The Chocolate!!!

 Whenever I travel I love to bring back treats that usually cannot be found in the US.  While we were in the airport in Munich on our way home from our trip we stopped at a little grocery store so I could search for goodies.  Now Milka bars can be found sometimes in the US (weirdly enough in small delis in NYC!) but these flavors really stood out to me so I picked them up.  When I returned to the states I emailed my sister and my friend Shion and invited them over for a Chocolate tasting that turned into a Chocolate, Wine & Cheese Tasting!

4 different varieties of chocolate

 The four varieties of chocolate were:  Lime & Yogurt, Chocolate Strawberry Mousse, Blueberry & Yogurt and Strawberry & Yogurt.  I broke 3 squares off of each bar for tasting purposes.

Shion tasting some chocolate

 We moved over to my make-shift dining room table (hahaha!) and began.  I made up little sheets so that we could write up our thoughts on:  appearance, texture, aroma and taste.  It was fun to have an official way to think about the chocolates.

Our review sheets

 First we tried the Lime & Yogurt, which I was most excited to try, to our surprise there were poprocks inside the chocolate!  They were pretty strong too, we were all ready for the experience to be over.  This easily was all of our least favorite – good think we started out with it. 

Next was the Chocolate and Strawberry Mousse.  This was my personal favorite.  It tasted like a chocolate covered strawberry in a candy bar (that quote straight from Katie!)  It was very creamy and smooth

Third up was the blueberry and yogurt.  Both Shion & Katie liked this one the best, not only because of it’s tastiness but because of the uniqueness.  How often do you come across blueberry and chocolate mixed together.  We all agreed that the blueberry overwhelmed the chocolate, it tasted more like a creamy blueberry muffin then a chocolate bar. 

Lastly, we tasted the strawberry and yogurt.  This was probably the most subtle tasting of the chocolates.  It reminded me of the Neopolitan Breyer’s ice cream (one of my favorites as a kid growing up!) 

The Wine!

 To drink we enjoyed a Grenache from Spain.  Shion had recently attended a wine tasting class and blogged about this type of wine.  Since I had never ever tasted a Grenache she brought a bottle for me to try.  I would say it was inbetween a Pinot Noir and Shiraz.  Dryer then a Pinot Noir but not as dry as a Shiraz.  I loved it!

The Cheese!

 Shion also brought over some cheese for us to enjoy!  A Fontina, camembert with herbs and a Norwegian cheese that Shion’s mom gave her.

The Cheese!

 I provided wheat thins and kashi crackers for the cheese.  I loved the Fontina and the Norwegian cheese, which was very different.  I can’t say I loved the camembert.  I haven’t really acquired a taste for brie and it reminded me of a brie.  It was very strong and I enjoy more subtle cheese.  I went back for seconds on the Norwegian cheese though, it was really good.

My sis and me!

It was such a fun night with family & friends!  We agreed that we should do this more often, maybe different chocolates or other tastings…stay tuned to see what kind of tasting we host next.  I will say that while I enjoyed the company, the wine and the cheese, I was a little disappointed in the chocolate.  We all agreed that it wasn’t the kind of chocolate that you could eat a bar of in one sitting (although that’s probably a good thing).  It was still fun though and hey, there is plenty of good chocolate out there to try.

Post in Comments:

What is your favorite chocolate bar?  Do you prefer milk or dark chocolate?  I probably prefer milk chocolate but I’m enjoying dark more and more.  My favorite chocolate bar is definitely Lindt’s Raspberry Chocolate Bar – it is divine!!!