Vosges Haut-Chocolat

Chinese 5-Spice Chocolate Bar.

It’s rare to find any food that simultaneously ticks all five flavor boxes — sweet, sour, bitter, salty, and umami (savory). It’s rarer still to find that combination in a chocolate bar. But we’ve found it, and we’re thrilled to share the Vosges Chinese 5-Spice bar with you, and to help you ring in the Year of the Tiger in mouthwatering fashion.

The Eastern-influenced combination of spices — Szechuan peppercorn, star anise from China, cinnamon from Ceylon, fennel seed, clove, and licorice root — along with Baja sea salt, wildflower honey from Georgia, and whole cacao pods, blends to make one of the most distinctive and delicious chocolate bars we’ve ever tasted. Made entirely from non-GMO ingredients and containing no refined sugar, it’s also a surprisingly healthy treat. Chocolate has long been known for its beneficial health-giving properties when made the right way. But the Chinese 5-Spice Bar, part of Vosges’ new Pure Plant series of chocolates, takes it to another level.

Vosges has worked on the Pure Plant series in conjunction with Dr. William Li, a physician, scientist, and best-selling author who specializes in the links between food, disease, and immunity. A pioneer in the food-as-medicine field, Dr. Li has helped oversee the development of Pure Plant bars, including the one on which you’re hopefully nibbling right now. The Chinese 5-Spice Bar is high in fiber and packed with antioxidants and minerals like iron and potassium. It’s also high in theobromine, which among other benefits can help reduce blood pressure and improve cholesterol levels, as well as flavanols, which promote healthy blood flow.

But none of that would matter if this chocolate bar didn’t taste good. And one bite is all the proof you’ll need that this is a spectacular piece of chocolate. Not that we’re surprised — for the last twenty years, founder Katrina Markoff has lived the theme of “travel the world through chocolate,” going around the globe to source the finest cacao and the most tempting fruits, nuts and spices with which to blend it. In the process she’s made Vosges one of the most admired and desired names in chocolate.

To learn more about Vosges’ Pure Plant project — and to order some absolutely scrumptious chocolate to ring in the Year of the Tiger — visit them at vosgeschocolate.com.