Calling UK-based chocoholics!

[raincitygirl]

So, say you wanted to send someone in the UK a very special gift. VERY special, and you know they like good chocolate when they can get it. Would you go with Leonidas or Hotel Chocolat?

Amazon UK has a 500 gram box of Leonidas chocolates for 23.95 plus free delivery. It contains 30 chocolates. Alternately, Hotel Chocolat has a 350 gram box containing 27 chocolates for 22.50 plus 3.95 delivery, so 26.45 for the box. Given that the Hotel Chocolat "sleekster" box only has 3 fewer chocolates in it than the Leonidas "ballotin" box, I'm guessing that there's a lot more packaging weighing down the Leonidas box. Yes, I agree that sleekster and ballotin are pretentious words to describe boxes, but I live with it.

Yes, all the above is in pounds, not Canadian dollars. Yes, it's very fucking expensive, but it's also a very special occasion. Would you go with Leonidas or Hotel Chocolat?

Comments

[executrix]

I have a friend who keeps giving me boxes of chocolates despite my telling her NOT to--sometimes the boxes are beautiful enough to keep, so I would definitely look to see if the packaging is a gift in itself.

I think I would give the person a gift certificate either for Leonidas or Hotel Chocolat, so the recipient could pick zir own--ze might not like praline f'rex, or might be crazy about raspberry creams. Or a gift certificate for a really nice food hall like Harrod's so they could get chocolates--or maybe smoked fish, or a great cheese, or...

[raincitygirl]

Some people just don't like chocolate. I don't understand it myself, but you are not the first such creature I have met. When I was about nine, I made my first acquaintance with someone who didn't like chocolate, and at the time I thought at person was an entirely singular phenomenon. Like the last unicorn! But then I met more people like that and realized you're not unicorns.

A gift card would be tricky, because neither brand is sold anywhere near the rural area where the recipient lives, and they don't have a car or a computer. So it sort of has to be something which can be delivered right to their door.

[executrix]

I do like chocolate! I'm just too fat to eat it.

There's a really good chance that an excellent brand of chocolate is set up for direct deliveries. It could be tricky for a person without a computer to make the selection, though.

[raincitygirl]

Oh, I'm sorry. I'm afraid I just assumed.

I admire your willpower and restraint, though, in not eating something you like. I gave up chocolate for Lent ONCE, about 20 years ago, and it was hell.

[executrix]

I put the chocolates in the freezer so I had to let them thaw before I ate them, and I ate two or three a day instead of six or eight!

[madripoor_rose]

My first question would be if you'd tried either of the brands and which one you like best? Because in my experience, just being expensive and well known doesn't automatically mean it is good chocolate. Taste is subjective, Y'know?

Edited to add: oops, skipped over the UK based line in the post title.

[raincitygirl]

Good point. Alas, it doesn't really help, in this particular case, because yes, I've tried both brands, and found them both absolutely delicious, in different ways. Leonidas is a rather more traditional type of chocolate, Hotel Chocolat a bit more bold in terms of flavours. But truly, I wouldn't be able to choose, even for myself! I am devoutly thankful that neither brand is currently sold in or ships to Canada, or I probably wouldn't be able to fit through my front door. Not that I'd have a front door to worry about, because i would have gone bankrupt buying expensive chocolate.

P.S. Yeah, I tried Leonidas in Amsterdam many years ago, but it made an impression, and Hotel Chocolat a few years later in London, and it also made an impression.

[madripoor_rose]

I think I might go with Leonidas then, just because of the three extra chocolates. :)

[raincitygirl]

Heeeee!

[legionseagle]

I'd probably go for Hotel Chocolat because I personally prefer their style.

[raincitygirl]

Another vote for Hotel Chocolat, thank you.

[londonkds]

I personally prefer Hotel Chocolat as well, but that's probably because I think there are much better Belgian makers than Leonidas, for not that much more money proportionately.

[raincitygirl]

Yet another vote for Hotel Chocolat. Thank you.

Note my restraint in NOT asking you about the Belgian chocolate makers who are better than Leonidas. Neither my waistline nor my wallet can afford to find out about any more high-end chocolate brands.

[antisoppist]

Living in rural UK, I have heard of Hotel Chocolat but not Leonidas (I am not particularly interested in chocolate). But there is a Hotel Chocolat shop in many shopping malls and we even have one in the high street in Taunton, so if you want it to feel like a more exotic gift, I would go for the other one.

