February 03, 2006

Jacques Torres a Consumer Reports best buy

What do you think the scientific test-happy automatons at Consumer Reports do when the beeps on their calendar watches alert them to the approach of Valentine’s Day?

Why they run tests on chocolates, of course. Wouldn’t want to send mom anything less than a Consumer Reports Best Buy, would they?

Among the winners is New York chocolate practioneer Jacques Torres, whose $45 Jacques Torres Jacques's Choice box is one of four CR best-buy picks.

The other "excellent" chocolatiers: Norman Love, Candinas, John & Kira’s, La Maison du Chocolat and Moonstruck. See the full chart for details.

From the review: "You’d expect a $40 or $50 box of chocolates made in small batches with high-quality ingredients to taste better than mass-produced sweets, and our tests confirmed that. But even expensive chocolates from Fran’s, Martine’s, and (New York's) MarieBelle didn’t make the top tier. Nor did Godiva’s flagship Gold Ballotin or fancier Platinum Collection. The shocker was the middling quality of the "Intense" assortment from Parisian chocolatier Les Petits Richart, which, at about $8 per ounce, cost at least 40 percent more than most other products."

February 3, 2006 01:31 PM in Foodology, Romance

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