Chapter One: Beginnings

Welcome to bar hopping [chocolate]! If you want to learn more about chocolate, get recommendations, or just follow our own bar hopping adventures, you’ve come to the right place!  You’ll learn more about who we are in the coming posts but here’s a brief intro…

We’re two best friends who got to know each other in university, and have always found an excuse for enjoying chocolate while in each other’s company.  Sometimes we’re more like chocolate enablers!  Though we argue over the origin of bar hopping [chocolate], we agree that it’s an excellent reason to eat more chocolate. 

 

Laura has always preferred to keep a bit of chocolate in the fridge for when the mood strikes.  Her adventures in China brought her to discover what is now her favorite bar: a Russian brand of 100% chocolate.  As time passed, she realized that the darker the chocolate was that she ate, the less she needed to eat to feel sated.

Gaby is a lover of all things food. Having only ever tried Hershey’s dark chocolate, she was convinced that dark chocolate wasn’t for her; eventually, she gave in to Laura’s repeated offerings of darker bars and was converted. She still can't name a favorite bar.

While Laura was away traveling, Gaby found herself at her favorite grocery store in the midst of a chocolate festival!  It was February, and Central Market was taking advantage of Valentine’s Day to promote unique, artisanal chocolate.  Naturally, she bought loads of chocolate bars to try, and the idea for bar hopping [chocolate] came shortly thereafter.  Laura returned to the U.S. and frantically searched for an alternative for her Russian bar that she could not find.  This quest led her and Gaby to realize quality chocolate doesn’t need a lot of fillers or additional ingredients.

One of the first bars we tried was Guittard's Epique 70% (blend number 49) bar and it quickly became one of our favorites.  Because chocolate tasting is more effective as a comparison, we will use this bar as the benchmark to which we compare other bars.  We will be reviewing one quality chocolate bar per week, focusing on dark chocolate, 65% and above.

Come back next week as we introduce you to our tasting methods!