Coffee and chocolate, chocolate and coffee. The two have never been more delicious, nor more closely aligned. Just in time for Valentine’s Day, we’ve put together a special roundup of some unique coffee and chocolate bars to get you in the love-spiked mood. Whether you’re partnered up with someone, or just indulging in a solo treat, chocolate and coffee are there for you this Valentine’s Day season. What’s not to love?
If your Valentine’s Day involves curling up on a couch in a wool blanket with a warm cup of coffee and a good book (with yourself or your sweetheart), this chocolate is for you. With the sweetness of milk chocolate, it’s as if the people at Tcho whipped up a cappuccino for you and popped it in a chocolate wrapper. And while some people (myself included) aren’t usually milk chocolate lovers, give this one the benefit of the doubt; it balances the sweetness well with the intensity of the Blue Bottle Coffee, leaving you craving more. Buy yourself two bars.
PT’s Coffee Bar
Think back to the first time you were served an Ethiopian natural. You know what I’m talking about, that moment when you thought “what is this blueberry explosion happening in my mouth?” That’s exactly what you get with PT’s Coffee Bar from artisan chocolatier Christopher Elbow, made with 64% dark chocolate from Madagascar and an Ethiopian Deri Kochoha. Black currant, raspberry, blackberry; it’s all there, and the flavor is so intense you really only need one square to be satisfied, which means you’ve got plenty of indulgence ahead of you.
Askinosie’s Dark Chocolate and Coffee Bar
Partnering with Intelligentsia, Askinosie makes a 72% Tanzania dark chocolate bar that’s mixed with a seasonal, single origin coffee. I tried one with La Tortuga from Honduras, resulting in a well-bodied chocolate that’s rich, syrupy and sophisticated. The kind of chocolate you’d want for a night of seduction.
Maverick Chocolate Co. 65% Espresso Dark Chocolate
In this Good Food Award winning artisan chocolatier’s bar, dark chocolate from the Dominican Republic and Peru is mixed with coffee roasted by Deeper Roots Coffee, a Cincinnati neighbor to Maverick Chocolate Co. What makes this bar stand out besides the smooth, rich flavor is the chocolate tasting guide that comes on the inside of the package. If you want focus on taking your time to enjoy all kinds of good things (including chocolate) on Valentine’s snag one of these bars and your chocolate tasting will take you long into the night.
Whylder’s Craft Chocolate Coffee Bar
A single varietal cacao paired with a seasonal, single origin coffee. What more would you expect from the good people at Coava? The chocolate is sourced in Nicaragua and made by bean-to-bar chocolate company Whylder’s. Snap off a square to start the day off right, and keep savoring it as long as you can.
Ritual Chocolate Anyetsu Bar
Denver roasters Novo Coffee partnered up with Park City-based chocolatier Ritual to make the Anyetsu Bar. The sun-dried Ethiopian coffee is paired with Balao chocolate from Ecuador. You’re left with a chocolate bar that’s self described as “dairing and delicate.” Exactly what one strives to be as a lover.
Jcoco Arabica Cherry Espresso
This bar is a little different from other coffee chocolate bars out there; it’s infused with CoffeeFlour. CoffeeFlour is made from dried coffee cherry pulp, which is then milled into a fine flour, and in this case, added to a chocolate bar. That means that buying this bar means that you help put a coffee byproduct to good use and you get a chocolate treat in the process.
Anna Brones is a Sprudge.com staff writer based in the Pacific Northwest. Read more Anna Brones on Sprudge.
