CHOCOLATE TASTING

Earlier this evening I went to a birthday event at Bittersweet in Oakland.  We tasted and learned about 5 different kinds of chocolate.  We tried a few with an Irish whiskey (hella strong, spicy vapors that one). The milk chocolate was paired with a port-like wine (wasn't my thing).

The milk chocolate that was roughly 65% cacao (considered a mid-dark chocolate) and it tasted like pastillas (Filipino candy)!  It was strange.  I totally imaged eating a pastilla instead of a chocolate.

My favorite one of the night was by Michel Cluizel - Concepcion.  It's a 66% dark chocolate made in Venezualan at the Concepcion plantation.  I really liked its scent and flavor.

If you haven't tried chocolate tasting, check it out!

In San Francisco, there is a chocolate festival at Ghirardelli Square once a year.  You get to sample different kinds of desserts made with chocolate.

Scharffen Berger had a lil' factory in Berkeley but they closed it.  I did a chocolate tour there once.  Their dark is my fave (blue wrapper)!

Charles Chocolates in Emeryville is pretty good, too.  Last summer, they had free summer night movie events in their parking lot.  The screen was kinda small.  You can bring your own chairs.  Some people brought blankets and watched picnic style.  Others brought their own couches and arm chairs! 

Last Monday, I had lunch with some college friends at Parkhouse Eatery in the University Heights area of San Diego.  I loved the Mexican Hot Chocolate there.

As much as I love chocolate, I am so over it right now.  I had too much in the past week!  So many Christmas chocolate treats from truffles to chocolate covered blueberries.  Time to get all of it out of sight!