Chocolate. Not something I have blogged about much lately, but, it is one of the first product types I ever reviewed regularly. Bars, truffles, and such ... strangely I'm not super into chocolate desserts (although, yes, I love a great chocolate cake, a chocolate mousse, etc). I used to run a chocolate tasting club in my office even. So, yes, I'm kinda a chocolate girl, and literally start every day with either a truffle or decent sized hunk of chocolate alongside my coffee. Every day. Without fail.
Travel. Pre-COVID, I travelled, for my job, a lot. 120+ nights a year on the road, and I learned quickly to join a hotel chain loyalty program (Starwood, now Marriott), and stay true to it, quickly earning high status, and enjoying all the perks that came along with it (if you travel that much, it really does matter!). This past year, they gave all the high loyalty members a "gift". The gift was $100 to spend ... at any of their boutiques.
It turns out that $100 doesn't actually get you much at many of these boutiques - sure I could get a small travel sized bath product from any of their brands (and I do love the W Bliss products!) - or I could get some random kitchen dishes from Courtyard ... and that is what my "responsible" self almost did. But my attention pretty quickly went towards the few culinary offerings.
"Indulge in the curated decadence of The Ritz-Carlton gourmet collection. Savor the flavorful taste of sustainably farmed caviar, gift our delicious chocolates, cake and exclusive coffee to a special someone or treat yourself."
The Ritz Carlton boutique has a couple "gourmet" options: their signature chocolate cake (which was sold out from the time I got the gift until it was set to expire, so not an option), caviar (way more $$$ than $100), branded coffee, and, chocolate collections (dark or milk & dark, 16 or 25 pieces).
So my choice was clear. I was going to "splurge", and use my entire $100 gift just to ship myself a box of 25 very expensive chocolates - $59.99 for the chocolates, plus tax, plus required expedited shipping. I knew there was no way this was maximizing the value, but hey, it was a gift, and I wanted chocolate.
The chocolates are branded as Ritz Clarton, but, a considerable bit of digging on my part lead me to the source: Norman Love Confections. (The tip off? One particular truffle with a very unique name allowed me to track these down).
"Norman Love has been producing beautiful handcrafted chocolate in Fort Myers, Florida since 2001. With an emphasis on artistry, premium ingredients, and innovative flavor combinations, the renowned chocolatier has earned significant national and international acclaim for his edible masterpieces."I don't know much else about the chocolate maker, but Norman Love produces a large range of bars, "specialties", e.g. all sorts of flavors of malt balls, chocolate covered cookies, chocolate pops, chocolate caramels and toffee, hot chocolate, and more.
The Assorted Collection, 25 Piece: Packaging. |
The Assorted Collection: Guide (2 Sided). |
- Caramel Macchiato
- Dulce de Leche
- Peanut Butter Marshmallow
- Peanut Butter & Jelly
- Sicilian Pistachio
- Tahitian Caramel
Dark Chocolate
- 80% Coueur de Guanaja
- Coconut
- Cookies 'N' Cream
- Hot Dark Chocolate
- Peanut Butter Cup
- Raspberry
- Tiramisu
- Key Lime Shell
- Yuzu Mango
- Passion Panna-Cotta
- Strawberry
- New York Cheesecake
- White Chocolate Raspberry
- Sea Salt Caramel Truffle
- Dark Chocolate Cream Truffle
- Passionfruit Truffle
- Roasted Almond Truffle
- “Shot in the Dark” Truffle
- Hazelnut Praline Truffle
The Assorted Collection. 25 Piece. $59.99 + $24.99 (mandatory) Shipping. |
This comes out to ... $3.40 per piece if you include shipping, $2.40 if you don't. Yes, these were expensive chocolates.
Milk Chocolate
Caramel Macchiato. |
This was ... ok.
The milk chocolate shell was fine, as with all the chocolates, not too thick, not too thin, and quality chocolate, creamy milk chocolate.
