More Toffee To Choose in Milk or Dark Chocolate

Just a short time ago, your Chocolate Priestess received two samples of chocolate covered toffee from the Nashville Toffee Company, which is in Tennessee.  As you may recall, Sisters and Brothers, one of the greatest problems these toffee offerings have is that their butter, sugar, and almonds often overwhelm the chocolate, so let's see if NTC's product has more of a chocolatey taste than earlier contenders.

Inside the Milk Chocolate Toffee box, which has the orange-red bottom, is a semi-transparent sheet with the "Story" of the Nashville Toffee Company on it.  This was a company formed fairly recently, 2003, as the child of married couple Christina, who used an old family recipe, and George, who had a family business in Nashville going back to the 19th century.

Also inside is a sealed silver bag that holds the pieces of toffee.  This is impossible for me to just rip open, so I cut it open with scissors and then take a whiff.  I smell butter, sugar and almonds, but no cocoa yet.  I dump out the pieces, which are nicely small so you can eat them without trying to break apart layers of toffee.  The milk chocolate is a thin layer on top and bottom with a coating of almond.  You can also see the almonds in the toffee layer itself.   Taking a bite, I notice that the overwhelming flavor is butter, then sugar, then almonds, and finally, very lightly, milk chocolate.  The hardness of the toffee, combined with the coarseness and crunch of the nuts, makes an interesting experience on my tongue and in my mouth as I chew.  Letting the piece sit in my mouth does not really increase the the cocoa taste.

The Dark Chocolate is in an orange-red, sealed wrapper, which also requires cutting open.  Oddly the lower part of this treat's box is dark brown, but the internal wrapper is more like what I'd expect from the Milk Chocolate Box.  The same company information is included, but this time after I open the sealed wrapper I do have a stronger hint of cocoa — let's see if the taste is more chocolatey than the milk chocolate version.

These dark chocolate toffee pieces are thinner than the milk version, so immediately I imagine the chocolate taste might have a better chance, simply because there is less of the toffee itself to compete with.  Whatever the reason, when I take a bite I do taste the chocolate's bitterness much more strongly, and it adds a good counter flavor to the sweetness of the sugar, butter, and nuts.  In terms of The Chocolate Cult, the Dark Chocolate Toffee must therefore win out, simply because it has more to offer our particular interests. 

The Dark version of the Nashville Toffee Company's toffee offers the most cocoa so far in these revelations about toffees.  The Milk version is one of the toffees that offers the least cocoa to the eater.  This company also offers barks with nuts — and I bet those would have a much stronger cocoa buzz potential — in three different flavors: white, milk and dark chocolate.

Sisters and Brothers, may you too take the time to slowly appreciate what the Divine and human ingenuity have offered you in chocolate.  Remember our First Pilgrimage in is November, so go get your tickets and then contact me about carpooling to the festival.