, England) - Sourdough & Sea Salt 66%. Crunchy bread pieces and a touch of salt combine with rich chocolate for a unique and memorable flavor in experience.
• Ritter Sport (Waldenbuch, Germany) - Dark Chocolate with Whole Hazelnuts. Whole hazelnuts in a heavy, square bar.
• Theo / 3400 Phinney (Seattle, WA) - Milk Chocolate Coconut Curry Bar. As unusual and intriguing as the first time I tried it back in 2007.

Honorable Mention:

• Cocanu (Portland, OR) - Holy Wood. Subtle and aromatic, this bar is infused with Palo Santo wood.
• TCHO (San Francisco, CA) - Strawberry Rhubarb Pie. I would have huge expectations for any chocolate bar featuring rhubarb puree and this one rises to the task.

Emeritus

• Amedei (Pontedera, Italy) - Chuao. 70% dark chocolate. If you choose one pure chocolate Amedei bar, start here.
• Ferrero (Alba, Italy) - Rondnoir (aka Duplo Cuore Fondente). Dark chocolate, dark chocolate cream, wafer. Take away the hazelnut of the more popular Ferrero Rocher and swap out milk for dark chocolate. Good luck eating just one.
• Ghirardelli (San Francisco, CA) - Peppermint Bark. A seasonal must-have.
• Perugina (Perugia, Italy) - Baci. Dark chocolate, gianduja and hazelnut. One bite of perfection.
• Ritter Sport (Waldenbuch, Germany) - Coconut Macaroon. Melty milk chocolate with crystally coconut filling.
• Theo (Seattle, WA) - Jasmine Truffle. A seasonal item I ate once, it has taken on legendary status with me. I remember it tasting like fairy dust.

Breakdown: While I do enjoy pure unadulterated chocolate--only two of the items on the main list are pure chocolate (Patric and Mast Brothers)--the majority of the bars are bold chocolate featuring texturally diverse mix-ins. This may account for the high number of American brands, since some of the leading European chocolate makers stick to pure chocolate. The two pure chocolate bars on the main list are both bold twists, one using goat's milk and the other using browned butter. A few items on the three lists are mass market chocolate that isn't the highest quality but are still regular cravings for me (Kinder, Ferrero, Ghirardelli, Ritter Sport).

* Most people choose what is known as a "fox" (i.e. Keira Knightley or Ryan Gosling), I usually go the practical route, choosing an Eagle Scout. As of this writing, I think I'd choose J.J. Abrams, though, because turnabout is fair play.

** An ever-changing list: The Helio Sequence's Keep Your Eyes Ahead, Kanye West's My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy and, because I think it'd be nice in a tropical setting, The Ruby Suns' Sea Lion.
*** You Shall Know Our Velocity! by Dave Eggers, my favorite, and the complete Anton Chekhov short stories, because I may actually have time to read them whilst marooned.

Upchurch Chocolate, Richmond's Own Bean-to-Bar Brand

The current product line from Upchurch Chocolate.

On a recent trip back to Richmond, VA to see family, I visited one of my favorite purveyors of fine chocolate, For the Love of Chocolate. Located on the Carytown strip, For the Love of Chocolate sells all sorts of brands, from the somewhat obscure Galler from Belgium to the often seen Baci from Italy, from Seattle-favorite Fran's Chocolate to Brooklyn's Mast Brothers, from brands with flashy mix-ins like Chuao and Vosges to bean-to-bar brands like Taza and Theo, from artisanal chocolate bars from Valrhona and Michel Cluizel to low-quality British-exclusive candy bars like Yorkie and Crunchie. All this in addition to the truffle case. It offers such quality and variety that, during my college years at VCU, an unrealistic expectation was set that all large American cities would have such a shop. Alas!

Walking around, I noticed a tiny display at the cash register of four different bars marked as being a Richmond brand. Always a fan of local flavor, I took a closer look and discovered that the brand, Upchurch Chocolate, was a bean-to-bar company with ingredient lists that are short, just as the chocolate gods intended. Each bar is organic cacao and organic sugar, with two of the bars featuring a single additional flavor. Nothing else. Also featured on the packaging is a handwritten batch number and the maker's own flavor notes. A little internet research reveals that the young company, started 2015, was founded by a VCU undergrad (Go Rams!) and a recent grad from nearby Mary Washington with some helpful seed capital from VCU and Lighthouse Labs totaling $25,000. With Richmond being one of the country's up-and-coming medium-sized cities for young people, culture and beards, here's hoping Upchurch Chocolate puts RVA on the chocolate map as well.

