Morning Coffee & Afternoon Tea: Chocolate Friday: Bubble Chocolate

When I was offered some of this stuff to try, I wasn't sure what to expect. Bubble chocolate. Sounds like an aggregate product of the sapodilla and cacao trees, doesn't it? Except you'd be hard pressed to find bubble gum actually MADE from sapodilla chicle anymore. It's mostly made out of rubber and plastic and latex. Gak. You'll never chew gum again, right?

But, I digress. What was my point? Oh yeah, bubble chocolate. It is not a form of flavored bubble gum. It's chocolate made with little air bubbles in it.

Kind of an interesting concept. Probably not one that's going to fly with serious chocolate connoisseurs. But I'm not really a connoisseur. I consider myself more of a chocolate ... enthusiast. Or greedy hound, if you want to call a spade a spade. And an addict too, yes, but not terribly picky or discriminating. Nevertheless, there were some things about this chocolate that I liked and didn't like. To wit:

Bubble Chocolate

On the plus side, it's novel and entertaining. Kids would probably really like it. If you chew this chocolate, you'll never get the fun. You have to hold it in your mouth while it melts to feel the sensation, which is really neat. (Can I say neat?) We had a little tasting tray go round here, and this chocolate kept the conversation going for a good long while. Think Pop Rocks, only not quite so radical a "pop". As the chocolate melts, the air releases with little snaps and pops. I actually was able to feel it better by letting the chocolate melt between my fingers. Once I put the stuff in my mouth, the chocolate flavor dominated my brain.
And speaking of ... the flavors are great. I loved the Coffee Milk Chocolate, that was my favorite. It comes in Dark Chocolate and Milk Chocolate as well, and they've obviously made an attempt to make this more than just a novelty candy. The coffee bar is "infused with real coffee". The dark chocolate is 60 percent cacao, but the hubs - who is a dark chocolate fan - didn't care for the Dark Chocolate flavor.
On the down side, it melts too fast. One of my favorite taste combinations is a bite of chocolate and a mouthful of popcorn. I've got this down to a science. I pop in the chocolate bit, let it start to melt, and then shovel in the popcorn at just the right moment so that chocolate continues to melt and surrounds every crunch and swallow. It's a little bit of heaven, trust me. I tried this chocolate with my popcorn, but the silly stuff was melted and gone before the popcorn. No matter how I tried it. A friend of ours who tried it said "it's not creamy enough", which I think is the same issue I'm talking about. Chocolate that is denser and creamier melts slower, lasts longer, etc.

This last item is a serious drawback, but all in all, I like it. A chocolate novelty, fun and tasty. You can find out more at their website here: www.bubblechocolate.com