Great Chocolate Mail Order for Very Sick Friend

I have a friend in very perilous health who loves chocolate. I want to send her something very festive and chocolate based, but not something that would seem intimidating to eat (i.e. tons and tons of chocolate), cuz, again, she's in poor health (though...come to think of it....her family/friends would probably enjoy participating).

I'm willing to spend up to $100, and it needs to arrive soon, so ideally it'd be from a snappy, professional mail order source.

thanks for any advice!

ciao

[merlot143]

This post was originally almost made a year ago, and hopefully your friend has recovered. But if she hasn't and would still like chocolate, I personally recommend John and Kira's Chocolates, aka Jubilee Chocolates. They're based in Philadelphia and ship everywhere. I sent a box to my friends, who were delighted. It came in a lovely wooden box with nice ribbon. The actual chocolates were "delicate, delectable morsels" (according to my friend). They have all the regular flavours as well as groovy ones like lemongrass.

[Snackish]

I got some John and Kira's for Valentine's Day. Out of 3 chocolate orders my sweetie places with different companies shortly before the Big Day (for mom, sis and me), mine was the only one to arrive on time and as ordered.

The flavors were very delicate and not too sweet. Well made, with top-quality ingredients. My favorites were some of the more exotic flavors like lavender-honey and lemongrass, while I wasn't as fond of the mint and raspberry, as I recall.

how come no one has mentioned Teuscher? Champagne truffles are to die for.

Very fine chocolates. We drive an hour just to buy these when we're in New England.

Besides the bars they also make traditional chocolates also.

Link: http://www.byrneandcarlson.com/

Image: http://www.byrneandcarlson.com/img/ba...

these are truffles that are so beautiful, delicious, and so carefully crafted I never want to try any others....
simply the best, by Chef Willem DeGroot

The Truffle Shop
408 Broad St.
Nevada City, Ca 95959
1-800-366-35-39

Link: http://www.chocolategod.com/

I'd avoid Godiva truffles. The chocolate shell has a waxy quality, and they lack balance and intensity.

Harry & David make wonderful truffles -- IMHO their best product -- and their service is impeccable.

Link: http://www.harryanddavid.com/cgi-bin/...

Thanks, everybody. I went with the burdick chocolate mouses. right combo of quality, nice packaging, and smile-raising potential. Hope she likes them. Shoot, I hope she can even eat them.....

ciao

If it's any consolation, when I was seriously ill chocolate was one of the only things I could keep down and enjoy. That and chicken soup.

Hope your friend recovers. Best wishes.

Vosges, Vosges, Vosges!!

I dream about these chocolates. They have the most amazing flavors, like curry, aztec chile, and balsamic vinegar. They sound bizarre, but it somehow all tastes delicious.

They will even ship their ice cream.

Link: http://www.vosgeschocolate.com/

Christopher Elbow's in Kansas City. One of our clients sent us Elbow's Chocolates for Christmas, and it's faaaaaaaabulous. Not only do they taste good, but they're really beautiful. Expensive to ship, but I promise you they're worth it. Fresh, fresh, fresh.

Link: http://www.elbowchocolates.com/

Jim,

I can't recommend enough Gearharts Fine Chocolates in Charlottesville, VA. It's a small, artisinal shop that produces chocolates of extraordinary quality. Lots of unusual flavors and fillings.

Charlottesville is really a gourmet mecca.

Link: http://www.gearhartschocolates.com/ab...

This is probably not what you are looking for but I ordered some chocolates from Demel's in Vienna on Sunday night and they arrived at my doorstop in the US today. That is some fast shipping. They are wonderful chocolates but you won't get as much for your money because you need to pay more in shipping to get them over here.

Pierre Marcolini.

They also have a store in Manhattan if you want to try the goods before getting it shipped.

Link: http://www.marcolinichocolatier.com/

Concur. Very good stuff.

How about Godiva? I sent these to my clients for the holidays and received many compliments and much appreciation (no delivery problem as far as I was aware). Otherwise, yeah, Jacques Torres.

choco choco house has very cute chocolates shaped like designer handbags. very cute and girly. perfect for cheering someone up.

i've tried great chocolates at Tempeh in Boston. And I know that some of her chocolates are from garrison confections. i haven't ordered anything from them directly because shipping was $20-25???

http://www.garrisonconfections.com/

Link: http://www.chocochocohouse.com/

these are my favorite chocolates.

hope all goes well with your friend.

