Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Trader Joe’s Dark Chocolate Almonds

Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate AlmondsChocolate covered almonds. Ho hum, how many different version of them could there be? I mean, they’re just almonds and in this case, some dark chocolate.

I think chocolate covered almonds but great and probably don’t need to be mucked around with. However, it’s 2008 and it’s not an innovative product unless it contains evaporated cane juice or sea salt. But wait, Trader Joe’s has it all wrapped up here with Trader Joe’s Dark Chocolate Almonds made with Belgian chocolate and sprinkled with sea salt and turbinado sugar. Could they be more on top of trends? I think not!

What’s turbinado sugar? That’s the large crystal unfiltered stuff you’ve seen before, often sold as Sugar in the Raw or in the UK, it’s called demerara.

Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate Almonds

The effect of adding the two crystals to the chocolate coating is bumpiness. No more glossy ovules that look like olives. Instead they look like miniature Oak Galls.

They smell woodsy, a little astringent. I expected them to be messy like the cocoa rolled version of chocolate covered nuts, but these were mercifully neat, only bearing a scuffed appearance but not powdery residue.

Without the waxy glaze on the outside, the flavor and melt of the chocolate was readily accessible - and the chocolate was tasty and smooth.

The deep crunch of the nuts were balanced with the high pitched staccato interruptions of the salt and sugar crystals. Not knowing if that little nugget was going to be sweet or salty was kind of fun. But some nuts were extremely salty, to the point where the neighbors and I made faces from time to time. But it wasn’t so bad that we didn’t keep eating them.

I think I’ll probably stick to the plain ones from now on, the Russian Roulette is just to stressful, or if I need an additional salty pop, I’ll go for Sconza’s Toffee Almonds.

Related Candies

  1. Trader Joe’s Dark Chocolate Covered Pretzel Bites
  2. Short & Sweet: Fancy Food Bites
  3. Trader Joe’s Dark Chocolate Sea Salt Caramels
  4. Das French Salted Caramels
  5. Charles Chocolates
Name: Dark Chocolate Almonds
    RATING:
  • 10 SUPERB
  • 9 YUMMY
  • 8 TASTY
  • 7 WORTH IT
  • 6 TEMPTING
  • 5 PLEASANT
  • 4 BENIGN
  • 3 UNAPPEALING
  • 2 APPALLING
  • 1 INEDIBLE
Brand: Trader Joe's
Place Purchased: Trader Joe's (Silverlake)
Price: unknown
Size: 10 ounces
Calories per ounce: 149
Categories: Chocolate, Nuts, United States, Trader Joe's, All Natural

POSTED BY Cybele AT 3:18 pm Tracker Pixel for Entry    

Comments
  1. This is my new Trader Joe’s favorite, but then again, I like salt!

    Comment by Megan on 11/18/08 at 3:33 pm #
  2. Sounds tasty.

    Comment by Dave on 11/18/08 at 3:38 pm #
  3. Man, I love those things.  The balance of sweet and salty means I’m less likely to pig out on them, which is always a good thing wink

    Comment by Pam on 11/18/08 at 5:30 pm #
  4. I LOVE these! Probably even more than the chocolate covered pretzel bites…mmmmmm

    Comment by Sarah on 11/19/08 at 12:14 pm #
  5. I tried these as well and didn’t like them because of the texture.  I have really been craving the regular dark chocolate almonds lately and saw that TJ’s had them for $8 for a large tub.  I didn’t realize nuts had become so expensive.

    Comment by Marie on 11/19/08 at 5:59 pm #
  6. Starbucks used to sell chocolate toffee almonds that were amazing!  Sadly, they were discontinued and I’ve never found another brand I liked as well.

    Trader Joe’s candies are very hit or miss with me…some things are fantastic, other things I would never eat again.  Their brandy beans are out now for Christmas…they’re almost as good as the real German ones, and super super cheap!  That was a nice find.

    Comment by Lesley on 11/20/08 at 7:49 am #
  7. OMGOSH i love these so much! I couldnt’ stop eating them!!!

    Comment by Jamie on 11/16/09 at 10:39 am #
  8. I just had the Cocoa Almonds for the 1st time, God are they good, wish we could get them in vermont

    Comment by Pete Mignone on 12/23/09 at 1:39 pm #
  9. These are awesome. Perfect combo of sweet-n-salty, the dark chocolate is a winner. A staple at my house. Perfect w/a glass of Cabernet or Zinfandel.

    Comment by Karen on 1/28/10 at 4:10 am #
  10. Isn’t there any way to order the chocolate almonds and have them sent to Orlando? What candy supplier makes them?  Robin

    Comment by Robin Kirchhof on 2/11/10 at 2:13 pm #
  11. I love salt.

    I love dark chocolate.

    I love Almonds.

    I absolutely hate these things as much as any person can possibly hate a food item. They are completely terrible in every way.

    I have no idea why someone thought that the bitterness of dark chocolate and sweetness of sugar would ever work with SEA SALT.

    The salt completely perverts the sweet flavors and amplifies the unpleasant aspect of the bitterness. Chili would have been a more successful addition than salt.

    Chocolate covered pretzels are one of the most delicious treats available; why that same magic didn’t transfer to these almonds is a mystery. I imagine it has something to do with using massive crystals of sea salt instead of modest sized regular salt.

    Comment by Sage on 8/05/10 at 5:08 pm #
  12. Hi I have a friend that had some delcious chocolate covered almonds. It was like coco. They were wonderful.  How can I get some of them and what is the cost? Sincerely, Mrs. Janette Lewis

    Comment by Janette Lewis on 9/16/11 at 3:18 pm #
  13. I am not sure what the person above is talking about,,,I had a student bring these nuts to my class and I just found the container with a few left that the class didn’t eat,,,they were so good I made a point of googling dark chocolate almonds and felt a thrill when I found out who distributes them and I will make a point of going to trader joes primarily because of this product,,,,as far as a dark chocolate fan, I wasn’t before I tried this product, maybe the person in the above comment has a hangover or didn’t have their coffee today or something

    Comment by corrine switzer on 1/20/12 at 12:57 pm #
  14. i love these and can’t stop eating them.  i know that trader joe’s private labels most of their products…anyone know who actually makes these?

    Comment by cat on 3/06/13 at 9:13 am #
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