Poco Dolce and the Quest For Chile-Infused Chocolate

A few weeks ago my friend Mandy gave me a few tiles of Poco Dolce chocolate including a tile of the Aztec Chile. I'm usually more of a milk chocolate kind of girl, but this was THE BEST chocolate I had ever had. The chile added a nice kick to the chocolate's bitterness and the occasional taste of salt made my taste buds go wild. This was the kind of chocolate you DON'T share because you just want it all for yourself. Unfortunately, the cost of about $2.25 for a tile is a bit steep for me.

Today I was in Giant and stumbled across these Lindt chocolate bars. While they don't combine the chili and sea salt into one bar, I figured for less than $3 per bar I'd conduct my own taste test.

Both were dark chocolate and as far as dark chocolate goes, were mediocre. I honestly couldn't taste the difference between this and the Ghiradelli dark chocolate I have stashed in my emergency chocolate jar. As for the sea salt and chile, I have to say that I found the flavors lacking and much too light for my taste. Yes, there was a subtle flavor of salt and chile, but it just wasn't enough to give it that wow factor. Maybe for someone with highly sensitive taste buds it might be sufficient, but I prefer a bit more zing. Who knows. Maybe Lindt's strategy is to provide just a hint of salt or chile so that you're wondering whether you actually tasted it so that you end up eating more just to figure it out.

Would I buy these Lindt bars again? Probably not. But if you've never had chocolate infused with chile, these might be worth a try.