Svenningsen The Nordic Chocolatier Grated 100%

Svenningsen is the Nordic chocolatier who uses Friis-Holm's chocolate. Friis Holm is bean to bar chocolate made in Denmark. Award winning. Many, many, many awards. Svenningsen is new on the chocolate scene and already award winning

Ahhhh, Svenningsen's minimalism, typeface, letter-spacing, word-spacing, balance

The Grated 100% chocolate won gold in the Scandinavian rounds of the International Chocolate Awards 2015 as well as silver in the World rounds

This is a dark chocolate ganache consisting solely of Friis-Holm's La Dalia (Lazy Cocoa Growers Blend) and water. La Dalia is Friis-Holm's chocolate that is a blend of Nicaraguan cocoa beans from 10 different cacao farmers in the La Dalia region of Nicaragua, of whom are named "lazy"

The shell of Svenningsen's chocolate is the 70% La Dalia, and the pure water ganache is the 70% with gratings of 100%. A single nib on top. I just love this minimalism 

It's subtly fruity (darker red fruits) and warming. It is rich, and with a smooth buttery texture that melts cooly. The texture contrast of the hard shell and soft ganache is satisfying. There is a suggestion of salt amidst, but Svenningsen says there is none

The Grated 100% is  i n t e n s e  and feels like  l u x u r y

Chocolataria Equador, Lisbon

Sadly the Caramel and the Praline & Jamaican Pepper bonbons had sold out, but with what I had chosen I wasn't too setback 

Chocolataria Equador works with lots of different and enticing flavours with chocolate, and all in different forms; from bars to bonbons to sardines (not real sardines, but they are something of a Portuguese icon) to truffles

Rózsavölgyi Csokoládé Bonbons

This was the one place I had to visit when in Budapest. And really "it was love at first sight, at last sight, at ever and ever sight." I felt jittery when I finally found the shop. There was a CHUAO cocoa bag in the window and inside it smelt wonderful. The smell wasn't of what is associated with chocolate. I cannot even describe it, but, it was real chocolate. Oh my ... fine cocoa!

I chose 6 bonbons and they were put into a paper cone. I then walked 2 miles, in the hot sun, back to the apartment, praying that they wouldn't melt in my backpack! - A few days later I went back and bought 3 of them again (as I wasn't confident in my first tasting notes on them) and then the Lemon Oil Caramel too

Zangio Artisan Chocolates

Zangio is a family chocolaterie, of which I had planned on visiting when in Budapest. It's a small shop, within the Jewish quarter, with "workshop choc" catching the eye more than the name. They have won Academy of Chocolate awards! It was a shame I had only chosen 4 chocolates - I spent a while choosing, so it felt like I had more ...

I had to stop at a bar to eat them as they were surely melting. That was a regretful decision as the table was out in the sun and so I had to eat them fairly quickly. Though I did still take note of each's flavour, I wish I could have felt more comfortable, so all dedication was on the chocolate I was tasting

Hotel Chocolat Tasting Club: Milk & Dark

This review condenses 3 boxes of Hotel Chocolat's Tasting Club into one. Two 'Milk' boxes and one 'Dark'. Below are my thoughts, mainly in note form, of the chocolates I received. There were a few of the same chocolates across two of the boxes (I think 5 in total?) and some chocolates were in two different coatings (I typically favoured the version that was NOT in dark)

tl;dr I would have the Milk selection box over the Dark any day, but wish the Milk had included alcoholic chocolates too! - I have had better quality chocolates, but a fun experience nonetheless. 78 chocolates + 18 batons!

The Cocoabean Company

A box of 6 different handmade chocolates from The Cocoabean Company, a family run chocolate factory in Scotland. The founder was said to have started the company with her "passion for chocolate and a background in new product development", which is encouraging and really quite inspiring to me

Winter Park Chocolate

I was bought these handmade Winter Park chocolates all the way from Florida, and absolutely stunned at that. They came without a menu, so it was going to be a matter of "what flavour can I taste?" and then the more important "do I like it?" (I later found out they do have a Chocolate Guide)

They were fresh chocolates, with a 'best before' of 3-4 weeks

Paul A Young Fine Chocolates Selection

Visiting Paul A Young's Soho store was paramount to me when in London. From the shop, I had an Aztec-style hot chocolate made with quality chocolate and Muscovado sugar and a chosen spice of cardamom. I also bought a bar of his bean-to-bar Madagascar 63%, though I'm kicking myself for not buying a bar of Duffy's chocolate. And of course I couldn't have left without a few of Paul's fresh, handmade chocolates! The question is, would I pay £7 for 4 of his chocolates again? 

Dark Sugars Chocolate Selection

Dark Sugars was jam packed, even on the Sunday, but that's the charm of Brick Lane. It's a street defined by diverse cultures, street food, antique, arty markets, vintage shops, cafés, cupcakes, bagels; it's no surprise a chocolate shop, as hip as this, would attract a crowd. The atmosphere in the shop was buzzing, with the smell of chocolate and the old school hip hop playing, it felt real cool. But it was difficult to stay focused. I cannot believe I didn't pick up a cherry chocolate or a caramel or the cognac truffle, and did I miss the Infused Havana Tobacco truffle? Hey - there's always next time!

Putting a cocoa dusted truffle in with a bag of white chocolates? School boy error. But I guess it's not about how they look, rather how they taste! It was £7 for 100g, and with 6 chocolates in my bag it came to just £4.90

Thorntons Continental

Just recently I received a bundle of Thank You boxes from Lindt and now Thorntons have given me some chocolates. It's so lovely because I find utter ecstasy in a box of chocolates. They're something I rarely buy myself, and even though these chocolates are not handmade, nor fresh and widely available, I was still excited

Thorntons are celebrating 60 years of their sumptuous Continental collection, and what better way to celebrate than eating their European inspired chocolates and writing about it?

