Candy Blog

1. 

   I only recently discovered the wonders of peppermint bark. One of our compadres made an awesome batch over the holidays using the Martha Stewart recipe. I ate myself sick. Pity that the Java Bark was so underwhelming.

   Comment by Suburban Tasteland on 2/15/06 at 11:32 am #
2. 

   Suburban - Can I just say I LOOOOVE your blogname!

   I think that there is a good recipe out there for Java Bark ... one that starts with real chocolate.

   Maybe I’ll start working on that now that I’ve created the Malted Rice Krispies squares I had been threatening for six months.

   Comment by Cybele on 2/15/06 at 11:36 am #
3. 

   I had some coffee bark from Williams & Sonoma a couple years back and was pretty disappointed with it, too, though I absolutely love their peppermint bark.

   Comment by Grace on 2/15/06 at 3:43 pm #
4. 

   I’m assuming it’s appalling instead of inedible because you could actually swallow it?

   Comment by Julilla on 2/15/06 at 4:57 pm #
5. 

   Oh no, this looks a lot like the Chocolate Espresso Bark I just picked up for my husband at Target (Valentine’s Choxie, 50% off). Except the Choxie version claims 70% cocoa, “artfully studded with real espresso beans.” Hopefully it’s better than Java Bark and he’ll enjoy it! (There’s nobody for him to share with in the house, the rest of us don’t like coffee flavor.)

   Comment by Tricia on 2/15/06 at 7:20 pm #
6. 

   Julila - I actually ate quite a bit of this stuff, I’m not sure why. I kept hoping it would be good. I kept thinking that it was because I had just had a sip of wine that it was bad, or maybe because I’d burned my tongue on some soup earlier in the day. I kept thinking it was me. But it’s really them.

   Tricia - don’t worry, I think you’re safe with the Choxie. I’ve had the Thin stuff (comes in a slim box) and it was good. I also had some mixed bark stuff from Choxie too that I took to a party and that ended up being good as well (though not excellent). I’ve gotta hit Target before the weekend or else all the sale stuff will be gone!

   Comment by Cybele on 2/16/06 at 9:32 am #
7. 

   Again, I tip my hat in respect to your willingness to suffer in the name of candy!  Hip hip hooray!

   Comment by Julilla on 2/16/06 at 3:00 pm #
8. 

   JAVA BARK…we do that!

   We are Keuka Lake Coffee Roasters in Penn Yan, NY and we produce a gourmet specialty food line.  One product is JAVA BARK…our Italian Espresso Beans in a fabulous dark European chocolate. Now also avaliable in decaf. Delicious! Sinful! See our website for more! http://www.javarubs.com

   Comment by Susan on 7/17/06 at 3:48 pm #
9. 

   Don’t you think it’s a little tacky, Susan, to leave an ad for your product in another product review?

   BTW - I tried going to your links, but neither site came up.

   Comment by Cybele on 7/18/06 at 1:55 pm #
10. 

    Cybele,

    I did not mean to breech “blog” etiquette…since we have a product called JAVA BARK, I do searches periodically to see what else comes up and your BLOG did.

    Since there was an “appalling” rating on your review and others were talking about Choxie espresso chocolate, I decided I’d let you know about ours.

    My intentions were good natured…I think we make the best JAVA Bark available. We are a small company and proud of what we do.

    As for the web site, I’m aware it’s down.  Some major server is down in NY ...hopefully, it will be back up soon.

    Susan

    Comment by Susan on 7/18/06 at 3:40 pm #
11. 

    Appalling?  How… appalling!

    I admit, I was a little disappointed to notice that the “chocolate” really wasn’t chocolate.  I’m not sure if it’s always been that way, or if it changed for Christmas 2005.

    Still - appalling?  I’m not the most selective chocolate eater; I’ll generally eat just about anything but Hershey’s and Godiva.  (And, in a pinch, even Hershey’s; in fact, for s’mores, no real chocolate seems to taste quite as good.)

    But I always thought that Java Bark was one of the most wonderful substances known to man.  Maybe it’s just the caffeine that made me think that.  I used to buy it every winter, and bring it to meetings; it was a huge hit.  One Christmas, I bought ten tins, and hoarded it through the rest of the year; it made me quite popular.  (I guess I should have wondered then why it didn’t bloom.)

    I had a chocolate party about a decade ago, and people still remember the Java Bark.  Just today, I got a voicemail from someone who I haven’t talked to in seven years.  He wanted to know two things:  One, how I was doing these days, and two, where I used to get that “chocolate coffee stuff”.

    You’re right - it wasn’t by Harry London.  I did some research last year, and C&B got their Java Bark from Long Grove Confectionery in Illinois.  Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your taste), they don’t sell it directly.

    C&B didn’t carry it last year, and it doesn’t look like they’re going to this year.  Now I know who to blame!  Thanks, Candy Blog.  Hmph.

    Comment by Jay Levitt on 11/11/07 at 1:43 pm #

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