{"id":44651,"date":"2024-11-20T16:04:31","date_gmt":"2024-11-21T00:04:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chocolatebythebay.com\/magazine\/?p=44651"},"modified":"2024-11-20T16:04:37","modified_gmt":"2024-11-21T00:04:37","slug":"the-out-of-towners-fall-2024-edition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chocolatebythebay.com\/magazine\/outsidechocolate\/the-out-of-towners-fall-2024-edition\/","title":{"rendered":"The Out of Towners, Fall 2024 edition"},"content":{"rendered":"

I found some more outside SFBA chocolate to share \u2014 starting with a fun gift idea for the holidays:<\/p>\n

Everybody gets coal this year<\/h2>\n
\"Chuao
Chuao\u2019s Exploding Coal wrapper<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

No I\u2019m not punishing you all for your votes this year \u2014 although I can\u2019t help thinking that way, seriously America, WTH? \u2014 instead I introduce you to Chuao Chocolatier<\/a>,<\/strong> Carlsbad, CA, and their bar that turns the idea of coal in naughty children\u2019s stockings into something fun for everyone.<\/p>\n

Chuao\u2019s Exploding Coal is a limited edition bar that I picked up at our local Peet\u2019s Coffee. With a name like that I had to check it out. Chuao is known for their trendy flavors \u2014 like potato chip, bacon, and churro \u2014 and quality ingredients so I didn\u2019t feel like I was taking any chances getting this one. And it sounded intriguing: \u201cPopping candy and black cacao conspire in dark chocolate.\u201d<\/p>\n

I enjoy the fizzy sensation of popping candy<\/a> in melting chocolate but what is black cacao?<\/p>\n

I guess I\u2019m late to the party because Google had a lot of black cacao\/cocoa entries \u2014 turns out it\u2019s something people use to make really dark colored chocolate desserts \u2014 like literally black. According to the King Arthur Baking site<\/a>, it\u2019s \u201cused to give baked goods the deepest, darkest color (more black than brown). Black cocoa powder is ultra-Dutch processed, meaning it is treated with an alkaline solution to reduce its acidity. This gives it a smooth texture, dark color, and unsweetened-chocolate highlights.\u201d<\/p>\n

So no actual coal involved \u2014 although there are chocolates made with activated charcoal<\/a>. Those will have to wait for a future article.<\/p>\n

Such a big fun bar seems like it should be shared which is exactly what I did. My regular tasters are game for pretty much everything chocolate and they got into this one \u2014 reading the ingredients list, decoding the package illustration, and when I opened it up and we saw the mold had different words in every square people got into picking squares with the words they liked best.<\/p>\n

\"Chuao
Chuao\u2019s happy words mold<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The bar wasn\u2019t actually black but a very very dark brown. The popping candy was visible as little bumps in the bar.<\/p>\n

The bar had a hard snap and the crackling fizzing started as soon as the melting did. Chuao is very generous with the popping candy in this bar \u2014 the popping lasted a long time. If you have never experienced this sensation before this is a good bar to try.<\/p>\n

The 60% couverture was a good chocolate if a little sweeter than we expected \u2014 I mean it looked darker than a 100% bar but it didn\u2019t taste like one \u2014 so black cacao seemed to only add color not bitterness. This bar was a winner with my tasters.<\/p>\n

Exploding Coal is part of Chuao\u2019s holiday collection. Other bars in the collection feature peppermint, gingerbread, and S\u2019mores. They sell mini bars of the holiday collection flavors online<\/a> which would make perfect stocking stuffers \u2014 including a 100-count single flavor option if you have a long naughty list this year.<\/p>\n

Chocolate by the beach<\/h2>\n

This fall Cacaopod and I took our first vacation since the pandemic \u2014 we drove down to SoCal to visit our clients and combined our business trip with stays in LA and a few oceanside towns. Unfortunately we got COVID halfway through the trip so instead of checking out a lot of chocolate we mostly slept our way back home. I call it our comfy bed tour. Fingers crossed we can check out the LA chocolate scene next year.<\/p>\n

\"Reimer\u2019s
Reimer\u2019s Candies\u2019 storefront<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We did get to try some chocolate on the road \u2014 although it was totally random. Our first day we stayed in Avila Beach \u2014 a small kinda funky beach town halfway between SF and SoCal. Checking out the boardwalk we saw an old fashioned beachside sweets shop. As you can see from their awning they carry the whole range of expected sweets including chocolate. We knew absolutely nothing about the place but it said the magic word so we went inside.<\/p>\n

