SCHARFEEN BERGER Artisan Chocolate Bars, Bittersweet, 3 Ounce (Pack of 6)

Oh for heavens sake; these are supposed to be reviews of chocolate, not legal complaints about buttons found in a chocolate bar bought *at your local store*, not through Amazon.com. Yeesh.Scharffen Berger 70% (that's 70% cacao) is the perfect degree of darkness, in my opinion; their milk chocolate tastes pretty much like everybody else's (maybe a little better), and their 82% is too caffeineated for me (I would find myself clinging to the ceiling with fingers and toes, like a Gekko); but if you have a higher caffeine tolerance, you might like the bitterness of the 82% more than the 70% -- experiment! (I haven't had occasion to try the 62% yet, but I would probably consider it not dark enough.)This is sipping chocolate, not chugging chocolate: It's best to nibble a little bit with each tiny bite, focusing all of your attention on the flavor, consistency, fragrance, and the aftertaste.Valrhona is another good chockie, sweeter that Scharffen Berger and (in my opinion) with a simpler taste. If I were cooking something with chocolate, I would choose Valrhona; but for eating straight, I prefer SB.Valrhona (from the Rhone Valley, hence the name) is a classic European chocolate -- French, in this case. Scharffen Berger is American, despite the name, from Berkeley; in 2005, Hershey bought them out; but I don't believe the parent company has monkeyed with the manufacture of SB chocolate. Wikipedia says that Scharffen Berger was the first American chocolate manufacturer to open in 50 years that creates its own chocolate "from bean to bar." They taste very different, each being at the top of form for the region (Europe or America).I think Valrhona has a wider selection of flavors in their chocolate, but they all tastes a bit too sugary to me; Scharffen Berger is more a dessert than mere chocolate, but neither one is a simple candy bar.The prices are comparable to buying the same chocolate from Whole Foods or some other store that sells gourmet chocolate. However, since it's sold by third-party grocers, you can't get free shipping; at least I don't see any reference to it. And shipping is pricey: eight dollars for chocolate costing up to thirty dollars worth... so if you can find it at a local store, you're better off buying it from there.But if you live in a chocolate desert, this is an alternative, if you must have a truly fine chocolate.

If you're a choco-holic you probably like everything that comes your way, like Hersheys, or even lesser brands. As long as it's chocolate, it's good.But then we had the pleasure of having a German girl come to visit us, and she brought some of the "real" stuff from her country, and it just strikes you how much better the higher quality stuff is. I'm not denigrating Hershey's or Nestles or whatever--all right, I am, though I still like those brands too. But try this chocolate, and you'll know what I mean.It's a semi-sweet bar and therefore made for cooking, so it's not going to taste as sweet as normal chocolate you get in this country, but trust me: you'll probably never get to cooking with it. We handed some out to friends to show them the difference, and ate the rest ourselves.It's pricey (we paid about $16) but you get six bars for it. The pieces are a bit big, so the bar goes pretty fast.But taste it: it's sweet, but the most amazing quality is its RICHNESS. It has a very full quality to it--there are three real sensations with most food: the first taste when you bite it, then the "mouthful" taste, then the lasting or after-taste as it disappears down your gullet--and all of these tastes are of CHOCOLATE. Not sugar, not additives..nothing but full, rich CHOCOLATE.It's really wonderful. There's nothing quite like it.

I bought my wife a pack of Scharffen Berger for her birthday even though a few of the reviews warned of poor packaging/delivery and a disappointingly average taste. However, one of my teachers raved about it so we had to give it a try. Before eating it, we read all about how they preserve the older chocolate-making traditions so that the chocolate keeps all the subtle flavors it inherently has--which put us both in a hungry mood! And we LOVED it. The chocolate is the healthy medium between brittle and soft. Also, there are so many subtle, citrus-y flavors in the chocolate bar, we easily devoured three bars in two days!! The chocolate bars are about half a centimeter thick, 3 in x 8 in rectangles, patterned into easily breakable triangles that don't quite fit into your mouth for one bite. The most wonderful part of eating this chocolate is how nibbling only a small amount of the chocolate triangle releases a big taste, enabling you to enjoy small pieces for longer.The flavor is not quite American and not quite European, but you definitely have to try it at least once!

I have found no better 70% dark chocolate than Scharffen Berger. If you told me I would be ordering my chocolate on-line ever before in my life, I would say you were crazy. When my local supplier runs out, I try all of the other high end chocolates. I have not, to date, found a chocolate that is as good as this one. In a taste test, side by side or trying something else on its own, nothing compares. The taste is a perfect blend of bitter with a hint of sweet. No waxy or milky tastes. The texture is excellent as well as the flavor. I don't know how they make it but I'm glad they do.I used to be the only one who ate them, but once my red wine loving husband found out about them ... now I have to keep a stash hidden or it is gone with the next bottle he opens, if not before.

I know this product well. When fresh,it is terrific, truly delicious. I've bought it twice on Amazon. The first time, it was excellent, just what I expected. The second time, it was as stale as any food I've ever tasted! Inedible! It was rock hard with a white film on the outside, denotinc stale chocolate.