What’s New at Chocolate Box?

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We love bringing new chocolates to our 106 Pine store! We have quite a few right now that we’re just dying to share with you, so we hope you’ll come by soon!

Lillie Belle’s “Whiskey in the Bar”, “Stella Blue”, “Caramelized Almond” and “Most Awesome” chocolate bars.

Lillie Belle Farms brings us two new – and interesting – chocolate bars to try. First up is their tasty “Whiskey in The Bar Barrel-Aged Dark Chocolate” bar. It’s made with 65% chocolate that’s infused with oaky, distilled grain flavors, since it was aged in used whiskey barrels. “We got this idea to age chocolate in used whiskey barrels and after much trial and error we figured it out,” according to Lillie Belle’s website.

Next up is a creamy experience with a one-of-a-kind taste. Lillie Belle’s “Stella Blue” milk chocolate bar is their newest ‘bean to bar’ item. It’s made with dark milk chocolate and Rogue Creamery’s Powdered Blue Heaven Cheese! The bleu cheese adds a unique flavor that pairs the chocolate bar very well with wine.

Some more Lillie Belle highlights on our shelves – we’ve had these for a bit, but we wanted to remind you how good they taste – are the Caramelized Almond Bar and the Most Awesome Chocolate Bar EVER! The first mentioned is made with Lillie Belle’s signature 68% organic, single origin dark chocolate – yum – and then stuffed with delicious caramelized almonds. It’s a crunchy, addicting bite every time! The Most Awesome Chocolate Bar EVER is just that, and more. Crafted with home made almond and hazelnut gianduja, feuilletine wafers, sea salt, and creamy milk chocolate, it’s bound to become a favorite.

Let’s get back to the new stuff…

Moonstruck Chocolates’ “Top Shelf Collection” and Baseball Truffle – don’t be deceived by this photo; the baseball is 3 times the size of the whiskey truffles!

Just in time for Father’s Day – but these are great for everyone – Moonstruck Chocolates has crafted a gigantic peanut butter truffle that’s decorated to look like a baseball! We’re not kidding around about the size, either; it’s nearly three inches in diameter for an indulgence in chocolate-and-caramel, peanut-buttery goodness! “Milk chocolate peanut butter ganache envelops our luscious sea salt caramel, all enrobed in ivory chocolate and hand-decorated to look like a baseball!” reads their description.

Moonstruck also has a fantastic six-piece whiskey truffle collection. The truffles are infused with Hennessy V.S. Cognac, Knob Creek Straight Bourbon Whiskey, and Sazerac Rye Whiskey for delicious liqueur and dark chocolate ganache in every bite. Each truffle is topped with vintage tattoo inspired art by a tattoo artist out of Portland, Joel Baca.

We hope you’ll love these great chocolates that are new at Chocolate Box! Whether you’re looking for a gift for Dad as Father’s Day approaches, or you’re in the mood for a chocolaty indulgence, you’ll find everything you need in chocolate and wine on Pine!

Finnriver Ciders Featured at Chocolate Box

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We’re well known for offering a fantastic selection of wine and chocolate (lots of local wineries and chocolatiers, too) at the Chocolate Box. But we don’t discriminate when it comes to grapes versus other fruits that can be made into wine – our newest feature coming to 106 Pine is Finnriver’s fine hard ciders!

Finnriver’s Sparkling cider, photo credit: Drinks.SeriousEats.com

They craft organic and artisan hard ciders and fruit wines from their farm in the Chimacum Valley (on the Olympic Peninsula). According to their website, “We are committed to handcrafting both traditional and innovative hard ciders with a base of 100% apple juice, primarily Washington organic and Olympic Peninsula homestead apples. Our ciders are a tribute to the old hard cider traditions while offering an approachable, fresh perspective on the possibilities of the fermented apple.”

The Chocolate Box is proud to feature four different varietals of ciders once or twice monthly on the weekends. We’ll update this post, as well as our Facebook page with more details and news.

Four of Finnriver’s ciders will be featured at Chocolate Box on these occasions: their Sparkling Pear Cider, Blank Current Cider, Dry Hopped Cider and Cranberry Rosehip Hard Cider.

Finnriver is about more than just delicious organic fruit wines and hard ciders, however. The farm and cidery is also focused on creating deep-rooted, fruitful connections to their land, neighbors (human and animal), and community. Finnriver is committed to sustainable agriculture and ecological land stewardship, renewable energies, and more.

“At Finnriver Farm we are … are engaged in the earnest pursuit of wise land stewardship [by] practicing sustainable agriculture, harnessing renewable energies, contributing to vibrant local economy, restoring riparian wildlife habitat, reviving artisan traditions, serving as an educational resource, and keeping a vibrant farm culture alive and well. Finnriver is 100% locally financed through a community network of visionary investors,” says their website.

