One of the highlights of food bloggery is being able to share delicious things with family and friends. Sometimes it gets to be a bit of a hassle- finding someone who wants 39 bags of an obscure corn-based snack food, for one, but I genuinely look forward to the times when I can crack into a weird-ass confection with buddies or share a nice chocolate with Keepitcoming after dinner. Sharing nice chocolates is on par with sharing nice wines, both activities I rather enjoy.
Amano, to me, is the Trimbach of the chocolate world. Easily one of my favorites, but not something someone outside of the wine/chocolate circle would necessarily recognize as a household name. (Hershey and Hazlitt? Another story entirely. ) Its outstanding quality and depth of flavor in the bars I've previously tried,
Dos Rios and
Guayas, has the signs of a well-crafted level of skill. (Godiva and Gallo. Don't stop me, it only gets worse from here.) After enjoying the strange thoughtfulness that the last two bars gave me almost a year back, we turned to the truffles for some more thrills and chills.
The box of twelve truffles had a somewhat murky beginning. The flavor guide corresponded to the number of chocolates, but the box seemed to lack certain flavors and have doubles of others. All the truffles featured different flavors paired with Amano's all star lineup of chocolates. However, the main source of deviation from their standard format lay in the beauty of familiarity. For whatever reason, Keepitcoming and I found ourselves neutral to the more exotic chocolates. Cardamom and pepper barely held our interests with its muddled top notes, and key lime pie seemed to have a singular focused bitterness.
It was the raspberry truffle that made our tongues sing. Flavors I would generally skip over, we savored until the end, wishing we had entire boxes of these truffles. The raspberry had a spectacular jammy texture and fresh flavor, while the honey truffle, seen with my tasting notes, had a smoky, unctuous bitter flavor reminiscent of miello corbezzolo.
The cinnamon chocolate with candied pecans was autumnal and its crisp, smoky flavors reminded me of chilly fall days and the scent of dried leaves. It was a delightful deviation from the normal flavors of Amano, and one I'd love to have more of. I don't seem to see these on the website, so be warned- they may be a seasonal addition.
Amano, to me, is the Trimbach of the chocolate world. Easily one of my favorites, but not something someone outside of the wine/chocolate circle would necessarily recognize as a household name. (Hershey and Hazlitt? Another story entirely. ) Its outstanding quality and depth of flavor in the bars I've previously tried, Dos Rios and Guayas, has the signs of a well-crafted level of skill. (Godiva and Gallo. Don't stop me, it only gets worse from here.) After enjoying the strange thoughtfulness that the last two bars gave me almost a year back, we turned to the truffles for some more thrills and chills.
The box of twelve truffles had a somewhat murky beginning. The flavor guide corresponded to the number of chocolates, but the box seemed to lack certain flavors and have doubles of others. All the truffles featured different flavors paired with Amano's all star lineup of chocolates. However, the main source of deviation from their standard format lay in the beauty of familiarity. For whatever reason, Keepitcoming and I found ourselves neutral to the more exotic chocolates. Cardamom and pepper barely held our interests with its muddled top notes, and key lime pie seemed to have a singular focused bitterness.
It was the raspberry truffle that made our tongues sing. Flavors I would generally skip over, we savored until the end, wishing we had entire boxes of these truffles. The raspberry had a spectacular jammy texture and fresh flavor, while the honey truffle, seen with my tasting notes, had a smoky, unctuous bitter flavor reminiscent of miello corbezzolo. 
The cinnamon chocolate with candied pecans was autumnal and its crisp, smoky flavors reminded me of chilly fall days and the scent of dried leaves. It was a delightful deviation from the normal flavors of Amano, and one I'd love to have more of. I don't seem to see these on the website, so be warned- they may be a seasonal addition.
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