Introducing your next favorite addiction.

We are probably as surprised as anyone. We expected our first 1.0 product to be one of our bars. Instead, our Chocolate Drenched Treats have leapfrogged our bars — and for very good reason: they are just compulsively delicious, if we say so ourselves. We can’t stop eating them, and we have a whole chocolate factory full of amazing stuff to choose from.

We don’t want to say that our Chocolate Drenched Treats are the ultimate grown up snacks, but they are definitely not what little kids are going to find in their Trick or Treat bags—unless you want to introduce them to the finer things in life early. Our Treats are the perfect combination of our not-too sweet dark “Fruity” chocolate from Peru and either: the rich sophistication of Macadamia Nuts; the savory sweet crunch of Honey Roasted Cashews; the juicy fruitiness of Mango Bits or the crunchiness of our Roasted Cacao Nibs from Madagascar.

So when you are overcome by that craving for a dose of your favorite chocolate plus a little something extra, it’s okay to succumb to our obsessively delicious Chocolate Drenched Treats.

How we developed TCHO's Chocolate-Drenched Treats

Notes from our New Product Development Manager, Nina Luttinger

Nina

In planning our Chocolate-Drenched Treats, our Product Development goal was to create not-obvious, yet just the right combinations. Which nuts and dried fruits would best match with our rich, dark chocolate? Which of our Flavor-Focused chocolates would taste best with these decidedly not me-too centers?

We considered literally dozens of different nuts and fruits in sometimes whimsical brainstorming sessions. Then, after we settled on a dozen possible centers, the R & D team did some quick “dip tests” — dipping some of our potential nuts/fruit into our various flavor-driven chocolates. “Chocolatey” was a little too intense and dominating to use as a coating. “Nutty” was also a little strong for some of the more delicately flavored centers. “Fruity” seemed to complement the dried fruits and also allowed the distinctive nut or nib flavors to shine through.

But even using our milder-flavored “Fruity” chocolate, our first test batch of real “panned goods” (the industry term for chocolate-drenched goodies) came out a little too overpowered by the flavor of dark chocolate. You could not adequately taste the yummy fruit or nuts inside. So we had our R & D team sweeten the chocolate a wee bit—to make it less intensely dark—and we reduced the chocolate/coating ratio.

With expansive and varied tasting experiments (this is the funnest part of my job!), we discovered that reducing the amount of chocolate coating on each treat, while also reducing the percentage of cacao slightly would best bring out the flavor of the center, thereby enhancing the whole blended-flavor experience.

Through our experimentation with different “centers,” chocolate ratios, and flavors of TCHO chocolates, we discovered four perfect combinations for TCHO’s Chocolate-Drenched Treats: Honey-roasted cashews, dried mangos, rich macadamia nuts, and roasted cacao nibs—each perfectly covered in our specially formulated “Fruity” chocolate.

As always, we would love to hear your feedback on these treats—and hear your new product suggestions! Email me at nina@tcho.com

TCHO Chocolate-Drenched Macadamia Nuts

TCHO Chocolate-Drenched Mango

TCHO Chocolate-Drenched Cacao Nibs

Introducing your next favorite addiction.

How we developed TCHO's Chocolate-Drenched Treats

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