{"id":7838,"date":"2015-11-30T14:31:47","date_gmt":"2015-11-30T22:31:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chocolatebythebay.com\/magazine\/?p=7838"},"modified":"2022-10-22T13:50:18","modified_gmt":"2022-10-22T20:50:18","slug":"house-of-happy-smiles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chocolatebythebay.com\/magazine\/local-chocolate\/house-of-happy-smiles\/","title":{"rendered":"House of happy smiles"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Maison
Just a sample of Maison Bouche\u2019s chocolate bars (clockwise from top left): Vanilla with Malt Crunch Milk, Absinthe Dark, Peach Blossom Milk, Rosemary Almond Dark, Cardamom with Candied Orange Dark, Lavender from the High Alps with Sea Salt Dark, and Geranium Bourbon Milk.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0Maison Bouche<\/a><\/strong> (\u201cMouth House\u201d in English) is an East Bay chocolatier with a French accent. From the chocolate\u2019s names to the pretty packaging to the quality flavor ingredients blended into superb chocolate, it is very evocative of a French chocolate experience.<\/p>\n

Maison Bouche offers 30\u201340 bars online, plus molded chocolates, caramels, cookies, cakes, and postcards of vintage images. Their bars are also available in stores around the country (see their website for exact locations). We recently bought some at Chocolate Covered<\/a> in SF.<\/p>\n

Great for gift-giving<\/h2>\n

My first thought on seeing the selection of Maison Bouche bars at Chocolate Covered was that these would make simple, attractive and unusual gifts for chocolate lovers. The flavors sound special, the packaging looks French, and the color combinations of the labels with the colored foil wrappers are very pleasing. And the price ($6.50 for a 2.2 oz. bar) is comparable to other high end chocolate.<\/p>\n

There is a lot of variety to the bar flavors, so you can find something to please everybody on your list. The website divides bars into categories that include holiday (and seasonal) flavors, spices, flowers, fruits, crunches, and an \u201cafter-dinner\u201d group of dessert- and drink-flavored bars.<\/p>\n

Great for keeping to yourself<\/h2>\n

The bars themselves are divided into 8 little pillows that are the perfect size for melting in your mouth, which is the optimal way to experience these flavored bars. As they melt and the chocolate fills your mouth, some hit you first with one flavor, roll through a middle flavor, then end with something else.<\/p>\n

In general, all of the bars I sampled had a lingering aftertaste. Combined with the quality chocolate (nice flavor, smooth texture, good temper), it made each pillow in a bar very satisfying. These are bars to savor.<\/p>\n

\"Rosemary
Maison Bouche\u2019s Rosemary Almond Dark Chocolate Bar is a good savory chocolate combination.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Add some spice to your life<\/h2>\n

Of the ones I tried, I could see making the 2 Spice bars a regular treat. The Cardamome et Orange Confite<\/em> (Cardamom with Candied Orange) Dark Chocolate Bar has visible slivers of candied orange peel, which translated to a bright orange flavored bar, The cardamom flavor was more subtle and came through after the orange.<\/p>\n

The Rosemary Almond with Sea Salt Dark Chocolate Bar had visible almond bits with a toasted almond flavor that hit first, followed by rosemary that lingered (an unusual flavor for chocolate, but it worked). It was balanced, the rosemary flavor was not overpowering or too herb-y, and the sea salt was understated, just there to enhance the other flavors, not call attention to itself.<\/p>\n

Edible bouquets<\/h2>\n

The other herb-y bar I tried, which is in the floral category, was Lavande des Hautes-Alpes et Fleur de Sel<\/em> (Lavender from the High Alps with Sea Salt) Dark Chocolate Bar. It had a very strong lavender flavor, which I think will please chocolate lovers who also really like lavender. I shared all of these bars with other people, and this one drew the strongest negative reactions. But if you or someone you know likes lavender, this could be the bar to buy. Personally, I might like it better if it was a darker chocolate and lighter on the lavender.<\/p>\n

\"Peach
Peach Blossom does not taste like peaches, who knew?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The 2 other florals we tried were both a little surprising, but big hits. The Fleur de Pecher<\/em> (Peach Blossom) Milk Chocolate Bar is flavored with \u2014 as it says \u2014 peach blossom, not peach. They are distinctly different flavors. The peach blossom reminds me of peach-flavored black teas I\u2019ve had. It\u2019s more floral than fruity. And for me, I\u2019d love to pair this bar with a cup of strong black tea.<\/p>\n

The Geranium Bourbon was surprising because the Bourbon in the name doesn\u2019t refer to whiskey, but to the Bourbon Islands (now La R\u00e9union), as in that is where the geraniums used to make the flavor are sourced. So instead of any boozy flavor or buzz, the bar had a very nice, distinct floral taste first, that was balanced with the creamy milk chocolate. Even people who thought they wouldn\u2019t like a floral bar liked this one.<\/p>\n

Mild to wild<\/h2>\n

The last 2 bars we tried were both good but in distinctly different ways. The crunchy Vanilla et Malt Croquants<\/em> (Vanilla with Malt Crunch) Milk Chocolate Bar was a lightly malted, very milky chocolate with a long vanilla aftertaste. It\u2019s very good for your risk-adverse chocolate lovers, and a bit of a comfort food for the rest of us.<\/p>\n

The Absinthe would be a good match for your more adventurous palates: It has a nice woody licorice taste that works well with the dark chocolate. This is one delicious, unusual bar.<\/p>\n

See for yourself<\/h2>\n

Maison Bouche chocolate is worth seeking out. The exceptional chocolate combined with interesting flavors that balance and complement each other and the chocolate makes for an outstanding series of chocolate experiences. I look forward to trying more of these. I think you will too.<\/p>\n

Bon App\u00e9tit!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Try it, you\u2019ll like it!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":7883,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[42,15,169],"tags":[695,636,555,435,172,694,17,1477,436,811,1476,529,331],"class_list":["post-7838","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-east-bay-chocolate","category-local-chocolate","category-reviews","tag-absinthe","tag-almond","tag-candied-orange-peel","tag-cardamom","tag-chocolate-covered-sf","tag-chocolate-malt","tag-chocolatier","tag-geranium","tag-lavender","tag-maison-bouche","tag-peach-blossom","tag-rosemary","tag-sea-salt"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chocolatebythebay.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7838","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=7838"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/chocolatebythebay.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7838\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35805,"href":"https:\/\/chocolatebythebay.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7838\/revisions\/35805"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chocolatebythebay.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7883"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chocolatebythebay.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7838"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chocolatebythebay.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7838"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chocolatebythebay.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7838"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}