I’ve eyed the container of Emerald Cocoa Roast Almonds every time I’ve gone down the snack aisle at Sam’s Club. During my most recent trip at the beginning of this week, however, I buckled and picked one up.

It’s not that I didn’t want to try them, it’s that I’m always wary of purchasing a big container of something I haven’t tried before. What if we absolutely hate them? That $10 could have easily gone toward something else and I’d kick myself for having wasted it.
In this case, though, the $10 on the 38oz container was not wasted. As you can …read more

I always love getting a package from Lindt, whose chocolates are always a great treat!

This past week I was sent a bar of Lindt Excellence A Touch of Sea Salt. Though it’s not new, I haven’t seen this on shelves yet and I was instantly intrigued. It’s no secret that I’m a big fan of chocolate and salt together, and it had never occurred to me that a chocolatier might actually combine just the two (without, say, peanut butter or something else with it).

The label says A Touch of Sea Salt is made dark chocolate, though at 47% it’s not …read more

I’m a fan of anything with cranberry, so I was really excited to get package of Nestle’s new Cranberry Raisinets in the mail yesterday!

Raisinets are milk chocolate-covered raisins. Pretty simple, but usually pretty satisfying!
Sadly, my little sample packet of the Cranberry Raisinets showed up completely melted, so I have no pictures of the candies themselves, however if you’ve ever seen the regular raisin ones then I’m sure you’ve got an idea of what they look like anyway!
Because they were so melted I don’t have a terribly accurate review of them either, but I did cut a pack open and scraped …read more

The other day I got a delivery. It wasn’t one that I was expecting, and when I saw that it was addressed to me with “Chocolate Bytes” under my name I got a little excited — I knew there was going to be a delicious chocolaty treat inside!

This is what I pulled out. Kept cool by an ice pack and Styrofoam insulation, I had a pretty organza bag with four bars of various Lindt chocolate. But it was the one top that made my jaw literally drop.

Do you see that? 90% Cocoa. 90%! Are these people mad?, I thought. …read more

Following my post last week about the lengths my kids and I went to for a s’mores fix, a very kind rep sent me and the girls two Micro S’mores units to try out, just in time for National S’mores Day on August 10th!

The Micro S’mores pretty much serves one purpose: to keep the s’mores components together during a round in the microwave, and it accomplishes this task perfectly.
Made of (dishwasher safe!) plastic, the lightweight unit is impact resistent and even has a little “handle” on the base which makes it easier to pick up off the counter or …read more

Lindt Chocolates recently sent me their newest bar, the Classic Recipe Raisin & Nut Bar, to try out.

First off, the bar is delicious! I’ve been a fan of Cadbury’s Fruit & Nut Bar (which I couldn’t help but compare it to!) for years, so this was right up my alley. The Lindt bar contains Swiss milk chocolate, raisins, and roasted hazelnuts and almonds. The additions are distributed generously throughout the bar, making for a very satisfying treat!
And I know I’m an oddball for not being crazy about hazelnuts, but the amount in the bar is perfect and compliments the …read more

During another excursion to Sam’s Club last week I came across a box of M&M’s new Limited Edition Coconut candies. I’ve heard about these but haven’t seen them anywhere else, so I somewhat grudgingly put the box in my cart (grudgingly because there’s always the chance they’ll be nasty, and then I’m stuck with a whole box of them!).

Thankfully, they’re pretty tasty! The pack is only 1.5 oz, and contained about 23 candies. The candies themselves are about the size of a peanut butter M&M (slightly bigger than a plain but smaller than a peanut), and come in dark brown, …read more

One of my favorite chocolate artisans, Art Pollard, has developed some new offerings in his yummy chocolate line at Amano Chocolate.

Art has perfected two new single-origin milk chocolate bars: Ocumare (the dark chocolate version of which I really liked) is made with beans from the Ocumare Valley in Venezuela, and the Jembrana is made from beans from the southwestern coast of Bali.
Though they’re both milk chocolate they each have distinctly different flavors. And though none of Art’s chocolates have anything but milk and a little vanilla added to each bar, the regions the beans are harvested from definitely lend …read more

While running some errands yesterday I spotted a new display at Target: Limited Edition Oreo Strawberry Milkshake Creme. Being an Oreo lover (who isn’t?) I felt it was my duty to grab a package to try.
The 12 oz package was $2.75, not too bad considering the usual 18 oz package usually runs about $3.50 here.
Upon opening you see it’s not the same packaging setup that the usual Oreos have, with the three long rows. This one has three shorter rows with 8 cookies in each row, for a total of 24 in the package. There was really no strong …read more

Dove chocolates are one of the few store-bought brands that I have to have in my chocolate stash at all times. The flavor and texture are satisfying and great for whether I want a quick chocolate snack or to treat myself.

But now they’ve gone and done it with Peanut Butter Dove. I was sent a bag this week and I’m not ashamed to say that it doesn’t seem to be lasting very long. The Dove chocolate is as rich and smooth as it always is, and the creamy peanut butter center is absolutely perfect.
One of the complaints I have …read more