Let's face it, on some level, all chocolate is great, no matter where you are. And if it's the only chocolate available, it's great.

When I travel, I always pack a bar or two or three so that I can always fulfill the chocolate need within me. And this way, I don't have to settle for anything less than what I love.

But the reality is, if you don't have your own chocolate and you need chocolate, any chocolate will do.

But when you can choose which chocolate you're going to put in your mouth, and when you do have the choice, great chocolate—the chocolate you prefer—is always better! And this being said, one person's chocolate is another person's 'eh.'

Now, one can wax eloquently about a bar they love and find that your best friend's taste buds get nothing special from it, with a retort of, "You like this? Kind of waxy to me." Or some other words that say, "It's okay (remember it is chocolate), but I prefer something else."

So, I can tell you a chocolate I like is amazing, delicious, and the best I have ever tasted, and it just might taste like soap to you.

Like a fine olive oil, one oil is one person's true love, and to another, it might be too green or peppery or non-distinct. But unlike olive oil, where you can describe and share those unique flavors that an oil might have using familiar descriptive words, chocolate is different.

A chocolate might have the nuances of a cigar leaf to me and be indistinguishable to you. Or it might be that my description using the word "cigar" might immediately turn you off, even though my intent is the opposite. In the case of the use of "cigar," it is more about the terroir and the environment from which the cocoa beans are grown, and thus, there are some undertones within the chocolate.

We have tasted a lot of chocolate over the last 25 years, and chocolate has evolved over that time, as well! We have seen chocolate makers come and go, and it seems a new chocolate comes in the mail every week!

And what we have learned over the years is that there are very few bars/chocolates that totally amaze everyone. And when you find a chocolate maker you like, be happy! It might be the conching or the beans they use, and most likely, it is that their taste buds match yours.

If you like chocolate like I do and enjoy trying new bars, then you will find your harmony here in the selection we have.

We have a lot of bars now. They are all good. For each of the chocolatiers we have, we have someone who loves their bars.

In the real world, one bar can reach the level of greatest ever for one palate and not for another.

Check out the bars we have and try a few before the summer heat arrives!.

Click Here To See Everything Featured in This Newsletter!

"The calories in chocolate don't count because chocolate comes from the cocoa bean, and everyone knows that beans are good for you."

See Chocolate Aisles here!

Craft chocolate bars are chocolates that are handmade, starting with raw cacao beans (which are sourced transparently and ethically), all the way to the finished product. They are made on a very small scale. Craft chocolate is also referred to as "bean-to-bar" or "micro-batch" chocolate. The emphasis is on developing and complementing the unique flavor of the individual beans, many of which are sourced from a single plantation (known as "single-origin" chocolate), located within the chocolate growing regions of the world.

See the Craft Chocolates here!

With just four ingredients, the only skill you need is mixing (and a little melting) to make this drop dead delicious cake!

The best thing about this cake is that it is totally forgiving. Getting it perfect might not be possible, as there is no perfect. It is chocolate, butter, sugar and eggs! You can make it, most likely, right out of what you have in your pantry.

Remember to use only really good chocolate to have the best success in this extra rich chocolate cake recipe. I always forget how fabulously great this recipe is until I make it again and then it is wow all over again.

See the Simple and Easy Chocolate Cake Recipe here!

Wild cocoa trees grow in the Amazon region of Bolivia on raised areas of land, which stick out like small islands in the middle of swampland. The Cambas, as locals of this region are known, have lived for centuries in this underdeveloped and hard-to-reach part of Bolivia. From years of experience, they know exactly where to find the wild cacao trees, and during the harvest, they gather the cacao fruit which grows in scattered locations throughout the forest. The Cambas are often away for days, either on foot, on horseback or in dugout canoes, in pursuit of the wild bean.

Back on the farm, or finca, called "Tranquilidad," the cocoa beans are allowed to ferment in wooden crates. Regular turning provides consistent aeration. Finally, the beans are dried in the tropical sun for several days. Then, the beans are ready for their long journey to Europe.

Transportation of the wild beans is a real challenge. Cocoa pods are harvested during the rainy season and roads are largely impassable during that time. So, the bags filled with beans are carried on riverboats to the Amazon steamer docks in Trinidad.

Then the beans will travel 900 miles by truck over Bolivia's antiquated road system to La Paz, Bolivia's capital city, where they will be stored briefly in a high-altitude (13,000 feet) warehouse. The local weather and elevation provide the perfect storing conditions for the dried, raw beans.

From there, the beans will soon travel over the high pass (15,700 feet) across the Andes mountains to Chile's Pacific coast port of Arica, where the precious cargo is loaded onto a feeder cargo ship. From there, the wild cocoa beans are shipped to Panama, then through the Panama canal and across the Atlantic to Europe where, upon arrival in Rotterdam they are reloaded onto smaller feeder boats for the relatively short trip to Basel, Switzerland.

To learn more about Volker Lehmann, and his amazing journey to preserve the Bolivian Wild Cocoa Bean, Cru Sauvage, and the rain forest click the link below....

Shop now for Cru Sauvage - Wild Cocoa Baking Chocolate 68% (Bittersweet) here!

