Sugar Savvy

Ah, Starbucks. Is there anything you can’t put into your coffee-loving maw? Or, more to the point, is there anything loyal Starbucks customers won’t put in their own coffee-loving maws? The company’s latest foray comes in the form of “artisan style” chocolate, which bears the following slogan: “When coffee dreams, it dreams of chocolate.” The recently launched line of premium chocolate is available at grocery and drug stores; oddly, you cannot buy them at Starbucks stores themselves. According to a company press release, the chocolate retails for $2.99.

The cacao comes from worldwide sources and is produced in conjunction with Hershey’s and combined with Starbucks coffee, Tazo tea, and other flavors you’re likely to find paired with both beverages, such as vanilla and caramel, along with nuts, spices, and fruits. You can buy it in the form of squares, bars or truffles; the bars and squares come in milk, dark and mocha dark varieties. However, the squares are also available in more sophisticated concoctions, too: Tazo chai, passion and citron tea-infused flavors. When I went looking for the chocolates last week, I could only find a single-serving, .85 ounce package of truffles, conveniently located near the checkout aisle and retailing for $1.35 apiece. I bought espresso, described as “intense, indulgent dark chocolate delights infused with our bold espresso roast coffee,” and chai, described as “creamy milk chocolate invitations to linger with sweetly spiced Tazo chai black tea.” (I’m not really sure I like the marketing grammar of the latter description. Chocolate as invitation?) The other truffle varieties include caffe mocha, caramel macchiato and Madagascar vanilla bean.

The packages come with two truffles apiece, which strikes me as the perfect amount for sharing or for satisfying an intense craving. The chai truffle was redolent of cardamom; so much so, in fact, that even after I was finished eating it, that spice permeated the aftertaste more than chocolate or even cinnamon. I enjoy chai but I think the flavors here can be tweaked a bit; I would rather have paired it with white chocolate, a mildly sweet and less obtrusive presence, and a better foil for those strong spices. The espresso truffle, on the other hand, vaguely constructed in the shape of a coffee bean, was an unqualified success, possessing a deep smooth, round flavor that was not at all bitter (unlike Starbucks coffee, I might add; yes, I am one of those detractors). There was nothing false, soapy, or cloying about the taste of either the espresso or the dark chocolate that housed it. I would buy another other truffle the next time I see them.

I’m also inclined, the next time I am in the grocery store or CVS, to try the squares, but the individually packaged truffles are a sweet, risk-free introduction to Starbucks chocolates. I realize that some people might think it’s crazy to say it’s risky buying chocolate — what’s not to love about chocolate — but that, my friends, is precisely the risk.