I am a chocoholic. It is a vice that I have no intention of ever abandoning. With that in mind I have decided to create my own "chocolate club" of sorts. Instead of ordering a club or subscription from just one company, I have looked up various chocolatiers across the country and plan to order from different places each month. (Sucre offers a Macaron Club and a Chocolate Club that come in quarterly, bi-monthly, and monthly options. I have seen this offered other places as well, but I want variety!) Kind of like a "treat yo self" thing that I can look forward to every few weeks!
My first sampling was ordered from French Broad Chocolates located in Asheville, NC. The Caramel Collection and Bourbon & Beer Collection arrived nestled between gel packs (that had lost all signs of frozeness: southern heat is such a scorcher) packed in a biodegradable insulating material. Due to the heat exposure during the transit from NC to LA a lot of the salt or sugar garnishes had melted and a touch of perspiration was present on some of the truffle: this eventually dried up as they sat at room temperature. The chocolates themselves had thankfully not melted. Side note: I had these delivered to me at work to avoid them sitting outside at my house all day; had they been on my front stoop during the afternoon hours I would have had a mess on my hands!
The Salted Caramel Collection included:
Salted Honey Caramel: local wildflower honey, organic cream & butter, with grey sea salt, covered in dark chocolate and sea salt.
Cashew Honey Caramel: our honey caramel with toasted organic cashews, coated in milk chocolate.
Sorghum Caramel: liquid caramel with sorghum molasses grown and processed on Doubletree Farm in Marshall, in a milk chocolate shell.
Vanilla Bourbon Caramel: Knob Creek bourbon & organic vanilla bean caramel in a dark chocolate shell.
Porter Nib Caramel: local porter and fresh roasted cacao nibs in chewy caramel, dipped in dark chocolate adorned with cacao nibs.
Lavender Honey Caramel: our honey caramel infused with Mountain Farm lavender, sprinkled with lavender salt.
Notes: I appreciated the use of both liquid and more chewy caramel interiors. I would love to see how pretty these truffles were when they were boxed before the temperatures took their toll on the garnishes! My favorite of this collection was the Sorghum Caramel!
The Bourbon & Beer Collection included:
Bourbon & Ginger: Maker's Mark bourbon and spicy, fresh ginger in dark chocolate, garnished with candied ginger.
Irish Depth Charge: Whiskey, house-made coffee liqueur, and a local stout in a white chocolate ganache.
Beer & Pretzel: Greenman IPA caramel with crunchy, housemade pretzel bits, garnished with a candied peanut and enrobed in dark chocolate.
Mint Julep: Knob Creek bourbon and fresh garden mint in a 66% chocolate ganache. Enrobed in dark chocolate and sprinkled with organic sugar.
Pisgah a la Mode: Vanilla bean white chocolate ganache layered atop a Pisgah Stout dark chocolate ganache. Enrobed in dark chocolate, with a white chocolate swirl.
Old Fashioned: Four Roses bourbon, Bittermilk old-fashioned bitters, a twist of orange and a touch of cherry in 68% Nicaraguan chocolate ganache, garnished with candied orange peel.
Notes: I shared one of each truffle with Sara since we are both bourbon/whiskey fans! The ginger in the Bourbon & Ginger was indeed spicy, almost too much for my palate. I appreciated the variety of bourbons and local beers used in the thick ganaches. My favorite truffle was the Old Fashioned. It was neither over powering nor underwhelming in any of the flavors. Perhaps it was a given that it would be my winner: an Old Fashioned is one of my go-to drinks :)
Working for a company that also produces artisan chocolates and being a part of the fulfillment/shipping/packaging side of things has given me a very discerning eye for details. I found it interesting that French Broad Chocolates stamps the name of the collection on the outside/front of their boxes. It gives the assortment a hand-made touch, but also looks a bit sloppy when the ink is not consistent in boldness. Their bows left a little to be desired (not pictured as I tore into these boxes pretty quickly after receiving!), but again, this could be because I see the most beautiful and evenly tied bows by our expert, Maura, on a daily basis! Their ribbons were two different shades of brown as well. When typing up the descriptions for this post I noticed a few typos and inconsistencies ("house-made" v. "housemade")- that is the anal, OCD person in me coming out! Their shipping materials were noteworthy: branded outer box with information regarding the biodegradable nature of everything along with branded gel packs wrapped in kraft paper. Clearly environmentally conscious. It is obvious that they are a small, locally focused company with a passion for chocolate and an interest in remaining purists.
Overall I believe that my first "club" purchase was a success! They offer additional collections besides the ones I purchased, including a vegan assortment! According to their website they also have bars and brownies. I would love to visit their shop in Asheville some day :)
*all names/descriptions were copied directly from the guides provided with the collections.
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