NewTree Chocolate

One of my co-workers has been having a rough time at work lately and has been making frequent stops by my desk to vent her frustrations and get my opinion. Today, she brought in a thoughtful treat as a token of thanks: four mini bars of NewTree gourmet Belgian chocolate. I’ve never had this kind of chocolate before, but I’m anxious to try it.

Each bar contains a natural extract that’s supposed to promote some kind of emotional response:

Renew: Dark chocolate with blackcurrant (Rejuvenating)
Forgiveness: Dark chocolate with lemon (Harmonizing)
Sexy: Dark chocolate with ginger (Energizing)
Rejoice: Milk chocolate with bitter orange/crisped rice (Soothing)

The website provides the following information:

HOW TO TASTE CHOCOLATE

Start fresh
The best results are obtained with a clean palate. To get the true sense of the taste, sip or rinse with water or lemon juice before you indulge. Start with the milk chocolates and then move on to the dark chocolates.

Too hot, too cold, just right
Store chocolate in a cool, dry place, no need to refrigerate. Savoring chocolate at the right temperature heightens the taste experience. Before your first bite, ensure a perfectly balanced release of the cocoa and sugar flavors by letting the chocolate return to room temperature, 65 68F. Anything else will throw off the harmony - a lower temperature will restrain the release of cocoa and anything higher will intensify the sugary taste.

Sheesh! I’m not used to hoity-toity chocolate. I’ve tried some gourmet stuff and, to be honest, I’ve always preferred Hershey’s. And instructions for how to taste chocolate? Craziness! I mean, I eat M&M’s so I have even numbers of every color at all times, or I eat all of one color before moving on to another (usually from lightest to darkest), but that’s about as technical as I get. If I’m feeling particularly zany, I might put a York Peppermint Patty in the freezer. I know, I’m a wild woman.

I just had lunch, so my palate probably isn’t clean enough to try any of the chocolates yet. But maybe after my afternoon meeting, I’ll be ready to indulge.