NYC Chocolate Show

Holy chocolate!!

Today, I attended the New York City Chocolate Show as a Foodie Correspondent for Foodbuzz. Mike and I attended this event last year, but this year’s show was way bigger and better!

Imagine, if you will, an entire exposition hall full of chocolate samples from some of the world’s premier companies. Heaven? I certainly thought so.

Upon entering, we were greeted by mannequins dressed in chocolate clothing. Impressive!

There was also a chocolate train. My kind of transportation.

The sheer amount of vendors in the showroom was overwhelming! My sidekick Mike and I decided to make our way around slowly, trying whatever looked good or wasn’t too crowded.

Like green tea chocolates from Mary of Japan:

Crisp in texture with a light taste.

Gorgeous printed chocolates from Rogue Confections:

Incredibly rich, soft truffles from No Chewing Allowed:

Indeed, chewing would have ruined the perfect melt-in-your-mouth experience.

Raw, vegan, organic chocolate with goji berries and cacao nibs from Divine Organics:

I loved the environmentally-friendly focus of this company!

High-quality plain dark chocolates from Chocolat Bonnat:

This was one of my favorites. The representatives gave me an in-depth explanation of the different origins and tastes, as well as a brief history of the company and its values.

I sampled several varieties, and my favorite was a square from Haiti- the first crop of cacao beans since the earthquake!

I ended up buying a few bars to share with my family.

At E. Guittard, I sampled several varieties of plain, high quality chocolate from various sources:

Including a 91% dark chocolate that was deep and rich but not at all acidic.

Check out the huge boxes of chocolate behind me- yum!

At the Parisian chocolatier Boissier, I sampled several interesting flavors that included rose, lilac and lime.

I bought a small container of these as well- too exotic to pass up!

Gnosis offered a raw, vegan dark chocolate:

The soft raw chocolate juxtaposed nicely with the texture of the berries and nuts within.

Comptoir de Cacao was another favorite- their croustines and pralines were crisp and light, with outstanding slightly nutty flavor.

Callebaut offered tiny pellets of swirled white and dark chocolate with a cacao-butter filling.

The William Dean chocolates definitely won the beauty contest- how gorgeous are these truffles?

At Antidote, I tried one of the most unique chocolates at the show- lavender and sea salt.

Mike ended up buying a bar for his mom. They were rather reasonably priced as well!

When I saw Peanut Butter and Company, I knew I had to stop by for a sample. In addition to grabbing a spoonful of White Chocolate Wonderful, I spoke with a representative from the company who said that new flavors are always being considered. Good news!

I loooove PB&Co. J

Amazingly, this is only a fraction of the chocolate I tasted. I took 161 photos!

While last year many companies offered a bacon-infused chocolate, this year the big trend seemed to be florals. Lavender, hibiscus, lilac, tea- fresh, light and unique. Definitely better than bacon, in my opinion ;)

When I returned my press pass, I was excited to receive a swag bag of chocolate samples.

Yes, please! Hopefully it will help me keep my chocolate cravings at bay until next year J