Friday, April 29, 2005


starbucks chocolate bars & tchibo

in new york, you very rarely see these chocolate bars in the local mermaids, possibly because they sell really well, or possibly because they don't. for whatever reason, i'd never had one before, but i had to break a fiver (pound note) for bus fare and so. . .

these 70% bars are both fair trade and organic, with cocoa from one co-op in ghana called kuappa koko. they have organized into a company called "the day chocolate" that sells in the u.k. under the brand divine and so produce the bars for the mermaid.

so i suppose you might argue that the chocolate is also single-origin. the bars are a little waxy but are otherwise well-finished with good snappy and a slightly fruity overtone.

i was surprised to find it was really pretty good. what's not so good, terrifying actually, is that down here in wimbledon "on the broadway," is an evil tchibo.

long-time readers may recall that i often refer to the "big four" multi-national roasters (kraft, sara lee, nestle, p&g) and tchibo altogether as those responsible for the horrible low-quality coffee in the supermarkets.

so i wandered into the odd tchibo boutique; these don't exist in the u.s.a. tchibo sells coffee in vaccum-packed bricks -- primarily espresso -- but also strangely some housewares and women's clothing!

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