Guest Author - Deborah Markus

The good people at Intentional Chocolate sent me some of their products to review.

Since it all begins with the package, let me start by saying that the art on this chocolate's wrapping manages to be both elegant and adorable. The recurring theme is a cross-legged figure, drawn with deceptive simplicity and a few strokes of ink.

I was sent several samples of Intentional Chocolate's wares. One was a large bag of their dark chocolate pistoles -- little flat disks of chocolate. Like all of the chocolate I tried from them, this had sharp hints of fruity flavor. The phrase that kept going through my head as I tasted and pondered was "wild chocolate." If chocolate could be picked straight from a tree, it would taste like this.

The flavor is deep and direct. The name of the company is apt in that respect, since this isn't chocolate you could carelessly, absentmindedly chomp away at. If you're eating this chocolate, that's all you're doing.

I was also given a box of nine "Love Truffles." There were three flavors: Tahitian Vanilla, Kona Coffee, and Lilikoi. Lilikoi is eye-wateringly strong and citrusy -- the truffles are small, but you'd still better take several bites to finish one of this flavor. The Kona Coffee truffle is a perfect mocha blend, like a little concentrated cup of coffee. Tahitian Vanilla wasn't like any vanilla flavor I've tried before. The ganache was dark, rich, and moody. Each truffle's center was silky-smooth, contrasting beautifully with the firm bite of the thick, solid chocolate coating.

The last gift from Intentional Chocolate was a bag of dark hot chocolate mix. I have to say that this is the most beautiful drinking chocolate I've ever seen. It's not a cocoa powder -- it's jagged, dusty nuggets of real chocolate. You can eat this straight out of the bag; I know, because I did, and enjoyed myself immensely.

I had some difficulty preparing it as a drink, though. The package says to use three ounces of the chocolate to half a cup of boiling water or milk. As I don't have a kitchen scale, I tried to do the math another way. The bag weighed contained seven ounces of chocolate; that meant that I should use almost half of it for one cup of chocolate. It was a pretty big envelope of chocolate mix, though, and that seemed like a lot. Finally, I just spooned a decent amount into a cup and poured boiling water over it.

I stirred and stirred. This chocolate takes its time dissolving, and never does get completely smooth. Finally, I took a sip -- and my family was alarmed to see my eyes bulge out. This is a strong, spicy chocolate. I hadn't been prepared for the intensity of the taste. My son found it overwhelming.

The next time I made it, I used milk -- about six ounces (three-fourths of a measuring cup), stirred into three heaping teaspoons full of the chocolate. That worked well, though, as in the previous experimenting, the chocolate never quite dissolved completely. It wasn't gritty, exactly, but the chocolate kept fighting to return to its solid state. I learned to stir before each sip.

The milk made the chocolate much milder, though still strong and unlike any drinking chocolate I've ever had before. It was like drinking a bar of artisan chocolate.

If you love dark, unconventional chocolate, this is something you should try. If your tastes run to the mild and quiet, be warned: Intentional Chocolate is heady stuff.