Choco Rush delivers the best craft chocolate bars to your door for only $39 per month, shipping free within the U.S. Each bar is selected by Choco Rush’ expert curators and made by the world’s finest chocolate makers. No soy lecithin here – cocoa beans and sugar are about the only things you’ll see in the ingredients list.
I’m excited to taste this month’s chocolates!
DEAL: Get 10% off your first club box! Use coupon code CRCR9.
Everything in my box! The first thing I noticed was how beautiful the packaging was. Though you never want to judge solely by the wrapper, I got the sense that these selections were going to be polished products, not rough vehicles for peculiar cocoa varietals.
Violet Sky Ecuador 77% Vinces ($8): This Ecuadorian bar comes from the city of Vinces, known as a great chocolate-producing city.
Made solely of cocoa beans and sugar, this bar showcases the undoctored flavor of the beans.
Even the inner wrapper was pretty!
The bar has a very dark complexion and nice sheen. the texture is smooth, but the chocolate has a dry and slightly “clingy” texture after is dissolves.
The dark cocoa notes are very strong, with the citrus really only emerging after the chocolate has left your mouth, lingering in the same fashion grapefruit does. I did find a bit of luscious cherry when pocketing a chunk in my cheek and letting it melt there.
Cacaosuyo Piura Select 70% ($9): This Peruvian chocolate is slightly below, or just at, the bar for consideration as a “dark” chocolate. The resulting chocolate is light, bright, and sweet enough to enjoy chunk after chunk.
The bar has won a Gold in Peruvian and Bronze in Americas competitions.
Made of just cocoa and sugar, this bar boasts of notes of light citrus and nuts.
The inner wrapper is really cool looking. It is also functional, as it is hermetically sealed, unlike most folded foil wrappers.
The wrapper reveals the company’s efforts to recover cocoa plants from bygone eras.
The bar is divided into large triangles, and the relative sweetness of the bar makes the large pieces manageable. The texture is very snappy.
This bar is better for casual munching. The citrus notes are very light, but there is a pleasant, unctuous nuttiness like Brail nut or Macadamia.
Molucca Buru Indonesia 70% ($8.50): This Indonesian has a peculiarly floral character that really shines.
The texture is also very smooth, and earthy tones replace the expected bitterness of the finish.
The shiny interior wrapper.
The bar looks very dark, despite only having 70% cocoa.
My favorite of the box, this chocolate had the smoothest texture, most interesting flavor profile, and least bitter finish.
Woodland Salt Bar 70% ($4 each): This Portland-made bar is made in small batches, taken from raw bean to aged chocolate within the city limits.
The bar is tiny compared to the other selections, but two were included in the box. A sprinkle of sea salt is used to liven the flavor and add an extra dimension to the tasting. The sweetness and fruity tones of the initial tasting benefit from the addition.
The texture is creamy, but the strong grip of the bitterness leaves a sense of oaky dryness in its wake – the salt obscures this at first but then dissipates, leaving the lingering woodiness.
We love the concept of this box – many subscriptions throw a bar in from time to time, but it’s nice to have a dependable supply of purist-approved darkish chocolate. We approximate the retail value of this collection at $33.50, so there is a bit of a curation premium built in. The selections were of good quality, but I only found the Molucca to exhibit a character distinct enough to count as a discovery (to be fair, I probably taste more chocolate than most) – the others didn’t really fly their single-origin flag, though all but the Woodblock would certainly qualify as such. I did enjoy the texture of each bar, as the makers obviously took pains to go beyond the usual roughness of bean to bar offerings and deliver a smooth and enjoyable consistency. This is a great subscription to pick up to engage with artisanal chocolates.
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