But I have no idea about appearance or taste. My weakness is crisps.

[clanwilliam]

Funnily enough, I find Hotel Chocolat to be a bit posher despite their success, possibly because I encountered Leonidas at a younger age. I do like Leonidas, but they're very much on the sweet and creamy side of chocolate.

I like both, but if I didn't know the recipient's tastes, I'd go for Hotel Chocolat as being more varied.

Mind you, I tend to give people Montezumas, especially the chili and curry ones, so what would I know?

[raincitygirl]

I actually don't mind a teeny hint of chili or curry in chocolate, as long as it's subtle. Of course, each individual's idea of "subtlety" varies.

I bought some half-priced chocolate at Purdys in mid-February (Purdys being a Canadian company with a "sustainable cocoa" ethos). It was 2 boxes for the price of 1, all because it was 2 days after Valentine's Day and nobody wanted to buy a box with hearts on it on February 16. When I went to the cash desk to pay, the clerk persuaded me to buy one each of their new "exotic" truffles. Not a box each, just a single chocolate each, to try them. The tiramisu truffle was delicious, but the raspberry balsamic truffle had this horribly overpowering vinegary aftertaste. Who messes up good dark chocolate with VINEGAR? I ended up spitting it out, which is not something I often do with chocolate.

[legionseagle]

To the best of my knowledge, if sustainability and fair trade are an issue, I think Hotel Chocolat may have the edge.

And my sympathies with the balsamic thing. I have the same "why?" factor with seasalt in chocolate, and since I can eat anchovies straight from the jar and spread marmite in thick slabs I'm more salt-friendly than most.

[raincitygirl]

Yup, you're quite right on that. Hotel Chocolat it is. I don't know if the recipient is especially concerned one way or the other, but I bloody am. I read an article maybe 2 years ago about how many of the confectionery companies use child slave labour in conflict zones like the Ivory Coast, and it put me right off my Mars bars. I used to be very fond of Mars bars, but slavery is bad enough, and child labour is bad enough. The combination is enough to make me not buy from them again.

And Hotel Chocolat's policy on Fair Trade TM (as opposed to plain old fair trade, as popularly known) is quite similar to that of Purdys. Purdys is a major player in the Western Canadian market, and recently expanded to Ontario, but like Hotel Chocolat, they have their own sustainability program, instead of using Fair Trade TM.

I actually know someone who works at CBC Vancouver's TV news station, and apparently they were all set to do a hard-hitting investigative piece last year on how the Purdys sustainability/ethical cocoa program is actually bollocks compared with the real Fair Trade TM. But the hard-hitting segment had to be scrapped when they started researching the Purdys position, and found that it was entirely valid. If memory serves, they had to repurpose it as a rather fluffy segment running near the end of the program, all about the good works of a big local employer. No offence to Fair Trade TM, which seems to do good work, but I can see how their program wouldn't fit a bigger player like Hotel Chocolat or Purdys.

And thank goodness, I've finally met someone ELSE who hates sea salt in chocolate. I adore chocolate, and I am fairly fond of salty stuff. But this wretched salted caramel chocolates business is just plain yucky to my taste buds.

[raincitygirl]

Ah yes, that exotic breed, the person who doesn't like chocolate. I thought you guys were mythical, like unicorns, until I actually met one of you, at the age of 9. Sorry to be silly. Yeah, crisps don't do much for me. But chocolate... I gave up chocolate for Lent once, some 2 decades ago. It was horrible.

[antisoppist]

I quite like chocolate but I could quite easily live without it and would pick lemon tart or sticky toffee pudding over anything chocolate-related on a dessert menu.

My eldest child actively dislikes it though and we a hard time persuading relatives to buy her sweets instead of eggs at Easter when she was little. She is now 15 and suggests that they could give her the cash instead :-)

[raincitygirl]

Oh, I always order creme caramel or creme brûlée at restaurants, instead of something chocolatey. I'm fondest of chocolate in confectionery or ice cream form, chocolate cake and so forth doesn't do much for me. But creme caramel and creme brûlée are the kind of dessert I would make at home maybe once a year, because they take forever and they're finicky, but when done well, they're so damn good.

