Monday, January 25, 2010

Selecting the Perfect Box of Chocolate

Paul and I had a fun excursion to Georgetown this weekend. We decided to compare the chocolates from the Godiva shop with chocolates from Dean & Deluca. Both companies have their chocolates made by different chocolatier's in NY and then ship them to the stores. Surprisingly, the D&D chocolates created by Christopher Norman turned out to be more expensive and although the chocolates looked more artsy, the taste did not compare to the taste of Godiva. Also, the representative at Godiva was very enthusiastic, eager to let you taste samples, and informative. Godiva has improved their preferred customer club (of which I was already a member) to give more rewards. We hope this might help you pick out some delicious sweet treats for Valentine's Day. I would encourage you to try personalizing your gift by selecting what will go into your own box of chocolates. While we're not professional taste testers, we tried our best. Paul cleansed his palette in between tastings with a glass of red wine. I drank and swirled H20.

Here are our descriptions of the high caloric adventure:

1. The heart-shaped Sparkling Mimosa: Champagne and orange juice flavored chocolate cream in dark chocolate.
  • Paul: Tasty orange creme; surprisingly strong flavor, but not overpowering.
  • Chrystal: Buttery rich orange flavor with a champagne aftertaste. Love the heart shape. Only wishing the size was bigger! *Must have for V-day*

2. Double Chocolate Raspberry Truffle: Red and black raspberry puree in dark chocolate.
  • Paul: Superb. One of the best blends of rasberry and dark chocolate.
  • Chrystal: Very bold, rich, and intense flavor as if I'm biting into a raspberry. A small bite goes a long way.
3. Key Lime Truffle: Key lime ganache in dark chocolate.
  • Paul: Not quite as the key lime flavor I was expecting.
  • Chrystal: Too sweet for me.
4. Hazelnut Praline Truffle: Finely crushed hazelnuts in milk chocolate with toffee coated hazelnut pieces.
  • Paul: Ties the raspberry truffle or exceeds it. Very rich.
  • Chrystal: Milky creamy bite, delightfully smooth and light flavor. It's a good thing we only had 1 to share because these are so light and creamy that it would be easy to eat more.

Dean & Deluca:

1. Lemon Truffle: Lemon thyme flavor is enrobed in milk or dark chocolate.
  • Paul: Very good lemon taste.
  • Chrystal: Light zesty lemon flavor. Refreshing.
2. Passion Fruit Truffle:
  • Paul: Not as good as I expected. Fruit was weak.
  • Chrystal: Gross bubble gum flavor.
3. Caramel Apple:
  • Paul: Tastes too artificial.
  • Chrystal: I love the artistic design. It's surprisingly big enough to share. The candy coating is too sweet for me.
4. Champagne Truffle:
  • Paul: Forgot to write down notes.
  • Chrystal: Rich flavor, but lacks the champagne effervescence that Godiva's heart shaped chocolate has.
To wrap up our review and get you on your way to shop for your loved one. It's best when looking for a fine chocolate to stick with a shop dedicated to that. If you're putting together a box of chocolates we highly recommend Godiva's Raspberry & Hazelnut Praline Truffles with a few heart shaped Sparkling Mimosa's.

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