Needless to say, I bought all four bars and hosted a tasting for my family. The main distinguishing feature is the texture of chocolate, which is tempered, yet manages to feel partially--oh, let's say 20%--stone-ground (like one finds in popular brands like Taza). This means the texture was primarily smooth with a touch of rough, enough to feel alive but not enough to be gritty. Here are the other findings from our tasting, in order of bar preference:

The Bouncy Bar - Cacao from Tanzania, added ingredient of goat milk
Since my first introduction to goat's milk chocolate, I've jumped at the chance to purchase other brands' take. The Bouncy Bar features the rich and slightly sour qualities of other bars I've had, but in a way that somehow feels more simplified. It felt like the chefs were using sleight-of-hand to make themselves disappear and only the ingredients shine through. My family's unanimous vote for favorite bar in the bunch.

The Sassy Bar - 72% Cacao from Madagascar
Nothing but cacao and sugar in this bar, meaning the emphasis for the tasting is the beans' source, in this case Madagascar. The chocolate-making process has various steps that impact the flavor, but the effect of the cacao plants' soil, climate, etc. is the most interesting to explore. Like the best chocolate bars always offer, the Sassy Bar is a roller coaster of flavor, hitting numerous notes from when the bar touches the tongue all the way until the lingering aftertaste. A rich, dark, earthy bar and my dad and I's second favorite.

The Party Bar - 72% Cacao from Tanzanian
As the only other bar in the current line to only contain beans and sugar, it felt natural to compare it to the Sassy bar. We found that when we tasted the Party Bar independent from the others, it had more tart nuances to its flavor, but when we tasted it after the other bars it was delicious but somehow seemed less exciting than the other bars.

The Hype Bar - Cacao from Tanzania, added ingredient of coffee
The most polarizing of the Upchurch bars, the lone coffee-lover in my family declared this bar to be his second favorite of the bunch, saying he found the coffee flavor to be light. Meanwhile, the non-coffee drinkers (who obviously hold a negative bias) did not care for the bar and found the flavor to be like huffing coffee grounds. Coffee lovers, take note of this bar.

Like Upchurch Chocolate on Facebook. Then check out the website's "Find" tab to see if the chocolate is anywhere near you. (As of this writing it is principally in Virginia with an outpost in St. Paul, MN and another in Missouri.) Or shop online and have it shipped to you.

Post #300: Top 25 to Visit

Time for another clip show.

Here you will find my top picks, revised since Post #200 back in November 2012. As the blog has grown substantially, I've changed the Top 20 tag to the revised TOP 25 TO VISIT tag. (This includes two places I will post about in the next month or two.)

My hope is that you will check this blog when you travel and use that handy-dandy search box on the right to see what I recommend in your destination city. And if I haven't written about that particular place, I hope you sample the best and report back, maybe even write a Field Report guest blog. (While this blog's primary allegiance is with local scoop shops, see my Freezer Favorites for the best of grocery store ice cream.)

Favorite Ice Cream 

#1 Toscanini’s (Cambridge, MA) 

#2 Morelli's (Atlanta, GA) 

#3 Creole Creamery (New Orleans, LA)

Favorite Doughnuts

#1 Mighty-O (Seattle, WA) 

#2 Firecakes (Chicago, IL) 

#3 Union Square Donuts (Somerville, MA)

Favorite Pastries 

#1 Twice-baked almond croissants at Bakery Noveau (West Seattle, WA) 

#2 Kuoing Aman at Les Madeleines (Salt Lake City, UT) 

#3 Made-to-order cream puffs at Beard Papa's (many locations around the world)

Favorite Chocolate 

Toscano Blond, 63% Dark Chocolate with Peach and Apricot

Amadei (Tuscany, Italy; available in fine chocolate stores)

(For others, see The Chocolate Conneisseur's Desert Island List.)

Favorite Fancy Dessert   

Mountain-High Blackberry Ice Cream Pie 

Skyland and Big Meadows Resort (Skyline Drive, VA) 

In addition to blogging about the best desserts from my travels and the occasional recipe (like my creation of the perfect S'mores ice cream), my hope has been to make you laugh along the way. Here are my favorite humorous posts since Post #200:

• Cindy the Cinnamon Witch (A Holiday Tale of Sexism)
• X-Rated Ben & Jerry's (NSFW)
• This Honkey Ice Cream Be Trippin' (30 Rock Ice Cream)
• How to Celebrate a Half-birthday ('nuff said.) 

Thank you for reading and for the emails, texts, Facebook posts and carrier pigeons with your dessert recommendations.

Lord Stanley's Cup Diddly-Umptious Bracket Bar

The Stanley Cup Playoffs are upon us. Despite some goalie drama--including a record-setting, 42-save performance in Game 1 by back-up goalie Scott Darling--the Chicago Blackhawks defeated their first round opponents, the Nashville Predators.