I am extremely fond of lemon tart, but i'm picky about it. My mother makes homemade lemon curd most years, and she's always made it to English tastes, using my late grandma's recipe. Which is DELICIOUS, but significantly less sugary than the Canadian version of lemon curd. I did once get lemon curd at a church bazaar or a craft fair or something that was even better than Grandma's recipe (not that I told my mum that. I wasn't suicidal). They had little samples on a plate, and after I tried a sample, I bought every jar she had available, except for the display jar. But the lady at the bazaar who made that was from Lancashire originally. Most lemon curd, lemon tart and lemon meringue pie in Canada is sickly sweet compared to what I like.

As for sticky toffee pudding, we don't get that often in Canadian restaurants, and when we do, it's a pale imitation of my late granny's homemade sticky toffee pudding. Granny (my father's stepmother) as opposed to Grandma (my mother's mother). Granny made amazing pavlovas and sticky toffee pudding. The pavlova is replicable, because you don't cook it so much as assemble it.

But alas, her recipe for sticky toffee pudding died with her. I never thought to ask for it until she was terminally ill and all groggy from the morphine, by which point it was a bit too late. i must get Grandma's lemon curd recipe from my mum. I will email her today. My mum is only 71, but there are such things as car accidents and heart attacks. Oh man, now I'm getting all nostalgic and missing both my grandmothers like mad. It's funny how food, or even just the memory of food, is all wrapped up in one's memories of deceased relatives.

Your eldest daughter sounds very sensible. At 15 it's probably far more practical to give cash (or at the very least, an iTunes gift card, if one hates giving cash, as some people do) than to give an actual present.

[lexin]

I would go for Hotel Chocolat as well. More interesting chocolates.

[raincitygirl]

Majority rules, I went with Hotel Chocolat. Majority doesn't ALWAYS rule (it's my damn blog, not a democracy), but in this case I decided to be democratic. I ordered from Hotel Chocolat for both recipients (my aunt and my mum's cousin) and was favourably impressed by their efficiency. I ordered at about 6 am Vancouver time on Friday, so 2 pm Greenwich time. I wasn't expecting the packages to be dispatched until Monday, but about 2 hours later I got emails saying both packages had been dispatched via Royal Mail, and giving me tracking numbers for them.

[mandragora]

Actually, I'd go for Godiva rather than either Hotel Chocolat or Leonidas. Don't get me wrong, I eat Hotel Chocolat quite a lot (there's one near where I work) but when I want to treat myself I go for Godiva (also near where I work). I prefer both to Leonidas and another brand I also prefer to Leonidas is Charbonnel & Walker. I guess I'm just not that keen on Leonidas, maybe.

[mandragora]

Meant to add that I presume Amazon doesn't deliver Godiva, though, so I'd go with Hotel Chocolat.

[raincitygirl]

Mandragora????!!!!! Oh wow, it's been a while. I'm absolutely delighted you're still around on this platform. How have you been???? How's your health? How are your nephews? It was 2 nephews, right? I think when we last talked one of them was in uni and one was still in school. I became an aunt myself slightly less than 3 years ago and am about to become an aunt for the second time. I went through a phase of rather disliking my niece when she was doing the Terrible Twos with a vengeance, but these past few months she's been significantly less bratty.

I have a new job, as of November, and it has a much bigger finance component than my old job. My new boss and most of my new colleagues are lovely (i figure after 4 months the honeymoon period has worn off and I'm seeing their real personalities). But February and March have been NUTS at work, because fiscal year end is March 31. At my old job I worked across the hall from Accounting Services, and I never really understood why the folks across the hall always looked so hollow-eyed and pale-cheeked in February and March. Now I understand all too well. But by the second week of April the madness will be over.

I had intended to spend a week in London and a little bit more than a week in Scotland this September, but I've been having some physical health issues, and just saw my GP, who thinks 2 plane trips of 10 hours each plus travelling from London to Edinburgh and back would be a bit much under the circumstances. Fortunately I hadn't already booked my ticket, but I had made tentative plans, so I'm disappointed. There was this really cool looking 3-day coach tour of the Highlands and the Isle of Skye on a Wee Red Bus that I had my eye on. Hopefully by next spring, my health situation will be resolved and I can go. Perhaps we could get together for lunch or dinner when I'm over....

As for the chocolates business, I ended up going with Hotel Chocolat. I counted up the votes, and decided majority rules. Majority doesn't ALWAYS rule (it's my damn blog, not a democracy), but I placed the orders right before you posted. I have, however, bookmarked the Charbonnel & Walker website for future reference. One of my uncles has a birthday coming up in May, and he's the sort who's difficult to shop for, so I usually end up going with chocolate or booze. And there's always Christmas.

