Abbott's Also Dark Chocolate Candies

A few months ago we looked at the milk chocolates that were included in the sample box from Abbott's Also Candy Shop when we visited with them back at the end of May.  To kick off our 2012 Winter Holiday features (booked through all of November) we decided to go back to the shops we found in Indianapolis and do their second feature now.  Today we're going to look at nine dark chocolate candies that were in this box.  Note that this post was not written live this morning but over the course many days as I tried to practice the Moderation I preach to you all, Sisters and Brothers, yet when the candies were still fresh enough to be high quality.  When something tastes so good and gives you that little cocoa buzz you may want to keep eating but you must prevail... OK, I tried, I really did and it took several days to sample and write just not the nine days it should ideally have.  Since I don't know what each of these is until I eat it and share it, I'll label these by number.  Ready to explore this box with me?

Dark #1 is actually two pieces of candy that has a very jagged shape suggesting nuts of some type underneath the dark chocolate.  All I can smell is a light cocoa scent even when I take a big breath in, holding it right up to my nose.  The chocolate is shiny and cool to my fingers like it should be.  It makes a loud snap when I take a bite to discover that there are whole almonds here held together with slightly bitter chocolate.  The almonds continue to crunch, it is a bit of a jaw workout in fact.  The chocolate builds up with each bite lingering a bit after I finish and long after the almonds' essence, too.  Just as I want from a chocolate nut cluster -- crunchy nuts but the chocolate is the primary flavor.

Dark #2 is round and looks like one of their many flavors of creams.  The chocolate is so thick and strong I can't make out another scent and soon the coating starts to melt on my fingertips.  Drat!  When I take a bite which makes no sound at all, I find coconut inside and as you all know by now, I don't like coconut and can't say anything about it.  Sadly I didn't know this was coconut and thus could not give it to the appropriate people.

Hopefully Dark #3 is not coconut in any shape or fashion.  It looks like a nut cluster again with the jagged edges, one sticking straight up in fact but let's find out.  This has the chocolate scent but also a hint of a nutty fragrance that my initial response to is cashews.  I take a bite to find out if my nose is correct and the candy makes a soft crunch that continues as I chew.  The Chocolate Priestess was right, these are cashews covered in dark chocolate.  Unlike with the almonds the nuts here let the dark chocolate dominate every second but their subtle flavor is still there nicely blended into the bitter, rich chocolateness.  It creates a nice little cocoa rush by the the time I'm done, three bites later.  Lovely.

Dark #4 looks like a cream but a bit more round and less thick than the coconut candy was.  There is a slightly sweet scent that breaks through the dark chocolate coating when I bring it to my nose but not strong enough to identify.  No sound can be heard when I take a bite, the bottom seems less thick than the rest of the coating.  Inside is very soft and somewhat sweet but not in an identifiable way.  Is it vanilla?  I don't get that unique flavor?  It isn't buttery or purely sweet either. Either way it lets the dark chocolate's essences out though I'm disappointed I can't identify it.

Dark #5 is oblong and has a big nut, I believe a pecan, on the top of it.  There is no scent beyond the dark chocolate and the pecan on top so I must take a bite to figure this one out. This is soft and thus makes no noise when I bite into it.  Inside is a chocolate cream that is also a bit fluffy.  It feels light and airy yet melts immediately when the center hits my tongue. This is double the chocolate -- a milk chocolate on the inside and darker coating -- but the nut is really more decorative than adding anything necessary to the candy. I really like it a lot.

I think a cream is next as Dark #6 is round but also a bit wider at the base than the previous one.  I think this one is raspberry from the strong fragrance I get.  I hand it over to my hubby who loves raspberries.  He says I think this is a strawberry cream.  It is very sweet, almost stingingly so, making it hard to discern the flavor.  The chocolate doesn't fade as quickly as the fruit flavor probably because the shell is thick.

Remember the milk chocolate toffee from Abbott's Also?  Dark #7 reminds me of that in terms of the shape and the drizzle on top.  I hope that it is because I find dark chocolate works much better with toffee if you are looking for chocolate first of all in your candy.  No toffee scent -- no tang, no butteriness, gets through the dark chocolate coating so maybe I'm wrong.  I take a bite but while I hold it, the coating starts to melt on my fingertips.  Inside is the Abbott's caramel but it is surrounded by a sort of cookie crumb cover between it and the dark chocolate.  The tangy caramel is very googy while this coating adds a bit of abrasion to the mixture. It is delicious because the darker chocolate is able to remain in the flavor mix.  This is now my favorite of the set but we have two more to go, Sisters and Brothers.

Dark #8 is likely a cream and it is both the thickest and widest candy yet.  This one also has no scent beyond the dark chocolate coating, that seems to be the most common trend here in this feature review.  It makes no sound when I take a bite but the inside is a very thick and strongly vanilla chocolate fudge feeling. It melts after a few seconds mixing the fudge and the slightly bitter coating together for a kick of cocoa buzz and a slight sugar rush after just one bite.  Remember the difference?  Sugar rush feels like it flows downward while the cocoa buzz seems to move up from my mouth into my head.  I don't know know if everyone has this difference or can feel these at all but it very fun to experience.  This is excellent double chocolate candy.

Finally Dark #9 is as tall as the previous but not as wide; more rounded in shape it makes me think of a chocolate covered cherry cordial and I'm debating if I should try to get one of our Fruit based Acolytes over here to try it for you all.  It has a slightly sweet scent but not enough to tell me if I'm right or wrong, is this cherry or something else?  You know my hubby also likes cherries, I think I'll have him try this as well as the raspberry one.  He tells me this is a lemon cream.  The Lemon flavor is very sweet but the chocolate shell is thin = less chocolate.  Not as much chocolate allows the lemon filling to overpower the chocolate in flavor.

The darker chocolate candies do have more of a cocoa kick to them than their milk chocolate counterparts did.  Some of these were very good but unfortunately the creams all seemed to fail either in delivering the extra flavor, their intensity of sweetness, or the inability of the chocolate to be the primary flavor.  To find your own dark chocolate candies from Abbott's Also Candy Shop you can check out their website or if you are in Indianapolis either their NW Indy location or the shop in Greenwood.  If you do that, let them know you read about them here on The Chocolate Cult please, Sisters and Brothers.  For the Winter Holidays they'll have special themed boxes and containers you can choose from so help support your local and regional businesses if you live up in Indy and check them out.