Though I refer to myself as a vegetarian, my father calls me a junk-etarian because my primary food groups are chocolate, ice cream and tomato and mozzarella. What can I say? I like decadence.
Given my passion for chocolate, imagine my surprise and delight to be contacted by EHChocolatier about their newest project, CSC. I'm sure you've heard of a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) in which you can receive a fruit, vegetable and herb share from a farm. Well, EHChocolatier is Boston's first CSC - Community Supported Chocolate!
You can sign up for the CSC and receive a chocolate share bi-weekly or monthly. Each share is $20 dollars. Your CSC is available to be picked up from one of 7 locations across the city and greater Boston. My pick up location is Dave's Fresh Pasta in Davis Square in Somerville.
October was my first month of the CSC and I was jumping out of my skin with excitement to pick up my share. The folks at Dave's Fresh Pasta couldn't have been nicer and they hadn't yet seen inside any of the boxes, so I happily lifted the lid of my sleek white box to give them a sneak peek.
The chocolate share comes in a slim, rectangular white box.
The EHChocolatier logo sports a cocoa bean.
When you open the box the first thing you see is a tri-folded list of all the possible confections inside.
The message at the top of the list reads, "Items in this week's CSC share are checked! Now your challenge: can you tell which is which? Better start testing . . ." How cute is that? Challenge accepted!
Beneath the list was my mountain of chocolate delicacies! Look at this loot:
First I reached for the pecan cluster. This gooey goodie is fresh roasted maple pecans surrounded by Knob Creek Bourbon caramel and topped with 65% dark chocolate and a sprinkle of Fleur de Sel. This was positively incredible and the Fleur de Sel really took it to the next level.
The next item I sampled was what EHChocolatier calls "The Wise Guy." It is Guittard Milk Chocolate filled with hand-made maple pecan gianduja. I have no idea what giandjua is, but let me tell you, it's crunchy and delicious.
The Wise Guy is what artisan chocolate is all about. The craftsmanship it takes to use raw chocolate and turn it into something this intricate is really astounding.
I found myself intrigued by these unidentifiable clusters. Were they nuts? Were they oats? No my friends, they were cornflakes! These are called "Rochers" and they are caramelized cornflakes and roasted candied almonds covered in chocolate.
I found the cornflake taste a bit odd, but I appreciate the creativity.
These three bars were staring me in the face and I couldn't wait to discover what was beneath that coat of chocolate. They turned out to be a peanutbutter crunch bar, an ancho bar and a chocolate chew.
I'm not a peanutbutter person (I know, I know), but the ancho bar was very cool. It's spiced nuts and pretzels folded into a Balvenie Scotch caramel and enrobed with 65% a single varietal chocolate. I loved the heat from the spiced nuts and the bar had a Snickers-like texture, which, let's be honest, is always a good thing.
The chocolate chew bar was one of my favorite things in the whole share! It's soft nougat coated in chocolate, much like a Three Musketeers bar.
There were many more items in my box (some of which are photographed below). I couldn't believe how generous the share was! It took me over two weeks to make any kind of dent in my treasure. Good luck to those who are trying to eat a bi-weekly share!
I signed up for the monthly share and my November package arrives on Wednesday the 14th!
For those of you who are chocoholics like me, the EHChocolatier CSC gives you the opportunity to try new and exciting flavors without having to bop from shop to shop. The CSC allows you to pick up the beautiful presented treats one day a month and enjoy them for days and weeks to come. If you think about how much you drop at the bar on Saturday night, $20 a month for this much handmade chocolate seems like a bargain!
Learn all about EHChocolatier's CSC right here.