Where's the Chocolate?
Like that little old lady in the "Where's the beef" ads, I am seeking the lost chocolate in chocolate chips.
We used to use the Ghirardelli Double Chocolate Premium Baking chips sold at Sam's Club. The text on the bag read quite similarly to that on the 60% product advertised on their website, but it did not say 60% anywhere on the bag. We were happy with these chips, which were shaped like any other chocolate chip but larger in diameter. For half a year or more we bought several pounds of these chips every month.
A month ago we found that Sam's Club no longer carries the same type of Ghirardelli chips. They now sell the 60% product as shown on the Ghirardelli website. These chips are about the same diameter but look more like buttons than traditional chips. They contain 50% more fat, 2/3 of which is saturated. They melt in the mouth more easily, seem slightly sweeter, and don't taste as much like chocolate to us.
This month we decided to try the much cheaper Nestle's chocolate chips, and they are awful. My husband says they taste like caramel to him, and we found that eating them with eyes closed reminds us of eating so-called white chocolate. They are much too sweet and don't taste like chocolate at all to us.
So where has the chocolate gone? Is there anyone making chocolate chips that still taste like chocolate?