It seems, as well, that Holt Renfrew sells Charbonnel & Walker. Holt Renfrew is a very upscale Canadian department store with a branch in downtown Vancouver. Somehow they've survived and thrived, even though all the mid-market department stores are either in terminal decline or have already gone bust. Perhaps I will get myself a little box of Charbonnel & Walker truffles after fiscal year end, as a reward. Godiva is sold in Canada, in fact, but I've tried their chocolates before and they just don't do it for me.

[mandragora]

I'm good, many thanks for asking. No significant health issues for years now and I'm actually fitter than I used to be, which helps (I do a lot of walking and am reaping the benefits in that it allows me to eat a lot of chocolate!).

Yep, 2 nephews, both in the US. One is working there and living with American girlfriend in Vegas and the other is at university in Boston, although he's currently in LA. Enjoy your niece and whatever new baby is whilst small because before you know it they'll be all grown up and trying to launch an app as a start-up (youngest nephew).

I've moved jobs myself and head a team that's been working on the UK Government Budget. So, we're all knackered currently. Budget was last Wednesday but we're still working on the legislation for presentation to Parliament and getting that ready in time is going down to the wire. So, yes, I think I understand the pressure you're under all too well. We'll have a bit of a breather after 20 March but this year we're going to have 2 Budgets so will have to start work on Autumn Budget (in reality that's already started but the pace will pick up) soon. Oh, and of course there's a little thing called Brexit that we're also working on...

Fingers crossed that you're well enough to come over soon as it would be fabulous to see you. The Highlands and Skye are gorgeous and definitely worth a visit.

I think going with Hotel Chocolat is a good decision and actually it is British (unlike Leonidas or Charbonnel & Walker) so that may please the uncle, as well as the fact that the chocolate is lovely. And you should treat yourself, on occasion, definitely, including with some quality chocolates!

[raincitygirl]

I’m sorry! I should’ve got back to you much faster, and in my defence, I meant to. I clicked on a tab in my browser just now and realized I had never actually hit Post on my reply to you. Tabs are tricky things. Thank goodness for the copy-paste function on computers, so I don’t have to rewrite everything.

Awesome that you’re in good health again, and can eat chocolate. Oh wow, your nephews are all grown up now. One of them has his own start-up! And Boston is supposed to be a lovely city, despite the appalling winters.

I admit, my niece could be very difficult as a toddler. But the past few months, she’s been coming along in leaps and bounds. The other day my mum was babysitting, I called, she demanded to talk to me, and said, “Hello Rain. I have play dough” into the phone very distinctly. Okay, fine, maybe it was more like, “Hewwo Wain. I have pay dough” but it was still perfectly understandable. I think maybe I just like older kids better than babies and toddlers.

Your new job sounds gruelling but also meaningful, which jobs should be if they possibly can. I definitely like my new job, except when I’ve accidentally mislaid a large chunk of money and have to break the news to my boss. He’s very nice and patient, but his face makes a disappointed expression which is thoroughly painful. I didn’t lose a large chunk of cash. I got a couple of invoices, didn’t enter them into our computerized financial system immediately, then misfiled them and didn’t find them again for 3 weeks. The day I went into that folder for something else and found them was a terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad day.

Now I drop everything when a new invoice comes in, to avoid the disappointed face. Even if I were to subsequently misfile them, at least the funds are committed in the system. Our system, incidentally, was translated from the German, and was a nightmare at first. Apparently a German software company developed this computerized program to track the budgets of large organizations and it was a hit. So then some bright spark decided to translate everything and market it in the English-speaking world. It’s not intuitive at all, although it’s finally starting to click, after several months.

I am thoroughly disappointed in my gastroenterologist, who seemed so nice at my first appointment. In our subsequent meeting to discuss my test results, he said I have “nervous stomach” (which sounds like a diagnosis out of a Victorian novel), there’s nothing he can do for me, and I should avoid stress. On the one hand it’s good, because yay, no tumour or whatever. But on the other hand, he went to HOW many years of medical school to make that recommendation? It’s not like I seek out stress. Stress finds people and not the other way around, particularly around fiscal year-end!

I’m thinking maybe by next May, either I will have seen a different gastroenterologist, or will have figured out the problem in some other way. I don’t want to fly at the height of summer. Quite apart from the extra expense, I virtually never take holidays in July or August, because the office is air-conditioned, my apartment and many other places are not, and I don’t really care for the heat.