There is so much new chocolate to tell you about I fear I may not fit it all in in time for Christmas. I seem to have abandoned Advent calendars this year. Never mind, get yourself the fabulous Jacquie Lawson virtual one instead.
My big new find is Tosier’s Suffolk Shingle, £15. I fell hard for this product, which is a chocolatey homage to Suffolk’s shingly beaches. I’ve had various chocolate-covered nuts and raisins over the years, which this essentially is, but this is by far the best. It was so tasty and so good that I struggled, even with my restraint (which is impressive these days), to stop eating.
It’s high-cocoa-content chocolate, coating Piedmont hazelnuts, cinnamon almonds, flame raisins (these first three are also sold separately, so you could make your own giant pick and mix) and cocoa nibs (which I put on my porridge). There’s also a solid chocolate starfish, which my pack was sadly lacking (but that’s beach finds for you). Like all Tosier products, it’s vegan and free of gluten and dairy, and has no additives.
While at Tosier the Marzipan Bites, £15, must be bought if you like marzipan: 90% cocoa chocolate covers big nuggets of very superior almond paste. I find marzipan very sweet, but a) the quality of this one and b) the 90% chocolate perfectly balances everything out.
Luisa’s has a lovely new bar out which is 100% Philippines cocoa with dates, £3.25. That does mean that it’s sweetened, but with natural sugars (the sugar content for those interested is 11g/100g, so pretty low). It’s great for those who like really high percentage cocoa but with a bit of sweetness.