Mic Drop For TCHO’s Limited-Edition Collab Chocolates

TCHO chocolate bars (front to back): The Perfect Matcha, Grizzly Berry, Deep, Dark & Salty, and Hoppy Hour.
TCHO chocolate bars (front to back): The Perfect Matcha, Grizzly Berry, Deep, Dark & Salty, and Hoppy Hour.

Berkeley’s TCHO Chocolate has just debuted three brand-new, limited-edition bars in partnership with three local icons: Third Culture Bakery, the Oakland Zoo, and Berkeley’s Fieldwork Brewing Co.

Like a Supreme drop, these are small-batch productions that wait for no one, meaning once they sell out, you’re out of luck.

I had a chance to sample these creations that sell for $9.99 per bar on the TCHO web site. The respective bars are also sold at the three partnering businesses: Third Culture Bakery’s Bay Area locations, Oakland Zoo, and Fieldwork Brewing Co.

The new, limited-edition bars.
The new, limited-edition bars.

The Perfect Matcha was inspired by Third Culture Bakery’s popular strawberry, lychee and matcha latte.

Its green hue is courtesy of premium Japanese matcha blended with TCHO’s oat milk white chocolate. Its center is made with sweet-tart freeze-dried strawberries. Creamy as can be, with a burst of tangy berries, the taste is reminiscent of matcha mochi ice cream that holds a surprise center of fresh strawberries.

The Grizzy Berry, made in consultation with the Oakland Zoo, pays homage to native California bears who forage on wild berries. This 66 percent dark chocolate bar tastes intensely of blueberries and blackberries, which pair exceptionally well with the slight bitter finish of the chocolate.

A look inside the Perfect Matcha.
A look inside the Perfect Matcha.

Fieldwork Brewing used its Citra, Centennial and Chinook hop extracts in this 64 percent dark chocolate Hoppy Hour bar. The hoppy taste is shockingly pronounced, making you think you’ve somehow just quaffed an IPA, even when you haven’t. Let this one slowly melt on the tongue for a surprise burst of fizziness like that of a foamy head, thanks to pop rocks, of course. Look for this bar to be released on Aug. 30.

If you can’t get your hands on these three flavors, there’s always the Deep, Dark & Salty ($14.99), a collaboration between TCHO and the Monterey Bay Aquarium that came about last year. This 74 percent dark chocolate bar features sea salt from Big Sur Salts and sea lettuce from Monterey Bay Seaweeds.

It boasts a beguiling taste, with the hit of salt coming at the very end of this luxurious tasting chocolate with its briny, umami, and almost oyster-like taste. That may strike you as odd, but one taste will have you sold.

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