Monday, August 8, 2005

Vosges Exotic Candy Bars

Name: Exotic Candy Bars (Red Fire, Black Pearl & Naga)
Brand: Vosges
Place Purchased: Neiman Marcus (Beverly Hills)
Price: $6.50 each (yee!)
Size: 3.3 oz
Calories per ounce: 160
Type: Chocolate (flavored)

A kind reader, flickerfly, emailed me a few weeks ago to point me to Vosges, specifically their Red Fire Bar. Their website is sure sassy but the prices are pretty darn, well, pricey. If you have a moment, browse their website. It’s an odd combination of haute, indulgence, health and yoga. I’m not going to be in Chicago or New York for a while, so I figured I’d see what they had at Neiman Marcus in Beverly Hills (I’d actually never been to the Neiman Marcus there before). 

The woman behind the counter was on the phone pretty much the whole time I was there and all I saw of interest were three of the bars that they offered, and even though they were $6.50 each, I picked up all three. The back of each tells me how to eat an exotic candy bar (which is apparently different than eating other bars). You can read that here.

The first is called Naga Bar and is milk chocolate with Sweet Indian curry powder and coconut flakes. Upon opening the mylar package inside the box, the curry is quite pronounced along with a sugary smell and a slight aroma of chocolate. The chocolate itself is very milky and sweet. After sitting on the tongue for a moment, if bursts with the curry. The milk and the muskyness of the curry is a good blend and the choice of milk chocolate over dark is the right impulse. The curry leaves a little burning feeling on the tongue and throat. The coconut added a nice little texture to it, but I never got the flavor of it.

Next was the bar that I was most looking forward to, Red Fire Bar. It’s Mexican ancho and chipotle chili and cinnamon in dark chocolate (55%). The cinnamon is the top note on this bar. I’ve always enjoyed the combination of cinnamon and chocolate and usually use it in my hot chocolate. The next thing I taste is that it’s a very sweet bar, though buttery smooth to melt there’s a slight grain to it, which I must assume are the spices. Then the chili hits. It’s not so much a flavor as a feeling. A burning on the insides of my lips and my throat. There’s a bit of a smoky note to the bar as well. It’s a really nice combination, though not one I could eat a lot of in one sitting because of the fire element. Of the three bars, this is the one I finished first.

 

Last was a bar I wasn’t quite sure of. Called Black Pearl Bar, it’s Japanese ginger, wasabi and black sesame seeds in dark chocolate (55%). There was little scent to this bar, a slight woodsy note which I figured was the ginger and of course the chocolate. Upon melting in the mouth, this bar had none of the grain that the fire bar had, just a few sesame seeds (which I could have done without, thank you). The ginger is nice and earthy with a slight burn to it - or was it the wasabi. The horseradish notes didn’t really stick out, but the combination of wasabi and ginger is spicy without a painful throat burn.

As with many of these gourmet bars, I found the price to be a bit prohibitive. As a treat, I certainly plan on going to one of their shops in Las Vegas, Chicago or New York (whichever city I get to first). The Aztec truffle collection would be the first thing I’d try. Of course this riot of flavors has inspired me to try some different things in my own candy next time I whip up a batch of truffles.

Ratings - Naga - 6 out of 10
Red Fire - 7 out of 10
Black Pearl - 6 out of 10

POSTED BY Cybele AT 9:31 am Tracker Pixel for Entry     CandyReviewVosgesChocolateCoconut6-Tempting7-Worth ItUnited States

Comments
  1. Candyblog goes upscale!

    Woo Hoo!

    Comment by russ on 12/31/69 at 4:00 pm #
  2. i need to go buy one of these so i can put it in the cheap eats hall of shame. =) I don’t know if they’ll let me into the Neiman Marcus to start with though!

    The Red Fire bar sounds interesting… have you heard of “Cowgirl Chocolates”?  I saw it on Unwrapped… they are supposed to be pretty spicy chocolates too. Maybe you could write to them for free samples…

    Comment by Bryan on 12/31/69 at 4:00 pm #
  3. I don’t like Wasabi and I’m not really into Indian curry, but I love being burned by Mexican ancho and chipotle.  I think I shall visit our Neiman Marcus to pick one up and try it.  Then I can be all snobby and say I purchased something from Neiman Marcus.

    Comment by Marvo on 12/31/69 at 4:00 pm #
  4. marvo, i must agree… with Wasabi I have a strict Nancy Reagan policy: “JUST SAY NO.”

    Comment by Bryan on 12/31/69 at 4:00 pm #
  5. Oh I’m glad you tried the Vosges!  I must admit i have such a fondness for the truffles—yum!

    good review

    xflickerflyx

    Comment by flickerfly on 12/31/69 at 4:00 pm #
  6. Naga is my favorite upscale flavored bar out there…usually I hate curry in unexpected places, but this works beautifully. I usually can’t stop eating it until the entire bar is gone. Their Naga Ice Cream (coconut, curry, nay on the chocolate) is similarly lovely. I’m in chicago and amazingly I almost never shop at vosges…they are just as expensive as everywhere else.

    Comment by Anonymous on 12/31/69 at 4:00 pm #
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