Product Review: Ghiradelli Intense Dark Espresso Escape Chocolate

I'm always looking out for good quality chocolate in different flavors, textures and packages. I love the flavors of chocolate and coffee together. So when I saw Ghiradelli's Intense Dark Espresso Escape bar I had to try it.

The Espresso Escape bar by Ghiradelli is 3.5 ounces. The packaging states that it's 60% cacao and the dark chocolate is blended with finely ground espresso beans. One serving is 3 pieces or 38 grams. There are about 2.5 servings per container. Each serving contains 190 calories, 15 grams of fat, 9 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 5 mg of cholesterol (1% of the RDA), 19 grams of carbohydrates, 3 grams of dietary fiber, 13 grams of sugars, 2 grams of protein, 2% of the RDA of Calcium, and 15% of the RDA of Iron.

The Espresso Escape bar was indeed dark, rich, intensely chocolate with a subtle taste of slightly bitter espresso. If you like chocolate covered coffee beans you will love this chocolate bar, although the coffee flavor isn't quite as strong. It's really the perfect blend of dark chocolate and coffee because the espresso essence doesn't overwhelm the chocolate flavor.

The ingredients are simple and pure. They are bittersweet chocolate, milk fat, coffee, cocoa butter, and coffee oil. There are four other flavors in this line of Intense Dark Ghiradelli chocolates. There is Toffee Interlude which is dark chocolate combined with toffee bits and caramelized almonds, Twilight Delight which is 72% Cacao dark chocolate, Citrus Sunset which is 60% dark chocolate combined with bits of orange and caramel crunchies, and Mint Bliss which is 60% dark chocolate infused with pure mint flavor.

This chocolate bar is not only good for eating straight out of the foil wrapper but also to create some decadent desserts. You could cut the chocolate into chunks and sprinkle it over lowfat coffee or chocolate ice cream or frozen yogurt. It would also be delicious to add chunks of it to double chocolate cookies and flavor them with espresso instead of vanilla. Or you could place a square in the bottom of your coffee cup and let it melt into your coffee or latte for a delicious chocolate drink.