In St. Louis: Bissinger’s, Kakao, Merbs and Crown Candy Kitchen.
Right. Their actual chocolate comes from Guittard, but it is custom ground to See’s specs.
What makes See’s special is their devotion to freshness. Knowing people who have worked both stores, Godiva keeps their chocolate on the shelves for a LOT longer (about 2-3X) than See’s does. I admit, that if fresh, Godiva conches it’s chocolate a little longer, so it has a slightly better mouth feel. But when you are a caramel or marshmallow filed dude like myself, then freshness rules. I have had Godiva I had to spit out.
This makes me super sad. I love Scharffenberger. We visited Berkeley years ago specifically to go to the chocolate factory.
I certainly wouldn’t turn my nose up at Godiva if offered, but I generally think it’s vastly overrated and hugely overpriced.
Something that’s quite pricey but amazingly delicious:
Artisan Collection by Norman Love
I know it will probably get me thrown off the Dope but I happen to love Hersey chocolate. My go to chocolate bar is Hersey with almonds. I also love most of the others mentioned above.
I agree with this. My local-ish chocolatier (Burdick’s) is very yummy, but I’m sure there are better chocolates (aforementioned La Maison du Chocolat) out there somewhere. I like having a local chocolatier.
For chocolate candy, I agree with looking local.
For chocolate bars, I like Scharffenberger and Lindt. Whole Foods has a nice selection of chocolate bars, and sometimes they are on SALE! I bought a dozen bars when Scharffenberger was on sale.
Chocolate is a relatively cheap luxury. OP, try all bars that look interesting to you and pick your favorite.
Weird side idea: Would anyone be interested in trying new chocolate bars as a group and posting our thoughts here? Something like a wine tasting, but over the internet. We could choose a new bar each week and post our thoughts about it. (Kind of a hijack, but not really as it would work towards answering the OP)
Chocolate sometimes contains paraffin, a type of edible wax, for the reason you mention. I cannot name a particular product that might include it but you’ll see it on the label if it’s used. It can also be found in home recipes for various chocolate confections and candy.
At the risk of being thought nyekulturny, I have to defend Hershey’s. I am amazed at how people insist on putting them down, and go out of their way to suggest unsavory practices.
Hershey’s is, for the record, the chocolate I grew up with. Milton Hershey developed his own formulation, coming up with some combination of what he liked and what sold well. To say that he didn’t make it “right” is BS. There is no “right”, no holy Platonic ideal of Milk Chocolate enshrined in the heavens. People come up with recipes that satisfy, and Hershey’s chocolate satisfied many people, and continues to.
I’ve never seen evidence that Hershey’s even adds wax or similar adulterants to their chocolate, A few years ago in a thread someone accused them of adding some huge proportion of wax to it, whereupon I replied that if it had that much wax, I could use it on my skis. You might not like the consistency of Hershey’s, but it’s cocoa butter mainly that makes kit that way. (There is something called the “Hershey’s Tropical Bar” that does have a very different formulation to keep it from turning into a semiliquid mass in tropical heat, but that’s not what we’re discussing here.)
Ghirardelli chocolate squares are pretty tasty and they have a nice satisfying snap. When I want really intense flavor though, I buy Godiva’s dark chocolate and coffee truffles. For a silky mouth feel, I go for Lindt semi-sweet Lindor truffles.
I’m not a chocolate connoisseur or anything, and I prefer lighter, milkier chocolates, but the first time I ever had Lindt was like an epiphany. Before then it was just regular candy bars from the checkout stand!
They’re still easy to get in Canada. I remember them being a Christmas chocolate, probably because they melt so easily. We’d put them in the freezer for a little while too, just enough to make sure they don’t melt the second you touch them!
Hershey’s products, without a doubt, contain all sorts of “inauthentic” ingredients. The standard milk chocolate bar and the standard milk chocolate Hershey’s Kiss being the main exceptions.
Mr Goodbar? Krackel? Cookies’n’Creme? All of these use vegetable/palm oils instead of cocoa butter as well as cheap emulsifiers. Even the labels have been changed to reflect this-- they now say “chocolatey” or “made with chocolate” because they’re not allowed to say milk chocolate any longer.
I don’t mind Hershey’s milk chocolate, but their other products have definitely changed over the past few years, and not for the better.
YES! I love those things. It’s a good thing they’re not sold anywhere I know of locally. Lindt Lindor truffles is a close second. And of course, I haven’t tried a lot of the brands discussed in this thread, so I can’t make those comparisons.
But the milk chocolate is a bit weird in its ingredients. As I said above, it has a vague vomit-like taste to it. Looking it up, it appears to be caused by butyric acid or some process that creates that flavor.
Well, I am not going to attack anyones love of Hersheys, but it depends why. I mean, I loves me some Kraft Mac & Cheese, to me it’s very Proustian, comfort food. But do I think it’s anywhere near as good as baked in the oven from scratch? No way.
So if when you unwrap that big brown bar, it makes you think of simpler times, it’s comfort food for your soul- then great, go for it!
But you *gotta *know it’s not very good chocolate, right?
OK?
Don’t know about the others – I was referring only to the Hershey’s milk chocolate bar, which seems to be what most people are referring to, and which gets the bulk of the abuse. Don’t say that the Hershey bar is filled with wax if you’re really talking about the Cookies 'n’cream or the Tropical Bar.