Look for four tasty Finnriver ciders at the Chocolate Box on an upcoming weekend!

 

Chocolopolis: Our New Stop on the Hot Chocolate Tour

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Our Tour de Haut Chocolate (or hot chocolate tour) has been a delicious, chocolaty sensation for months now! Every Wednesday, and Thursday (as ticket sales allow), we share the world of drinking chocolate with a new group of tour participants.

The Tour de Haut Chocolate starts at the Chocolate Box, and then visits Chocolat Vitale in Ballard. Once we’ve finished sampling a variety of different single-origin drinking chocolates, we’ll head to a new stop…

Chocolopolis will become the next visit on our Tour de Haut Chocolate, as of April 24th! We’ll head there before going to Fran’s Chocolate. At Chocolopolis, we’ll taste their Signature Dark and Peanut Butter drinking chocolates – yum! As we sip, one of the shop’s expert chocophiles will give us an introduction to single-origin chocolate.

“Chocolopolis is excited to become part of the Chocolate Box’s Tour de Haut Chocolate,” says owner Lauren Adler. We’re excited to include them! Did you know they’re renowned worldwide for their large, curated collection of single-origin chocolate, and that they can make any bar in their store into a drink?

We think it’s pretty impressive, and we agree with Lauren’s assessment that “No tour of Seattle’s chocolate scene is complete without a stop at Chocolopolis.”

Their drinking chocolate has been named one of the Best Hot Chocolates in America by Travel + Leisure. Chocolopolis also offers world-class confections handmade in its on-site kitchen, cups of rich drinking chocolate and other delicious chocolate treats.

Join us on our Tour de Haut Chocolate later in April or May to experience this gem in the Seattle chocolate scene with Chocolate Box!

The Tour de Haut Chocolate runs from 4 to 6:30 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, and costs $59 per person (or $250 for a private group of up to 10 guests). Schedule your tour today by calling our tour line, 206-427-2515, or email andrea@sschocolatebox.com.

Mid-Way Update on Our Hot Chocolate Festival!

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Our 4th Annual Hot Chocolate Festival is going strong! We’re now just over halfway there, and loving each new flavor. We began the festival on March 15th, with the delicious flavor of Buttercrunch Toffee hot chocolate. Since then, we’ve had Fluffernutter, Bergamot Oro, Balsamic Strawberry, and more. Click here for our whole flavor calendar.

It’s a fresh new flavor every day here at the Seattle Chocolate Box.

We also have two great prizes, which we will give out to one lucky person each at the end of the festival (April 22nd) …

The GRAND PRIZE is a romantic weekend in Seattle, with a certificate for dinner for two at Tulio, and a deluxe suite at the Vintage Park Hotel. Entry to win is easy: for every cup of hot chocolate that you buy during the festival, you get a stamp on your Golden Ticket. Then, for every five stamps that it takes to fill your ticket, it gets entered in the drawing for the romantic weekend. The more hot chocolate flavors you try, the more likely you are to win!

Our second big prize selection requires a bit more creativity on your part (not a lot more than enjoying a delicious cup of hot chocolate). Submit your OWN hot chocolate recipe on our festival website (scroll to the bottom of the page for the rules and entry form), and then share it on Facebook and Twitter. If we choose your recipe, you’ll get a $50 gift card to the Seattle Chocolate Box, and your recipe will become one of the hot chocolate flavors we serve every day for the next year – named after you! Send us your recipe to participate!

We hope you’re enjoying the Chocolate Box’s Hot Chocolate Festival so far. Stop by today for Theo’s Chipotle hot chocolate, or come back later this week and next for more awesome flavors – like Maple Waffle, Apple Pie, and Oreo Madness!

Our Hot Chocolate Festival Starts Soon!

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It was a smashing success our first three years, so we thought we’d do it again! Get ready for the 4th Annual Hot Chocolate Festival at the Chocolate Box!

Join us beginning on Friday, March 15th for 30 days (sometimes we extend it, so don’t be surprised if it goes a little longer) of hot chocolate-lover’s paradise! There will be a new and different flavor every day of the festival, such as tasty favorites like peanut butter or salted caramel hot chocolate, to more unique, artsy tastes that you’ve probably never sampled before. Stay tuned for a note about our flavor of the day on the sign outside our store, and also on our Hot Chocolate Festival website: hotchocolatefestival.net.

Perfect for these chilly Seattle days that we see through March until spring showers take effect, we love offering something fun and special every day to warm up and brighten the gray, icky weather. We think hot drinking chocolate does the trick.

There’s a sweet treat if you decide to participate all month long in our Hot Chocolate Festival… for every cup of hot drinking chocolate you buy during the festival, you’ll get a stamp on your golden ticket (pick yours up at our 106 Pine store!). Then, for every 5 stamps on your ticket, you’ll be entered in our drawing for a romantic weekend in Seattle! If you win the drawing, you’ll get a deluxe room at the Vintage Park Hotel and dinner for two at Tulio, plus lots of extra goodies!