Danucci Dark Chocolate Assortment

Ferdia, formerly known as Danucci, are Irish chocolatiers, creating supposedly the finest chocolates in Ireland. The chocolates are not fresh but the idea of them being handmade is what made me to buy them, and I couldn't resist a little black box from "artisan chocolatiers"

Danucci (I prefer this name) use Valrhona chocolate which, because of its superior quality, has preference from chocolatiers, patissiers and those who know good chocolate. Danucci craft their chocolates with their own specially blended couverture

I didn't think the Rustic Praline was nutty enough, and its texture was quite crumbly and biscuity. My first impressions were that the chocolate coating had a brittle texture, dominated the flavour and that the base was too thick. The Piedmontese hazelnuts came through more towards the end and likewise with the softer Viennese almonds, but the whole praline flavour remained very subtle

This Raspberry Ganache won a Great Taste Award, and rightly so as I thought the ganache had a great flavour with a smooth, soft texture. However I did again think the chocolate coating was too thick and I would've liked more filling

The Brandy & Fig Truffle had that rum and raisin vibe which is naturally a beautiful flavour. The fig was subtle but distinct with its seedy texture. The Sea Salt Caramel was quite funny tasting. It was nutty and a dark treacle, which sounds great, but there was just something unsatisfying in it. It's also won a Great Taste Award, but I'm not convinced

For each chocolate I noticed how thick the chocolate coatings were which would wrongly distract from the fillings. In the box was also a thin placquette of the 70% couverture, though slightly tainted, it tasted very nice and was of an ideal thickness. It's a shame I wasn't enthused by these chocolates

Karmello Chocolatier

With the return home of my parents, they came bearing gifts. This year they stepped up their game and came back from Poland with excellent sweet treats! It all looked luxurious: from this slick box of chocolates to Karmello macarons (coffee, chilli, Madagascan & Ecuadorian), even the poppy-seed cake looked an upgrade from previous years. I think this just showed the growth in Poland's sweet culture: their highlighting of luxury through appearance, paying finer attention to quality etc. etc. They also have TWO small batch bean-to-bar chocolate companies which amazed me, though I'm yet to try them. It would be lovely if Poland could be thought of as having [and be compared to] French calibre. Well, for me, these chocolates were already half way there... all I needed to do was taste!

Kimberley's Handmade Chocolates

My first thought when I saw these chocolates were that they were handmade - tempting - then my second thought, immediately following my first, was that I recognised the Kimberley's name...remembering that I had had Kimberley's salted caramel before and absolutely loved it - temptation accepted

The unwrapping and opening up of a chocolate box is one of my favourite things. Though I was a little disappointed when I saw some of the dark chocolates had bloomed. My ballotin had 15, from an assortment of 22, chocolates tightly packed together

Beech's Chocolate Assortment

Before I get on to the chocolates, I feel I need to express my warm approval of Beech's new packaging design for their Thank You chocolate box. Although I'm not keen on the "Thank you" note, I love that Beech's are utilising this patterning which first originated on their Turkish Delight but made more recognisable by their chocolate bar range. I think Beech's should consider having all their products in this style as it would really carry an identity for them and it generally does look more expensive and luxury

This is a selection of Beech's Continental chocolates and with their passion for quality, the environment, their workforce and ultimately their consumers... I wanted to see just how well they could execute in taste

Digby's Fine Chocolates

I always wonder whether to write up on a selection of chocolates as an ensemble or not, but the enjoyment I get of looking at each chocolate alone rules my decision; for chocolates are a work of art after all

The Chocolate Tasting Club Classic Selection

Finally, after weeks of waiting, I received my Chocolate Tasting Club selection box. I was torn between choosing the Classic or the Rabot selection (a showcase of nuanced flavours of rare cocoa), but I ambivalently chose the classic

I'll give my tasting notes on each chocolate...

Thorntons Premium Collection

House of Dorchester Caramel Collection

I was very kindly sent this caramel collection box by House of Dorchester. Now, I absolutely LOVE caramel and chocolate together so I was excited to see what HoD had to offer

The packaging was very cute, each chocolate being placed in a black petit four case which made it look more artisanal; very nice touch. As they were all hand finished, I liked how each chocolate wasn't identical. House of Dorchester work with Barry Callebaut's QPP  sourced cocoa beans

Hard Caramel

A 70% dark chocolate coating. The caramel was very hard, and had a light nuttiness, possibly brazil nut. The chocolate coating broke away from the caramel too easily when bitten into, whereas I'd prefer the chocolate and caramel to stay together in each bite. The caramel started to soften up, the darkness of the chocolate began to fade and a sweetness grew; it was a magnificent journey. This was my favourite within the selection!

Chewy Caramel 

The crumbled fudge on top hadn't much flavour which could be due to it infusing all the other scents. The chocolate caramel filling was very smooth. The milk chocolate coating was of 30% and the overall flavour was very chocolatey. I liked it but the bite and feel of this chewy caramel was a little too soft for me

Fudgy Caramel

The fudge itself was very sweet smelling. I liked the grainy texture as it reminded me of real fresh fudge. However, I much prefer my fudge smooth, soft and buttery. The sweetness was pleasant but I wish I didn't leave this chocolate 'til last... because there was a slight unpleasant vanilla aftertaste and I would have much preferred to have been left with a dark cocoa flavour. Although I did enjoy this chocolate, I think the fudge and caramel filling was a little too sweet for a white chocolate

Overall, this collection of caramels definitely did not disappoint. I really enjoyed it, however a runny caramel is what I was missing. I still loved the selection and i'd advise you to eat it going from white to dark