I don’t even know if we have those here! ETA: I’m googling now, definitely nothing I’ve ever heard of, which seems odd.
Has anybody seen those crystal gems candies, they look so good to me!
If you mean not-chocolate crystal gems, yes! I tried them from a local shop recently. They were pretty good but extremely sweet and the flavor was very subtle. I liked the texture, though. Crunchy on the outside, gummy on the inside.
Not fancy by most people’s standards, but we geek out over Macy’s Frango mint chocolates.
I think these are a Chicago classic! They were from Marshall Fields originally. I bought a couple of these for gifts for Christmas last year (ordered online).
I received a Godiva gift box last year too and I thought that was fancy.
I also like the mini Ritter chocolate squares that come in a neatly stacked variety multipack. They're hard to find around here. One year I found them at Walmart but never again, I always look. Earlier this year I found them at World Market but they weren't there when I went last week. I gave my staff some of the standard sized squares one time just randomly and they were all raving about it.
If anyone tries to give me $20 worth of Andes mints in a gift exchange, they better sleep with one eye open. Blech.
I like fancy chocolate, but I like Andes mints and the other flavors too! My mouth prefers a thin slice of chocolate over a Hershey's kiss if I'm just looking for something small to get over that chocolate craving.
Ditto sent, Leonidas and Neuhaus are superb! I do prefer Belgian chocolate for fancy. But I eat almost any chocolate! I also gifted some French Broad Chocolate this year too. www.frenchbroadchocolates.com/pages/holiday-2023
We have a lot of fancy chocolate stores in the area. But really, anything not from the grocery store (excluding Costco) is fancy to me. I love getting those fancy chocolates and cookies from Costco during the holidays.
Every Christmas I ask for raspberry cremes from See’s. And I wish we had a Hotel Chocolat here. Best thing about London was eating a sour cherry chocolate from there.
For me: Basically, anything that's not Hersheys. The Hershey's flavor has maintained the "sour milk" element that allowed them to produce chocolate a century ago. Whttps://www.mashed.com/617307/the-tangy-taste-of-hersheys-chocolate-explained/
If you don't grow up on American chocolate it's hard to understand the popularity of such mediocre chocolate.
Give me Dove, Cadbury, Nestle, anything from Europe, or Israel, or Canada, Australia, or something local or regional like Sees or Tcho. Hersheys just ruins chocolate.
If you mean not-chocolate crystal gems, yes! I tried them from a local shop recently. They were pretty good but extremely sweet and the flavor was very subtle. I liked the texture, though. Crunchy on the outside, gummy on the inside.
Yes, those!! And it’s the texture that looks and sounds so appealing lol. But yeah, I bet you can’t eat too much b/c of the extreme sugar!
we followed a few recipes on tiktok to make these at home and they were far too sweet. Huge disappointment.
I ended up ordering some stuff from Sees! They have a box of chocolate covered marshmallows, so that was all I needed to see lol, got one of those for me and then some other boxes for gifts. Thanks:) I’ll also check out our local chocolate scene.
We have a mystery gift giver that sends us a gift every December with no note or anything and never a return address that makes sense. This year it was two pounds of See's candy. I remember as a kid growing up in CA where See's is everywhere, it was like, the height of sophistication in my mind, lol. ETA: It wasn't until someone on this board was like "See's candy is shit!" that I realized it wasn't that fancy. I think it's good!
I ended up ordering some stuff from Sees! They have a box of chocolate covered marshmallows, so that was all I needed to see lol, got one of those for me and then some other boxes for gifts. Thanks:) I’ll also check out our local chocolate scene.
do you like caramel? If you do, I highly recommend their Scotchmallows. They’re dark chocolate covered marshmallow and caramel
ETA: I obviously didn’t read your original post before, but here me out…ignore the dark chocolate, they are so good
Post by picksthemusic on Dec 11, 2023 13:48:44 GMT -5
We have Fran's here in Seattle that is amazing, we also really like Tony's chocolate for their fair trade practices. It's great chocolate, too! There's Theo's (I believe it's another Seattle based company), and I really like Guittard for baking.
I love L.A. Burdick. They have such unique flavors and the little chocolate mice are darling. I just got a giant giftbox of it yesterday from a coworker and I keep catching my chocoholic three year old sneaking truffles like they're M&Ms, lol.
We have a local candy store we go to for every holiday and give that as gifts. They are super popular and make their own chocolates. It’s very reasonably priced too.
Vosges comes to mind when I think fancy chocolate.
We have a local candy store we go to for every holiday and give that as gifts. They are super popular and make their own chocolates. It’s very reasonably priced too.
Vosges comes to mind when I think fancy chocolate.
I’d even call See’s Chocolates and Godiva “fancy” for the purposes of holiday gifts. Or those artisan chocolate bars you get at fancy grocery stores like Whole Foods, made of organic free-trade chocolate or whatever.
This was going to be what I suggested. We have a local organic/"fancy" food store here, similar to Whole Foods, but even more crunchy/locally sourced. And in front of their check-out lanes are insanely good chocolates (bars and other configurations). some are from local chocolatiers, some are from elsewhere.
I grabbed a couple bars as stocking stuffers for my kids last year. They're like $5-8/bar, so def not cheap for a bar of chocolate, but so so SO good!
I also like the mini Ritter chocolate squares that come in a neatly stacked variety multipack. They're hard to find around here. One year I found them at Walmart but never again, I always look. Earlier this year I found them at World Market but they weren't there when I went last week. I gave my staff some of the standard sized squares one time just randomly and they were all raving about it.
This is my go-to. I don't think they're particularly fancy, but they're easily found at the duty free chocolate shops that get loads of tourists dropped off. It's quite the sight. Chocolates, corelle, and, adjacent but with separate checkout, alcohol.
I think valhrona is considered fancy. Godiva middle of the road. Just like cars or wines or anything else that can be considered luxury, there can be a massive spread. I'm personally a fan of vosges, especially the naga bar.
For a nice enough for a small gift, ferrero rocher, godiva. I'm quite partial to those seashell swirls of milk and white chocolates which surprises me. It must be some nostalgic memory I've long since consciously forgotten.
I won't turn down dove dark chocolates with peanut butter. My latest kick is keeping some squares of ruby chocolate in my fridge.
We have Fran's here in Seattle that is amazing, we also really like Tony's chocolate for their fair trade practices. It's great chocolate, too! There's Theo's (I believe it's another Seattle based company), and I really like Guittard for baking.
This thread reminded me how much I love Theo's so I went looking ... they've merged with some other company, laid off a bunch of staff, and shut down manufacturing in Seattle. And my favorite things (caramels and chocolate-covered marshmallows) are no longer offered. I'm so bummed!