We’re also interested to hear about your hot chocolaty creations! Give us your special flavored hot chocolate recipe, and if we use it during the festival, we’ll add it to our year-round menu and name it after you!

How’s that for celebrating chocolate in its oh-so-good sipping form? Happy Hot Chocolate Festival, and we hope to see you soon!

Rolling Bay Winemaker Visit February 8th

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We’re always excited to welcome local winemakers to show off their stuff at the Chocolate Box! This Friday, February 8th, we’re looking forward to welcoming representatives from Rolling Bay Winery to our 106 Pine store!

Rolling Bay Winery is a small artisan winery from Bainbridge Island, which features several award-winning wines. They will be at The Chocolate Box from 4 to 8 p.m. on Friday to talk about their wines and offer tastings. We also carry several bottles of Rolling Bay wines, including their 2008 Manitou Red – which won a Gold Medal award from the Seattle Wine Awards – these bottles will be available Friday (and any other day – as long as they’re in stock!).

The winery was begun between friends nearly 20 years ago on Bainbridge Island, and became fully bonded in 2007. According to their website, “The focus for our winery is producing small quantities of premium, hand crafted wine … we employ modern wine making techniques, utilized within the spirit of the art of winemaking. We strive to make wines of distinction, providing true value and a great wine experience.”

With special barrel tastings, this working winery on Bainbridge Island is a destination, and not just for their award-winning wines. It’s a great boutique winery, and we look forward to hosting them this Friday at Chocolate Box for a Rolling Bay Winemaker visit!

What’s Happening in the World of Chocolate News

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These delicious and oh-so-sweet truffles from Moonstruck Chocolates are just irresistible!

There’s always something going on here at the Chocolate Box, and the wider world of chocolaty goodness also has some things happening. We wanted to take a minute to share those things with you, from Chocolate Box’s Valentine’s Day preparations to new studies and findings in chocolate news.

First up, we’re all stocked up for Valentine’s Day (only 10 days away!) with love-inspired treats from Moonstruck Chocolates, Lillie Belle Farms, and WOW Chocolates. (Strita’s heart-shaped 100 percent cacao chocolate truffles are here too, which we mentioned last week in a blog post.) We’ve also packaged up some tasty candied almonds and other Best of the Best treats alongside our Valerie Chocolate favorites for some fabulous Valentine’s gift packages for your loved one. It’s a festival of pink and red over here!

Check out all of these Kopke ports – just waiting to be paired with tasty chocolate treats for your Valentine!

One of the sweetest combinations for Valentine’s Day, in our opinion, is the pairing of chocolaty treats with a delicious glass of port! Just over a week ago, we got our first shipment of Kopke ports. Kopke is the most ancient of all Port Wine export companies, and prides itself on its outstanding reputation. We’re proud to offer four different vintages (their Special Reserve in two sizes!) for you to select from for your Valentine. Oh, and in case you missed it in our latest email, we’re giving away one bottle of one of these vintages with your purchase of tickets to our Tour de Haut Chocolate on Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14th. Spaces are filling quickly, so contact Andrea today to reserve your spot: call 206-427-2515 or email andrea@sschocolatebox.com.

Finally, there are a few new things happening in chocolaty news worldwide. Here are summaries of what the world of chocolate is up to:

  • White Chocolate a Possible Heart Health Benefit: It’s been shown in many studies that dark chocolate contains a few health benefits, but a new study adds white chocolate as a possible heart-health product. The study found that Flavan-3-ols compounds in white chocolate can improve platelet function. Read more here.
  • Researchers Find Healthier Product for Chocolate Coating: Usually, panned chocolate products are coated with shellac, which is made from a Lac insect secretion combined with ethyl alcohol or isopropyl for the glossy coating barrier. Shellac produces compounds that are harmful to the environment, in addition to alter or even ruin the taste of the chocolate they coat. A new study has found an alternative in hydrolyzed collagen film and cocoa butter. Read more here.
  • Chocolate to Become the Delivery System for Functional Foods: Paul Frantellizzi, CEO of Good Cacao, is getting the buzz going throughout the chocolate world about boosting the appeal of healthy chocolate. Good Cacao has been producing chocolate products with functional foods such as lemon ginger, mandarin orange, Omega-3, and tomato concentrate for health benefits such as immunity, weight loss, and blood flow improvement. Read more here.
  • Chocolate Companies Fined $82 Million for Price Fixing: Giants in the chocolate industry, such as Nestlé and Kraft have been fined for working together to raise chocolate prices in Germany. Eleven chocolate companies were fined $82 million for the collusion, while investigations for price-fixing in the U.S. and Canada continue. Read more here.