NBCSN is celebrating this Playoffs by sending out loftily-named chocolate bars. With the bars comes the chance of getting a silver ticket that wins PRIZES! ---------------------------------------> But those who don't get a silver ticket have another chance...another chance to win PRIZES! ------------------------------>

Each bar contains a bracket, containing one of the 32,768 possible scenarios that could play out in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Here's the randomly assigned bracket included with my bar:

With two of the series in the first round still going (Islanders vs. Capitals and Lighting vs. Detroit), my bracket is still completely plausible at the time of this post...except for the glaring error involving my Hawks losing in the first round. But have no fear! I still could win SOMETHING if the predicted winner does indeed go on to win the Cup. And surely Alex Ovechkin will live up to his potential and advance past the conference semifinals...right? Right? (Go Islanders.)

Bracket bungles aside, the actual chocolate bar was nothing to brag about...EXCEPT FOR THE FACT THAT I GOT ONE AND YOU DIDN'T! NEENER NEENER NEENER!

Mast Brothers' Goat Milk Chocolate

Go(a)t milk?

This week, I walked into Hannah's Bretzel to studiously examine their chocolate wall. As expected, this thorough analysis resulted in a purchase, this time a brand they've only recently added to the wall.

Mast Brothers are Brooklyn-based chocolate makers whose products have ingredients lists that are short and exciting. On the shorter side, you have any of their origin bars, whose ingredients lists include only cacao and cane sugar--proof that this company is legit. Over on the exciting end was my recent purchase, the Goat Milk bar, a dark chocolate bar with cacao, cane sugar, goat milk powder and cocoa butter.

At once richly dark and sweetly tangy, the Goat Milk bar has joined the ranks of instant classics, destined for placement on the Desert Island List. Adding goat milk powder has solved the question of, "How can a chocolate have milk in it without sacrificing the properties of dark chocolate?"

Hunting the Wild Ophelia

Currently grazing in 48 states. (Sorry, Dakotas!)

Katrina Markoff's Vosges has a new little sister by the name of Wild Ophelia and, as with any family, sibling comparison is inevitable. In both brands, chocolate is the star with each bar's namesake ingredient merely providing an atmosphere to the chocolate's overall flavor, never stealing the spotlight. Where Wild Ophelia most distinguishes herself is this: while Vosges invites taste buds to "travel the world through chocolate," Wild Ophelia leads palates in domestic travel through its use of distinctly American flavors. Here's a bar-by-bar review of the Wild Ophelia product line, in order of my favorite to least favorite:

Sweet Cherry Pecan (41% cacao)
This soft milk chocolate melts quick and easy on the tongue, reminding me of European milk chocolate. What it leaves behind--a chewy fruit and a hint of salt and nut--are a fine reward to an already satisfying bar.

Southern Hibiscus Peach (41% cacao)
The best part of eating this bar is when the hibiscus kicks after the chocolate has melted away, creating sparkly crackles of tartness to round off each bite. If this bar lived up to its packaging's bold claim that "each bite is purely peach," it would be a chunky success surpassing many chocolate bars, but chunky chocolate bars are not Katrina Markoff's style. As is, it still a unique delight.

Salted Chowchilla Almond (41% Cacao)
The salt is no subtle presence, but it successfully cuts the sweetness of the chocolate to a level where I kept craving more, bite after bite. Never the champion of salted chocolate, this bar could make a convert out of me. The bits of nut add a nice texture, similar to what one gets with brittle or Almond Roca. Though the concept may not seem fancy or overtly gourmet, this is simply a delicious chocolate bar.

Beef Jerky (44% cacao)
While beef jerky works better in milk chocolate than bacon does in Vosges' Mo's Bacon Bar (a treat best enjoyed in its dark chocolate variety), I was hoping the Wild Ophelia bar would have a smoky flavor or something else to distinguish itself from it's better-known cousin. In truth, it pretty similar except for a few chewy bites.

Get thee to a rodeo, er, nunnery!

Mount Sequoia Granola (70% cacao)
The granola featured in this bar is made by Milk & Honey, a Chicago company whose product has me loving breakfast again and swearing off cereal. Whether the almonds and dried cherries in their Original Cafe Mix, the peanuts and cacao nibs in the Rick Bayliss Mexican Mix, or the husky flavor of their Pumpkin Spice mix, their granola offers tons of flavor...which is why I was disappointed by how completely overwhelming the dark chocolate was in this bar. The granola seemed to only offer textural diversity and in no way affect the flavor.

Smokehouse BBQ Potato Chips (70% cacao)
Anyone familiar with Vosges' 70% chocolate won't find much of anything different in this bar. The dark chocolate is the only thing one tastes. The only hint of potato chip is the texture (which isn't even half as crunchy or satisfying as a chocolate covered potato chip) and the only hint of barbecue is when a bit of potato chip gets stuck in one's teeth to be found later. Coming from a Katrina Markoff, who so often uses salt in her chocolate, it is a wonder that a flavor showcasing potato chips doesn't taste the least bit salty.

New Orleans Chili (70% cacao) 
An earthy, yet sweet bar with cayenne pepper that goes straight for the back of the throat, creating instant heat. Sadly, the chili doesn't affect the flavor. I'm not sure that the bar offers anything new except for how long the after burn lingers.

