Holiday Treats - Theo Holiday Chocolate Bars

Earlier this year, one of our friends brought us a whole variety pack of chocolate bars, including 7 different Theo Chocolate Bars. 

This Seattle based chocolate shop has come out with a few different Holiday inspired chocolate bars! There's 45% Milk Chocolate Milk & Cookies, 45% Milk Chocolate Gingerbread Spice, 55% Dark Chocolate Nutcracker Brittle, and 70% Dark Chocolate Peppermint Crunch! I also saw there was a White Chocolate Eggnog bar, but it was an online and Seattle store exclusive. Shame. I know some people who would have really liked that one. 

A look at the back of all these bars, seeing the ones that have visible inclusions. 

We'll start with the bars that have the least amount of chocolate. 

45% Milk & Cookies - Oh, for goodness bakes! Little cookie crunches sprinkled into our creamy 45% milk chocolate - sweet, crunchy and nostalgic. 

It appears these are little vanilla cookies mixed into the milk chocolate. When I first saw it, I thought it would be cookies and creme, but it's the opposite. Brown chocolate and white cookies versus white chocolate and brown cookies. 

Sure enough, there's little perfectly formed cookies sprinkled throughout the chocolate. 

Sheila - That's really good!

Isaac - Yum! It tastes a little dark.

Theresa - It is a little darker than normal milk chocolate.  

Jon - That is really good!

General noises of appreciation around the room. 

45% Gingerbread Spice - All the fun of a gingerbread house; no materials needed. Ginger and cinnamon spice up 45% milk chocolate - creamy, sweet and cozy. 

There's no inclusions in this one. It's all the flavors of gingerbread, Ginger, Cinnamon, Cardamom, Cloves, Nutmug (but no molasses), mixed into the milk chocolate. 

Ian - That is SOOO good! I love it! Tastes like a gingerbread man!

Alli - That's gingerbread!

Emma - That's good!

Theresa - That's like a gingerbread in chocolate. 

Jon - A wee bit of spice! 

Jess - I couldn't eat a whole bar of that. 

Jon - I could not eat more than one square of that!

Joe - That's different though.

Theresa - It's not my favorite, but that's what gingerbread chocolate should taste like. 

55% Nutcracker Brittle - No nutcrackers were harmed in the making of this chocolate bar. Hazelnuts and sweet brittle pieces in 55% dark chocolate - crunchy, salty and jolly. 

There's pieces of hazelnuts, a brittle made of sugar, and pieces of Pink Himalayan Salt. 

Ian - Hmm. Tastes a bit nutty. 

Patrick - It's supposed to!

Joe - It tastes a bit salty. 

Jess - Do you find that it pales after tasting the gingerbread?

Joe - It doesn't have a strong flavor. 

Megan - I like the darkness of that chocolate.

Jon - I don't know where the brittle comes in. 

Joe - I'm mostly getting hazelnuts. 

Theresa - I mean, it's good though. I could eat more of that than the gingerbread.  

70% Peppermint Crunch - Ever wonder what a winter wonderland tastes like? Crunchy peppermint candy in smooth 70% dark chocolate - minty, rich, and bright. 

It says peppermint candy, but the label says it's the same brittle as the Nutcracker Brittle above. The flavor comes from peppermint oil that appears to be mixed into the chocolate. 

Josh - I like that. 

Jess - Oooh!

Patrick - That one is my favorite!

Megan - It's so dark!

Jon - Minty, rich, and bright. I think they got it. 

Joe - It's more Yorky than I expected.

Joe - Anyone sees a piece with peppermint in it, I want a picture. 

Alli showing off one of those brittle pieces. 

Well that was the end of the first round...

I think we need to go back in for seconds and thirds. You know, just to confirm the flavors that we like. Yeah, that's it. 

What were the favorites? 

Jon - I have a hard time deciding between Peppermint Crunch and Milk & Cookies. Probably Peppermint. Nutcracker Brittle doesn't stand out to me. I can get that in a normal chocolate bar anywhere. 

Sheila - Favorite is Milk & Cookies. Least favorite is Nutcracker Brittle. 

Mickey - Milk and Cookies! Smooth and Tasty! Crunchy too! Least favorite is Nutcracker Brittle. 

Emma - Gingerbread is my favorite. Least is Nutcracker. 

Patrick - Peppermint Crunch was my favorite because it was dark. Least favorite is nutcracker because I didn't get much nutcracker flavor. 

Megan - I liked Milk & Cookies the best because it was creamy and I liked the texture of the crunchies. I did not like the nutcracker. 

Alli - My first favorite was Peppermint Crunch, then Gingerbread Spice, Milk & Cookies, then Nutcracker Brittle. 

Isaac - I liked the Cookies the most. Least liked the Nutcracker Brittle. 

Jess - Same as Emma. I loved the gingerbread one. I did not care for the nutcracker.

Theresa - I like Peppermint Crunch the best. I like Nutcracker Brittle after that because it was a good dark chocolate with crunches in it. I'm not a fan of milk chocolate, so I didn't like the other two. 

Ian - My favorite was Milk & Cookies cause it tasted creamy and smooth in my mouth. And also had a really good flavor. My least favorite was the nutcracker brittle. It tasted salty and I didn't like it. 

Eli - Favorite Peppermint. Least favorite Gingerbread. 

Josh - Favorite Peppermint. No least favorite. 

Joe - I liked the Gingerbread Spice because it was something different and definitely a holiday flavor. I liked Peppermint next. Nutcracker brittle was just okay. 

So looking at all the votes, it appears that Milk & Cookies got 5 votes, Peppermint Crunch got 6 votes, and Gingerbread Spice got 3 votes. The least liked of all the bars was Nutcracker Brittle with 11 last place votes. 

Theresa - I would eat all of these chocolates again.