Yesterday, we went to SF Westfield for some light shopping, and our wondering foodie eyes locked in on a chocolatier like an F18 on an enemy aircraft. CocoaBella Chocolates - nice ring to the name, but unfortunately it does not make chocolates and serves simply as a distributor. We tried 3 pieces of chocolates: Jeanette, Yuzu, and Lychee (yall know how I get down wit'em fruit flavors! Do not read too much into that...).
Jeanette comes from Knipschildt Chocolatier in the United States, and it is a white chocolate with minty mint chip ice cream inside - so dark on the outside and minty green on the inside. The inside is very soft and creamy, and it looks pretty cool when split in half and pulled apart slowly. Not ice cream cold at all, the mintiness is noticeable but overshadowed by the sweeter outside. Not completely effective in contrasting flavors, it is simply a sweet little chocolate.
Yuzu comes from Oriol Balaguer in Spain, and it is a white chocolate infused with Yuzu fruit. Yuzu is apparently an Eastern Asian citrus fruit that's the lovechild of a mandarin and a lemon. Like the Jeanette, the yuzu fruit flavor was barely noticeable because white chocolate is really sweet in itself. Otherwise, it was great to look at, it bearing a gradient of white-orange-white in the shape of half an olive with three curvy lines surfacing the top face.
Our favorite, Lychee, comes from Thomas Haas in Canada, and it is a dark chocolate ganache with a lychee pate de fruit on top. This square little piece carries a cocoa darkness, but the top face sports a square, thin layer of white, hardened lychee[-flavored] paste. The flavor was excellent. As half the chocolate is bitten and rested on your tongue, both the lychee and the dark chocolate begins to melt. In this case, however, the lychee pate melts first as it is thinner and more starchy/sugary, while the dark chocolate melts just a bit slower. This allows the lychee pate to liquefy and stimulate the taste buds first. It is thin but a pretty flavory dosage! And THEN - BAM! - the dark chocolate hits and takes you to the other side and snatch some o' that bitterness. Both flavors are experienced and nothing is overpowered! Fun little one, no?
Well, these are just 3 of about 150 different pieces on display. Lychee is definitely recommended, but as with all these little chocolates - taste slow, taste carefully, and taste with happiness!
http://www.yelp.com/biz/cocoabella-chocolates-san-francisco
http://www.cocoabella.com/
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