Candy Bar Lab

A couple months ago, I stopped into a place in downtown Washington, DC called Artfully Chocolate because I was told they make a seriously delicious cup of hot chocolate. After looking through their dozen or so varieties of hot chocolate, I decided on the “Audrey Hepburn”, since the description was pretty much an espresso cup full of melted chocolate. It was incredible. If you’re ever near Logan Circle in DC, I highly recommend stopping in and getting yourself a cup.

Before I left though, I couldn’t help noticing the rack of candy bars they had on the counter under the label Kingsbury Chocolates. It turns out the same people who run the cafe also make their own chocolates at their Alexandria, Virginia location. They produce a bunch of candy bar varieties, including the dark chocolate and cocoa nibs one I picked up on my way out and the “ChocObama” Bar.

Structure
A 28-segment, molded dark chocolate bar with roasted cocoa nibs mixed in.

Texture
The chocolate is perfectly tempered with a firm snap and smooth feel. The cocoa nibs add just a hint of crunch to each bite.

Taste
The dark chocolate is deep without any unpleasant bitterness or acidity - just the way I like it. The taste of the nibs isn’t too noticeable because the chocolate already has a rather intense flavor, but I suppose they add to the overall taste of the whole bar.

Verdict
This is a pretty simple bar that’s perfectly executed. I’ll definitely stop into their cafe next time I’m in the area and pick up another variety, possibly the “ChocObama” Bar.

Heath Bars were easily one of my top three candy bars as a kid, along with Snickers and Twix. For me though, it’s best form was in Ben & Jerry’s Heath Bar Crunch. Unfortunately, I don’t believe they make that stuff anymore, but I can still have a plain old Heath Bar like this one whenever I have a craving.

Structure
A thin slab of toffee enrobed in milk chocolate.

Texture
The toffee is crunchy and brittle. You’ll notice that the chocolate doesn’t quite stick to the toffee, so there’s a tendency for it to want to break off if you don’t commit to biting firmly through the bar.

Taste
Toffee is such a magical taste. It’s pretty much caramelized sugar and butter. In fact, that’s exactly what it is, so it’s no surprise that it tastes good. Combined with milk chocolate - even less than stellar Hershey’s brand - toffee is even more magical. I could pretty much eat Heath Bars all day and not get sick of the flavor.

Verdict
I’ll admit that I’m completely biased about the Heath bar. There was no way I wasn’t going to give this a thumbs up. I’ve been enjoying these things for a couple of decades and that’s unlikely to change anytime soon.

The last Lake Champlain bar I tasted was absolutely one of the best candy bars I’ve ever had. Sadly, it’s been a while since I’ve had any of their products. Recently, I stopped at the Lake Champlain Chocolates store in Stowe, VT and was inspired to test out this peppermint bar.

Structure
A molded bar of dark chocolate with small pieces of peppermint pieces mixed in, segmented into eight large squares.

Texture
The chocolate is perfectly tempered - smooth with a firm snap. Unfortunately, the peppermint bits they’ve added don’t improve upon the texture of the plain chocolate. They’re small, hard, and not really all that delightful to bite into.
Taste
Again, the chocolate is really good and the peppermint disappoints. This is only a 54% cocoa product, which is a low percentage for dark chocolate, but right in the range that I prefer. It’s not overly sweet and not too bitter. As far as the peppermint pieces I mentioned, they disappoint because they don’t really add much flavor. There’s a hint of peppermint on the finish, but not nearly enough to live up to the billing of the packaging, which lead me to believe that peppermint was going to be the main flavor character.

Verdict
A bad candy bar by Lake Champlain Chocolates would be a huge accomplishment for some other manufacturers. Honestly though, I really didn’t enjoy this candy bar. I did like the chocolate, but would have preferred it either without the peppermint all together or with more peppermint punch built in.