Please let me know if you are able to get Godiva. I’ve been trying to get myself over to their nearby store; someone has been seeing if we can ship some directly via a store in England; you need to have some so that you can compare See’s Godiva’s and Thornton’s.
by the by, I think that Thornton’s win hands down for the most beautiful chocolates. I am still in love with See’s, however my absolute favorite remain the chocolate truffles by Godiva - at least for today. Tomorrow I might go for the chocolate / nut See’s truffles. It’s almost a real three horse deadheat. You can hold up your British pride alongside those Thornton’s.
Well, true to her word (and an amazing display of self-control), kiffa brought the Thorntons Chocolates that casdave sent her to Washington DC. She flew in from Florida, I drove down from New Jersey and our brother, his family, and our mother flew in from California. No, we didn’t all meet to savor the chocolates although that was one of the highlights of the weekend. Everyone tried them and we all found them delicious.
Now for a serious evaluation. Thornton Chocolates are sweeter then Sees, but the few points they loose for that are nearly made up with the variety of tastes they offer: cherry, mocha, orange, and toffee are just a few of the pieces I particularly enjoyed. And although more sweet than I prefer, the taste is not cloying nor does it disappear moments later - clearly Thorntons uses quality chocolate. There is no funny aftertaste and the chocolate is smooth and creamy (this after traveling during the summer - you KNOW Thorntons has done it right). The best blend of staying power, quality of chocolate taste, variety, and the visual presentation set these chocolates apart from mere wannabees.
Truly a horserace, but I guess my preference for a less-sweet, more intense cocoa-base gives Sees Truffles the lead by a nose. Kudos to casdave for sharing his wonderful chocolates and opening up my world. Now this is fighting ignorance!
I’ve got a few days off and took the chance to track down Godiva chocolate.
Turned out to be only an hours drive away.
I got three bars of differant varieties and a large box of chocs(do you call them truffles?)
The choc bars first - Was not too keen on the dark variety and the milk choc was above average but not strikingly so. The fondant noir was marvellous it just melted away and was smooth too.
On to the box, very good indeed, the chocolate is smooth and not too sweet.
So far, I can say that the American chocolate that I’ve tried is not as sweet as Thorntons but our regular cheaper stuff is sweeter still.
All of them so far have had a good chocolate taste but I personally would say that Godiva’s is on a par with the best Belgian stuff whereas See’s is better on fillings but Thorntons has the best fillings for me, you just cannot eat much of it in one go as it is so rich and sweet.
My chart puts See’s and Thorntons joint top for differant reasons and Godivas bar chocolate top .
I tried out some Valrhona which is French and pretty exclusive stuff but was not impressed with the flavour but the Chocolat au lait was about the best texture I’ve had and then some.
I’ve had lots of fun with this thread but I’m always open-minded if you have any other candidates then wheel them on!!
…have any of you ever had Nutella? It’s more common in Europe although I see it in American grocery stores pretty often now. It’s like peanut butter, except it’s made with hazelnuts and chocolate. You can spread it on bread or dip fruit in it. Yummy.