The Good: Delicious, Affordable, Decent ingredients, Good aftertaste
The Bad: Could stand to be darker chocolate . . .
The Basics: Ghirardelli Mocha is an amazing new flavor of Ghirardelli chocolate squares that is a perfect addition to the Ghirardelli chocolate line!
There are two flavors that are indispensible to me: dark chocolate mint and coffee/chocolate. When coffee flavoring is put in chocolate, it seems to be almost universally marketed as “mocha.” Ghirardelli has finally put forth an offering to satisfy my second flavor love: Mocha chocolate squares. Continuing their trend of making exceptional new flavors, the Mocha chocolate squares are a milk chocolate chocolate square with a cookie center whereby the squares derive their mocha flavor. The Ghirardelli Mocha chocolate squares are a near-perfect chocolate square; the only thing that could conceivable make them better would be if Ghirardelli produced them with dark chocolate instead of milk chocolate.
That said, Ghirardelli Mocha chocolate squares are the best new Ghirardelli square that I’ve tried in months!
Basics
Ghirardelli Mocha chocolate squares are one and 13/16” squares of chocolate that are 1/4” thick. Each of the squares comes individually wrapped in a metallic bronze-tan foil wrapper. It is worth noting that while I usually rail against the environmental impact of such things, it is hard to imagine Ghirardelli chocolate squares not wrapped. This keeps each one clean, unmelted and intact.
Each chocolate square is a seamless square that is a milk chocolate patty with the Ghirardelli symbol stamped into the top. In this form, the 5.54 oz. bag, the individually-wrapped chocolate squares are packaged together in a thick foil paper bag. This size has thirteen squares and the thick foil paper bag does little to protect the squares. The bag is not resealable, though this matters very little considering that the chocolate squares do not go bad as they are individually wrapped.
One of these bags, even with thirteen squares, tends to run in the $5.00 range, which is a great deal.
Ease Of Preparation
These are candy, so preparing them is as simple as opening the bag and then opening one of the plastic wrappers around the actual chocolate square one wishes to eat. There is no grand secret to eating Ghirardelli Mocha chocolate squares. That said, they do need to be kept comparatively cool or these squares will melt.
Taste
The Mocha Ghirardelli squares have an aroma of sweetened coffee and chocolate that entirely foreshadows the flavor of the mocha flavoring inside the milk chocolate wrapper. The mocha flavoring is strongly a scent reminiscent of a medium-blend coffee, without any acidic aspect to the scent.
The sweetness of the scent is mirrored in the flavor of the Mocha chocolate squares. These chocolate squares are very sweet and as the chocolate melts away from the cookie center, the coffee flavor of the Mocha takes over the palate. The combination of the exceptionally sweet chocolate and the mocha cookie center is delightful.
There is a very sweet aftertaste to the Mocha chocolate squares that lasts for about ten minutes after one is done eating them.
Nutrition
The Mocha chocolate squares are candy, so it is tough to look at these for something nutritious and then blame them for not being healthy. Ghirardelli chocolate squares have decent ingredients, though, which is probably why they are so expensive. The primary ingredients are sugar, cocoa butter, and unsweetened chocolate. There is nothing unpronounceable, nor unrecognizable in these candies.
A serving of the Ghirardelli Mocha chocolate squares is considered a single square now. From one square, one takes in 80 calories, 50 of those calories comng from fat. There is a subtle amount (1% RDA for the serving) of cholesterol and only 10 mg of sodium, as well as trace amounts of Iron (2%) and Calcium (2%).
Honestly, these are candy and anyone looking to them for actual nutrition needs to get a reality check. These are not Vegan-compliant, nor are they recommended for anyone with a nut allergy as they may contain trace amounts of tree nuts and hazelnuts. They are, however, kosher.
Storage/Clean-up
The bags of these Ghirardelli Mocha chocolate squares remain fresh for quite some time. Our bag, which my wife gave me as a birthday gift, had a January 31, 2015 expiration date. Given that it is chocolate, one assumes that if they are kept in a cool, dry environment they will not melt or go bad. It is hard to imagine just what it would take for these to go bad outside melting and refreezing.
As for cleanup, I applaud those who actually throw the wrappers away in socially appropriate places, as opposed to litter. Outside that, there is no real cleanup needed, unless one is eating them in a hot environment. In that case, it is likely one would need to wash their hands. If these chocolate squares melt into most fabrics, they will stain. Getting them to melt, though, is quite a task.
Overall
Ghirardelli Mocha chocolate squares are wonderful and well worth picking up. Ghirardelli keeps coming out with brilliant new flavors and Mocha is one that should definitely endure . . . at least until they come out with dark chocolate mocha!
For other Ghirardelli chocolate squares reviews, please check out:
Intense Dark Cherry Tango Chocolate Squares
Sublime White Vanilla Dream White Chocolate With Vanilla Beans Chocolate Squares
Double Fudge Chocolate Squares
9/10
For other candy reviews, please visit my Candy Review Index Page for an organized listing!
© 2014 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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