World’s best chocolate bars!

[Kentan]

I was living in the Prenzlauerberg area of Berlin in 2003 when I happened upon a truly great chocolate shop named Intveld:

Intveld website

They had a few brands I’d tried before (Valrhona, Pralus), but most of them I’d never heard of at the time, like Dolfin, Amedei, Blanxart, and Venchi. I was probably there at least once a week to try something different. But the chocolate maker that blew the doors off the others in terms of inventiveness, variety of flavours, and sheer fun was Zotter Schokolade. It was a small Austrian chocolate manufacturer that made all of its chocolates by hand, using organic, fair trade chocolate. Wrappers were all created by the same artist with whimsical, childlike drawings. They would even close for the summer because it was too hot to make chocolate.

And get a load of just a few of their flavours:

apple balsamic vinegar

banana curry

celery, truffle, and port wine

cranberry-thyme

date-shiitake

lemon polenta

...and on and on and on. Over 60 varieties! Of course they have more standard flavours too, like strawberry or coffee. But the novel concoctions were amazing. My two favourites were ‘sour cherries with sesame’ and ‘cheese-walnut-grapes’. Even more on the website:

Zotter Schokolade gallery

So I get back to Canada and look for their distributor here. Doh! They didn’t sell their chocolate in North America! You could buy it in Europe or online, but that was it. So I resigned myself to doing without…until I went to the grand opening of Monde Chocolate on Burrard St @ 8th a couple of weeks ago. They sell Zotter!!! Turns out they’re the first distributor of Zotter Schokolade in North America AND they have exclusive rights to the market. We are very, very lucky my friends. Try some, try some, you will see.

BTW, Monde Chocolat is a friendly little shop that makes their own chocolates and sells other great brands like M. Cluiziel, Abtey, Stella, Bernrain, Bon Bona, Camille Bloch, and Maestrani. It's great to finally have a store here that sells a wide variety of high quality chocolate. Judging by the number of customers, it seems like it’s already been discovered by local chocoholics.

Monde Chocolat

[run2eat]

Eeep! That's a really short walk (er, waddle) from my place. This could be downright dangerous! Thanks for the info!

[Sam Salmon]

Visited that shop earlier in the week and was quite impressed, bought one of the aforementioned bars-Plum Brandy IIRC.

Not as rich as some-Chocolate itself had an off taste/mushroomy not at all appealing, the Plum Brandy filling was very tasty though.

[SBonner]

Thanks for the tip.... I'll wunder over there sometime later this week. My only days off for the next month are Sunday and Monday...looks like they close those days

Cheers,

Stephen

Edited July 3, 2007 by SBonner (log)

[LordBalthazar]

I recommend the Bacon Bits - chocolate and pork cracklings together at last!

[Vancouver]

Sounds similar to some of the selections at Les Chocolats de Chloe in Montreal. See: http://www.citymaple.com/montreal/Chocolat...olats-de-Chloe/

My favourites there are the basil truffle (who would have thought THAT would work) and the balsamic vinegar. Their standard hazelnut praline is also superb.

Have to try those at Monde. Excellent!

[chocomoo]

I went with my friend last Friday and it looks like the entire line of Zotter bars are available at Monde! I was too chicken to try the weirder flavours, but I bought the elderflower bar. It was soooo good! I made my whole family try it (parents, uncles, aunties, godmother, godfather), and everybody loved it. The filling contains apple brandy as well. The flavour is delicate and the floral aftertaste is amazing.

I also got the famed bread crumbs & milk chocolate bar by Stella (although, I can't seem to find it on the Stella website). I have to say, although it was nice & creamy, I preferred the elderflower bar.

My friend got a passionfruit mousse milk chocolate bar (sorry, I can't remember the brand). While the passionfruit flavour was really intense and didn't taste artificial, it overpowered the chocolate. It was still really good though.

