Endangered Species – Hazelnut Toffee and Tart Raspberries

Another Endangered Species chocolate review – actually, two of them. Why do I keep coming back to this brand? Well, there are a lot of varieties (more than 15 flavors in chocolate bars alone) to get through. But more than that, they always provide a consistent, good tasting chocolate. And I can find them everywhere.

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Tabal Dark Chocolate with Mushrooms

Time to get nerdy with chocolate. In the superfood world, chocolate has always been a shining star. Chocolate is full of antioxidants and has often measured up against other superfoods rather well.

For example, according to the 2010 USDA ORAC database (ORAC stands for Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity and is measured in μ mol TE/100 g) a standard dark chocolate bar has an ORAC number between 20,000 and 24,600 units.

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Indulgence Chocolatiers Milk Chocolate Sea Salt

Indulgence Chocolatiers offers an amazing menu at their Shop and Chocolate Pairing Bar. They are located in Milwaukee, WI, which many of you know is only a hop, skip and a jump from where I live.

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Divine – Dark Chocolate with Mint Crisp

I’ve tooted Divine Chocolate’s horn before. In my opinion, every bar they make is top notch...

The Dark Chocolate with Mint Crisp is 70% Ghanaian chocolate with natural peppermint oil and peppermint crisps.

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Chocolove Ruby Cacao Bar

I have so many questions as I hold a Chocolove Ruby Cacao Bar in my hands. This looks like a pink colored confectionery coating, but that’s not “cacao,” so what on earth is going on?

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Chocolove – Coffee Crunch in Dark Chocolate

Chocolove chocolate company is based out of Boulder, Colorado and, according to their website, www.chocolove.com, their bars are made in small batches “…delivering a little bit of 'chocolate–love' to discerning chocolate lovers everywhere.”

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Coco Chocolatier – Gin and Tonic Chocolate Bar

Edinburgh is Scotland's capital. Home of Edinburgh Castle and Scotland’s crown jewels. Also home to Coco Chocolatier.

Coco uses South American cocoa and lots of creativity to craft unique flavor combinations. Each package is literally a work of art. They ask independent artists to create original designs for each chocolate bar. Check out their website,  www.cocochocolatier.com, to see the amazing designs.

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Chocolat 229 in Galena, Illinois

A few weekends ago, I visited the historic small town of Galena, Illinois. Galena is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is nestled among the rolling hills of northwest Illinois near the Mississippi river. Galena was named after the mineral “galena” that was mined first by Native Americans and then by settlers.

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44% Cacao Dark Chocolate Stracciatella

Kroger’s chain of grocery stores has a line of store brand products, Private Selection™, that includes Swiss chocolate bars. I took one home recently, a 44% Cacao Dark Chocolate Stracciatella.

In case you’re not familiar with Stracciatella, it’s an Italian gelato flavor that consists of tiny shavings of chocolate mixed into vanilla ice cream.

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The Surprising Link Between Chocolate and Lava

From guest author and volcanologist Arianna Soldati...

I have wanted to be a volcanologist for as long as I can remember, taken with the idea of travelling the world sampling hot, fluid lava from active volcanoes and running high-temperature experiments in a fancy laboratory. But before I could do that, I had to start by studying Geology: things like mapping rock outcrops and identifying minerals. A class on chocolate making was definitely not part of the standard curriculum, but maybe it should have been.

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