Seattle Chocolates

Update Review, 2021-2023 Tastings

Truffles

I've previously only reviewed some of the bars from Seattle Chocolates, but I've also had the chance to try many of their packaged truffles over the years.

The lineup is impressive, at least, more than 20 varieties.  They aren't the type of truffles you get when you visit a chocolate shop, rather, are designed for retail and individually wrapped, but, I've been quite impressed with the quality.  I just wish I could find some of the most amazingly sounding varieties, like "Birthday Cake Batter", peanut brittle, or rainier cherry

Sadly, I didn't take notes on most of them, as I really thought I had reviewed before.

"A Super Chocolate", with Coffee Flour.

"Crafted using the newest super food ingredient, CoffeeFlour, made from dried coffee cherry pulp, A Super Chocolate truffle provides a delectable balance of smooth, rich dark chocolate and deep, fruit-forward notes. Loaded with fiber, protein, potassium and iron, this truffle packs a nutritional punch. But that wasn’t enough, so we add a little texture and extra nutritional crunch with roasted cocoa nibs from Colombia."

Well, this one made a lot of claims.  I was skeptical, of course, although I've really enjoyed some products made with CoffeeFlour (interestingly, from a restaurant in the Seattle area as well, The Lakehouse, where I had CoffeeFlour toast, pancakes, granola, and more).

And ... this chocolate delivered!  I'm not sure how much of it was the CoffeeFlour to be honest, but the dark chocolate was very nice, smooth, good quality, rich, complex.  And I loved the texture from the nibs.  All around great.  ****+.

Blackberry Crème.

"Real blackberries in creamy white chocolate, enrobed in dark chocolate."

Another very enjoyable truffle.

The dark chocolate was smooth, clearly quality.  Inside, a very creamy lovely purple filling.  No seeds from the blackberries (phew!), just a bit of fruitiness.  Sweet, but not too sweet.

This piece wouldn't meet your "I want CHOCOLATE" needs, but it was really quite enjoyable for the style it was.  I'd gladly have another.  ****.

Rainier Cherry& Pecans.

"Fresh dried cherries and pecans praline in dark chocolate, featuring 100% Rainforest Alliance Certified™ cocoa. A Northwest favorite."

Somehow in my mind, even though I had read the description, I expected a big juicy cherry inside, like one of those cherry cordial things.  Not sure why, but I think that is my only experience of cherries and chocolate, and is what I wanted.

This truffle did not have that.  But it also just ... didn't have any cherry flavor detectable?  None.  I did like the bits of crunch from the pecan praline throughout though, and the chocolate was smooth, rich dark chocolate.

I enjoyed it, but cherry it was not. ***+.

Dark Chocolate Sea Salt with Toffee.

"A refined twist on an old favorite. Crunchy toffee with a hint of sea salt in our classic dark chocolate".

This was a nice chocolate, once I remembered the toffee component.  I bit in, and it went "CRUNCH" and really took me by surprise.  Then, I realized that was the toffee inside, and it all made sense.  But that first moment I thought "Woah! What is wrong with this chocolate!", heh.

The dark chocolate was smooth and rich, and the toffee added a pleasant sweetness.  I enjoyed this one too. ****.

Bars

Seasonal Limited Edition

We created these special chocolates for a limited time only. Get them while you can!

The Seattle Chocolates winter seasonal line really caught my eye.  I was just grocery shopping, chocolate not on my list, but when I saw a very impressive selection at my local grocery store, I had no choice but to stock up.  I kinda wanted them all.  And, they were limited!

It took me forever to pick just a few.  Sure, I could easily look past the football themed special bar, and even the pumpkin spice (sorry pumpkin spice, I never get that excited for you), but I was curious about Apple Pie a la Mode, which promised to contain both white and dark chocolate, in addition to spiced apples?  And I'm not sure what was seasonal about them, but, as a peanut butter and chocolate combo fan, it was hard to look past the Peanut Butter Crisp (milk chocolate base) or the Peanut Butter Pretzel (dark base) truffle bars.  And then there was the candy cane crunch, the winter orange spice, and others that I *didn't* pick.  Because there were even better options.  

Like I said, hard choices!  I was pleased with my selections though, and continue to really enjoy Seattle Chocolates.

Holiday Spiced Nuts.

"Back for the holidays! Who doesn’t love snacking on gourmet spiced nuts at a holiday party? Ever tried that same recipe of almonds and pecans enrobed in rich, dark chocolate? This salty-crunchy chocolate mix is impossible to resist!"

One bite into this and I knew I had made a good choice!  It was a lovey bar.

The bar didn't say what % dark chocolate it is, but, it was a smooth, rich, um, truffle-ly dark chocolate that just melted in my mouth, particularly if I took it slow.  Almost like a fudge.  I loved the crunch and flavors from the spiced nuts throughout - just almonds and pecans, but they had a touch of spices and sweetness to them.

Truly enjoyable bar, ****.

Hot Buttered Rum.

"Back for the holidays! We’ve captured the warmth and sweetness of an iconic holiday beverage into a creamy-crunchy milk chocolate truffle bar. Contains no alcohol, but a hint of classic Hot Buttered Rum spices and lots of crunchy bits of toffee covered in our signature milk chocolate."

I loved the sound of this bar, but definitely wondered how they would capture the "iconic holiday beverage" and transform that into a chocolate bar.  The answer?  Uh, not very well.  I honestly didn't detect anything that remotely reminded me of hot buttered rum.

But what I did find was a decent enough milk chocolate bar (32%), fairly creamy, but not particularly remarkable.  I found no spices, but the crunchy bits of toffee were certainly present, which created a somewhat confusing eating experience as the crunch was a bit counter to what I'm looking for in a smooth creamy milk chocolate.

It was an interesting bar, and nothing was wrong with it, but if you are seeking real "hot buttered rum" essence, or spices, or anything particularly noteworthy, keep looking.

***.

Original Review, March 2014

Continuing on the theme of chocolate from Seattle, like Theo Chocolates, I present the aptly named Seattle Chocolates. A visiting co-worker from Seattle brought a couple of their very interesting bars for me to try!

Lemon Ice Truffle Bar.

“White chocolate truffle bar infused with lemon oil and sour lemon candy pieces.”

This was really interesting! I generally avoid white “chocolate” as it tends to just be sweet overkill and uninteresting, but this was actually quite nice. The bar had little chunks of lemon candy inside that added a very intense lemon flavor and crunch and the white chocolate was not overly sweet.  Far exceeded expectations!

Birthday Cake Truffle Bar.

“Birthday cake mix center with colorful confetti pieces enrobed in milk chocolate.”

Hmm. This bar was kinda crazy looking on the inside, as it was all different colors. I couldn’t really pinpoint what the filling was though, I wouldn’t have guessed birthday cake, it was sorta just a sweet white chocolate like truffle center surrounded by mediocre milk chocolate. Not my thing, but certainly interesting to look at!

Margarita White Chocolate Truffle.

“The perfect blend of sweet and sour lime margarita with a coarse salt 'rim'. White chocolate.”

As I opened the wrapper, my first thought was, "wow, this does sorta resemble a margarita!", based on the aroma alone.  That thought continued as I bit in.  Yes, they did really channel a margarita on this one!  The salt coating and the lime flavor were both good, and fun flavors to have with chocolate, but the white chocolate itself had a bit of funk to it.  I did like the white chocolate in the lemon ice truffle bar, but here it really reminded me of just standard bad white chocolate.