Inside was smooth, creamy caramel. Not too runny, not too stiff. But I didn't taste any espresso or coffee flavor, nor the white chocolate either, it just tasted like caramel. Not quite as advertised.
So "fine", a quality piece, but, it didn't deliver on the macchiato front.
***.
Dulce de Leche. |
"A sweet layer of dulce de leche covers a decadent caramelized white chocolate ganache."
This one took a while for me to try, as I usually approached my box in the morning, cup of coffee in hand, barely awake, and wanted something ... less sweet. Finally though, it was time to go sweet.
And quite sweet this was, as I expected.
Lovely creamy milk chocolate shell that melted in my mouth. And inside, just as promised, a sweet white chocolate ganache, with a layer of gooey, even sweeter, dulce de leche above it.
Creamy, creamy, creamy, and sweet, sweet, sweet. But quite enjoyable, high quality piece.
***+.
Peanut Butter Marshmallow. |
"“Mallow” out with a classic combination of marshmallow, peanut butter and white chocolate ganache."
Ooop! I took this one thinking it was the Dulce de Leche, really in the mood for caramely flavor, and was quite surprised when I bit in. Heh.
But once I reset my expectations, "uh, that seems like peanut butter ....", I really enjoyed. Smooth, creamy, quality milk chocolate shell, and a lovely sweet smooth peanut butter center. The ganache really was extraordinary, so smooth, and perfectly balanced - it was certainly sweet (although it didn't taste like marshmallow exactly), but it wasn't cloying, and the peanut butter was quite present, but not too rich.
A very nice piece, although if you really wanted to taste "marshmallow" I'm not sure you'd be happy with it.
****.
Peanut Butter & Jelly. |
Sicilian Pistachio. |
"Say “Ciao” to your cravings with this pistachio and white chocolate ganache, covered in milk chocolate."
The most memorable thing about this piece was the lovely green color of the filling. It really was just a vibrant and really nice color. It was striking.
And everything else about the piece? Not memorable, in any way.
The milk chocolate shell was creamy, but fairly lost amongst the generous filling, I didn't really taste chocolate much at all. The filling was very sweet, creamy, thick, um ... green, but only had a subtle pistachio flavor (if any, really). I could easily have believed it was just white chocolate.
Don't get me wrong, it was a tasty piece, but, chocolate and pistachio both did not come through. Lovely green white chocolate ganache though!
***.
Tahitian Caramel. |
"It begins with a layer of creamy milk chocolate and a buttery caramel center accented with the essence of vanilla beans."
Tahitian Caramel was the last milk chocolate piece I tried as it was simply the most boring, and not one I was ever inspired to select, until I had no other choice.
This was the third "caramel"-like piece I tried - the dark chocolate caramel machiato and the dulce de leche were essentially caramels as well. And ... it truly was the most boring.
Yes, quality, creamy milk chocolate shell that kinda melted in my mouth. Perfectly smooth creamy balanced caramel inside, not cloying. But ... that was it. I didn't taste the "essence" of vanilla, there was no pop of salt, just nothing particularly interesting, at all, about this piece.
Totally fine, a simple classic, but bo-ring.
***.
Dark Chocolate.
80% Coueur de Guanaja. |
Coconut. |
Cookies 'N' Cream. |
This one let me down.The dark chocolate shell was perfect, they really do nail the proper thickness, enough to really taste the quality, smooth dark chocolate, but easy to break through.
The filling though was ... boring? I expected to really taste coconut, I was even hoping for shredded coconut inside, and this was just ... smooth white cream, sweet ... and I really didn't taste coconut, at all.A fine sweet truffle, but not coconut. ***.
Well, yes, self, not coconut. I clearly didn't detect the dark chocolate crunch either, but I did at least recognize that the inside was just smooth white cream? Heh. Oh well. Disregard this review.
Hot Dark Chocolate. |
Peanut Butter Cup. |
Raspberry. |
Tiramisu. |
Truffles
I really enjoyed many of the "regular" filled chocolates, but was eager to dive into the truffle collection too - all round, all filled with flavorful ganaches. Most of the best pieces of the box were truffles.
