It’s Chocolate! (part V)

 

If you are buying "gifts" for yourself and the love the taste of pure fine chocolate, I have a very straightforward suggestion: buy one (or twelve) of their bars of milk chocolate. Nothing can measure up to this chocolate. It is creamy, melty, and slightly nutty with just the smallest hint of cinnamon and will transport you directly to choco-heaven, I promise it. My second favorite Austrian chocolate maker is Hauswirth. This is the ideal company to buy seasonal treats from and they have great prices and minimal foreign shipping charges. This company puts a lot of time and effort into their festive and elaborate foil wrappers so they are just as fun to look at as to eat. Also, if you are a lover of chocolate and orange combinations, this is the company for you: Hauswirth offers luscious, beautifully wrapped chocolate-covered orange slices, which are the best I've ever had. These are a treat harder to find elsewhere in the world and like I said, ordering from Hauswirth is quite easy. They usually have great deals on bulk chocolates for the holidays and be sure to check with them after the major days to see if you can get an even better deal. For another fine chocolate experience, I would suggest the Domori chocolatiers. This is an Italian company that specializes in organic chocolate. For those who aren't clear on how chocolate can be organic, it's quite simple—it's the same as with organic foods at your local natural foods store: no chemical fertilizers and no pesticides are used. Although I haven't been able to taste a real difference in the organic as opposed to the regular, I feel better knowing that there isn't any unnatural substance mucking up the taste of the chocolate (let alone my insides). Domori takes great pride in their organic status and offers a wide variety of these chocolates using cacao beans from the Dominican Republic and natural cane sugar as well. They call themselves the "Cacao Cult" and are absolutely scientific about their products. While I have tried their organic dark chocolate, I found the acidity to be a bit high for my taste, although for the dark chocolate aficionados, this is some of the finest dark chocolate in the world.