Inside they had counters of chocolates and ice cream plus shelves and displays of more chocolates and confections. The staff was very friendly and helpful, giving chocolate suggestions and telling us about Reimer\u2019s Candies<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Reimer\u2018s
Reimer\u2018s sign<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Reimer\u2019s started as a family owned business in the 1950s in the Central Valley \u2014 they still have a location there along with one in the Sierra foothills and the Avila Beach store. They have always made their own chocolates and ice cream. Last year they were bought by Stafford\u2019s Chocolates<\/a>,<\/strong> Porterville, which plans to keep the Reimer\u2019s brand while consolidating some production and sales.<\/p>\n

That explained the Stafford\u2019s chocolate bars in the displays but there were also barks from a third chocolate supplier \u2014 Mama Ganache Artisan Chocolates<\/a><\/strong> in San Luis Obispo \u2014 and hard taffy from a confectioner \u2014 Swedish Candy Factory<\/a><\/strong> in Solvang \u2014 on the shelves too. Turns out they are small longtime CA candy companies that Stafford\u2019s has also acquired but is keeping as separate unique businesses.<\/p>\n

I like this idea. These longtime brands have strong local followings and their own distinct offerings \u2014 Reimer\u2019s makes Stollen<\/em> (German holiday bread) seasonally in addition to chocolates and ice cream \u2014 along with some overlap \u2014 the 3 chocolatiers all make boxed chocolates for example. We got something from each maker to get acquainted.<\/p>\n

Old school sweets<\/h3>\n

Since we were on the road and a heat wave was projected in a few days we didn\u2019t want to get anything delicate like bonbons and truffles so we asked the staff for recs of other chocolate treats Reimer\u2019s makes.<\/p>\n

\"California
California Turtle and Crispy Bear Paw<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The staff recommended their Crispy Bear Paws, California Turtles, and Peanut Butter Dreams.<\/p>\n

They said the Crispy Bear Paws were their favorite and we agreed it was the best of these treats. It had a crispy chewy crunch from the rice crispies and caramel inside a thick coating of dark chocolate. As Cacaopod said the dark chocolate was good \u2014 not great \u2014 but good. We\u2019d try these again.<\/p>\n

The California Turtle substitutes California almonds for the more traditional pecans. They also changed the ratio of caramel to chocolate \u2014 they had a lot of caramel and only a small dollop of chocolate. The piece was a generous handful of almonds bound together with chewy caramel. The chocolate didn’t have a presence at all. To us it was definitely a candy or confection more than a chocolate. Not that there\u2019s anything wrong with that but I prefer a more traditional turtle.<\/p>\n

\"Peanut
Peanut Butter Dreams look like they are mildly disapproving of the situation<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The staff told us that their most popular item was the Peanut Butter Dream which they make in both milk and dark chocolates. As a peanut butter lover I always like to check out what chocolatiers are doing with this combo of 2 of my favorite foods so we got one of each.<\/p>\n

The pieces had a smooth lightly peanut butter tasting filling. They were too sweet for us \u2014 even the dark chocolate one \u2014 and I would\u2019ve preferred a stronger peanut butter flavor.<\/p>\n

We also got a small bag of their Dark Chocolate Honeycomb Crisps which we liked as much as the Crispy Bear Claws. The chocolate was thinner and the honeycomb was crispy \u2014 just like the name said \u2014 so it was a good treat and it traveled well.<\/p>\n

Reimer\u2019s has a limited menu of chocolates on their website. They are more of a you-have-to-be-there kind of experience. Luckily Avila Beach is a pretty sweet little town to visit so if you find yourself there, drop into Reimer\u2019s for a treat.<\/p>\n

Definitely not salt water taffy<\/h3>\n

The non-chocolate sweet we bought at Reimer\u2019s was hard taffy called Polkagris.<\/em> It was a large taffy cylinder \u2014 it looked kinda like a big fat candy cane stick. It comes in different flavors \u2014 from the traditional peppermint to more diverse ones like watermelon and peach mango. We got those 2.<\/p>\n