Have a very happy Valentine’s Day, and we hope to serve you soon at the Chocolate Box!

Local Chocolate Maker Spotlight: StRita Supreme Chocolat

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Now that the holidays are passed (and because we’ve just started carrying chocolate from a new chocolatier), we’re getting back to our local chocolate maker spotlights! From Marysville, we’re excited to highlight the wonderful chocolates from StRita Supreme Chocolat.

StRita’s owner, John Henry’s passion for chocolate came out of his family’s farm in Samar, Philippines. When his family began to grow cacao on their farm, and subsequently to make drinking and solid chocolates, he was inspired to start his own chocolate factory.

“As a chocolate maker, John is devoted to making dark chocolates, [believing] that chocolates are good for our health. His experience in making dark chocolate was learned from his great auntie who used to make 100% dark chocolate for their family’s consumption and as a drink,” says the StRita website.

The Chocolate Box is excited to carry a few different chocolate creations from StRita:

First, there’s the variety of 52-77% cacao bars with flavors like Wild Ginger, Black Sea Salt, Lemon Grass, and Lemon. There are also two high-cacao plain chocolate bars with 85% and 100% cacao.

StRita’s flavored and high-cacao chocolate bars.

One of StRita’s novelties are their raw cacao beans! We have cute little ¼ lb. packages of these beans, which are quite unexpectedly sweet and tasty (not as bitter as you would expect)!

The raw cacao beans from StRita Supreme Chocolat.

Finally, and just in time for Valentine’s Day, Chocolate Box in Seattle carries boxes of 85% and 100% chocolate truffle hearts. These delicious treats have no milk included, for a rich, unique experience in truffle enjoyment – plus they are better for you (being dairy-free) than your typical ganache-filled truffle.

StRita’s 100% cacao dark chocolate heart truffles.

We’re really excited about the one-of-a-kind creations that StRita adds to our chocolate offering! We hope you’ll stop by soon to check them out and maybe taste a bite or two!

Guardian Cellars Gets Coverage in Seattle Magazine’s Best Washington Wine Awards of 2012

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Although they didn’t quite win winemaker of the year, and their wines weren’t noted as up-and-coming, we’re still pretty excited about Guardian Cellars! Their winery was mentioned in Seattle Magazine’s coverage of winemakers and wines in the Best Washington Wine Awards of 2012 back in December.

The Informant, from Guardian Cellars (photo from their website)

The best part? You can buy Guardian wine at the Chocolate Box, and it pairs deliciously with lots of chocolate bars, truffles, and more. Back to the winery, though…

Guardian Cellars owner, Jerry Riener, used to be a police officer in Lynnwood back in 1997. He happened upon winemaking almost by accident, when he helped out with the bottling one day at Matthews Estate in Woodinville. Riener worked with Matthews Estate and other winemakers along the way, and finally opened his own winery in 2004, Guardian Cellars.

These days, Jerry and his wife Jennifer Sullivan work together on their winery, producing balanced red wines that have been aged for at least a year. With Jerry’s crime background and Jennifer’s experience as a crime reporter for the Seattle Times, the two have unique and crime-inspired titles for their wines, such as Chalk Line and The Alibi. “We love to make wine, we love to talk about wine, and we love to talk about making wine,” says Riener.

Congrats, Guardian Cellars, and we hope to see you as one of the awarded winemakers in 2013!

Daven Lore Winery to Visit on January 18th

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It’s hard to beat the delicious pairing of wine and chocolate, and at Chocolate Box, that combination is our daily focus! We’re excited to welcome Daven Lore Winery for a visit to our 106 Pine store on January 18th for an afternoon of lip-smacking wine tasting!

Daven Lore Winery is located in Prosser, WA, overlooking the Yakima Valley. The winery is dedicated to the idea that there’s a story in every bottle of wine – each of theirs is made with personality and hands-on efforts, from vine to bottle. Grapes are harvested by hand and carefully crafted through the entire process of winemaking.

The winery’s name Daven Lore comes from a combination of the two owners’ last names: Davenport and Taylor. According to their website, they “enhanced the Lor with an “e” to tell our story and the tale of our wines.”

Instead of limiting their production to simple red and white wines, Daven Lore Winery is known for their blended red wines. Their red wine blends have full, bold flavors with the notable tannin structure characteristic of the Columbia Valley AVA, where their grapes are grown. The winery makes less than 1000 cases of wine each year, and we at the Chocolate Box are pleased to be one of the few places where Daven Lore wines can be bought.

Representatives from Daven Lore will be at the Chocolate Box from 4 to 8 p.m. on Friday, January 18th. They’ll be offering samples of their wines, which you can also purchase at the Chocolate Box, as well as giving out free temporary tattoos of their logo – a glyph they call “Petro”. Read more about Petro on Daven Lore’s website.