The Chocsters 2010
Welcome to the 4th Annual Chocster Awards. Ignore all other award ceremonies you may see today, because this is the one that counts!
The only criteria needed to qualify for an award is that a chocolate must have been reviewed on Chocablog in the last 12 months.
The Chocsters is our own take on what’s been hot (and what’s been…. not) in the last year of chocolate reviews on Chocablog. Like most awards, the winners are a purely subjective choice, and most likely wrong. Feel free to argue and suggest who we should have picked in the comments!
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Best Dark Chocolate Amano Montanya Possibly our most prestigious award goes to Art Pollard and his team in Utah for this delicious 70% Venezuelan bar. |
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Best Milk Chocolate Hotel Chocolat Undiscovered St Lucia 42% A rich 42% milk chocolate produced with beans from Hotel Chocolat’s own Rabot Estate on St. Lucia. |
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Best White Chocolate Planete Chocolat White Chocolate with Thyme A rather moreish little block from Belgium picked up on Chocablog’s recent trip to Brussels. |
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Best Everyday Chocolate Thorntons Milk Chocolate With Tonka Bean Inexpensive enough to pick up a block or two any day of the week, this Thorntons block with Tonka Bean was definitely one of our favourites this year. |
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Best Assortment Chococo Selection Beautiful, simple, handmade chocolates with amazing flavours. What more could you want from a box of chocs? |
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Best Range Galler – Les Elementaires This Earth, Fire, Air and Water themed range of chocolates look and taste stunning. But then we’d expect nothing less from Galler. |
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Best Handmade Chocolate Paul A. Young Chocolate Brownies Paul Young makes some of the finest chocolates known to man, but these chocolate brownies were something else entirely. Not just worth visiting his shop for, but worth renting the flat next door to maintain a regular supply. |
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Best Newcomer Holly Caulfield Holly – aka “Chocoholly” – may have been making chocolate for a couple of years now, but it’s less than a year since we first encountered her work. Her beautiful, exciting and delicious creations never fail to impress. |
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Best Chocolate Experience Karin Herzog chocolate facial Chocolate that you can’t eat may seem like a crime, but this decadent 1.5 hour chocolate facial treatment at Kensington’s Bentley Hotel was an experience worth repeating. |
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Weird & Wonderful Award iMod Think Chocolate Many of the chocolates we review fall into the “weird” category, but very view are also wonderful. This unusual iPod shaped Modican chocolate from Sicily certainly qualifies though. |
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Chocolate Raspberry Award Beacon Threesome There were so many contenders for this – our worst chocolate of the year award – that it this was probably the most difficult category to judge. But after careful consideration, this appalling South African chocolate with an ill-judged name took the biscuit. We’re quite sure we won’t be having another threesome any time soon. |
Once again, we’re a little sad to report that none of this year’s winners could be here in person to receive their awards. On the bright side, at least you don’t have to sit through the acceptance speeches, and can go and watch the Oscars® on TV instead.
I’m in Belgium at the moment, but haven’t been lucky enough to spot the white chocolate with thyme yet. Ah well, there’s still hope! Two days in Antwerp coming up!
Love this compilation, by the way. Though personally, I like the Thornton’s pistachio better than the tonka bean 😛
It was tough to decide between the tonka and the pistachio, but I had to pick one of them.
Let us know if you find anything exciting in Belgium!
The tonka definitely wins for novelty value, but what can I say? I love the salt in the pistachio one 🙂 And I shall indeed let you know if any of my Belgium-bought chocolate bars rock my socks!
Oooh, our review of the volcano Galler range was quite bad:
http://www.domesticsluttery.com/2009/11/tasty-treats-les-volcaniques-gift-box.html
Each to their own I guess 🙂
But, we’re reviewing tasty tasty chocs tomorrow!
Oh, disagreeing is half the fun! (But we are always right, of course)
Congrats to the Chocolate Raspberry! 😀