Trader Joe’s Dark Chocolate Lover’s Bar
Trader Joe’s has a unique style with their quirky, half-funny cartoons on chalkboards throughout the stores and on their newsletters. I’ve grown fond of it all; this chocolate’s design is also in keeping with that style. Dark brown against bright green and orange with an off-beat font. It draws the eye in differently from most of the usually more formal 85%’s. The potential problems from a name like “Dark Chocolate Lover’s” never really have a chance to form; there’s no blurb on the back explaining why this bar is so great or why it’s only for the dedicated. It’s just there as a simple attention-grabber.
Inside the box are two 50 gram bars, individually clad in brown and lime green. It’s nice to see the design work carry through on the inside. I’m a little puzzled by the logo on the twelve squares, though. The best I can make out, it’s the initials “ChL” inside a circle. “Chocolate Lover’s,” maybe?
It’s Columbian cacao we’re dealing with here, from the Tumaco Region. If there was only one word I could use to describe this bar, it would be “s’mores.” Chocolate and marshmallow are what it reminds me off. It hits that line where it isn’t sweet, it isn’t bitter. (At least not to me – there is a dry taste that gets close and may very well go over the edge for some palates.) The “smooth” description is an apt way of putting the balance it finds. It’s funny because it’s fudge-like while still a serious chocolate. You get a taste of both angles, which I’ll repeat is singular for such a high percentage.
Another chocolate that matches its packaging design well, the fun colors paired with the cacao vine. At $1.49 for the 100 gram total, it’s also a great deal for a chocolate fix.
Posted by Deanna on 11 Dec 2009 at 09:12 AM
| 5 Comments
Filed in Reviews under dark, trader joes, US
January 20, 2010 : 5:08pm
Alas, I don’t think they are carrying this any more (and after such a short time!) and I am heart-broken because I think this is one of the best–if not THE best–chocolate bar that TJ’s has ever carried.
January 31, 2010 : 12:37am
Lately I could not find them in TJ’s around the SF Bay Area either. Am going to miss them terribly.
January 31, 2010 : 10:35pm
I agree guys, definitely my favorite TJ’s chocolate, and one of the best among all chocolates imho. I really hope TJ is going to bring this yummy treat back.
February 15, 2010 : 4:21pm
Nice Post. I see them featuring this in their latest circular, so maybe it will appear back in stock to the people who can’t find it. I eagerly await trying it out for myself since it’s a great price for what sounds like an interesting bar.
March 3, 2010 : 8:14pm
Yech. This chocolate bar was horrid. I can understand why they’d be taking it out of rotation, if that was the case. However, I just bought and consumed one of these last week so I don’t think they’re discontinuing it. Shame, really. I love dark chocolate; I am a dark chocolate lover. And this bar was *maybe* the only chocolate bar I’ve ever stopped eating half way through and thrown away. I agree with the review inasmuch as the bar I had wasn’t sweet or bitter. In fact, it was near flavorless. The experience of chewing it was like eating the tile flooring out of a doll house.