The time has finally come to reveal the bars that were included in the June 2014 Mystery Chocolate Box! There have been a lot of guesses, some spot-on, and some not so spot-on… 🙂

We had a TON of fun putting this box together. From tasting potential chocolates (always fun) to prepping the bars/boxes and shipping them out. As you should know, this is the very first Mystery Chocolate Box! It’s been a blast bringing one of our favorite family traditions to awesome people like you.

So, let’s get to the bars.

Bar A

This one was my personal favorite. I LOVE this bar. This is a complex bar with a couple different flavors packed inside. When you first bite into this bar, you notice the fruity citrus flavor first. As you let the chocolate melt in your mouth, you notice a slight, crunchy spiciness.

The chocolate is dark, but has none of the bitterness that you taste in some dark chocolate bars. It has the smooth, almost creaminess of most milk chocolate bars. Some people notice the spiciness more than others. It doesn’t taste strong to me, but others seem to be more sensitive to the spicy kick at the end.

So, what was Bar A?

Organic Lemon Ginger Chocolate with Black Pepper by Equal Exchange

Yep, that citrusy taste was lemon! Many people thought it was orange — close, but not quite.

The ginger and black pepper, obviously, contributed the spiciness.

Overall, this is one of my favorite chocolate bars of all time, and I highly recommend trying it if you haven’t already!

About Equal Exchange

Equal Exchange’s mission is to build long-term trade partnerships that are economically just and environmentally sound, to foster mutually beneficial relationships between farmers and consumers and to demonstrate, through our success, the contribution of worker co-operatives and Fair Trade to a more equitable, democratic and sustainable world.

No, really. That’s their mission statement, straight from the “About Us” page on their site. These guys are the real deal. In a world where you never know where your food is coming from and how many mermaids had to shed a tear to produce your lunch, you know you can trust everything you buy from Equal Exchange.

In addition to chocolate, Equal Exchange also sells coffee, tea, bananas, and other foods. Find out more about these guys at their website:

http://www.equalexchange.coop

Bar B

I don’t know if you noticed it, but the smell when you open up this bar is fantastic, and there’s no way you can open up the wrapper and not take a bite. As you taste this bar, you notice the crunchiness inside — it’s a wonderfully subtle crunch, and it’s hard to place. This bar is dark, but it has a sweetness to it, a familiar flavor that you can’t quite put your finger on.

So what was it?

ECI Vanilla Nib by Theo Chocolate

Vanilla nibs. So THAT’S what those crunchy things were. Yeah, we didn’t guess that on our first time either.

We had great feedback on this bar — many people said this was their favorite one!

About Theo Chocolate

Based in Seattle, Washington, Theo Chocolate is dedicated to making the world a better place through chocolate. As part of that mission, they’re doing some really cool things like partnering with the Eastern Congo Initiative to help train farmers in the Congo region to grow chocolate.

The result? Delicious chocolate bars like the ECI Vanilla Nib by Theo Chocolate. Which, if your short term memory is, um, shaky, is Bar B!

That should give you a good idea about Theo Chocolate. In a nutshell (or a cacao bean), these guys are truly benefitting the world while creating amazing chocolate for us to eat. A good cause indeed!

Note: If you’re in the Seattle, Washington area, you can tour their factory. I’ve heard great things about it — check it out if you can! I think they also give you samples as part of the tour…

Bar C

The only milk chocolate bar out of the bunch, this was definitely the smoothest and creamiest bar, although once you sink your teeth into this bar you notice the crunchy nuts. This is the kind of bar that you can eat piece after piece of and then, maybe ten minutes later, look down and think, “What happened by my chocolate bar?”.

Admit it — how many of you did this?

Hand raising slowly with guilt… I knew it!

So, what was this bar?

Milk Chocolate with Hazelnuts by Divine Chocolate

This bar was fairly easy to guess and had the highest number of correct answers. Yep, hazelnuts — a common nut to put into a chocolate bar, and a fairly recognizable flavor. Congrats to everyone to guessed this bar correctly!

About Divine Chocolate

Divine Chocolate is a fair trade chocolate company which is also owned by its cocoa farmers.

This means that not only do their farmers get a fair price for their cocoa, they also own shares of the company itself.

They’re also doing a cool competition to help kids get to rural schools in Ghana. For every Divine bar sold between May 19, 2014 and June 19, 2014 (3 days left!) at Barnes & Noble College Bookstores, they will donate $1 into a pilot program to supply bamboo bikes to children of cocoa farmers in rural Ghana.

So, how did you do on your guesses?

Let everyone know how many you got correct and which bar you liked most! Tweet them, post them on Facebook, blog them, or post a comment and let us know three things:

1. How you did on your guesses
2. How much fun you had with this month’s Mystery Chocolate Box
3. Which bar you liked most

Until next month!