Vosges Haut Chocolat

It's sultry, savory, sexy and sublime. The smell is exotic and erotic and when I taste it, I quiver. It feels so orgasmic and makes my heart race. I want it daily. If only I were describing sex, but I'm actually referring to the other kind of sex-- eating chocolate!

The first time I had a Vosges Haut Chocolat bar was when I was in Chicago. Mark and I stayed at the Peninsula Hotel in downtown Chicago and there was a Vosges boutique either in the hotel or nearby. I don't remember-sorry! What intrigued me about their chocolates was the exotic and unusual flavors used in their candy dishes: sweet Indian curry, guajillo and pasilla chilies, Madagascar vanilla bean, hibiscus, blood orange, bacon and even champagne. I immediately fell in love with the color of their packaging; a very deep purple and almost lavender color, which I think is their signature color. The store itself is very clean and classy and their online website is pretty too.

I recall picking up a few bars: Naga Bar, Amalfi Bar and Blood Orange Caramel Bar. All three were super delicious. The Naga Bar has the Indian Curry with coconut that really taste like you are eating curry flavored chocolate. Now I imagine this might be a bit too exotic for some of you chocolate lovers, especially if you like yours plain, but it is definitely exceptional and worth trying. The Amalfi Bar is a white chocolate bar with lemon zest and pink peppercorns--talk about exotic! The lemon zest balances the sweetness of the white chocolate and the peppercorns definitely bring an unusual blend to the mix. It's like, wow! The Blood Orange Caramel Bar is also striking. Heck, come to think of it, I think they are all pretty striking and interesting, but the blood orange bar has a complex mix of carmel, blood orange puree, hibiscus flowers (who knew you could eat this) and Campari. All I have to say is try it with an open mind.

The second time I had Vosges was in Las Vegas. I was so excited that we randomly came across a boutique while walking on the Strip. Of course we entered and purchased some bars and the sales person was even nice enough to enclose a few ice packs so the bars wouldn't melt on the way back to the hotel because it was so hot outside. We tried a few different ones this time, but for the life of me, I can't remember which ones. Sorry!

Earlier this year, Mark returned home from a Chicago trip and guess what? He brought back more Vosges, and this time, different chocolates. I was so thrilled and excited to try new candy dishes. He picked up a box of 16 exotic milk chocolate truffles, clementine ginger toffee and chocolate caramel bon bons. I went through the toffee and bon bons quickly. I ate them both within a few days. The bon bons were tasty with burnt sugar carmel, dark chocolate and fleur de sel sea salt sprinkles. There's something about sea salt and caramel that works so well. The toffee definitely stood out. I love ginger, but I never imagined it in chocolate. I've had hard ginger candy the kind you often find in Chinese super markets and I've had soft ginger chews made by Chimes, so eating it in buttery toffee fortified with rooibos tea and lime is magnificent. Why have normal toffee when you can have clementine ginger toffee?

Just like the lavender candy I got from Turkey, I waited a few months to dig into the 16-piece milk chocolate truffle box. It sat in the fridge, but every time I opened it, it begged for me to just open it and eat it. This past week we finally did and oh boy, again, why did I wait so long? I recognize some of the names of the truffles, which are similar to the candy bars, so it's like eating a small truffle version of it. However, many of the other names are really fun and spunky like "funk and disco", "wink of the rabbit", "gospel" and "soul and motown". There is a booklet in the box that describes the inspiration behind the names and its ingredients, which I think is helpful. I'm not going into detail about each one and how it tastes because I want you to have that pleasure. I suggest clearing your palette after each truffle instead of popping them in your mouth one-by-one because you can miss the interesting ingredients in every single one so take your time eating them and savor each bite. Enjoy!

Vosges Haut Chocolat: Website