Zoe’s Chocolate Co. is a small chocolate company that makes a ton of crazy, distinct flavored treats.  They sent us a few things, and I’m here to say…this is some damn good chocolate.  First up?  The Safari Bar.

Yes, those are animal crackers on top of the milk chocolate bar.  It’s a bit confusing, as the other side of the package calls it a “Kid’s Bar”.

Hmm.  Name change?  Didn’t wanna make new labels?  Or do they just enjoy being confusing?  We’ll never know, really.  If only there was a way, through a bunch of computers networked together, that I could “send” a message to them, asking them their intentions.  Oh well.  Down the road, maybe.  In the meantime, check out this cross section of love:

A couple of things.  First, I’m not normally a milk chocolate guy unless it’s a Halloween staple like Twix, Snickers (they really satisfy), Almond Joy or Butterfingers.  But this milk chocolate is extremely good, very creamy, and not too sweet at all.  It was noticeably better than other milkies.  Second issue: the decision to put the cookies on top, instead of inside, perhaps broken up.  It actually was a nice curveball, having it on top-when I took a bite that included some.  When I didn’t….well…it was just a milk chocolate bar.  A good one, but still not too special.  I say break them up and thrown them in, or if that’s not feasible for reasons I don’t understand, break them up and put them on top, just make sure there’s even coverage.

Even with its shortcomings, this is a very tasty bar.  Moving on, things get weird with the Jelly Gem Bar:

That’s dark chocolate you’re looking at with jelly beans scattered about.  My first thought: why?  My answer: because.  Second thought: what flavors of jelly beans are in there?  While I can’t tell you exactly, I can say (and this was confirmed by a chocolate loving co-worker) that the choices seem intentional.  Nothing clashes with each other, despite some fringe flavors being included like cinnamon.

There’s no denying that this bar is stunning, and weird looking.  Which means it’s a winner in my book, at least to look at it.  However, this isn’t something I’d buy again.  While the chocolate is nice, and the combination with jelly beans isn’t actually off putting at all, it’s just not something that I crave.  That’s just me though: the vultures I work with devoured this tooth-sweet, so…apparently other people WOULD buy this, and maybe you’re one of them.

It should be noted that Zoe Co. also sent a 4 pack of chocolates with very interesting flavors:

Pinot Noir Infused Fleur de Sel Milk Chocolate Caramel

Dionysus Baklava

Apple Pie

Black Raspberry (I think this was the last one)

I say I think, because I don’t know.  Because Mrs. Guru ATE THEM ALL.  To be fair, I encouraged her too, because she’s a wee little thing and needs some plumping up.  But she’s the hardest chocolate critic I know.  She basically hates half the chocolate out there, and is mildly disgusted and unimpressed with the other 40%, which leaves  a 10% sweet spot for her.  She adored these, which is just weird.  She never likes these kinds of ritzy chocolates with exotic ingredients, but she loved these.  She graced me with a small bite of the apple pie, and…whoah.  It really tasted like apple pie.

All of this babbling is to say that Zoe’s Chocolate Co. knows what they’re doing when it comes to making chocolate and chocolate based candies.  A lot of the time we find ourselves being unimpressed with “new takes” on chocolates, but this isn’t one of those times.  Click the link below and buy some treats for the chocolate nuts you actually care enough about to pay shipping for.