Passionfruit Truffle. |
"Travel to the tropics with the vibrant flavor of passion fruit, mixed in a milk chocolate ganache."
Passionfruit. I *love* fresh passionfruit. When I'm somewhere it grows locally, that is. In the US ... yeah, not so much. And passionfruit "flavor" things usually let me down big time. Just sweet, usually fake tasting.
But one day I really, really wanted a fruity truffle, and so the passionfruit jumped out at me.
I loved it.
The milk chocolate shell was smooth and creamy, actually *good* milk chocolate. The kind the melts in your mouth, if you take the care to eat slowly. And inside, a fruity, milk chocolately ganache. Incredible smooth and rich, light chocolate flavor, plenty of fruitiness. It didn't taste fake, it was the right level of sweet, and, most of it, it actually tasted like passionfruit.
I was quite surprised by this piece, every element of it alone was perfectly executed, and together it was a delight.
****+.
Dark Chocolate Cream Truffle. |
This was the first truffle I tried, and I was very, very impressed.
The shell was smooth, shiny, snappy quality dark chocolate, as with the dark chocolate pieces, not too thick, not too thin. Quality.
Inside was lovely. Thick yet creamy, beautiful chocolate ganache. Soooo smooth, so rich, and full of deep dark chocolate flavor.
I savored every moment of eating this piece.
****+.
Hazelnut Praline. |
"Pure and delicious Hazelnut praline is better than ever in this luscious milk chocolate truffle."
This was a good version of a pretty "standard" flavor these days. Creamy milk chocolate and hazelnut isn't really novel at this point, and there wasn't anything extraordinary about this, but the inside was creamy smooth milk chocolate ganache, with little caramelized bits of hazelnut praline, lovely, um, Nutella-like flavor. All coated in their standard quality milk chocolate shell.
I'll give an extra point for the crunchy bits of hazelnut on top too.
Solid, fine, but less special than other flavors. ***.
Shot in the Dark. |
"Power up with extra shot of espresso and coffee-infused cream in this intense dark chocolate filling."
This one delivered on its promise. Unlike others that may have had subdued flavors, there was *no* denying the espresso in this one. Smooth snappy dark chocolate shell, and creamy espresso filling. It was bitter in a good way, and, well, tasted like coffee. No, like espresso.
It truly was an espresso shot ... wrapped in dark (chocolate). Well named, Norman Love.
***+.
Roasted Almond Truffle. |
"This milk chocolate truffle is sweet perfection from the milk chocolate shell to the creamy milk chocolate and almond center."
Wow, yum.
This was the last truffle I tried, as I wasn't particularly excited for it. It turned out to be lovely.
Very smooth, creamy milk chocolate shell. The milk chocolate shells in general seem a bit thicker than the dark, resulting in a creamier mouth feel, vs the snappier dark chocolate.
And inside, sweet, smooth, creamy, almond ganache. I thought there would be almond bits, but there were not. Just smooth and luxurious, which worked really well. The "roasted almond" flavor was quite nice.
Complex flavors in this one, and truly enjoyable.
****.
Sea Salt Caramel Truffle. |
"This perfectly balanced dark chocolate truffle is filled with sweet golden caramel and topped with red and pink sea salts."
A very classic truffle, perfectly done. Same dark chocolate shell - snappy, not too thick, slightly sweeter dark chocolate style. The sea salt on top amped up the overall flavor, and even provided a tiny bit of texture.
The caramel inside was quite sweet, but buttery, and had quite a depth of flavor. Far more than I expected. It was not a runny style per se, but it was not thick either.
You definitely need to be in the mood for a sweet piece, but the quality of the caramel in particular made this standout.
****+.
White Chocolate
Key Lime Shell. |
Yuzu Mango. |
Passion Panna Cotta. |
Strawberry. |
New York Cheesecake. |
White Chocolate Raspberry. |
best qulity in a packaging Premium gourmet chocolate truffle packaging
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