I love the fall season. Not only do I love the cool, crisp air and colorful leaves, but I also love that it’s the beginning of my favorite holiday season. Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas are my favorite holidays (factor in Easter as well).
I love everything about the holidays – the sight, the sounds and the smells.
The holiday season is when many people do most of their baking. My mouth is watering just thinking about all the freshly baked treats and homemade candies I’ll be enjoying in the upcoming months.
When it comes to making treats it’s always best to use quality, fresh ingredients. Of course that applies to anything you make to eat and drink too.
Chocolate is a popular ingredient when it comes making treats.
You can find chocolate pieces at local gourmet chocolate shops, but the tend to be pricey.
Have you heard about Santa Barbara Chocolate Company? Santa Barbara Chocolate Co. specialize in manufacturing premium organic chocolate, baking couvertures and cocoa powders, and gourmet chocolate gift boxes.
Santa Barbara Chocolate Co. reached out to me and asked if I would like to review some of their chocolates. Ha! Like I would ever turn down the opportunity to eat chocolate. NEVER! Ha Ha.
Santa Barbara Chocolate Co. sent me sample of their chocolate discs (the kind you would use in baking and making candies) as well as a box of a variety of gourmet chocolates and a package of the most delectable Dark Chocolate Cranberry Clusters and amazing chocolate peppermints.
Santa Barbara Chocolates are organic and freshly made. When you try them for yourself you can clearly taste that the chocolate is fresh and not something that has been lying around a warehouse for month.
I was sent several packages of their chocolate medallions. The medallions are small, round, almost quarter sized discs of chocolate.
There are “marks” on the chocolates because I popped them in the fridge when they first arrived (it was as super hot day when they arrived) and some of them stuck together because of that. What I should have done was put them in the closet until they firmed up. When you put chocolate in the fridge the milk fats come to the surface, distorting the look of the chocolate too.
Many people would use these chocolates for their baking and candy making needs. For me, I love the idea of using them to snack on.
My husband and I both like to enjoy a piece or two of chocolate after dinner, ideally dark chocolate (the darker the better). Studies have shown that dark chocolate can have some health benefits. We also enjoy milk chocolate and other chocolates because it’s yummy.
I’ve purchased “mass produced,” grocery store-type chocolates for my family to enjoy. When you compare those chocolates with the chocolates from Santa Barbara Chocolates, you can clearly taste the difference. The Santa Barbara Chocolate is not only fresh tasting, it’s also gives you a genuine, REAL, chocolate taste.
Unlike mass produced chocolates, you can identify all the ingredient in Santa Barbara Chocolates.
For example, the brand’s Rainforest Dark Milk Chocolate is made with sugar, cocoa mass, whole milk powder, cocoa butter and as an emulsifier – soy lecithin and natural vanilla. That’s it! In fact, all of the ingredients on the packages of chocolates that I received had similar ingredients. Easy to read. Easy to pronounce. Easy to understand.
FYI… cocoa mass (also known as cocoa liquor), is the first liquid stage of processing cocoa beans. And an emulsifier is a food additive used to stabilize processed foods. In the case of the Rainforest Dark Milk Chocolate the emulsifiers are simply soy lecithin and natural vanilla. You can also purchase chocolates without the soy lecithin.
I received a variety of flavors to review…
- Rainforest Dark Milk Chocolate
- Rio Tigre Milk Chocolate
- Belgium White Chocolate
- Belgium Milk Chocolate
- Organic 70% Chocolate Amazonas
My husband tends to just pop chocolate in his mouth. He normally doesn’t care what brand or flavor it is. He did notice a difference with these chocolates.
You might think that milk chocolate is just milk chocolate – but there are subtle differences. Of the samples I received – Rainforest Dark Milk Chocolate, Rio Tigre Milk Chocolate and Belgium Milk Chocolate – you CAN taste a difference between the different varieties. I suspect it has to do with the different cocoa harvested from different countries. The same way Columbia coffee tastes a lot different than Hawaiian coffee.
I bet these chocolates would be amazing in homemade chocolate chip cookies. I think they would be great for dipping pretzels in too (I love chocolate covered pretzels).
If you are not a baker or candy maker you can still enjoy the delectable treats from Santa Barbara Chocolates. The company offers other products including gift boxes filled with a variety of chocolates, truffles, chocolate mints and the most amazing chocolate covered cranberry clusters. Currently I do not see the mints listed on their website, but the cranberry clusters are available.
If you follow me on Intagram (SheScribes) you might have seen the photo I posted of the cranberry clusters. They are SO GOOD! I would never think chocolate and cranberries would taste good together – but they do!
I’m sorry it’s not a great photo.
The box of chocolates had a wonderful assortment of chocolates – something for everyone.
The mints! Don’t get me started on the mints! They were amazing! I wish I saw them on their site. I guess they are currently unavailable.
I love chocolate mints. These are like nothing I have ever tasted before. The mint tastes fresh too – not artificial. In fact, when you open the box the first thing you notice is the scent of chocolate and mint whiffing through the air.
Santa Barbara Chocolates are primarily for people who buy in bulk and for wholesale purchases for people with businesses (hotels, wedding venues, companies, candy makers…) but regular folk like you and I can also purchase from them, especially the medallions for baking, candy making or eating and the boxed chocolates. They also offer drinking chocolate, cocoa powder and more.
If you are baker, candy maker or just someone who enjoys quality, gourmet chocolates, you should consider the Santa Barbara Chocolate Co. Their website is SantaBarbaraChocolate.com. The brand is also on social media. All of their links are found at the top right of their website.
You should also check out their blog for interesting articles. I found the one about coloring your hair naturally with cocoa powder very interesting.
Do you bake with real chocolate? Are you a candy maker? What do you think about the Santa Barbara Chocolate Co.?
Kimberly
*I received free product sample to review. There was no compensation. The opinions expressed are my own and not influenced in any way.
Sarah L says
My most favorite way to eat chocolate is chocolate mints. I will have to try these.
Jerry Marquardt says
The cookies and chocolate all look so delicious. I cannot wait to try the Santa Barbara Chocolate Company out for the holidays.