Chocolate from my northern neighbors.
I was over in Canada yesterday and I stopped at the Duty Free Shop to see if they had anything good in the way of chocolate. They always have a big assortment of Lindt and Toblerone, which is part of Kraft Foods which somehow makes it less appealing because I think of macaroni and cheese when I see it (and its yellow too, so that doesn’t help).
Well, the one thing that did catch my eye was the display of Rogers’ Chocolates. Their factory is located in Victoria, BC and they have a store downtown as well as a few other stores in BC. Take a look at their website to see a virtual tour of the factory. There are some good shots of folks making chocolate on the line. They kinda make me think of that I Love Lucy scene in the chocolate factory. :)
Here are the three I bought:
Yes, Jon isn’t very daring when it comes to choosing flavors, especially with the wide assortment there. They had some with maple syrup in them and I also saw the dreaded ginger flavored one. I learned my lesson on that flavor, although that one was a different company and Rogers’ may be better at it. Maybe I should have at least tried the maple syrup but I always get burned on funny additives like that. They even had a “Chipotle” bar (I think) that sounded like it was hot. Again, after trying that other bar with chilis in it, I decided to stay away.
The first thing that I like about these chocolates is the packaging. Most bars have a foil insert wrapper and a paper outer, but it is all folded. While this keeps out dirt, other things like air, moisture, and especially odors can still get in easily and ruin your chocolate. The Rogers’ bars had a plastic inside wrapper (looks like a metallized mylar or something) that was sealed so your chocolate stays fresh and safe from outside yuckies.
I tried the milk chocolate bar first and it was quite good. Very smooth and creamy. Its pretty viscous which is ok for milk chocolate. I think it has to do with partical grain size, and larger particle sizes give it a stickier “mouth feel”. Still good chocolate and I would buy another bar. And yes, I ate half the bar this AM. Uh, not that I am abandoning my position on dark chocolate. ;)
I also tried the Roger’s Classic Mystere (there’s supposed to be a little slash thingy over the first “e” in that name but I couldn’t figure out how to do it). This is a 72% cacao bar. It was pretty good, but I still prefer Lindt’s 70% bar because I like the “tart” overtones that it has. Still, most dark chocolate folks are going to like it, so pick up a bar and have a taste.
Lastly, I had the Rogers’ Dark bar, which is a semi-sweet bar. This one had a real odd flavor. Its hard to describe what the flavor was but I really didn’t care for it. Maybe I just like my chocolate either alot darker or more like the milk chocolate.
Next time I go to Canada, I will buy that maple flavored bar and try it. Hey, ya gotta try new stuff once in a while, right?
One last bar that I bought (not in Canada) was the Ritter Sport Corn Crisp bar (its the one in the yellow wrapper). Its made with Corn Flakes! Not exactly a gourmet bar, but it was too bizarre to pass up. Milk chocolate with corn flakes. Tastes the same as with rice krispies in it, but the idea was funny anyway.
Sorry (again this week) for the short Chocolate Friday post. I really want to get some shots and demos of the tempering machine next week, but 1) taxes are due and 2) training is making me so tired I want to die.
April 8th, 2005 10:30
Here you are my friend: myst?re. Little slash thingy also known as accent grave. ;) You really should have tried the maple Jon, ’tis maple season for us right now; you would have been honouring one of my favourite festive seasons: sugar season! LOL :)
I’ll have to try some of these Rogers bars; I’ve not heard of them before. Now, as for Ritter Sport, well by golly I just love them all! Just gentle chocolate. My DH just goes all silly over the Crisp bars. Me, well I’m pretty easy that way, pretty much any chocolate works for me. :)
April 8th, 2005 11:01
Yep, Kraft and chocolate just don’t sound good together now that you mention it. Makes me think of condiments instead.
April 8th, 2005 11:28
Jon, now that you have tried Rogers chocolates from Victoria, you should try and get your hands on Gabriola Island chocolate from on of the Gulf Islands in BC. They make a bar with garlic that is unbelievably good! Very hard to come by though.
April 8th, 2005 11:41
Man, you do like your chocolate!!
April 8th, 2005 12:09
Roger’s is IMMENSELY popular in B.C. Good stuff! And toblerone? Don’t get me started man!
My last comment before the trip. Ciao and catch ya later Jon!
April 8th, 2005 12:32
Glad you had the opportunity of enjoying the Rogers chocolates. My mom has a sister that lives in Victoria and every Christmas she would send us a “Christmas Hamper” of selected chocolates from Rogers. Yummmmmm.
:)
April 8th, 2005 13:40
A lot of canadian chocolate has an English “taste” to it ’cause of out roots eh!
April 8th, 2005 13:46
I love Roger’s chocolate … mmmm! I also wanted to point out that if you train so hard you die, you have a lot of Chocolate Fridays to do in advance. So, take care of yourself!
April 8th, 2005 15:55
I must Never get anywhere,, I have not heard or tried rogers,, yeah heard of toblerone,, they come with that chicken place,, swisschalet????
heather
April 8th, 2005 23:49
Thanks to your post I have a new business idea. I’ll start a company and make dinners of macaroni and chocolate that are sold in boxes. All the kids in the U.S. will rejoice and I’ll make a billion dollars. I can even add flavors like ginger, pepper, garlic. Mmm. Want to try it?
April 9th, 2005 04:41
You DO find the most interesting chocolates, Jon. And my taxes aren’t done either. I’ve never procrastinated so long as this.
April 9th, 2005 16:39
Num num… I started reading your post and immediately had to find the stash of chocolates someone just gave us– Mirabell “Echte Salsburge Mozartkugeln,” these little gold balls with a picture of Mozart on them, milk chocolate with soft nougat in the middle… Mmmm!
April 10th, 2005 07:12
Hmmm …. I’m going to have to keep my eyes open for the Rogers Chocolate bars! They sound sooooooo good!