Trader Joe’s Dark Chocolate Sea Salt Caramels
December 14th, 2009 by Rosa
Since we don’t have Trader Joe’s in Rochester, I like to make it a point to shop there and check out their candy selection when I visit my boyfriend in Boston. I picked up a few things over Thanksgiving, including this box of their Dark Chocolate Sea Salt Caramels.
They’re promoted as “buttery smooth caramels drenched in Belgian chocolate, then sprinkled with crunchy rock salt from the Dead Sea”. Each box contains 12 square chocolate-covered caramels, all generously sprinkled with sea salt (some more generously with others).
The dark chocolate shell is thick and snappy and is juxtaposed against a gooey, liquid caramel that has a barely noticeable grain.
The caramel is too sweet for my tastes, for me akin to eating brown sugar. Its strong flavors overwhelm much of the cocoa flavors of the chocolate shell, but the chocolate does have some fruitiness, before turning dusky at the end.
For me, the chocolate and caramel are too sweet. Normally, a sprinkle of salt can offset such sweetness, but I think these guys were overly salted and lent a sourness to the sweet. Each salt crystal was quite large, so it packed quite a wallop.
These aren’t something I’d buy for myself again, but when I shared the caramels with friends, the remainder of the box got quickly gobbled up. An O from me, with the caveat that my friends gave them rave reviews.
If you want another opinion, here’s Cybele of Candy Blog’s take on an earlier version with different packaging.
This entry was posted onMonday, December 14th, 2009 at 8:00 am and is filed under caramel, chocolate, O, review, Trader Joe's. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
December 14th, 2009 at 7:18 pm
Thanks for this review, I love caramels and have been tempted by this one (Yay, TJ in my ‘hood), but now I know this one is a no go. I think the TJ candy kitchen is going a little crazy with the salt; we got some of the sea salt dark chocolate coated almonds, WAY too salty. Or maybe I just haven’t eaten a potato chip in so long, I’ve forgotten the point….
December 14th, 2009 at 9:04 pm
Interesting. I’m intrigued by these fellas!
It’s a shame there’s no TJ’s near me any more.
December 20th, 2009 at 12:15 am
Well phooey. At the beginning of your post I was all set to buy some but now I don’t think I will. Thanks for the warning.
January 11th, 2010 at 2:46 pm
These are FABULOUS. How can I purchase online?? Quick.
December 6th, 2010 at 1:17 am
I would love to buy these. Are there any online ordering available yet?
December 8th, 2010 at 1:10 pm
To me these are the best carmels on Earth….they are seasonal. which is good and bad. I could eat them all year long. I just stocked up on 6 boxes of them, alllllllll for myself! YUMMM!!!
February 28th, 2011 at 9:15 pm
I Love Love Love these carmels. I think that they are great and bring a wide horizon of taste!
March 31st, 2011 at 11:22 pm
I have a sweet tooth, and my favorite candy is anything caramel-coated. Unfortunately, Trader Joe’s (or TJs, as you put it) aren’t available in any of the candy stores here in the US. And based on your comments, I’m really missing out on something, right?
April 1st, 2011 at 8:55 pm
These sound awesome. I usually don’t have a problem with things being overly sweet, it just makes it to where I can’t eat as much which is a good thing. I miss Trader Joes and hope to be moving closer to one soon. They are one of my favorite places to shop.
@Robert Trader Joes is a store unto itself. I don’t think they sell their brand at other stores. You might look it up and see where the nearest location is….
April 3rd, 2011 at 7:39 pm
@ Jesse, Any ideas on sourcing these TJ choclates for the UK?
I’m having a hard time sourcing any kind of sweets from across the Atlantic here in Scotland. I was in the US last year and got hooked on a bunch of stuff I can’t find!! Argh!!
April 12th, 2011 at 5:58 pm
I just can’t keep myself thinking about the chocolate and caramel. I have been craving for sweets all the time and seeing this makes me feel like grabbing it now. How i wish we have this in here.
May 1st, 2011 at 10:44 pm
Yummy Indeed
May 1st, 2011 at 10:45 pm
Those look really delicious, I really would like to have a taste of these wonderful sweeties.
June 8th, 2011 at 2:34 am
i like tohow to make it so delicious buttery smooth caramels chocolate,how to purchase online?
June 8th, 2011 at 2:36 am
i like to make it so delicious buttery smooth caramels chocolate,how to purchase online?
July 12th, 2011 at 8:54 pm
I love these carmels!!! At first was a little surprised by the gooey carmel then it all just melt in my mouth and was wonderful! I wish I could find them somewhere! Has anyone found them yet out of season?
November 28th, 2011 at 8:31 pm
I really love chocolates! Specially when it comes to chocolates with caramels. It easily gets me attracts on it! So yummy and very delicious one!
November 29th, 2011 at 9:53 pm
You are crazy! These are the best chocolates I have ever tasted!