Review: Lake Champlain Milk Chocolate, Sea Salt & Almond Bar
May 10th, 2008A couple years ago, I volunteered to make a few hundred little chocolate hearts for my girlfriend’s sister’s wedding. I had just learned to temper chocolate, but I was confident I could pull it off. Well, it was the middle of summer and the air conditioning decided to break in my apartment the weekend I had to make these chocolates. The humidity and 90 degree temperature in my kitchen that Saturday completely thwarted my futile efforts to temper chocolate and I was forced to travel to Burlington, Vermont (the site of the wedding) with nothing to show for my efforts.
We get there and my girlfriend suggests we buy the chocolate hearts from Lake Champlain chocolates, which was nearby. This saved the day. They were absolutely delicious; some of the best chocolate I’ve ever had.
Last week, a co-worker of mine (thanks Clinton) picked up a Lake Champlain candy bar for me and ironically, it had melted and cracked a bit in storage and transit from the store to me. Unlike my chocolate hearts effort however, this chocolate was salvageable. After a couple days of sitting in my kitchen, it was back to full health and ready to be eaten.
Structure
A six-segment, molded bar of milk chocolate with small pieces of raw almonds and sea salt spread throughout.
Texture
The milk chocolate is really smooth. It is amazing how different top-quality milk chocolate is from something like a Hershey’s Bar - they shouldn’t even be considered the same thing. Bad milk chocolate can be grainy - great milk chocolate is just so smooth (I can’t think of a better description). But besides the chocolate, there’s some great crunchiness from the salt and almonds. The sea salt crystals are definitely more noticeable, but the small bits of almond provide some depth of texture.
Taste
The milk chocolate is again the star - it tastes so smooth (I’m not creative today with my adjectives). The flavor lasts really long too - another sign of high-quality chocolate. They weren’t skimpy at all with the salt. If you don’t like heavily salted foods, you might be turned off by this candy bar. On the other hand, if you’re like me, you’ll love the combination.
Verdict
This bar is making me rethink my previous belief that I preferred dark chocolate over milk. Done this well, milk chocolate is amazing. The inclusion of saltiness makes it even better; heightening it’s flavor. Even though this was an expensive bar ($2.60 for 1.25 ounces), it would have been well worth it had I bought it myself (thanks again Clinton).
Tags: almond, milk chocolate, sea salt
May 12th, 2008 at 7:12 am
Greetings from Lake Champlain Chocolates. Just wanted to post a thank you for the kind words about our Organic Sea Salt and Almond Bar. So glad you enjoyed it, partly because it’s my favorite but also because I think it’s a great bar too. I’m glad it was still palatable after the challenges of melting and firming back up. If you find yourself back in Burlington, please stop in and say hi. By then, we should have our new organic truffles ready for sampling. My favorite so far there, Honey Fig in milk chocolate. Yum! Thanks again for the support! - Leann
May 13th, 2008 at 6:47 pm
Leann, I’m sure I’ll be back in Burlington again one day. Thanks for the invite. I think I have my sights set on your rum caramel filled dark chocolate bar next.
June 10th, 2008 at 12:30 pm
Lake Champlain Chocolates are among my absolute favorite chocolates ever. I was there last summer (Go Lakemonsters!) and fell totally in love with their wares. I love the Sea Salt as well and I find the salt and milk chocolate pairing truly inspired. Is there anything that Burlington doesn’t offer?!
January 5th, 2009 at 11:00 pm
IMO, this is actually a low-quality chocolate bar masquerading as a high-quality bar. Try one of these next to an endangered species bar or a Green & Blacks, or a Lindt and you should see what I mean. The difference is in the cocoa butter content and overall quality of the chocolate liquor used. Not that great for me. I would give it a thumbs down.