I forgot to take pix of the Polkagris we bought but the illustration below is fairly accurate:<\/p>\n

\"Swedish
Artist\u2019s representation of Polkagris in the Swedish Candy Factory logo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This was a difficult treat to share. This taffy was hard like old school Turkish Taffy<\/a> but it was also a thick cylinder so it wasn\u2019t easy to break like Turkish Taffy. It\u2019s meant to be eaten more like a lollipop because it has to sit in your mouth a while before it gets chewy.<\/p>\n

I had expected a soft chewy salt water taffy like you find in every other candy shop in a beach town but Avila marches to its own beat. We figured out a way to break it to sample even though we were on the road without tools \u2014 we were both candy loving kids way before we went professional so we got skills.<\/p>\n

With all that said this is a fun treat. It\u2019s handmade by the Swedish Candy Factory using quality ingredients and it tasted like it. The flavors are strong and just go and go and go \u2014 for as long as it takes to soften and chew a piece and afterwards too. It would be nice if they made a chocolate one.<\/p>\n

In addition to being available in all of Stafford\u2019s multiple businesses\u2019 shops, you can buy Polkagris on the Swedish Candy Factory website.<\/p>\n

Massive bar<\/h3>\n
\"Stafford\u2019s
Stafford\u2019s Chocolates Milk Chocolate with Almonds bar<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Stafford\u2019s Chocolates makes bars, bonbons, truffles, molded chocolates, brittles, toffee, drinking chocolate, enrobed chocolates, and baking chocolate. I really liked their chocolate bar packaging \u2014 a heavy paper wrapper with \u201cMilk Chocolate\u201d printed and embossed over a text-as-graphics design and a small info label affixed over top \u2014 so I got one to try.<\/p>\n

The Milk Chocolate with Almonds bar was a big, thick 4 oz. bar. For reference most craft chocolate bars we sample are between 1.5 and 3 ounces. This bar didn\u2019t look bigger than a lot of other bars but it was thicker \u2014 more than 1\/4″ thick.<\/p>\n

A strong sweet chocolate smell hit me as soon as I opened the inner foil wrapper. The bar had a medium snap and was visibly full of chopped almond pieces.<\/p>\n

The chocolate had a smooth texture and a sweet caramel flavor. It was very American chocolate \u2014 Cacaopod said it reminded him of Hershey\u2019s \u2014 and too sweet for me.<\/p>\n

You can buy Stafford\u2019s chocolates at their stores and on their website \u2014 including their exclusive Ooey Gooey Bar which covers layers of homemade marshmallow, peanut butter, and caramel in chocolate and toasted almonds. Sounds interesting \u2014 maybe try it in dark chocolate?<\/p>\n

Worth exploring<\/h3>\n

The chocolate we enjoyed the most on our trip was from the 3rd business that is under Stafford\u2019s wing.<\/p>\n

\"Mama
Mama Ganache Artisan Chocolates Bark<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Cherry Almond Bark from Mama Ganache Artisan Chocolates had a humble appearance \u2014 a slab of bark in a clear bag tied with twine. A small card containing all the important info and a small round sticker of the company logo completed the look.<\/p>\n

The bark was attractive looking with a good amount of whole roasted California almonds and dried Bing cherries mixed into the dark chocolate. It broke easily, and the crunchy almonds and chewy cherries were nice contrasts to the smooth texture of the chocolate. All of the ingredients were top quality and it was a tasty bark.<\/p>\n

In addition to barks Mama Ganache makes bonbons, truffles, bars, caramels, patties, drinking chocolates, and baking chocolates. Their signature piece is the SLO Chew \u2014 caramel, cashews, peanut butter, and brown rice crispies covered in milk or dark chocolate. You can order their goodies online, and they have their own factory store in SLO, CA (AKA San Luis Obispo) just 15 minutes up the road from Reimer\u2019s. I hope to visit them next time we head south.<\/p>\n

Keep Portland chocolatey<\/h2>\n
\"Creo
Creo Chocolate\u2019s Purely Dark 85% bar<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The next 2 bars we sampled were supplied by one of our regular tasters. He visits Portland fairly regularly and this time when he was in a shopping district he knows well he unexpectedly spotted a chocolate shop. I like to think I am influencing people to notice the artisan chocolate that exists wherever they go but this time it was actually a new second location of a local chocolate maker so I can\u2019t take any credit.<\/p>\n

