A quick set of 4 links for those last minute chocolate needs; Tasting packs of fine dark chocolate that will make an excellent gift this Christmas. Click on the title above each description to buy online.

Forget small-batch; Get micro-batch expertise

For USA only (UK & Australian buyers scroll down)

“..6-Bar Chocolate Tasting Kit with 67%, 70% and 75% Single-Origin, Madagascar Dark Chocolate Bars and a full color How to Taste Fine Chocolate brochure all contained in an attractive platinum-tone tin. The perfect gift for a lifelong or burgeoning chocophile..”

Englander - The Purists Library
“.. A collection of 7 bars giving a tasting entrée to the world of single estate and single region chocolate. Includes high cocoa milks, classic darks and extreme adventure recipes..”

America - All signs of the Zodiac
“..specially designed to match up with the Zodiac sign of that special person in your life. Each box comes with three bars and a tasting sheet to let you know just why they’re specially chosen for your sign..”

Australia - Customise the 5 You Want
“..Choose one of the 5 Single Origin bars to experience a delicious flavor from an exotic location..”

Chocolate maker Alan McClure of Patric Chocolate, wrote recently about the chocolate purists ‘myth’ that chocolate made from Criollo cacao might taste better that chocolate made with other types of cacao?

“You be the judge,” he said “and I mean this literally. Buy chocolate made by companies that take chocolate seriously. Taste it and decide if you like it. Whether it says Criollo on the label or not, and whether it really is Criollo or not, you’ll either like the chocolate, or you won’t. As you get more serious about chocolate, you’ll begin to figure out with increasing precision what it is that really draws you to a chocolate–what qualities you like most in a chocolate. Who cares what the cacao is called at that point. Enjoy your chocolate, that is the whole reason for its existence.”