Better together: Ghirardelli Valentine’s chocolate

You don’t need to have the love of your life to enjoy these chocolates! Ghiradelli is back with its seasonal chocolate heart assortments just in time for Valentine’s day. At an average price of $5.99, the creamy caramel sweets will not break the bank; additionally, the 50-calorie pieces are perfect for a light snack or a tasty treat to share with loved ones. The high-quality chocolates are manufactured in a factory that uses tree nuts, but on the bright side, they are kosher and gluten-free. 

The Bag

The bag, in traditional Ghirardelli fashion, is medium-sized and resembles a shiny paper sack. The bag also advertises the chocolates on the front by showing each flavor’s packaging with the chocolate unpackaged in front of it and the names of the flavors.  The color design of the bag, however, is much different than normal. The bag is an almost rich dark pink color. All around the bag, there are hearts in gold, bluish purple and pink to promote the Valentine’s Day theme. The color coordination is perfect, for the individual packets inside the bag match with the color theme you find on the outside of the bag. Overall the bag has the perfect amount of familiarity and festivity for Valentine’s Day. 

Milk Chocolate and Caramel

The wrapper for the milk chocolate was gold with a pink heart and easy to open up. There were little hearts in a different tone from the main gold, and the pink heart represented the chocolate, which made it pop. However, the label to figure out which type of the three chocolates was bent by the edges making it hard to read. The contrast of the blue label “Ghirardelli Chocolate” was not a good look against the gold. On the back of the wrapper, there were pink hearts spread around with the other small hearts, which wasn’t the best design choice as it just didn’t have any appeal. 

The chocolate broke to reveal the smooth, soft caramel that took our hearts and tastebuds by surprise. While it tasted the same as any other caramel chocolate, that didn’t change how good the overall taste was. The appearance was a basic brown chocolate color, but when you bite into it, there’s a crunch followed by the sweet smooth caramel. However, the smell brought the score down for being disappointing. Considering the fact that milk chocolate typically doesn’t have this noxious scent, we were surprised. 

Dark Chocolate and Sea Salt Caramel

The packaging for this sweet treat was shiny and glamorous, making it attractive. It matched the Valentine’s theme of the candy. Similar to its milk chocolate counterpart, the wrapper was the same except for coloring choices. The heart representing the chocolate was purple, and the background color was blue. Interestingly, the colors were darker than the other chocolates; likely trying to help it be a different factor from the two lighter chocolates. 

The most popular chocolate in the bag was dark chocolate with smooth caramel. The balance between salty dark and sweet caramel insides made a delicious twist. The smell was a rich and luxurious smell of Ghirardelli dark chocolate that made us melt over it. Similarly, the taste was enthralling, and the look of the chocolate was also up to par. The chocolate had a beautiful dark exterior, and the caramel was smooth. The dark chocolate portion of the assortment became the top candy of our hearts.

White Chocolate and Créme Brûlée

The last chocolate in the bag, with our average rating of just six out of 10, is the créme brûlée white chocolate. With a gold heart for the chocolate and pink for the background, the wrapper’s color choices were beautiful. The gold stood out in the best way possible against the pink, truly cohering to the Valentine’s theme better than the others. 

The chocolate is scattered with small pieces of raw caramel, guaranteed to make caramel lovers drool. Upon unwrapping the covering, the chocolate gives off strong scents of coffee, which fade rapidly after the first bite is taken. The chocolate itself is very different with its hard caramel crunch, compared to the last two chocolates whose caramel quantities were mixed into the chocolate itself or were in liquid form. Overall, this white chocolate and caramel mix is recommended for those who like their chocolate in a very solid form, with a mixture that makes it easy to break into pieces instead of a more melted and smooth chocolate form. 

According to our Tasty Table, these delectable chocolates had a 7.7/10 average. We’re sure that whether you eat them on your own or give them to your sweetheart, they’ll be enjoyed a choco-lot!