I have a new favorite chocolate

Just ran across a new flavor which might be my new favorite -- Ghirardelli 72% dark, but with cherry flavor and bits of almond. Tastes like cherry Coke and chocolate dipped cherries and those chocolate balls with the liquid cherry in the middle.

Dangerously Yummy.

I ran across a chocolate bar in the grocery store closeout bin, Theo Chocolate's "Salted Black Licorice 70% Dark Chocolate."

I'd never heard of licorice and chocolate together before (though I have since seen several).

It's not bad.... but not something I'd pursue again I don't think.  The marriage is not made in heaven. Dark chocolate is a complex symphony of tastes, changing from first melt to final aftertaste in subtle and wonderful ways. Anise, on the other hand, is just anise -- start to finish.

I like the gentler dark chocolates. 70%+ is too much for me.

Ghiradelli makes a higher percentage (89%?) but that begins to taste like baking chocolate -- astringent, chalky, ascerbic. They also make a 60% which is closer to milk chocolate.

I would never kick a milk chocolate out of bed for eating crackers, but I have grown to prefer the complexity and lower sweetness of a 70-72% dark. It's an acquired taste for sure.

I like to drink tea or hot apple cider, but for waking up in the morning nothing beats a good cup of cocoa.

Since I became lactose-intolerant I've made it with almond or soy milk, which works just as well.

Except instant cocoa is a lot easier.  I used to drink Quik, until I tried Stephen's Dark Chocolate Cocoa.  Eventually even this became too sweet for my taste, so my new procedure is to open a can of Stephen's -- which is about half full, due to the "settling of contents" -- then spoon in several tablespoons of Hershey's Special Dark baking cocoa to fill the container.  Mix well.

The cocoa powder is straight cocoa -- no sugar, no milk solids -- so you end up with a cup of cocoa that is deep dark chocolate but not cloyingly sweet.  Tastes similar, in fact and by choice, to the Ghirardelli 72% Dark Chocolate squares (which are only 60 calories).

An advantage is a single cup gives me the satisfactory chocolate intake for the day.

My percentages of Hersey's Special Dark Baking Chocolate to Stephen's Dark Chocolate Cocoa Mix have gradually risen since last November. I still drink a cup of cocoa most mornings, but now it's at least 50% straight baking cocoa.

An acquired taste for sure -- somewhat astringent, definitely not sweet -- but I find it admirably satisfies my chocolate cravings for the day. Once my tastebuds adjusted to the new lower sugar content, I found the pure cocoa flavor became the dominant flavor, and that is what I craved, not the sweetness.

I still do a couple (or several) Ghirardelli 72% Intense Dark chocolate squares per week, but they're only 60 calories apiece and everyone I've talked to, including my doctor, indicate dark chocolate may have health benefits which outweigh the relatively minor caloric content. Plus they're 0mg sodium.

There is a chocolate company in Brooklyn that makes some really tasty items.
Take a look. https://www.fineandraw.com/store/