For the Love of Baroness Chocolates (Review)

If you know me, you know I love chocolate.  But I am fussy about chocolate.  Having grown up in England, I am used to creamier chocolate (and actual chocolate, not “candy” too).  So I was delighted when chickadvisor chose me as one of 50 lucky Canadians to try all seven of the Baroness Chocolate bars.

Although I had not tried Baroness Chocolate before, the name was familiar from their kickstarter campaign a while back.  Baroness Chocolates motto is “Act with sincerity, Live with joy”and their chocolate does help with the joy part!  As a Canadian company, they choose to manufacture and package their chocolate here and they do not mass produce identical looking bars either – you get real chocolate!

Baroness Chocolate believes in ethical chocolate too.  All of their chocolate ingredients are sourced from Rainforest Alliance certified farmers, gluten-free, kosher and many of the bars are completely organic too.

Baroness Chocolate Tummy Rub

When you need a hug and a nap, deep milk chocolate with a dark chocolate cookie wafer

I will start with my favourite of the seven.  I a huge believer in not wasting good chocolate by adding a pile of ingredients and “stuff”.  I love a good milk chocolate bar but Baroness Chocolates Tummy Rub is absolutely delicious.  The chocolate is a bit darker/deeper tasting than regular milk chocolate and the dark chocolate wafer is substantial and crunchy but not so much that it takes away from the chocolate.  Tummy Rub really is like a chocolate hug, the ultimate in comfort food and one I would definitely buy if I saw in a store.  I saved a little of this (not much, because I loved it) for a gluten free friend who often misses cookie type chocolates to try because I am sure she will love it.

Baroness Chocolate Dob Dobs

Chocolate that lingers on your tastebuds like a loving embrace then slaps you in the face.  Semi sweet chocolate with caramel and pecans.

So often, you see advertisements for chocolate and the bar is nothing like it.  Dob Dobs is a little different looking from the packaging but that is actually a good thing.  They have taken the pecans that encrust the top in the images and put them inside so the caramel melts around it and you don’t get nuts crumbling off while you try to eat it.  I do not find that it slaps you in the face, the semi-sweet chocolate has a bit of bitterness but nowhere near dark chocolate.  It is the perfect Baroness Chocolate bar for those looking for something with a bit of extra sweetness.  The caramel leaks out when you bite it, but not dripping so you can enjoy it on the go.  Again, something I will buy again.

Baroness Chocolate Love & Blessing

Chocolate tastes better when shared.  50% milk chocolate and 50% dark chocolate – 100% organic

I actually thought that this would be my favourite when I first read the descriptions.  I think mine may have been a bit more more than 50% dark.  In my images, you can see the smaller amount of milk chocolate.  It was still delicious, but if you prefer milk, it is worth noting that the handmade nature of Baroness Chocolate means that you may not get exactly as advertised.

When I say handmade, I mean handmade – check out this image from CBC when they toured Baroness Chocolates

Go inside the Baroness Chocolate Factory on CBC News Ottawa@6 #madeinottawa #cbcott @baronesschoc pic.twitter.com/1h62Ylt2dY

— Sandra Abma (@abmacbc) April 21, 2014

That being said, the chocolate was delicious and you can tell that Baroness Chocolates puts a lot of care into their chocolate.  The dark chocolate was deep but not that chalky bitter chocolate you get from some of the “gourmet” chocolate places that have popped up recently.

Baroness Chocolate Aiyaaaa!

Summon the Kung Fu Master within with dark milk chocolate, almonds, sea salt and delicious butterscotch

Like Dob Dobs, they have opted to move the nuts into the bar rather than on top with this one as shown in the advertising.  I don’t know about Kung Fu Master, but for someone who generally prefers chocolate without nuts, I found this one really delicious.  The sweetness of the butterscotch is a nice touch with the slightly darker chocolate used by Baroness Chocolates so it is very balanced.  I liked that the nuts were a mixture of slivers/pieces and fairly full almonds too, the texture change was nice compared to many that have tiny pieces.

Baroness Chocolate Mocha Krunhjah

Give yourself permission to say what you want.  Medium dark chocolate with coffee, toffee, sea salt and almonds.  Certified organic.

There is a lot going on in a Mocha Krunhjah bar (and try saying that name several times fast).  The coffee flavour is milder than I would have thought and apart from the chocolate being a darker blend/colour, this one does look like the advertising. What is not clear is that the toffee is sponge toffee which makes me like it more and there are large pieces of it though the bar with the rest of the ingredients sprinkled on top.  There is too much in it for my tastes, but after my taste test, I shared and it was a favourite with others.

Baroness Chocolate Subversive Squirrel

Stay free and fight the power!  Very dark chocolate with peanuts and brittle.

Subversive Squirrel is a peanut lovers dream.  It has large pieces of peanut brittle through the bar and then piles of peanuts sprinkled on the top.  Like the others, the dark chocolate (and it very dark chocolate) doesn’t have that chalkiness that other gourmet dark chocolates suffer from which is great.  I personally think I would have liked this better if the chocolate was not quite so dark.  It has a great name though so it rocks!

Baroness Chocolate Tantric Tiger

Breathe deeply and then pounce!  Roasted almonds, cranberries, and sea salt in semi sweet chocolate.

Semi sweet chocolate always makes me think of raiding the baking supplies when I am low on regular chocolate which probably colours my opinion of this one a little but I am just not a fan of Tantric Tiger (despite the amazing name).  The ingredients in this one are generally not ones  would go for (I do like sea salt but the cranberries and semi-sweet chocolate I can do without).  I am sure if you are a fan of cranberries you would probably like it.  Like some of the others, they have opted to put the cranberries and almonds inside of the bar rather than sprinkled on top as shown on the packaging.  While I am a huge fan of the Baroness Chocolates brand, I don’t ever see myself buying this one.

In all, they were absolutely delicious and you can tell that Baroness really cares about the chocolate they make.  If you feel like really treating yourself, they also have one that is wrapped in edible 24 karat gold and comes in a crystal display box – but you can buy a lot of regular Baroness Chocolate bars for $180 that the gold one costs!

As mentioned, some are darker than others.  Baroness Chocolates uses a blend of chocolates in every bar and make it easy for you to see how dark your chocolate is at a glance on the packaging.  The lighter the brown on the chart, the lighter your chocolate.

Connect with Baroness Chocolate

Shop online or find out more about their chocolates here

Find a store selling Baroness Chocolates here

Disclaimer: I received my Baroness Chocolates from ChickAdvisor free of charge for review purposes.  All opinions are my own.