And then we walked down Burrard and got some Japanese buns from Kei's Bakery. I liked the coffee melon pan (strangely named "E.D.A.") the most. Actually, I liked the kinako-paste filled one more, but I could've done without the piece of mochi in the middle. Alas, they were all out of the Mt. Matcha bun.

The weather has been so warm that all of my chocolate has become soft - I currently have 6 different bars of chocolate in the fridge. Plus a bag of Japanese Peko mini chocolate bars (they're like KitKat plus 2 more layers).

[maxmillan]

Seems like I did the same thing last Friday as Chocomoo. I visited Monde for some Zotter bars and then to Kei's Bakery for some pastry. BTW, I finally got to try their matcha pastry cream filled bun and it was delicious. However, not being use to caffeine, it gave me quite the energy boost.

The Zatar bars I bought at Monde are the apple and balsamic vinegar, passionfruit and walnut and saffron rice chocolate. The next time I'm going to try their curry chocolate and some other unusual flavors. The salesperson told me that they plan to get in over two dozen more new flavors. I'm not a chocolate person so my friends were very pleased to try these bars as well. The one they liked was the passionfruit and walnut.

Has anyone else tried the more unusual flavors?

[chocomoo]

^Did you also go to Granville Island beforehand? I took my friend to Go Fish for her first time. I had the Emperor scallop burger (one of the specials) and it was one of those enligtening moments The scallop was perfectly grilled (nice grill flavour but the scallop was just cooked & slightly translucent), and the accompanying sauce married perfectly with the scallop flavour without overpowering it. The sauce was a nice sticky, spicy one (don't remember what it consisted of, but I think it had orange in it). There were 5 thin slices of scallop sandwiched in the slightly crusty Portugese bun.

[Chocoholic]

I just went over there and got the 'bacon bits' bar, it was the most unusual one I could find. It was very good, dark chocolate, hazelnut mousse and crunchy caramelized pieces of crackling. Not the bacon flavor I imagined but sweet and crunchy.

I also had one of their tequila filled cones, bite off the top, shoot the booze and eat the chocolate. Brilliant!

Walking distance from my house....yet another temptation added to the list....

[LordBalthazar]

The Zatar bars I bought at Monde are the apple and balsamic vinegar, passionfruit and walnut and saffron rice chocolate.  The next time I'm going to try their curry chocolate and some other unusual flavors.  The salesperson told me that they plan to get in over two dozen more new flavors.  I'm not a chocolate person so my friends were very pleased to try these bars as well.  The one they liked was the passionfruit and walnut.

Has anyone else tried the more unusual flavors?

←

I have. I was pleasantly suprised by both the Bacon Bits (as Chocoholic pointed out, the smoky saltiness of the cracklings contrasting nicely with the deepness of the dark chocolate) and the Banana Curry (possessed of a nice, creamy subtleness). But the Almonds with Grappa Raisin was my absolute favorite followed closely by the simple Pistachio. The Celery, Truffle and Port Wine was also very good and, like the others, pleasantly subtle in its flavor. Also, the Chili was the spiciest chili-chocolate bar I've ever tried, easily blowing away the Vosges Oaxaca Bar.

On the other end of the spectrum, I don't usually mix fruit and chocolate because I find that the tartness of the fruit inevitably overwhelms. I don't, maybe my tastebuds are unusually sensitive in this respect. As a result, I tried but was enamored of Apple and Balsamic Vinegar,or Paradise Apple - Liquid Olives. The Mare's Milk with Oats sounded interesting but, as I wrote in my blog:

"Turns out it wasn’t the mare’s milk everyone ended up having problems with but the oats which lent the bar a neutral flavor but wet paper consistency. Twice I had to check to make sure I hadn’t mistakenly chewed off a piece of the wrapper."

The Organic Beer bar falls somewhere in between the two groups. I find that alcohol overwhelms the chocolate flavor even more than fruit which was the case here. Still, the undeniable essence of beer was unusual and, I have to admit, kind of enjoyable.

