On our latest “obli-cation” to the East Coast over the holidays, we stopped in at Mon Aimee Chocolat: Pittsburgh, PA’s version of SF’s Chocolate Covered, with chocolate from around the world and some local chocolate too. We like to share good chocolate, and had run out of SFBA chocolate before our trip was over, so we were looking to restock.
Mon Aimee didn’t carry a lot of SFBA chocolate, although we managed to pick up some Poco Dolce tiles and bars, so we asked about Pittsburgh artisan chocolate. They had a house brand chocolate and one other: LUX Artisan Chocolates.
LUX makes truffles, bars, and other treats. I’d ordered their truffles before for my sister who lives in Pittsburgh. She said they were amazing, so I figured I could give LUX bars with confidence — and I got a couple for myself to try too.
Big, beautiful bars
LUX bars are big (4oz.) and come in a variety of interesting flavors, such as black fig & pistachio; blueberry, cacao nibs & sea salt; and tart cherry & hazelnut. For myself, I picked up a 64% dark with peanut butter & sea salt (of course), and a 72% dark with raspberries & lime.
The 64% dark has thin pockets of peanut butter inside a thick outer shell that is sprinkled with sea salt. The first hit is salt, then a good dark chocolate/peanut butter combo. The peanut butter is softer than a Reese’s cup, but with more texture than creamy peanut butter. I liked it a lot, and would love it if it had more of the peanut butter filling.
Slightly unusual
The 72% dark is a reverse arrangement from the peanut butter bar: Instead of filled pockets, one side of the bar is sprinkled with freeze-dried raspberries and lime-infused sugar, while the other side looks like a Belgian waffle made out of chocolate.
This is another very good bar. The raspberries are the first flavor, then the chocolate. The lime is subtle, coming toward the end, but is definitely there.
It’s a thick hard chocolate; and with the raspberries, definitely more of a chewing-to-start bar rather than letting it just melt in your mouth. But none of us tasters disliked that; it was very satisfying with the reward of the bright, tart raspberries mixing with a really good chocolate. After that start, letting it melt and tasting the lime was a bonus. We all thought it had a good balance between the flavors.
LUX Artisan Chocolates are available online, at Mon Amee Chocolat, and at other locations around Pittsburgh, PA.
