Dark Chocolate Pear & Almond review

Welcome all to another fabulous bonus review! Today we've got a treat, provided by reader Elvin from San Francisco, we're looking at Whole Foods Dark Chocolate Pear & Almond bar.

This is one of those larger sized, premium bars for people who like to enjoy a nice refined piece of chocolate after dinner. And like most things at Whole Foods its got a classiness to it that's apparent right off the bat in the packaging. The  text boasts "Premium Belgian Chocolate" which is already promising, and I like the tasteful muted earth colors, It definitely fits in with what I think of as a Whole Foods look. On the back we've got a little story about what you can expect in the bar and that always makes me happy. It may be marketing, but it helps me contextualize what the chocolate makers were going for at least.

I love a good story...

Oh and as one side note to the packaging design there's this little pull away Open Here tab on the back of the box that makes opening really easy, I know there aren't too many chocolates that come in full hard cardboard boxes like this one but I really appreciate the addition and thoughtfulness in that design work.

Ok, lets get into it now, opening the box, you'll find a nicely foiled bar. Again I have to note the attention to design here. This isn't just a folded over foil wrapper, this actually has some unique sealing to it. Look at these foil edges. I don't think anything was used to stick the foil edges  together, but it feels more secure than the standard wrapped bar. I've never seen foil edged like that on a chocolate before.

Getting the chocolate out there are a few things to note. This is no Hershey bar, these are big squares, and a size I think might be more reasonable to eat just one of after a dinner. The smell is great, definitely a strong dark cocoa aroma. In case you, like me, were wondering what the cocoa percentage was on this bar; it unfortunately doesn't seem to say anywhere on the packaging. Still it smells like real dark chocolate.

Biting into the bar is good, it breaks away cleanly without crumble. There's an immediate tang to the taste, which must be the pear flavor, but then you get the chocolate wave. This can't be too high a percentage dark chocolate, but its still strong for my tastes since I'm so used to eating milk chocolate. Like I said, there's a chocolate flavor accented with tart pear, in a nice mix. The when you get into the mouthful there's a really nice crispy crunch to the bar.

The almonds have been thinly sliced and dispersed throughout the bar. Its nice that they're sliced and not in chunks, somehow it feels more refined. Also because they're so thin there's a quick crisp quality to them that's very satisfying. I'm an almond fan and this texture and subtle flavoring is a great addition to the bar. As for the pear, as the back of the packaging suggests it is a bit tart. And although ti may be my personal sensibilities reacting to the dark chocolate that tartness just edges onto the stronger cocoa flavor.


Overall the mixture is good, even though my tastes don't usually favor dark chocolate. I'll give it top marks for texture, and very good marks on taste. If you like dark chocolate and this kind of bar appeals to your sensibilities you won't be going wrong with the Pear & Almond bar.

The Whole Foods Dark Chocolate Pear & Almond bar rates: 4 / 5

This review was thanks to a generous chocolate donation from a fan. If you'd like to suggest something for review please contact us at walkingthecandyaisle@gmail.com

This chocolate is a product of Whole Foods Market, find more from them at http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/