These are made for their amazing combination of ingredients to make a chocolatey, crunchy hazelnut cookie divine! Just because they don't have flour in them doesn't mean they can't be unbelievable!

These crunch-filled Chocolate Hazelnut cookies are to die for. Well, perhaps not quite that far, but they are pretty gosh darn good!

Open the package, and you instantly get a sweet whiff of cocoa and hazelnut! Perfectly lovely! The bite has a nice crispness to it, and as you chew, you get crunchy bites of hazelnut bits.

I find these flourless chocolate hazelnut cookies hard to resist. Eat them with contentment.

Different from flour-based cookies, the crunch and the bite are a great experience. If you like crunchy and chocolate cookies, these are fabulous!

Raise your expectations to a new plane, and you will be happy and filled with hazelnuts and dark chocolate!

Shop now for Primo Pan Drolo Gluten Free Dark Chocolate Hazelnut Cookies here!

Cool! These taste the best right out of the bag—crunchy, sweet, and filled with WOW!

If you have never tried caramelized cocoa nibs, you should.

Candied cocoa nibs are sweet and not as bitter as regular cocoa nibs because they've been rolled in sugar and then baked. Yum!

These candied cocoa nibs can be added to any kind of dough or shortbread, baked in cakes, sponges, or used in praline fillings, and on ice cream. Or just eat them right out of the bag—that is what I do! Try them and have fun!

Shop now for Caramelized Cocoa Nibs Caramelized here!

At first blush (and taste) these salted caramel crumbles are delicious! And then you wonder what could they possibly be?

They are little crumbs of flavor. Flavor of butter, caramel, butter, salt and a bit of crunchiness.

You know how when you have a hard sticky toffee and the initial "bite" is an enjoyable crunch and flavor? And then it gets all sticky and you think your crowns are going to be sucked out of your teeth?

This salted caramel crunch topping has all the good and none of the bad! Flavor, joy and no worries are here!

Dip the tip of your spoon and get a great "hit" of sweet, caramel, buttery and salty in one "shot".

Or top your hot chocolate or swirl into your coffee! For baking add a little to your dough, top your cookies & cupcakes, your morning oatmeal and add pizazz to your next batch of brownies. There's no better dessert crumble topping than these salted caramel crumbles by Kitty Keller.

Go beyond pastry and think of adding this salted caramel crunch topping to your fruit or pumpkin pie (is pie a pastry?). Sprinkle liberally on roasted fresh fall apples or a gorgeous yellow-orange squash!

From the first spoon tip to the last, these Salted Caramel Crumbles hit the spot for my mouth feel!

Shop now for Salted Caramel Crumbles here!

This is a fun recipe to make. It takes some easy work to get wonderful results and is perfect to make and share with family and friends.

See the easy Wine-Braised Chicken Legs with Agen Prunes Recipe here!

This recipe comes from my Dad who had a few recipes he perfected that were always good. 3-cup chicken refers to 1 cup of soy sauce, rice wine and sesame oil. Except this recipe is not that.

I might have messed up which recipe is which or he modified it to work for him ….

So goes the passing of recipes from one generation to another.

See the easy Three-Cup Chicken Recipe here!

This is a beautiful way to fix asparagus. The contrasting colors will liven up your table and your plate. Last time we made this dish, we added some regular oranges, as well—just to add some vibrant orange color to the mix.

The leek dressing is very tasty—and can be used with other dishes, as well. I love it over brown rice, white rice or quinoa.

See the easy Asparagus with Blood Oranges Recipe here!

The directions for this recipe are "In a small bowl combine all the ingredients and whisk thoroughly."

How easy is that for a hot dipping, marinating, anything sauce you can make?!

See the easy Hot Mustard Worcestershire Sauce Recipe here!

Yamasei Organic Japanese Mustard Powder is created by grinding organic Barukan mustard seeds using traditional stone grinding methods.

Yamasei places great emphasis on preserving the mustard's essence by meticulously extracting the oil and grinding the seeds into a smooth paste.

This dry mustard powder is spicy hot. Add warm water (104F to 140F) in a 1 to 1 ratio with a little extra water. It should be pasty and not too liquidy. Let it rest 5 to 15 minutes to achieve heightened perfection.

This karashi mustard pairs exceptionally well with dishes like BBQ pork, roast duck and in dipping sauces! Get ready for nose flaring fun!

Shop now for Yamasei Organic Japanese Mustard Powder here!

Mango is the vehicle flavor melded with the flavors of India. With a touch of heat, the flavors are all mixed up in every spoonful. Every little taste is the same, yet different.

What delicious fun this ketchup brings to your next bite! So good you can eat it with a spoon or use it as an excuse to break open a pack of hot dogs or make a marinade!

Shop now for Hawkshead Relish Spiced Mango Ketchup here!

Early Robin Cherries are early-ripening Rainier-like cherries. They are very low in acid, so they taste incredibly sweet. With their characteristic cream-colored flesh, Early Robin Cherries represent a variety, and the Stennes' will not harvest them until the sugar brix (a measure of the cherry's sweetness) reaches 17. However, the Stennes' will wait until they reach 20 brix.

That is one of the reasons why these cherries are amazingly delicious—and addictive!

Shop here for Early Robin Cherries!