Also available is Peanut Butter & Banana (41% Cacao), which due to the presence of the untouchable fruit shall remain untasted.

Today I ate a Stradivarius.

2012, Brad Brubaker / Crayon and pen on paper / 22 x 16 in.

In celebration of becoming a chocolate connoisseur, I treated myself to a selection of Amedei solid chocolate bars. Having already done a tasting of their single origin chocolate, trying their other bars would nearly close the gap of tasting all of the products made from what I believe to be the best chocolate in the world. My plan was to follow Chloe Roussel-Doutre's advice--chewing the chocolate into small bits in order to maximize the surface area exposed to the tongue--and to document my taste reactions. Having found inspiration in chocolate before, I thought poetry might result from this act of devotion. What I didn't reckon was that I would create a work of art.

While tasting Amedei's Chuao bar, made from much coveted beans from the Chuao plantation in Venezuela, I felt a wash over me. I felt new terrains of my tongue explored and new taste buds were discovered...or perhaps brought to life. I had a phrase enter my head so clearly which accompanied this experience: deep red grooves. My God, I was eating a Stradivarius. And I knew that for my whole life, though I only first realized it in that moment, I have wanted to be a violin.

The Chocolate Conneisseur's Desert Island List

When marooned on a desert island, make it rain.

(Note: This list was updated in 2016.)

The Chicago winters aren't the only reason I've been thinking about life on a desert island. Having finally gotten around to reading The Chocolate Connoisseur* by professional chocolate buyer Chloe Roussel-Doutre, I've been creating my Desert Island list. Many people create a fictional list of people they'd love to spend time with on a desert island** or the albums***/books **** they'd want with them, but Roussel-Doutre challenges her readers to meditate on the ten chocolate bars they'd want in their suitcase. (Presumably the suitcase has a regulated temperature in the fantasy.)

Without pause, I scrawled out a list of my ten of favorite chocolate delicacies, as well as five other treats that, despite my year-round cravings, are seasonal or unavailable in the U.S. That this task came so effortlessly for me is proof of my growth as a student of chocolate. After much studious research and personal exploration, I feel I can officially and confidently declare myself a chocolate snob--EHEM!--connoisseur.***** Make a note of it, friends.

Ten Chocolates for My Desert Island List:

• Amedei - Chuao, 70& dark chocolate
• Amedei - Cioccolato al Latte Bianco con Pistachio, white chocolate with pistachio
• Amedei - Toscano Blond, 63% dark chocolate with peach and apricot
• Ferrero - Rondnoir (aka Duplo Cuore Fondente), dark chocolate, dark chocolate cream, wafer
• Fran's Chocolates - Almond Gold Bar, dark chocolate, almonds and the best caramel ever
• Galler - Noix de Coco, praline of white chocolate and coconut
• Kinder - Bueno, chocolate, hazelnut cream, wafer
• Perugina - Baci, dark chocolate, gianduja and hazelnut
• Ritter Sport - Dark Chocolate with Whole Hazelnuts
• Theo Chocolate's 3400 Phinney Fantasy Bars - Milk Chocolate Coconut Curry Bar

Honorable Mention:

• Ghirardelli - Peppermint Bark
• Ritter Sport - Coconut Macaroon, milk chocolate with coconut filling
• Theo Chocolate - Jasmine Truffle
• Unknown brand in Belgium - Spéculoos and chocolate covered almonds
• Vosges - Gingerbread Toffee

* This book came recommended by the good people at Seattle's Chocolopolis.
** Most people choose what is known as a "fox" (i.e. Keira Knightley or Ryan Gosling), while I usually go the practical, trying-to-stay-alive route and choose an Eagle Scout.
*** An ever-changing list. Let's go with summer listening: The Ruby Suns' Sea Lion, Cory Branan's The Hell You Say, The Beatles' White Album and Kanye West's My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.
**** You Shall Know Our Velocity! by Dave Eggers, my favorite, and Stephen King's The Stand: Complete & Uncut, which I've never read but when else does a person have that much time?
***** The chief connoisseur, Ms. Roussel-Doutre, and I do not always see eye to eye, especially on whether or not chocolate with stuff in it belongs in the company of solid chocolate bars. She says the true chocolate connoisseur is content enough to taste the subtle differences of the chocolate itself. I say a true gastronomic explorer of any type of cuisine sees the value of tasting how other ingredients combine to create a new effect. She also disapproves of white chocolate, something I usually agree with. Hopefully these clashes don't cause her to boot me out of the chocolate connoisseur club.

Five-Year Anniversary Blog (Post #200)

Welcome to the clip show.

Back in September, this blog hit a landmark. For five years now, I have documented my favorite desserts and sweets discovered in my travels and on the grocery store shelves. In celebration, I have revisited each blog post, cleaned up typos, added some photos (and will add even more!) and added follow-up notes of reflection.