Link: http://www.chocolatefetish.com/

The dark chocolate pistachio frogs from Chocolate Fetish are so freaking delicious that I loose all sense of not only self-discipline, but morality and thus will eat as many as possible and then lie to my husband about how many were in the bag.

I know Jim has already made his purchase, but for others I will say that Chocosphere has a HUGE selection and I've never had any trouble 'net ordering from them.

i know what you mean. i usually buy two bags of stuff. one for me, and one for my wife and i to share. i know one errand i'll be running this weekend...

The chocolate mice from LA Burdick (http://www.burdickchocolate.com/) come in a lovely little wooden box and are sure to bring a smile to your friend's face. I've done mail order through them a few times without any problems.

Alternatively, the Manhattan Leonidas store takes internet orders and has always packaged my chocolates nicely with flawless delivery. I order half pound ballotins as office gifts every winter and nearly had a riot on my hands when I asked whether people might like something else this year. (http://www.leonidas-chocolate.com/)

I have to second both those recommendations: I love Leonides, and a nice hounds sent me some LA Burdick chocolates once, and I was impressed not only by the chocolate but by how well it was packed for shipping. The mice and penguins are adorable, and the truffles are out of this world.

Two Los Angeles sources and one in Brooklyn:

Singaporean pastry chef is trained in classic French technique, and makes wonderfully Asian influenced flavors like mango kalamansi and pandan. I especially like the balck sesame, sea salt caramel truffles.
Jin Patisserie
1202 Abbot Kinney Blvd
Venice, CA 90291
310-399-8801
http://www.jinpatisserie.com/

Boule has great chocolates and pate de fruit. Far less annoying to buy via mail order than dealing with the overprecious attitude of the staff. Great product, though.
Boule
420 N. La Cienega Blvd
Los Angles, CA 90048
http://boulela.com/

Can't go far wrong with Jacques Torres' two stores in NYC. Also one in Manhattan (Hudson St - Chelsea).

Jacques Torres Chocolate
66 Water Street
Brooklyn, NY
718-875-9772
http://mrchocolate.com

I've mail ordered from Jacques Torres and delivery was very prompt and chocolates were much appreciated by the recipient.

I just got a mailing from LA Burdick for their Chinese New Year box offering. Really incredible truffles and chocolate mice.

Link: http://www.burdickchocolate.com/Defau...&

I second Burdick. I ahve alwasy had good luck with shipping/freshness etc. Plus the box of mice might perk her up. I linked so you could see the picture.

Link: http://www.burdickchocolate.com/item-...

Agree. LA Burdick is, in my opinion, one of the best American chocolatiers around right now.

You might try Richart Chocolates. There here in San Francisco and make beautiful and delicious chocolates. I've sent them as Xmas gifts for several years and people love them.

http://www.richart-chocolates.com/b2c...

I second Richart's--very delicious chocolate, and I have had good success with their mail order.

What about this place, anybody tried?
http://www.lamaisonduchocolat.com/commerce/accueil.php

A while back someone suggested See's chocolates as a good mail order source, what's the current opinion?
Not high end, but supposed to be tasty?

Good little article about chocolate:
http://money.cnn.com/2003/04/16/pf/sa...

Hope your friend feels better, Jim.......
Funny thing about chocolate though, supposed to make pain worse supposedly......I'm recuperating from back surgery, and was told to stay away from it.....but just looking at it makes me feel better! :)

La Maison du Chocolat is fabulous. Top-quality French chocolates with amazing flavors. I had them first in Paris, and now I order from their New York branch to get my fix. Expensive, but worth it.

My favorite flavors are Andalousie (lemon zest), Ameguey (cherry-citrus), Othello (mountain honey), and Garrigue (fennel).

See's chocolate is standard American chocolate, similar to Fanny Farmer, Fanny Mae, and Laura Secord (standard Canadian chocolate). Not in the same league at all.

Anne

[missholmes]

i third it. they have a selection of mini-chocolates coming in something like 48 flavours. terrific for the pure flavours, fennel, balsamic, licorice, apricot, bergamot, wildflower, thyme, , cardamon, caramel were some favourites. great novelty factor and delicious to boot.

also agree with the poster below who recommended Christopher Elbow chocolates from KC. love the caramels in particula, they are kinda on the sweet side but possibly the yummiest chocs ive tasted.