Chocolate Store Reviews and More

Some of my favorite chocolatiers are Jacques Torres, L.A. Burdick, Christopher Elbow, La Carambole, Pierre Hermé, and Ginger Elizabeth.

Introduction

I like strong but not bitter flavors and combinations of flavors. Belgian chocolate is my favorite, but I am open to trying any chocolatier. I generally am not excited by truffles, especially when they are plain chocolate flavors. Instead, I like diverse flavors and textures, all sorts of chocolates with buttercrunch or hazelnut or fruit flavors or caramel or anything else.

The reviews page has full reviews of selected chocolatiers and stores. A separate page, my chocolate store directory, contains directory information (address, phone number, web page) for the reviewed stores and many others. The directory does not contain reviews except for some brief comments.

Glossary

Type:

The category of chocolate. Basic types are Junk, Standard, and Fine. Fine chocolatiers use high quality chocolate, and Standard chocolatiers use good quality, but the chocolate quality is not the only characteristic of the types. Fine chocolate celebrates the wonder of chocolate, and the chocolate flavor in fine pieces is usually quite distinct. Standard chocolate is aimed more at eating pleasure than tasting pleasure.

Typically, truffles and artisan chocolates are Fine. Nut clusters, creams, and caramels are usually Standard. Most chocolate in your grocery store candy aisle is Junk. However, particular pieces can cross boundaries if they are made with better or worse chocolate and are executed better or more poorly than others in their category.

Some chocolatiers cross types, so I have been creative in describing their mixes. Type is meant to describe the chocolate, not to rate it. Some Standard chocolatiers are recommended over some fine chocolatiers. For a rating, see my conclusion for each chocolatier.

Junk chocolate is that stuff you typically find in grocery stores or bulk candy stores and is not reviewed here.

Conclusion:

Rather than a mechanical rating, I summarize my opinion of each chocolatier, typically by recommending how to use them.

One description I use repeatedly is "tour stop." This denotes a store I would want to visit when I am in the city, but one that I would likely not visit regularly if I lived there. It is a place to splurge when on vacation but not necessarily worth the price on a regular basis.

Price:

I include approximate price information as a guide. Prices do not include shipping. US prices do not include sales tax; European prices include VAT.

Rates may vary at a chocolatier for different size packages and different products. Typically, I will give the rate for a package of about a pound, but, for the very expensive chocolatiers, I use the rate for a smaller package. Also, since prices change over time, I give the year in which I checked each price. Because I did not record price information in the early years of my reviews, not all entries include prices. I will fill in prices as I go and would appreciate your reports.

When I started measuring the chocolates I received, I found a surprising number of chocolatiers gave me less than they advertised. I even tried different scales and measuring a known mass for comparison. When I receive less than the stated mass, I report the price based on what I received.

I report prices in local currency per pound. Using the pound gives a standard mass for comparison. I use it rather than the kilogram because I started my reviews with US stores and write primarily for a US audience. Although I convert kilograms to pounds, I report foreign currencies instead of converting them, because exchange rates fluctuate.

Shipping:

This is the domestic shipping cost (including handlng) for some order two pounds or under (or a kilogram when metric units are used). I started listing shipping costs in 2006 because too many chocolatiers now require expensive and wasteful overnight shipping. I have received hundreds of hocolate shipments, so I have had plenty of opportunity to compare shipping methods. The expense of overnight or even two-day shipping is almost never worth it, either to prevent heat damage or to preserve freshness. I will count high shipping costs against chocolatiers.

The cost is the maximum charge (e.g., cross-country rather than local) at the cheapest rate offered (e.g., ground rather than overnight). I report this charge as a guide. Your charge may vary because of distance, current weather, rate changes, speed, or fee structure.

Chart:

This indicates whether the chocolates come with a chart showing you what each piece in the box is. I will note if a chocolatier supplies no chart, drawings or descriptions, a map of box locations, or color photographs.

Addresses:

Most of the addresses listed are for stores. However, sometimes other addresses are shown for a business:

• Retailer: A third party who sells the chocolatier’s products.
• Attraction: A museum or tourist attraction.
• Factory store: A factory with a retail shop or a direct outlet of a factory.
• Orders: Contact information for placing orders.
• Office: An office with no retail shop.
• Factory: A factory not intended to do significant retail business.
• Mail: An address only for mail.

What Stores Will I Review?

Since I cannot review everything, I usually do not review solid chocolates or chocolate bars. Here is a web site with reviews of solid chocolates and chocolate bars. Other reasons I do not review some stores include:

• Price. Some chocolatiers charge over $100/lb. There are many excellent chocolatiers with lower prices, so there is little reason for anybody to pay more, and I am very unlikely to recommend a chocolatier with astronomical prices. Rather than waste my time and money reviewing a chocolatier I am unlikely to recommend, I prefer to sample better prospects. I will try some expensive chocolatiers if I am near their store and can purchase a small sample without paying shipping, or if I have some particular reason.
• Quality. Due to time and calorie constraints, I cannot review every chocolatier. So I eliminate some chocolatiers based on perceived quality from visual inspection, including images in a chocolatier’s advertising or web pages.
• Shipping costs. Some chocolatiers charge exhorbitant prices for overnight shipping. After experience with this, I decided overnight shipping is not worth the cost. Even some of the two-day or longer shipping charges are too expensive. If a chocolatier offers only expensive shipping, I am not inclined to review them. I have tried the best chocolate, and it can be very good, but I am not likely to recommend other people spend huge amounts of money to get it.

Advice to Chocolatiers

• Label your chocolates. Consumers want to know what they are biting into. Give at least a description of each piece, and illustrations as soon as you can, and pictures if possible.
• Weigh your product. A surprising number of my orders weigh less than the claimed amount. This is unlawful and senseless. Most chocolatiers are not selling a commodity, so the cost of the materials is not worth cheating consumers. They are selling craftsmanship at a premium price. Ensure your weight claims are truthful.
• Offer postal service shipping. UPS is not good at residential delivery. Do not confuse the service UPS provides your business with the poor service UPS provides your customers. It is frustrating to pay for two-day service and receive a package in seven days because UPS’ delivery and pick-up hours are incompatible with working people. I prefer the US Postal Service.
• Offer inexpensive shipping. Your chocolates are only astoundingly fresh when you make them, not when they arrive overnight. Because they do not arrive astoundingly fresh, they are not worth an astounding overnight shipping cost. Often two-day shipping is not worth its cost either. Let your customer choose regular shipping. Because your products have a short shelf life, you need to get them to stores quickly. However, when you ship directly to a consumer, you have more leeway. Also, show shipping costs before a customer has to enter personal information (except, of course, the ZIP code or other location where the product will be shipped).
• Make ordering simple. Let customers place one-time orders without registering. I have over 100 passwords to manage; I do not want more.
• Do not spam. Do send informative email about an order. Do not send any sort of advertising unless the customer explicitly requests it and you confirm their email address by getting a confirmation response to a test message. No tricks, no default "yes" answers.

Links

If you would like to know where chocolate comes from, here is a superb page. There is also information at the Exploratorium’s chocolate exhibit.

Dialing International Phone Numbers

If your phone has a "+" key, you can use it as the international dialing prefix.

In French phone numbers, the area code is shown as "(0)". When calling from outside France, you drop the 0, as the instructions say. Inside France, you always dial it.

© Copyright 1996 by Eric Postpischil.