Chocolate

[metkirk]

Urgent guys, I need to find some decent chocolate to send my relatives in the US as gift. I know nothing about good chocolate so if you please recommend me some quality brand online. Thanks a lot!!!

 

[ratboycom]

Godiva is world known and is supposedly good. At least when I send boxes of it overseas Yumi's family is Jelous of her (I guess its stupid expensive in Japan, compared to the US where I can buy a like 1lb box for less than $40)

What about Local flavors for where you are living.

 

[Edward Appleby]

Godiva is solid but ubiquitous and rather uninteresting. How much do you want to spend?

 

[drizzt3117]

www.chocolates-elrey.com

some of the absolute best chocolate in the world. Get the sampler.

 

[metkirk]

I can spend around 50, 60 bucks. In my entire life, I've only eaten chocolate once or twice as I'm not fond of sweet stuff so I don't really know what to buy.

 

[RJman]

Godiva is awfully overpriced. The Thomas Pink of chocolate, much pretension with little to show. The chocolates in general are uninspired and not fresh. The best time to buy them is after a major holiday when every Barnes & Noble has them half off.

Joseph Schmidt and Scharffen Berger are both good domestic US brands. See's is a much-loved regional brand which is much less fancy but still nice.

 

[Arethusa]

Originally Posted by ratboycom

Godiva is world known and is supposedly good. At least when I send boxes of it overseas Yumi's family is Jelous of her (I guess its stupid expensive in Japan, compared to the US where I can buy a like 1lb box for less than $40) What about Local flavors for where you are living.
No. No. No. No. NO. A world of no. I'm sorry, but. Godiva is garbage. It's not solid, beyond the literal observation of its state of matter. It is slightly upscale NestlÃ

. Might as well be a Crunch bar. The prices they charge are simply insane. Personaly, I'm quite fond of Callebaut. Drizzt's link look potentially good, though I know nothing about them. There are other options, of course. You might want to try a local health nut gourmet store (Wild Oats, etc) and see what you can try. [edit]

Originally Posted by RJman

Joseph Schmidt and Scharffen Berger are both good domestic US brands. See's is a much-loved regional brand which is much less fancy but still nice.
I honestly wasn't that impressed when I tried Scharffen Berger. Maybe I should give it another shot some time. See's may not be fancy, but <3.

 

[william]

Valrhona chocolate is available at Whole Foods, etc. and is highly regarded.

 

[mayonaise]

Try and see if you can get Moonstruck.

 

[Edward Appleby]

Sees is a bit of a sentimental favorite of mine. It's become more widespread, but I don't know about availability in your area.

Not to defend Godiva or anything, but if the people you're giving it to are like 9 out of 10 Americans (i.e., they're not terribly descriminating in their chocolate tastes) then Godiva would be a very safe bet that they'll probably like very much and, moreover, that you can easily get at the mall.

 

[ratboycom]

No one ever said I gave good advice, hahaha

See's is pretty decent, my mom used to get chocolate from there when I was a kid. I think I might check out that chocolate place that was linked above. Personally I am fine with anything like a Dars chocolate bar for everyday occasions. Nice, Smooth, not overly sweet, cheap but not waxy (like Hershes, blech)

 

[drizzt3117]

Honestly, this is the best $24.95 you will ever spend.

http://sales.chocolateselrey.com/Detail.bok?no=4

If you buy 4 packs (~100) they will ship fedex for free. I got a bunch of these last xmas for gifts and the recipients LOVED them. I can't get over how good this stuff is, and there are lots of bars that are nowhere near as good selling for 2-3x the price. $4/bar is really nothing for chocolate of this caliber.

 

[lurker]

anyone knows anything good available in HK, Singapore or mainland China?

If you happen to be in Tokyo, you have to try Le Chocolat De H in Roppongi.

www.lcdh.jp

 

[acidboy]

A personal favorite is Royce's Nama chocolates. And they have chocolate covered potato chips that are allegedly really good.

 

[pinchi22]

As an self-confessed chocolate addict and snob, I´m a fan of Pierre Marcolini and Michel Cluizel. But, they´re pretty hard to find, and won´t impress non-purists.

So, as a gift I´d go for Godiva. Yeah, it´s overrated and overpriced, but it´s nicely packaged and is a recognizable brand (kinda like certain champagnes). Neuhaus is about the same quality and maybe a little less expensive.