My hope is that you will check this blog when you travel to see what I recommend in your destination city. And if I haven't written about that particular place, I hope you sample the best and report back, maybe even write a guest blog. Below are some of my favorites, but you can check out more by clicking the newly created “Top 20 to Visit” tag.  Please return soon because some of my “Top 20 to Visit” will be featured in blogs that will appear the next few weeks.

Favorite Ice Cream 

Brown Butter

Toscanini’s (Cambridge, MA)

Favorite Doughnut 

French Toast

Mighty-O (Seattle, WA)

Favorite Chocolate 

Toscano Blond, 63% Dark Chocolate with Peach and Apricot

Amadei (Tuscany, Italy; available in fine chocolate stores)

Favorite Fancy Dessert 

Mile-High Blackberry Ice Cream Pie

Skyland and Big Meadows Resort (Skyline Drive, VA)

Honorable Mention
Red Velvet Cake Ice Cream
Creole Creamery* (New Orleans, LA)

But this blog hasn’t simply been about food. Part of the goal has been making you laugh along the way. Here is a short list of my favorite posts that were purely humorous in content, followed by some of my favorite lines.

Favorite Humorous Blog Posts

• "Ice Cream Talk with Oscar-winners"
• "Something Delicious This Way Comes"
• "A Different Game of Squash"
• "Somewhere David Lynch is Smiling"

Favorite Lines

• The greater Seattle area is famous for many things, including a heroin-addicted rock star and, fittingly, a giant needle. (“Seattle is not an Ice Cream City”)
• …my father and I took our time deciding what flavors to try on our once-in-a-lifetime trip through Missoula, even though it was 9pm and we were standing in falling snow.   (“A Growl of Approval”)
• To describe eating this flavor in earthly vocabulary seems unbefitting of the transcendental experience. It would be better if instead I lead you in some guided meditation. (“One Last Taste Before I (Chica)go”)
• If my anatomy were the solar system, my stomach would be the sun. (“Toft’s Ice cream”)
• The correct way to eat a Belgian waffle is au naturel—the waffle, not the consumer. (“Brussels’ Best Deal”)
• Picasso believed in two things: ice cream and zombies. (“Cubism or Zombies”)
• …apparently the most hygienic cicada preparation has not been fully researched. (“Cicada Ice Cream”)
• I thought if I were to die a terrible boiled-alive death, that I hoped never to be made into a kitschy ice-cream flavor. (This line was written by a guest blogger for a “Field Report.”) (“Lobster Ice Cream”)
• George Washington Carver was a bit of a one trick pony. (“Speculoos Spread”)
• When I saw the word speculoos on a pint of ice cream, I got so excited I began weeping loudly and tossing dollar bills at the freezer. (“Häagen-Dazs Class of 2012”)

* The title of this post, "Fleur-de-lis-cious," is easily my favorite from the past five years.

Ep.6: The Vosges Knosges

After I dropped Boren off for his flight back, I had a feeling not unlike homesickness. What’s it called? Oh, yeah. Hunger. Luckily I had anticipated this feeling, knowing I would want a taste of Chicago once I arrived in Boston for this extended stay. Though packing a scoop of Black Dog Gelato was not possible, transporting a selection of Vosges Chocolate was.

A taste of home.

While made in Chicago, Vosges is an international presence. In my travels, they are often the American representative at fine chocolate shops. It is a fitting label; the packaging states that the company was founded on the concept, “Travel the world through chocolate.” (It can also be found at Whole Foods stores.) Truly Vosges absorbs the flavors of different cultures, both domestically and abroad, turning the melting pot concept from the figurative into something literal. Which prompts the question: who gets to lick the spoon?

I purchased one of the Vosges Chocolate Libraries, a selection of nine different .5 oz bars, along with a five bars not offered in the sampler. For those unfamiliar with Vosges, they like to mix their rich chocolate with savory ingredients like ancho chiles, wasabi and pink peppercorns. Salty flavors are commonplace, whether bacon, plantains or pink Himalayan salt. This may sound intimidating to some, but in all of these bold decisions Vosges suggests flavors without dominating the simple experience of indulging in fine chocolate. The textures created by the exotic ingredients are just like more run-of-the-mill ingredients in chocolate. Other times, the texture isn’t affected at all, which is jarring when there are nuts in the bar but you cannot feel their crunch or there are goji berries with very little chew. Perhaps I should explain.

