Gourmet Chocolate

Small-batch and luxury chocolate and caramels

According to Michael Antonorsi of Chuao Chocolatier, consumers are moving away from shelf-stable chocolates and toward fresh chocolates with nuanced, layered flavors. Today's high-end chocolatiers are flavoring chocolates with wine, herbs, chiles, salt and even vinegar. A few chocolatiers, including John and Kira's of Philadelphia, use local ingredients whenever possible and emphasize sustainable agriculture. As you might expect, these new-wave chocolates tend to command a higher price than traditional chocolate candy.

Recchiuti Confections (*Est. $83 for 32 pieces) offers superb gourmet chocolates in novel flavors, such as lemon verbena, tarragon grapefruit, lavender vanilla and sesame nougat. Real Simple editors name Recchiuti Confections "best high-end artisanal" chocolatier, and Jeffrey Steingarten of Vogue calls owner Michael Recchiuti's chocolate "wonderfully smooth."

Although reviewers are impressed with the variety of Recchiuti chocolate gift boxes and their elegant packaging, a few add that some flavors fail to satisfy. Reviewer Elizabeth LaBau of About.com felt that a chocolate studded with malt, white chocolate and honeycomb was too busy; a sesame nougat chocolate was too sweet. Experts note that some failures are to be expected when a chocolatier takes as many risks as Recchiuti. Reviews say that when the flavor combinations are successful, however, they are nothing short of sublime. Reviewer LaBau says she "could eat a whole box" of the company's burnt-caramel chocolates. Recchiuti's website helpfully includes a guide to each box's contents.

In a tasting of truffles at Cook's Illustrated, Fran's Chocolates emerged as the editors' favorite. They describe the chocolates as "luscious but not too sweet" and the box as elegant and refined. Gourmet notes that each box is tied with a satin bow. Although Fran's chocolate truffles were "light on the tongue," her salted, chocolate-covered caramels are the real story, according to NPR and Gourmet taste testers. NPR's tasters found the combinations of sweet and salty irresistible. Gourmet magazine's editors say that these caramels "taste of fresh butter and of the sea." Ed Levine of SeriousEats.com notes that Fran Bigelow popularized salted caramels, which he still considers the best of their type. Fran's also offers corporate gifts and chocolate gift baskets.

According to reviews,John and Kira's Chocolates (*Est. $39 for 28 pieces) are noteworthy for their smooth, silky texture and their reliance on local ingredients, including mint grown at inner-city schools. The thin, dark chocolate squares come in a variety of unusual flavors, including ginger, lemongrass, honey-lavender and coffee-whisky. Editors at Gourmet and Chocolatier Magazine agree that the mint square is a standout, and that all the flavors are fresh and intense, but not overpowering. Chocolates are available in assortments of all ten flavors the company produces, as well as all-raspberry or all-mint. They are shipped in a simple wooden box tied with a ribbon.

Katrina Markoff of Vosges Haut-Chocolat (*Est. $75 for 32 pieces) is another inventive chocolatier whose flavors include sweet Indian curry, violet, ginger-wasabi and anise-fennel. Although NPR says that Vosges' gourmet chocolates are "delightful and creamy," and Real Simple praises their "pure flavors," tasters at Cook's Illustrated were split on the more unusual spices: some liked them, and some did not. All agreed, however, that the purple heart-shaped box tied with a satin ribbon was "truly high-end." Eric Postpischil, who admits to liking bold flavors in his chocolates, finds Vosges too mild. He also discovered that the one-pound box he ordered only contained 13.1 ounces, raising the price-per-pound from $69 to $84. At this price, "I do not recommend them to anybody," he writes.

Reviewers are divided on Jacques Torres (*Est. $55 for a 50-piece box): some say that the chocolates are excellent, with bright flavors that complement the chocolate, but others find flavors overpowering or unpleasant. The company's website does not allow you to choose your flavors, which may include tropical fruit, apricot/marzipan and Key lime, among many others. The brown and orange boxes are tied with satin ribbons. Slate magazine's box was "weighted with duds," according to YiLing Chen-Josephson. Eric Postpischil says that his ordering experience was fraught with problems, including unanswered e-mails and other communication breakdowns, and chocolates were left melting in the summer sun. If you're looking for ahead-of-the-curve flavors and textures, reviews say that L.A. Burdick is a better choice in this price class.