Belated holiday gift list

[juushika]

Late but existant holiday gift list, for my future reference:

Given
Mother: A red-toned glass snail by Alcyon Lord; my mother has a few of this artist's pieces, some from me, but this is one of my favorites—and she liked it.
Father: Two Hanayama cast metal puzzles, also well received; because these are solid metal, they can't be bent or cheated—they look nice and are impressively difficult.
Sister: Bananagrams—in Italian! which she studied for a number of years and has a job translating from.
Devon: A Cougar 700m gaming mouse to replace his gaming mouse that died earlier this year and the pathetic wimpy one he'd been using in the interim.
Dee: Resident Evil Revoluations (Playstation port), since she's been (re)playing the series after getting RE6, and Dev played/I watched Revelations and rather liked it.

Received
Parents: A pair of socks, a bunch of chocolate*, a selection of hot sauces and olives, a Moleskine, and money for eventual clothes shopping.
Father/Grandfather, paternal: my great grandfather's Siddur (Jewish prayer book)
Grandmother, maternal: Money for the eventual clothing fund.
Sister: Two knit sweaters, one black and one white, and one black waist-length peacoat, all of which fit and look fantastic.
Devon, Hanukkah: a Windows cell phone to use as a PDA/mp3 player; I'm not putting my SIM card in it (phone calls, including spam, trigger panic attacks) but it's been fantastic as a calendar/mobile browser/music device; I'm surprised how much I love it.
Devon, Christmas: We're still figuring this out.
Devon's family: 3 pairs of socks, one of which I'll certainly wear to death; jellybeans again, sigh.
Dee: Chocolate, and a delicate copper necklace with a small heart and a teeny little spoon. This is the second time someone has given me a spoon as a gift (the other one wasn't wearable, though) and it is actually the most perfect thing.

* Chocolate haul: chocolate orange, Trader Joe's single origin palette, Vosages Black Salt Caramel Bar, Pasca 85% Dark Chocolate, the last of which is certainly the best. This list is not redundant nor overkill; right now I'm at a point where the only way I can remember and force myself to eat is because after the meal there will be chocolate—it's one of the only things I can still enjoy, and having a lot of it is lifesaving.

Comments

[thobari]

a question, possibly for the purpose of future gifts: what are your chocolate preferences?

[juushika]

Dark, preferably 85% or higher, although I will eat as low as 70% and my actual favorite chocolate in the world is 100%. Single origin, if possible; my favorite single origin notes are fruit, vanilla, pepper, spice, and nut. I don't like most supermarket brands/Ghirardelli/Lindt/etc., but enjoy most independent quality chocolatiers. I like my chocolate smooth but not waxy, and fairly firm. I tend to avoid inclusions, but make exception for coffee, salt, chili, and some mint.

Long overly precise response is long and overly precise! but the cliffnotes are: very very dark, high quality chocolate.

[thobari]

precise is good, though! i've been raised to be a chocolate snob, so i understand. especially from you, since i know from your BPAL collections that those notes are so important.

we have a handful of lovely local chocolatiers i may have to visit for you, once i get the chance. (nadege is one of them, and has their chocolate bar collection online, if you're curious or want to point particular ones out to me.)

waxy is such a problem with most north american chocolates, unfortunately. (although, i worry they've reduced the cocoa content in europe now, too; there's far too much sugar, now.) once upon a time i was attempting to make belgian hot chocolate by melting down bars i had, and my friend offered his cadbury flake to me to add as well -- it wouldn't melt. it was practically plastic.

[juushika]

Nadege looks like the sort of stuff which is up my alley, high quality with a (non-sarcastic) lovely edge of pretension; I don't usually do inclusions because I don't like it when heavy-handed flavors/textures—or, worse, fruit—override the flavor of chocolate, but love artisan combinations for their originality; Parmesan for example is a fantastic addition.

Oh I did forget to mention cocoa nibs; I do love those, both alone and as a contrasting texture in solid chocolate.

A lot of grocery store/mainstream brands have a really awful waxiness, even when they're supposed to be high quality, indulgent dark things; I think people equate that sort of freakishly smooth mouthfeel with indulgence or quality when it's neither, it's a lack of flavor and a travesty of texture.

My father is the one that got me into dark chocolate when I was a teenager; last year my parents got me some 100% chocolate drops as a semi-joke gift, like: "we know you love dark chocolate, but this is probably inedible." It was hands-down the best chocolate I've ever had, so joke is on them. Chocolate is my wine/alcohol replacement as an indulgence; I love it universally while also being as analytical/precise in it as I am in, well, most things I love.

[thobari]

excellent! nadege actually has a location right down the street from me, so even as i am, i can actually head down there at some point.

i will also keep this knowledge of cocoa nibs in mind. i've never actually tried them, myself!

trying to think of other brands, and chocosol is another one, but they don't have detailed descriptions of their products online... they were rated the best chocolate makers of the year for my city, though, and i actually found them by going to local farmers' markets! it has some of the most distinctive chocolate i've tasted, and chili is one of their specialties.

SOMA also has a somewhat daunting (read: extensive, and actually detailed!) list, but it's another local one you might be interested in.

stubbe is one of the rare (not french) european places we have. i find their chocolate can sometimes run a bit sweet, but their semi-sweet and dark chocolate is good.

i've only recently been getting into dark chocolates, and i think it's really been spurred by the low cocoa content in north america and the added sugar to compensate. i used to be really into lindt, but have fallen out of it because it's just excruciatingly sweet, and like you've said: masquerading as quality when it isn't.

if i ever manage to find 100% chocolate on my search, i am absolutely getting it for you.