Of those I tried, my favorites were the Gingerbread Toffee Bar (65% dark chocolate, seasonal flavor) and Mo’s Dark Chocolate Bacon Bar (62% dark chocolate). The two runners-up were the Woolloomooloo Bar (45% milk chocolate, macadamia, coconut, hempseeds) and the Black Pearl Bar (55% dark chocolate, ginger, wasabi, sesame seeds). In the latter two, the combination of flavors results in an aromatic difference in the overall chocolate, not a sledgehammer of spicy wasabi and ginger, nor a crunch of macadamia or hemp seed. In the Bacon Bar, the bacon adds a crispness similar to what one might find with the chocolate bar with crisped rice puffs or pretzel crumbs, but the flavor is smoky and sweet. And as for the Gingerbread Toffee Bar, the flakes of toffee in the chocolate have a robust sweetness—think molasses—that overpowers the salty undertones, a far more nuanced flavor than the chocolate covered slabs of toffee available at the grocery store. (If Gingerbread Toffee is out of season, Vosges has another bar, Bapchi’s Caramel Toffee, which is a suitable milk chocolate replacement.)

Savoring these chocolate bars over the next weeks made me feel connected with Chicago, even though it was now over a thousand miles away. Though the date of my return to Chicago was uncertain—what ended up being almost a year later—I could only look ahead at all of the trips to Toscanini’s that lay ahead of me in Boston. And they were many.

So You Think You Can Richmond

Though it gives off the appearance of a once prosperous industrial town that is lying dormant, there is more to Richmond, VA than dusty history. There are lavish parks to be found amongst the brick, whether the Japanese and Italian Gardens at Maymont Park, the rustic tranquility of Belle Isle on the James River or the sanctuary that is Hollywood Cemetery. There are active communities of artists, musicians and theatrical performers breathing new life where it wasn’t before. There are local businesses keeping the city’s identity in tact, even while basketball coach Shaka Smart—may his name be praised— continues bringing national attention to the city and to my alma mater.

In my opinion, nothing captures Richmond better than the food. Once capital of the south, today it is the last stop for excellent pork barbecue and other southern delicacies. It is also home to authentic ethnic foods and fusion cuisine. There are numerous “Richmond favorites,” but I have limited myself to these sweet tooth stuffs.

Strawberry Pie at Bill’s Barbecue – This taste of summer has a buttery crust, juicy strawberry halves and a light whipped cream topping. It is not unusual for them to run out, but Bill’s is worth a visit regardless. For your meal, try their signature hot sauce on the North Carolina style minced barbecue sandwich—so hot it melts the bun!—and wash it down with their sparkling limeade, which is worth the stop all by itself. (Update for 2014: All Bill's locations have closed, sadly.)

Fudge Walnut Pie at Strawberry Street Café – Every menu item I’ve ever had at this local staple is rich. My favorite meal items are the Chicken Chesapeake and the Crab & Swiss Quiche. But the richest item on the menu is this gooey chocolate delight. Served warm, it demands to be savored. Though another dessert may sound the most enticing—the Ice Cream Sandwich: a huge scoop of vanilla ice cream between two slices of pound cake, topped with your choice of strawberries, hot fudge or both, if you ask nicely—having tried all the desserts at Strawberry Street, my recommendation is still the Fudge Walnut Pie. Or bring some friends and try both!

MexiCali Chocolate Ice Cream at Bev’s Homemade Ice Cream – Spicy chocolate ice creams are becoming more and more popular, but Bev’s creation is the best I’ve had. It is quite simple: cinnamon, cayenne pepper and a touch of mint. I’ve tried to recreate it, but have never gotten it at Bev’s quality. My friend Boren still raves about this flavor, though he hasn’t had it in the six years since we graduated college.

Peach Melba Cheese Pie at The Tobacco Company – This restaurant is not a cheap outing, but well worth it. If a glance at the prices makes you blush and walk out, make sure to stop in for dessert sometime. The cheese pie is a light and subtle slice of the south, the child of a dainty cheesecake and a mountainous slice of cream pie. Peaches decorate the plate like pillows on a guest bed.

Glazed Custard Doughnut at Country Style Doughnuts – Open 24 hours, six days a week, closed Mondays. To score the best flavors you need to get there in the morning. The Glazed Custard is a perfectly doughy delight FILLED with Boston Crème. Other favorites are the Toasted Coconut and the Glazed yeast doughnut. I usually find myself near the store at the late night hours, which has sometimes yielded doughnutless disappointment and other nights pure joy. One time my brother and I arrived at the 2AM Tuesday morning reopening and were greeted by racks and racks of Glazed yeast doughnuts.

Honorable Mention: For the Love of Chocolate – This chocolate shop features an enormous variety of chocolate from around the world. They carry many of my favorites: Baci (Italy), Kinder Bueno (Germany/Italy), Ritter Sport’s Dark Chocolate with Whole Hazelnuts (Germany), Gold Bars by Fran’s Chocolate (Seattle), Vosges (Chicago), Valrhona (France), Galler Chocolate’s Noix de Coco (Belgium). During college, I would come here to celebrate my birthday by treating myself to $20 worth of truffles and dark chocolate covered graham crackers. Nowadays something different from this store finds its way into my stocking each holiday season.

Belgium Month: Chocolate and Frittes

When I went to Brussels, I had a short checklist: Eat.

