Yes, yes. I know that American chocolate is considered inferior to European chocolate. But forget that for now.
When I was a kid getting some Ghirardelli chocolate in San Francisco was a rare treat. I’ve had it from time to time as an adult, but I really haven’t paid attention to how it tastes compared to Hershey’s or Nestle’s.
So how does Ghirardelli chocolates stack up agains the major American brands, both in terms of quality and taste?
Some people like the health benefits of 70+% dark chocolate. Personally, I cannot stand dark chocolate. That aside give me a Hershey bar and a Ghirardelli milk chocolate bar and I’ll probably like both equally. I cannot say one is greater than the other, because for people like me who adore chocolate…it’s all the same.
Caveat -
I have had the opportunity to taste some truly worldly chocolate from Belgium and other locales and I must admit it is smoother than your hersheys, but aside from that, to say it was orgasmic or anything like that would be silly IMHO…
Please, for all you Chocophiles I just found this site and it is really cool.
First off, I’m no connoisseur; more like a chocoholic. So there’s never been a bad chocolate for me. Some not as good as others, but none bad. Like sex.
I’ve had quite a few samples of Ghirardelli lately. My wife bought several dozen of the little individually wrapped ones for a party she threw not long ago. I think there were four varieties, including caramel, mint, dark and milk. A week or two later a friend produced a bag of the caramel squares at a movie we all had attended and we all had several pieces each. Damn good stuff.
As for its ranking among the more elite brands like Godiva and such, I’m not in a position to judge. I’d rank it a bit above Hershey and Nestle, as well as the chocolate used in Mars labels like M&M and others. But at the extra cost involved, I personally would stick to the “bargain brands” since I can’t notice that much more difference in taste.
If it’s any help, I salivate over the titles of movies involving chocolate and rate chocolate flavor above others in ice cream. I’m just a “blue collar” chocolate fan and don’t have the needed taste to give better commentary.
We were given a gift basket of Ghirardelli at Christmas last year. I will say that, although I’m a huge fan of Bernard Callebault (Calgary), Ghirardelli chocolate truffles are the best I have ever had.
Tastewise, I like Ghiradelli but the mouth-feel, at least on the dark chocolate, is waxy. Much more so than Hersey’s Special Dark. When you bite into it, t doesn’t coat your mouth with chocolatey goodness – it breaks into bits that sit on your tongue.
JMHO
The 72% Intense Dark is good and is available in supermarkets.
Not as good as specialty brands that use single country chocolate, but quite close.
De gustibus non disputanem
I love Ghirardelli! I’ve never even heard of, much less actually tried, any of the ones on the list cited by astro , but of the chocolates I’ve tasted, Ghirardelli is my favorite. Far superior to Godiva, IMHO, at a fraction of the price. Admitted, I’ve had more of the dark than the milk chocolate - forget the alleged health benefits, I just like it better.
Just my 2-cents’ worth…
Okay, in the interest of fighting ignornace – and since I was at the market anyway – I decided to get a sampling of milk chocolates: Cadbury Roast Almonds, Hershey’s Milk Chocolate with Almonds, Perugina Milk Chocolate with Almonds, and Toblerone Swiss Milk Chocolate with Honey and Almond Nougat.
I tried a small sample of each one, rinsing with water between samples.
[ul][li]Cadbury: Buttery. Overall impression is that it’s good, but pretty run-of-the-mill.[/li][li]Toblerone: Very sweet with a touch of ‘tartness’. I liked Toblerone when I was 20. But since I prefer dark chocolate, I found it to be over-sweet.[/li][li]Perugina: So-so chocolate overpowered by the taste of stale almonds.[/li][li]Hershey’s: Familiar sweet taste with a little ‘tartness’[/li][li]Ghirardelli: Buttery with a hint of ‘tartness’ and a sort of ‘home made’, ‘cocoa’ aftertaste.[/ul][/li]What do I mean by ‘tartness’? It’s hard to say. I’m not a professional taster. Maybe like the taste just before milk has gone off, or a little like yoghurt. Not bad, just there. How about ‘buttery’? I suppose I should have said ‘cocoa buttery’. You know the taste. Again, not bad. I like cocoa butter. Whether it’s better or not in a chocolate bar is up to individual preference. I think I like the ‘tart’ taste myself; it’s sorta-kinda like the bittersweet I prefer. About the Perugina: they really need to use fresher almonds.
Shades from lightest to darkest: Cadbury, Ghirardelli, Toblerone, Perugina, Hershey’s.
All of the samples were too sweet.
Now another question: What the hell do I do with all of this chocolate?
Godiva is crap. As someone who was in charge of Godiva sales at a major department store chain store, I have eaten my share of it. It is not worth the markup. Their chocolate liqueur, however, is quite heavenly, especially if it has some Chambord added to taste. 
Ghirardelli is ok chocolate, for mass-produced stuff. Better than Hershey’s for certain (but what isn’t, besides minor and store brands?). NOT in any way up to par with really good chocolate.
Want to have a really, really fun party some time? Have a chocolate tasting party. Add pounds while enjoing sinfully good stuff, and laugh and drink doing it!!! 
I have always preferred the European milk chocolate flavor but I have been a Ghiradelli fan for years and use it whenever I can. The trip to the
shrine in San Francisco was a magical experience.
I have yet to sample a Godiva chocolate that was fresh enough to impart the same silky, sensual texture as a Ghiradelli or Dove.
Hey! What do you know? It’s Individually Wrapped Chocolate Season! Let’s eat!!!
Where is Guittard’s from? I started using that stuff to cook with and I rank it higher above all the others. Ghirardelli is a not-too-close but not-too-distant second. But that’s for cooking.
As for just eating chocolate, I don’t know. It’s all pretty good, though Hershey’s would be lowest on my list. If nothing else is around, I’ll still eat the hell out of it, though.
There is a small house chocolatier in St. Paul that does chocolate and wine tastings for private parties. Incredible. Nothing as prosaic as Ghiradelli though - she turned me on to Cluizel’s dark chocolate.
Also the SF Bay Area ( Burlingame ). If you’ve ever eaten See’s chocolates, you’ve eaten Guittard.
Scharffen Berger is also Bay Area based ( Berkeley ). Bought out be Hershey in 2005, but still churning out superior products.
Cluizel makes good stuff. Especially the Venezuelan. I’m a big fan of Venezuelan dark chocolates ( El Rey is pretty good as well ).
I opened this to mention Cluizel. Best chocolate bars I’ve ever had. Best truffles were handmade dark choc with cocoa dusting from the Belgian Chocolatier in Evanston. He imports Callebaut and handmakes some beautiful things. His chocolate dipped candied orange and lemon peel are out of this world, you’ll never look at orange flavoured chocolate the same way again. Second place were some very nice pieces from Leonidas pralines out of Brussels.
I apologize in advance if this is a hijack, but can anyone tell me the name or composer of the music that plays during the latest Ghirardelli commercial? It’s a very soothing melody with prominent strings. My wife wants a copy, but my google-fu has failed and I can’t find it.
You know you are a complete chocolate snob when you are paying $12 for a bar of chocolate.
We buy a lot of Vosges as well. Chocolate Bars – Vosges Haut-Chocolat
I don’t think the base chocolate here is excellent (good, not excellent) but she does a great job with flavor balance.
Flower Duet, from Delibes’ opera Lakme?
Now See’s chocolates are awesome. Much better than the Eastern analogy, Fanny Farmer/Fanny May. I used to work across the street from a mall with a See’s store in it; that was NOT good for the waistline. :eek: