Tucked away on Phinney Avenue in the greater Seattle area is the little fair trade organic chocolatier that could. (Try saying that 3 times fast.) Besides taking the factory tour and breathing in all that is good, Theo Chocolates is not only becoming a northwest favorite but a national favorite as well.
So what makes Theo Chocolates different? There are other fair trade organic chocolatiers out there. Perhaps even better ones? It’s all relative. What really makes the difference for Theo is the flavors. Besides the intensely rich origin bars ranging from 91% to 74% cacao, it’s the 3400 Phinney Chocolate line that bring me to today’s post.
Flavors like: Vanilla Milk, Chai Milk, Coconut Curry Milk, Fig, Fennel & Almond Dark, Nib Brittle Dark, Coffee Dark and today’s feature- the Bread and Dark Chocolate variety.
Seriously, bread. And yes, butter (the sweet organic kind) is an ingredient.
Packaging
It’s adorable, admit it. Kitties having a tea party. What does that have to do with chocolate or bread? Who cares.
Appearance
It’s very smooth on the outside, great color and the inside shows off all sorts of little nibbles of what I can only assume is bread.
Smell
Is pretty amazing. Dark and rich, no hint of bread though.
Taste
It’s definitely crunchy with “toasted artisan breadcrumbs” and the 70% cacao is bitter, but smooth. The aftertaste is a little odd since the breadcrumbs seem to stick around a little longer than the chocolate. As I crunch through it I hit pockets of salt which are surprising at first but actually help with the overall finish. I just wish the pieces wouldn’t stick in my back molars.
Don’t agree? Want to try for yourself? Get Theo Chocolate Dark Chocolate, Bread & Chocolate
April 9th, 2009 at 9:14 am
I think I wasn’t in the right frame of mind when I tried it. My initial impression was a bit underwhelmed (but I was expecting something a little different!)
I too thought it was strange how the chocolate dissolved and left little grits in my mouth afterwards. But it’s obviously one of those “stop and smell the roses” types of bars, and probably not right for those just looking for their cocoa fix!
April 23rd, 2009 at 8:20 am
[...] Cocoa-Heaven placed an observative post today on Theo Bread and Dark Chocolate BarHere’s a quick excerptTucked away on Phinney Avenue in the greater Seattle area is the little fair trade organic chocolatier that could. (Try saying that 3 times fast.) Besides taking the factory tour and breathing in all that is good, Theo Chocolates is not only becoming a northwest favorite but a national favorite as well.So what makes Theo Chocolates different? There are other fair trade organic chocolatiers out there. Perhaps even better ones? It’s all relative. What really makes the difference for Theo is the fl [...]
July 30th, 2009 at 10:07 am
[...] standard full size design from Theo. We reviewed one of their smaller batch varieties earlier, the Bread and Dark Chocolate bar, which had all kinds of cartoon designs on it. These go a more muted, classic way. I like it. [...]