See's Candies Premium Extra Dark 62% cacao

Rich cocoa flavor -- pretty bitter for a 62% chocolate. Coffee flavors are noticeable. 6.1

www.sees.com

Dagoba Rich Dark 74% cacao

Quite bitter for a 74% cacao chocolate. When chewed, few side flavors have a chance to escape. When the chocolate is allowed to melt in the mouth, some subtle flavors can be noticed. Dried cherry is what presents strongest to me. 6.7

Tcho "Nutty" Peru 70% Cacao

I've liked other Tcho chocolates ("Citrus" and "Fruity"), but the "Nutty" style has a prominent metallic taste. Yes, there are side flavors, and there might be some nuttiness to it. But they are overwhelmed by the unpleasant metallic overtone. 4.5

Recchiuti S'Mores Kit

When I visit family, I often stop by the Recchiuti store in the Ferry Building to pick up some treats. I also may pick up a box for myself, and this was the case that resulted in my possessing a Recchiutti S'Mores Kit.

Truth be told, I have a well developed fondness for Recchiuti's packaged S'Mores Bites. More truth, I have previously purchased their S'Mores Kit and had less than wonderful results. I was not eager to attempt again to replicate the wonderful S'Mores Bites that I can buy any time I want at the Recchiut store. But finding myself with the kit, I decided to take a stab at putting together a S'Mores worthy of the Recchiuti kit.

The Kit comes packaged with four items: A package of marshmallows, graham crackers, a bar of Recchiuti Bittersweet 85% cacao dark chocolate, and instructions. Complicated, this is not. The instructions are the also simple, and perhaps a little enigmatic. Two methods are presented, "In the Kitchen" and "In the Open Air." Presumably the latter is intended to be used around the campfire. I was "In the Kitchen," so my first thought was to use these instructions, and a similar attempt resulted in the underwhelming results from my earlier attempt. My oven's broiler was not working, so this, combined with unhappy memories, steered me away from this option.


The Open Air instructions required me to toast the marshmallows and place them on a graham cracker-chocolate stack. Okay, so it would not result in the same fine confection I am used to with the S'Mores Bites, but let's give it a try. I toasted the marshmallows over the flame of my gas stove, and was able to produce a respectable brown cover. I placed it on the stack and took a bite. It was okay, but nothing special. I'm sure the effect would have been improved (in some dimension) if I had been dodging smoke and sparks from a campfire.

Once more into the breach. The S'Mores Bites are enrobed in their coat of chocolate, and the only way to achieve this, thinks I, is to melt the chocolate and pour it over a graham cracker-marshmallow stack. Melting chocolate is best done with a double boiler, so I concocted a small one out heavy duty measuring cups. The chocolate melted nicely, and I poured the results over the stack.

As you can see, the results were quite respectable. I let the arrangement cool off in the kitchen for a little while, and then placed it in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes or so. After achieving sufficient hardness in the outer shell, I gave it a taste and was not disappointed. No, it was not nearly as well put together as an official S'Mores Bite -- just buy them if that's all you want! But it was a fun project that had tasty results.

High Attitude Chocolate "Solo" 60% cocoa

When I opened the package, I saw a lot of discoloration -- likely damage from exposure to air or moisture. But this didn't seem to harm the taste too much. I'm not a fan of lower cocoa dark chocolates, for which this 60% bar qualifies, but initial and mid-level tastes were very engaging. Fairly earthy, some nuttiness. I think the latent damage showed up in the aftertaste, which trailed off in a chalky residue. Due to the discoloration, this may not have been a good representative of the product. 6.2

Bissinger's All-Natural 60% cocoa

This bar has a similar presentation to the Bissinger's 75% cocoa bar tasted earlier. The "milky" aspect is more pronounced, and the overall flavor palette is less complex. Not much aftertaste to this bar. It's a good enough effort for it's ambitions, but not what I'm looking for. 6.0

Dagoba Dark 59% cacao

Fruity burst on first taste, resolving into more earthy flavors. Some milk chocolate structure in the aftertaste. Well crafted, though less chocolate punch than I like in my dark chocolates. 6.6

dagobachocolate.com