Saturday Sacrament, August 8, 2009

Your Chocolate Priestess finally gets to review the "Celebrate Oregon!" bar she was sent from Bursts Chocolates months ago. I wanted to review them earlier, but their website underwent work, and then it wasn't coming up for a month or so after that on my browser. They seem to have solved their problems, so you should now be able to click any of the links I give you — find them online, on FB,  or in the Willamette valley of Oregon itself. We were sent this free bar in exchange for a fair and honest review: no other form of compensation was received.

This "Celebrate Oregon!" bar is 2 ounces of milk chocolate, made as part of the 150th anniversary festivities to mark the western state's political recognition as part of the USA. As you can see, Sisters and Brothers, the candy bar's wrapping matches the colors of this important event. Underneath the multi-green paper cover is a gold foil wrapper as well. Both come off easily. However, there is no information about nutrition on this bar, but that is not uncommon when you purchase something that honors a political event or funds a social cause.

Inside you find a bar with 12 identical sections collectively measuring 5.5 by 2 by 0.35 inches. Getting close to it, I can smell a nice, solid cocoa scent. The sections break apart fairly smoothly with tiny snaps, and the chocolate begins to melt to my touch almost immediately. Both the breaking and melting release more scent as well. The pieces feel smooth to my fingers and against my tongue.

There is a very faint crunch when I chew the first section. It it a bit creamy, though not as chocolatey as I expected from the smell. It does not taste waxy, though it does taste like it must have additives, which I would think you'd almost need for a mass-marketed special event bar that you are selling around the state and even across the country. Letting the piece lie on my tongue allows me to feel the fine lines etched on the top of each piece as it melts over the course of two minutes and releases its essence more slowly, so I start to feel a very slight buzz.

Candy bars sold by organizations and for special events are notorious for not being very good chocolate. We buy them, Sisters and Brothers, because we want to support that group or just have a small token showing that we attended an event, and we cannot deny that we have this pull toward anything chocolate. Bursts' "Celebrate Oregon!" bar is a much higher quality bar than I was expecting given the purpose of this product. It was smooth and creamy as milk chocolate should be; it melted well, seemed to have few additives, and even offered a slight rushwhen I took the time to let it melt. If this is even a shadow of their gourmet chocolates, I hope they send The Chocolate Cult some more, so I can reveal other products of theirs to all of you.

Sisters and Brothers, may you too take the time to slowly appreciate what the Divine and human ingenuity have offered you in chocolate.

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