Consumer Reports: Hey Big Spender, These Pricey Chocolates Are worth Every Penny This Valentine’s Day

February 2012 Cover YONKERS, NY — This Valentines Day, earn extra points with your sweetie by choosing from Consumer Reports’ list of 12 excellent, though pricey, chocolates. Any of the chocolates in CR’s Select Ratings would make a very special gift. CR’s techie tasters describe these chocolates as having ultrasmooth chocolate and high-quality fillings that range from the usual (nuts, caramel) to the exotic (chili pepper, star anise).

Some examples of CR’s recommended chocolates include the following, in order of taste quality: Norman Love Confections Signature Gift Box (25 pieces; $49), a Consumer Reports Best Buy; Woodhouse Assortment (48 pieces; $90); Christopher Elbow (21 pieces; $40); and Candinas (36 pieces; $48); a Consumer Reports Best Buy. The downside to these fine chocolates: Most are available only online so you’ll need to factor in shipping charges, which can be steep.

The Ratings are available online at www.ConsumerReports.org and in the February issue of Consumer Reports.

High price, it turns out, does not always guarantee quality. Richard Petits Collection Intense Ballotin, for example, at $8.38 per ounce with an additional $23 for shipping, did not make CR’s Select Ratings. They seemed made for shock value (soapy, floral, and even a hint of basil flavor) and their coatings were chalky.

The report notes that a big name doesn’t guarantee great taste, either. Hershey’s Pot of Gold Premium, Fannie May Fine Chocolates Assorted, Lindt Classics, Whitman’s Sampler and its pricier Soho, and Russell Stover Assorted Fine Chocolates and Private Reserve all had flaws that resulted in no better than a “good” overall Rating.

The report notes that four chocolates missed the Ratings but taste very good and are good values, in order of taste: Godiva Gold Ballotin 36-piece ($2.74/ounce); Ferrero Collection Fine Assorted Confections ($1.25/ounce); Leonidas Chocolate General Assortment ($2.25/ounce); and See’s Assorted Chocolates ($1.06/ounce). All are sold in stores so you might be able to avoid shipping charges.

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