Review: Vosges Bacon Bar
In the past after eating a chocolate bar I have found myself with fruit or nuts stuck in my teeth. It’s quite a different experience to come away with from chocolate with meat stuck in your teeth. Yes, I took the plunge and ordered myself one of Vosges Haut Chocolat’s new Mo’s Bacon Bar. To be honest I really had no idea what to expect. Would it be just a general smokiness with some salt along for the ride? Or would it be just straightforward in-your-face bacon?
The bar is made with applewood smoked bacon, alder wood smoked salt, and deep milk chocolate (41% cacao). You could swap any of a number of things for the bacon and I’d be totally on board. I have got to admit I wasn’t entirely sold on the bacon. But it wasn’t a horrifying concept so I figured I had to give it a try.
The first thing I do with any chocolate is to pop it open and just smell it the way it is before breaking it to release a little more of the aroma. From the first whiff of this bar there was absolutely no way for me to mistake it for anything but bacon. Breaking the bar just released more bacon aroma. There is a nice milk chocolate aroma hiding behind the bacon smell, but the bacon definitely hogs the spotlight aroma-wise.
And then it was time for the moment of truth: tasting it. The first thing you notice is a general smokiness through the whole thing. And then you get the nice crunch and bite of the salt. And, in direct opposition to the aroma, the bacon kind of lurks in the background. It’s stronger than the chocolate, but takes a back seat to the smoke and salt. After smelling the bar I was kind of expecting some sort of explosion of pork flavor and it turned out to be just a general undercurrent to the flavor.
So, we’ve reached that part of the review where I sort of sum things up and assign a score. I’ve been trying to decide what to do with this for a couple of days now because I just don’t know entirely what to say about it. The bottom line is this: it’s good. It really is good. They have taken salt, bacon, and chocolate and combined them and the result is really quite good. This is an impressive feat. At the same time, this is one of those bars that I’m not going to be snapping into on a weekly basis. I’m going to call it an even 8 out of 10. It’s good and I’d happily eat it again. Just not on a weekly basis.
Coming up: how could I place an order with Vosges and only get the bacon bar? That’s right, I couldn’t. I’ve been seeing their caramel marshmallows in my email for months now and since I needed to get my bacon on I figured I’d go ahead and order some marshmallows while I was at it. And, because of one of their recommendations, I’m probably not done with the bacon either.
Comments
Kat Said:
Next time I'm home, I'll definitely pick this one up :)
Posted by: Kat | June 24, 2007 4:01 AM
Katrina Markoff Said:
It is so great to read your review. I usually create in a vacuum but was referred to your site by David Lebovitz. Chocolate is bringing open mindedness to the world. Thanks for writing! Let me know if you want me to make something in particular. I love to try new things.
Peace, love and chocolate,
Katrina
Posted by: Katrina Markoff | June 24, 2007 6:40 PM
William Said:
Ok, I need to figure out how to get comment posting to stop being such a problem around here.
Anyway, one of my favorite things about chocolate is the versatility. There are so many different flavors to be found in chocolate and so many things to pair it with that the possibilities are bounded only by ones imagination. That's one of the things I love most about your chocolates - they incorporate so many different flavors and textures. As for requesting something specific - I believe we're all at our best when following our own muses. I love to watch and see where people are going to take chocolate next. I tend to create simpler things and watch others for the truly inspired stuff.
That said, I look forward to seeing where your muse takes you next and in the meantime will continue to eat my way through the rest of your chocolates (occasionally revisiting favorites like Barcelona and Wolloomooloo).
And thanks for writing! It's always great to hear from the people behind the chocolate.
Posted by: William | June 25, 2007 9:30 AM
Wilhelm Wanders Said:
William,
thanks for your insight - I got their newsletter in the mail and was wondering how it tastes - although I think I have to try it out now :)
On a different note ... How about a link exchange on the Blogroll?
Posted by: Wilhelm Wanders | June 25, 2007 6:30 PM
Jessica Said:
I just bought a Vosges bacon bar the other day, so am excited to come across your review. I'm with a couple other people now and we're debating the merits of the bar. One eater says she tastes the smokiness more than saltiness, thus reminding her of bacon bits rather than high quality, fancy pants bacon.
I love the bar, and think the 41% allows the salt and smoke to ring through rather than get buried by the bitter intensity of a higher cocoa content. If anything, the texture and size reminds me of Bac-Os, not so much the flavor.
On a side note, how much did you pay? I didn't look at the price tag at my local cheese shop here in L.A., and was shocked to discover "$9.99" printed on the tag upon closer inspection. That better be some damn special bacon in there.
Dude, I really want some of those caramel marshmallows. My best hope here is Neiman's, but dunno if the Bev Hills biatches dig that sort of thing.
Posted by: Jessica | July 6, 2007 2:57 AM
William Said:
Ouch! $9.99 is high even for a Vosges bar. The retail is $7, which is what I paid since I ordered from them directly. Normally when I find them in stores they are either $5.99 or $6.99 so $9.99 has a pretty chunky premium tacked on to the price.
And if Neiman's fails you on the caramel marshmallows then your next best bet is the actual Vosges boutique in Vegas if you ever get there. Either that or the website. Just expect to pay some painful shipping at the website. Shipping chocolate protected against the heat isn't cheap.
Posted by: William | July 6, 2007 6:03 AM
Alyssa Said:
interesting. that is a crazy idea
Posted by: Alyssa | August 4, 2007 12:08 PM
kristen Said:
I bought one of these for my bacon-loving brother for Christmas... unfortunately, he didn't agree with you. I got a text message the other day saying "Stay away from that bacon chocolate." But I'll probably ignore him and give it a try, because I'm very curious.
I tried one of their bars with red chiles - it was very good, nice heat to it, but had a grainy texture I didn't love.
Posted by: kristen | January 15, 2008 12:27 PM
Newbia Said:
I'm afraid I have to disagree with you on this one. I *hated* the bacon chocolate. I like bacon, and I love chocolate, but it was just disgusting. The smokiness and salt completely clash with the chocolate flavor. Blegh!
Posted by: Newbia | August 18, 2008 12:22 PM
ariel Said:
my mother and i both tried this bar...i myself am a huge bacon fan. but i had this bar it was gross. it tasted like bacon 5 days old. for me it was was not good. and trust i'll try anything once. but this once was enough.
Posted by: ariel | September 9, 2009 7:04 PM