Belgium is famous for many delicious treats. I spent my days imbibing in chocolates, frittes and, my favorite, waffles. In between, I marveled at art nouveau and explored museums dedicated to Magritte, contemporary art and musical instruments. And then I went back to eating.

On the streets surrounding La Grand Place, there were literally chocolate shops next door to chocolate shops across the street from chocolate shops. Most of them shoved free samples in my eager face. Nearby was the Musee du Cacao et du Chocolat, which principally consisted of signs telling the history of chocolate from South America to Europe and information I already knew. (See Becoming a Chocolate Connoisseur, Steps 1 , 2 and 3 .) The new information I gathered from my visit consisted of the history of Belgium’s most famous chocolatiers: Godiva, Neuhaus, Côte d’Or, Callebaut and Leonidas. It was Neuhaus Chocolates that premiered the first ever bite-sized chocolates in 1912, “pralines.”

While this particular international trip isn’t one I feel everyone must take, here are my recommendations for chocoholics bound and determined to hit Brussels. It is important to distinguish the legit chocolate from the tourist junk. For starters, the stuff in boxes may be perfectly okay by American standards, but it’s not the good stuff. To taste what Belgium is famous for, cough up the good money for the fresh treats behind the glass. But, even with those items, it is important to recognize the difference between chocolate makers (roasters who affect how the chocolate will taste) and chocolatiers (those who outsource ready-made chocolate for the use in their own concoctions or simply molding the chocolate into shapes). As you walk from shop to shop, you’ll notice some identical products that were clearly outsourced and whose cocoa butter may be cut with vegetable oil. Thank them for their friendly samplings and do the truffle shuffle to the next place.

The frittes, while not dessert items, deserve at least a short paragraph. I learned frittes are called French fries because (1) the person who named them this consumed frittes in Belgium and (2) one of the major languages in Belgium is French. Thus, (3) the conclusion was made that frittes were a French invention. (Makes sense. I first ate gelato in Charleston, SC; I guess the Italians stole the idea.) What gives Belgian frittes their signature texture is that they are twice fried, which also happens to be the best way to cook plantains. After this, the frittes are topped with your choice of sauces with untranslated names.

As for the waffles—THE WAFFLES!—I will need several blog posts to fully record this religious experience.

Reasons to stay indoors

Some locals called it Snowmageddon. Others called it Snowpocalypse. I called the waist-high tunnels of frozen precipitation a reason to make hot chocolate.

Lucky for me, I had recently discovered some Perugina hot chocolate mix from my Italy trip in the back of my cupboard. For a boxed mix, this was thick, rich and fantastico. But for those of you that haven't been to Italy recently can stock up on grocery items to make your own hot chocolate. This recipe I got from a friend is exactly how I prefer it: like a thin fondue.

2 cups whole milk
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup cocoa powder
6 oz chocolate chips (semi-sweet)
1 tsp vanilla

Mix all of the ingredients together in a sauce pan over medium heat with a whisk until everything is melted together and hot. It's that simple.

Step 4 to Becoming a Chocolate Connoisseur

One of the best ways I fill my time is volunteering at 826 CHI, a creative writing and tutoring center that publishes student work, where I tutor there once a week and teach creative writing workshops. I recently read the 826 CHI Compendium Vol. 2 (published 2010) and found inspiration: one of the creative writing workshops had its students participate in a chocolate tasting and wrote about what they found evocative. I will attempt the same, first giving my initial reaction, followed by a simile of what feeling the chocolate brought to mind.

About the chocolate: Parisian chocolatier Michel Cluizel ranks in the tops. According to his website, Cluizel is “one of the rare chocolate manufacturers to process cocoa beans.” I tried a spectrum of 9 small squares of Cruizel’s chocolate, each a different percentage of cacao. The only ingredients are cocoa, cane sugar, whole milk powder, cocoa butter and Bourbon vanilla bean.

99% - I think we all have memories of tasting the baking chocolate and how we were introduced to expectation vs. reality. The bitter hits early and has no relief of sweetness to follow.
Like getting lost on your way somewhere and when you finally get there, people are mad at you for being late.

85% - Everyone has their preference. I usually go no higher than 70% cacao. This was surprisingly nice. It reminded me of the chocolate one tastes in mole sauce with just that small touch of sweet.
Like when you’ve been playing a team sport and you get a water break; it’s enough to fight off the burning without extinguishing it.

66% - Sourced from a single plantation in Venezuela. It was the most fascinating. I didn’t enjoy the flavor at first, but then was introduced to its depths.
Like sitting in Krispy Kreme back when smoking was allowed indoors: tobacco, smoke, coffee, but with enough of a breath of sweetness to find the high worth chasing.

65% - Sourced from a single plantation in Madagascar. The beans seem naturally sweeter at the start with a brick-oven aftertaste.
Like when the water you’ve been wading in starts to feel comfortable.