[lalala]

I stopped by Monde on Friday before heading to the Vancouver Folk Music Festival.

I bought a few bars and the only one I have sampled is the lemon polenta, which was swoonful - lemony, hint of marc and very interesting on the palate. We ate it during the festival, helped pass the time between shows.

The best part is that I think I can duplicate the concept at home.

I asked to take a picture of the zotter display and was told no.

Okay, glad I asked first.

Hot weather and chocolate do not mix, but the bars seem to have survived.

Apparently monde's own bars, fair trade organic ones on the right hand side as you walk in are also sold to Trader Joes.

Will check it out on my way home from work today.

I brought TH a ice cream bar with blueberries on it to eat on the way to Jericho beach. She seemed to think it was pretty tasty.

lalala

Edited July 16, 2007 by lalala (log)

[Kentan]

Sale on Zotter chocolate bars at Monde Chocolat!!!!

It's a season-end sale - six bars for $20 or $4 each. Normally they're about $7 so it's a great deal. Yesterday I picked up:

- Cranberry-Thyme

- Cream Nougat with Pistachios

- Beetroot with Galingale (No I don't know what Galingale is...but it tastes good)

- Cinnamon Apple and Honey

- "For Good ones" - Milk chocolate with chocolate cream

- "First Aid" - Dark chocolate with white nougat and nuts

Chocolate....heaven....

[Anchoress]

Is that the same company as this: SCHOKOLADE CAFE On East Hastings.

[run2eat]

Zotter is an Austrian chocolatier

http://www.zotter.at/4.html?&no_cache=1

Their selection is dizzying!

http://www.zotter.at/141.html?&tx_shop_pi1[pointer]=max

Kentan, galangal is related to ginger, but with a distinctly different flavour.

[Kentan]

Kentan, galangal is related to ginger, but with a distinctly different flavour.

←

[Beebs]

Sale on Zotter chocolate bars at Monde Chocolat!!!!

It's a season-end sale - six bars for $20 or $4 each. Normally they're about $7 so it's a great deal. Yesterday I picked up:

- Cranberry-Thyme

- Cream Nougat with Pistachios

- Beetroot with Galingale (No I don't know what Galingale is...but it tastes good)

- Cinnamon Apple and Honey

- "For Good ones" - Milk chocolate with chocolate cream

- "First Aid" - Dark chocolate with white nougat and nuts

Chocolate....heaven....

←

Not a chocoholic, but couldn't resist this deal! Went by after work and got:

-Plum Brandy

-Cinnamon Apple Honey

-Saffron Rice

-Tomato & Liquid Olives

-Rowan Berry

-Elderflower (it's got another name, but can't remember what)

I also have a half-nibbled bar of Bacon Bits at home...mmmm, bacon!

[chocomoo]

I was so excited when I saw the sale a couple weeks ago! I got:

- Creamy nougat with pistachios

- Apricot jelly

- Creamy chestnut

- Elderflower

- Cashew & pineapple

- Pear + orange

I had to get more safe flavours because I was sharing with my family. Aside from the elderflower (which I've bought several times before), the cashew & pineapple was my favourite. The difference is that it contains pineapple juice as well, so the pineapple flavour really comes through. The apricot jelly & chestnut were a disappointing, as I couldn't really taste the apricot (although the jelly texture was nice) & chestnut (which tasted more rummy than chestnutty). Same deal for the pear + orange. There was a general fruity flavour, but not specifically pear or orange (although you could tell by the texture that there were pears in it).

What does rowanberry taste like? Wikipedia just says it tastes bitter...

Got my chocolate fix! Now all I have to do is wait for the Japanese bakery to re-open....

[eatrustic]

I love chocolate but have very little interest in all the different flavour combos that you guys seem to love. I'm old school: give me bittersweet chocolate with toasted almonds or really good caramel or praline.

