Bar of the Week: Domori's Sambirano

If you're a fan of certain Chinese foods, you might want to try this Bar of the Week: Domori's Sambirano is known for its intriguing blend of sweet and sour notes. This 70% dark chocolate uses an hybrid criollo-trinitario cacao grown in Madagascar's Sambriano Valley. The intense but agreeable sweet-sour flavor of this chocolate also has hints of berries, cashews, pepper and cinnamon, and a long finish.

Stop by on Saturday, September 3rd, for a sample of Domori's Sambirano.

This week's happy hour: Staff Picks II

Our Staff Pick's happy hour is back this Thursday from 5-9pm. Our first Staff Picks happy hour in July was a huge hit, and we're excited to have different team members choosing bars this time around. Make an evening out of it by shopping at the Queen Anne Farmers Market, and then drop by Chocolopolis for a taste of chocolate. Here are our staff picks for this week:

Reina - Valrhona Palmira Single-Estate 2010 (64%)
Dominica - Coppeneur Trinidad Habanero & Lavender bar
Sebastian - Askinosie White Chocolate (made with goat's milk and small-batch pressed cocoa butter)
Lauren - Patric In-NIB-itable BAR (70% Madagascar w/Madagascar cacao nibs)

Bar of the Week: Valrhona's Tainori

If you're a fan of pain au chocolat, make sure to try this bar of the week.  From French chocolate maker Valrhona, Tainori is a 64% dark chocolate made from single origin cacao grown on an historic plantation in the Dominican Republic.  In addition to some fruity and nutty notes, Tainori's dominant flavor mimics the heady warmth of yeasted bread or pastry straight from the oven.

Come by and sample this toasty treat on Saturday, August 27th.  

Bar of the Week: Olive and Sinclair's Salt and Pepper

You hear a lot about salt and chocolate; also about chocolate and peppers of the spicy variety.  But what about salt and good old black pepper?  That classic combo hasn't really shown up in chocolate bars...until now.

Nashville-based Olive and Sinclair is the South's first artisan bean-to-bar maker, specializing in stone-ground chocolate bars.  They have a knack for pairing their chocolates with match-made-in-heaven spices, such as our bar of the week, a richly textured 67% dark chocolate from Ghana sprinkled with kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper. 

Can't imagine taking the salt shaker and pepper mill to your own favorite chocolate?  Then be sure to stop by on Saturday, August 20th, to taste a chocolate that's at once strangely familiar and totally new.  

Bar of the Week: Pralus' Papouasie

Our bar of the week is a silky-smooth 75% dark made from Papua New Guinean cacao by French maker Francois Pralus.  Less smoky than the other Southeast Asian bars in Pralus' range, Papouasie has strong cocoa notes and a pronounced sweetness given added interest by hints of tart fruits. 

We'll have samples of Pralus' Papouasie available on Saturday, August 13th.