Best Gourmet Chocolate Companies
A Romantic Valentine's Day is Tops with the Perfect Luxury Chocolate
Jan 3, 2007
Valentine's Day, and other romantic occasions, often inspire us to buy chocolates as gifts. Indeed, it's hard for some of us to imagine a Valentine's Day without a box of chocolate!
Romance and chocolate go hand in hand; that's one reason heart-shaped boxes of the stuff are so popular around Valentine's Day. Love isn't cheap (though I guess literally it's free, at least in most countries), so why cheap out on your Valentine's Day gift? Buy a gift of high quality, gourmet chocolate, and the object of your affection will know you didn't just pop into a neighborhood drug store at the last minute. The best luxury dark chocolates are at least 70% cocoa paste and butter, while milk chocolate has as little as 10%. The only ingredients that really need to be in a really great piece of chocolate are cocoa paste and butter, sugar, and lecithin (as an emulsifier, for that smooth feel). A little vanilla is common ingredient (the flavor complements cocoa), but watch out for vanillin - it's an artificial flavoring found in cheap chocolate. Artisanal chocolatiers use higher cocoa levels and interesting ingredients like green tea, chili, wasabi and berries.
In no order, here are the best high quality luxury chocolates. Some are artisanal, some not:
- Valrhona. Valrhona makes several varieties of dark chocolate that are all excellent, and one milk chocolate that is so rich, creamy, and well balanced that it makes Hershey's taste like tofu. Not to knock tofu, but it's the blandest food I could think of.
- Godiva. Easily the most widely known chocolate company on this list. It's a popular luxury brand, but deservedly so. Of this list, Godiva is the one brand you'll most easily find in countries outside of Western Europe. A big part of the luxury of Godiva chocolates is the presentation; a box of these makes a lovely gift, as well as a tasty one.
- Scharffen Berger. A largish company that still makes chocolate the artisanal way: Slow roasting, small batches, and of course careful selection of the cocoa beans. Scharffen Berger's 82% cocoa is too bitter for me, but a box of their hand dipped pineapple slices would be a perfect Valentine's Day gift.
- La Maison du Chocolat. La Maison has a wide selection of luxury chocolates, from milk to dark. Pretty and stylish as a gift, these high quality chocolates often have creative ingredients, such as the Gin & Lemon Truffle. My favorites are also one of their best sellers; the large Rocher pralines have the perfect crunch, without sticking to your teeth.
- Peter's Chocolate. Haven't heard of Peter's Chocolate? The founder started in the late 1800's with his neighbor, Henri Nestle, and was the first to add milk as an ingredient. In other words, he invented milk chocolate, although it was Nestle who globalized its popularity. If you want your gift to be milk chocolate with a pedigree, Peter's would be it.
- Dagoba. No, it's not Yoda's star system. If you haven't heard of this one, it's because it's the newest of my favorite luxury chocolates, less than 10 years old. Dagoba chocolate is organic, infused with only natural ingredients harvested sustainably, and the company is infused with a sense of social responsibility. But that's not all: The quality of the chocolate itself is superb. Dagoba has won several awards, including CNN/Money's "Best Dark Chocolate" award.
If you plan to travel for a romantic getaway weekend or for Valentines' Day, please don't pack your gourmet chocolates in an overstuffed bag! For a chocolate lover, few things are sadder than opening a box of deluxe chocolates, only to be faced with a melted, sodden mass. All of these companies will ship packages to the destination of your choice.