But last week an article in the New York Times about the new milk chocolate varieties caught my interest and I stopped by yesterday to see what Monde has. The idea is that they can increase Cocoa content and still make a milk chocolate with that luscious mouth feel.

I picked up two bars: the first was on the sale table. It's made by Chocolat Stella with a 40% content and was more the classic style but very high quality.

The second was amazing it was a Coppeneur Indonesia Java Milk Chocolate with a 62% cocoa content. Man that ,sure ain't your mama's milk chocolate! Last bar but worth waiting for next shipment.

[flowbee]

yeah, we got 6 of the sale zotter bars, and 4 of the sale zotter "drinking chocolate". gotta love that term for "hot chocolate". have yet to try the drinking chocolate because me and my wife are sensitive to caffeine, and we're saving it for the weekend when we don't have to get to sleep and work the next day!

i bought a chili zotter bar that wasn't on sale, just cuz i had to try a spicy chocolate for once in my life. it's not bad, just very very mildly spicy. i gotta find one that truly kicks ass! like a habanero chocolate bar?

[aquaa]

yeah, we got 6 of the sale zotter bars, and 4 of the sale zotter "drinking chocolate". gotta love that term for "hot chocolate". have yet to try the drinking chocolate because me and my wife are sensitive to caffeine, and we're saving it for the weekend when we don't have to get to sleep and work the next day!

i bought a chili zotter bar that wasn't on sale, just cuz i had to try a spicy chocolate for once in my life. it's not bad, just very very mildly spicy. i gotta find one that truly kicks ass! like a habanero chocolate bar?

←

Euphoria chocolates in Fort Lanlgey makes killer sipping chocolate - Aztec, Orange, Peppermint and Dark - you are going to be very happy with the Aztec. Not quite habanero but it will give you the kick you are missing from the caffeine.

www.euphoriastore.ca

[Kentan]

But last week an article in the New York Times about the new milk chocolate varieties caught my interest and I stopped by yesterday to see what Monde has. The idea is that they can increase Cocoa content and still make a milk chocolate with that luscious mouth feel.

I picked up two bars: the first was on the sale table. It's made by Chocolat Stella with a 40% content and was more the classic style but very high quality.

The second was amazing it was a Coppeneur Indonesia Java Milk Chocolate with a 62% cocoa content. Man that ,sure ain't your mama's milk chocolate! Last bar but worth waiting for next shipment.

←

Ha! I read that article too! I should have tried some of the high cocoa content milk choco when I was last at Monde, but I was too besotted with the Zotter sale. Eatrustic, that Coppeneur milk choco sounds amazing! Now I'll have to drag myself out to Monde again.

[Knightafter]

The world's best bars are made by Valrhona

[Beebs]

...

What does rowanberry taste like?  Wikipedia just says it tastes bitter...

Got my chocolate fix!  Now all I have to do is wait for the Japanese bakery to re-open....

←

I tasted the rowanberry - hmmm...can't really tell, unfortunately! The bar has a layer of almond paste or marzipan, so the chocolate tasted mostly of almond. Although I could tell that there's a bit of a berry-fruity flavour in it, I wasn't able to distinguish that it was rowanberry.

[emmalish]

The second was amazing it was a Coppeneur Indonesia Java Milk Chocolate with a 62% cocoa content. Man that ,sure ain't your mama's milk chocolate! Last bar but worth waiting for next shipment.

←

I picked up one of these today. Wow! This may become my go-to chocolate bar. Very clean chocolate flavour, not very milky at all.

I also got a wee Chili & Highland Whisky Coppeneur bar and a couple of the Stella bars.

And in keeping with this thread, I also got a few of the Zotter bars: Blood Orange, Lemon Curd, Chili, and Blossom Pepper & Mint. I've only tried the Blood Orange so far. Very nice flavour. Not too sweet, blends nicely with the flavour of the chocolate. I love the wrapper designs too – I want to collect them all!