64% - Sourced from a single plantation in Papa New Guinea. Bitter, rich and long-lasting. My favorite.
Like listening to your latest obsession while owning the dance floor with your s.o.

60% - With cocoa nibs. Sadly this square had bloomed—it had that chalky whiteness that indicates the cocoa butter had come to the surface. It was also more brittle. I found it odd that the chocolate would bloom since all the pieces were kept at the same temperature.
Like discovering the DVD is missing from its case after your friends have already come over for the movie night.

50% - Sourced from a single plantation in Madagascar. This was the lowest cacao percentage with any robust richness to it. Milky with bite.
Like a shy first date that ends with a knockout kiss.

47% - Sourced from a single plantation in Papa New Guinea. Delicate, sweet, appealing for its nostalgic qualities, but left me feeling empty. Also a little nutty flavor.
Like listening to a pop hit from yesteryear with today-colored lenses.

45% - I don’t think milk chocolate is his specialty, but milk chocolate also isn’t my preference. This was milky with a slight memory of malt.
Like how a carnival ride feels when your biggest crush rides with her friend instead of you.

You, too, can read the 826 CHI Compendium and their other publications. Or consider donating in support of their free in-school and after-school programming.

Step 3 to Becoming a Chocolate Connoisseur

In Step 1, I learned how chocolate was made by witnessing it first hand at a factory. In Step 2, I learned a chocolate shop owner taught me about the different qualities of chocolate from the world's regions of origin. Here, in Step 3, I will host a tasting of what many chocolatiers consider to be the finest chocolate in the world.

The biggest shopping spree of my Italy trip earlier this year was at the airport. Stocking up on foreign chocolate at Duty-Free prices made for a much larger carry-on than what originally passed through security. I bought some of my favorites, but the most prized purchase was a box of Amedei Chocolate, 36 napolitaines from 6 different regions of origin. This would provide the perfect opportunity to experience first hand what different regions truly have to offer in their beans. Even better was the fact that each chocolate was 70% cacao, meaning there were less variables for my taste buds to consider. And, since I'm a family man, I decided I could host a tasting with 4 of my kin.

Soon after my return stateside, my parents, my brother, my sister-in-law and I gathered together on comfy chairs to taste our way around the world...or at least the agrarian part that was within 20 degrees of the Equator. First, we snickered as we read aloud the verbosely-written instructions from the Amedei website on conducting a tasting. Then I explained my instructions: (1) smell the chocolate first, (2) do not eat the whole napolitain in one bite so it can later be compared with others and (3) pause together between chocolate to verbalize our reactions. I also presented strawberries for cleansing the palate between chocolates. They may have laughed at the idea, but they agreed.

At a later date, I had a private ceremony where I ate the 6th and final napolitain from each region, nibbling in a different order and recording my own reactions to compare with those documented at the family tasting. Enjoy our attempts to articulate, our poeticisms and our often contradictory opinions! (The italicized sections are what was printed on the labels.)

Venezuela - Flowery aroma with a strong, sweet flavour. Excellent aromatic harmony and a highly elegant long-lasting aftertaste. A great chocolate.
**My sister-in-law's favorite** **My favorite in Round 2**
Bitter aftertaste. Maybe some fruit/citrus. No change in flavor. A dancer on point shoes. Pops of bold flavor between the sweet, like ice cream with hunks of different stuff.

Trinidad - Refined aroma with a pleasant impact on the taste buds. A classic chocolate with a strong character.Creamier than Venezuela, but gets bitter. More arch to the flavor. Earthier. Delicate. Harsh taste in middle. Creamy, harsh, bitter. Almost smoky.

Madagascar - Delicate, inviting aroma with a scent of roasted hazelnut. Truly creamy with a refreshing aftertaste.Nut taste. Soft. NOT a refreshing aftertaste. Starts bitter but gets subtly sweeter. Seemed regular. [Editor's note: Gasp!] Not much sugar. Almost typically semisweet. Wood.

Jamaica - Marked fragrance of wood with herbal scents. A powerful chocolate with a strong personality.
**My brother's favorite**
Wood. The sweetest. The strongest/loudest. Like eating a flower. Jump of sweetness at the end. Wood. Earthy. Sweet follow-up.

Grenada - Delicate aroma of cocoa with a flowery, slightly spicy tone. Creamy and very elegant.**My mom's favorite** **My favorite in Round 1**
Flavor full of spice. Not as bitter. Bitter hints in the middle, but not the aftertaste. Creamy, but not much taste. Spices. Not as aggressive, not as much punch as the others. Fuses bitter and sweet.

Ecuador - Extremely intense fragrance with a strong scent of cocoa. Pleasantly long-lasting aroma.
**My dad's favorite**
Pleasant, even flavor. Consistent. Creamiest. Plumpest. Acidic. Fruity. Like a chocolate Easter bunny (or Pasqua pigeon).