Established in 2014,\u00a0Creo Chocolate<\/a>,<\/strong> Portland, OR, makes pretty much everything chocolate \u2014 bars, truffles, drinking chocolates, enrobed chocolates, caramels, and baking chocolate. They even make chocolate mint lip balm using their cocoa butter. They offer build-a-bar tours at their factory and you can buy most of their extensive line on their website.<\/p>\n

\"Creo
Creo Chocolate\u2019s Hazelnut & Cherry bar<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

My friend in chocolate brought a plain dark chocolate bar and one with inclusions. The plain bar, Purely Dark 85%, was made with Ecuadorian cacao, organic cane sugar, and cocoa butter.<\/p>\n

It had a medium hard snap and a smooth texture. It was a savory slightly nutty chocolate and not as bitter as expected for 85%. It was a little drying afterwards.<\/p>\n

Creo also makes 62%, 73%, and 100% bars in this line. Since they all use the same Ecuadorian cacao this could be a good group of bars for comparing cacao percentages to find your sweet spot.<\/p>\n

The inclusions bar, Northwest Hazelnut & Cherry, was a 73% Ecuadorian cacao bar jam-packed with toasted hazelnut pieces and dotted with big whole dried cherries. It was a well made bar with a good snap and immediate hazelnut flavor, then the savory chocolate flavor. The soft dried cherries required chewing so that flavor came last but was good too and made a nice combo with the nutty chocolate bar.<\/p>\n

As you can see from the pix, their packaging is very eye-catching with cacao related images printed in metallic gold covering most of the front with a little center window giving a glimpse of the chocolate inside. They would make a nice souvenir or gift next time you are in Portland.<\/p>\n

Keep England weird<\/h2>\n
\"Monty
Monty Bojanges Choccy Scoffy truffles<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Finally, we have Monty Bojangles<\/a>\u2019<\/strong> Choccy Scoffy Truffles \u2014 a treat one of our other tasters picked up on a trip to England. He didn\u2019t have any info on the manufacturer or the truffles themselves. He just liked the name and the packaging \u2014 and knew our crowd would be down for whatever unfolded.<\/p>\n

Inside the box were individually wrapped dark chocolate truffles which I thought was a good idea \u2014 both for clean travel and extended freshness.<\/p>\n

\"Choccy
Choccy Scoffy Truffle<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The truffles were dusted with cocoa powder and had a smooth texture. They were harder than regular truffles which I assume was to keep their shape which resembled a square top knit beanie \u2014 and maybe also related to freshness. Most truffles are supposed to be consumed within 2 weeks of purchase \u2014 these were freshness dated to over a year later.<\/p>\n

They had a good chocolate taste with a raspberry overtone. I was pleasantly surprised and the crowd enjoyed them too.<\/p>\n

Monty Bojangles also makes flavored truffles similar to the Choccy Scoffy. On their website you can click and drag flavors to create your own treasure chest with a total of 100 truffles inside \u2014 but unfortunately they do not ship to the US. Even if you can\u2019t buy anything their website is fun to visit \u2014 it looks quite trippy \u2014 like a gentler version of Monty Python animations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This blog focuses on SFBA chocolate, but we review chocolate from other places too. We compile single worth-a-mention-chocolate reviews into articles for our recurring \u201cOut of Towners\u201d series<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":37974,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[58,20,946,13,169],"tags":[1639,1638,1644,1642,1645,1640,1641,1643],"class_list":["post-44651","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-american-chocolate","category-chocolateroundtheworld","category-european-chocolate","category-outsidechocolate","category-reviews","tag-black-cocoa","tag-chuao-chocolatier","tag-creo-chocolate","tag-mama-ganache-artisan-chocolates","tag-monty-bojangles","tag-reimers-candies","tag-staffords-chocolates","tag-swedish-candy-factory"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chocolatebythebay.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44651","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chocolatebythebay.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chocolatebythebay.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chocolatebythebay.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chocolatebythebay.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44651"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/chocolatebythebay.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44651\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44699,"href":"https:\/\/chocolatebythebay.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44651\/revisions\/44699"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chocolatebythebay.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37974"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chocolatebythebay.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44651"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chocolatebythebay.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44651"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chocolatebythebay.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44651"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}