Ghirardelli, Intense Dark Chocolate Squares Bag (Pack of 6)

I'm a huge advocate of naturally-processed dark chocolate. I think it tastes great, the health benefits are without question, and I credit it with playing a major role in me being able to bring my body weight and health back to levels I can honestly say I feel good about. I like a lot of the smaller brand dark chocolates...but they are expensive and I like to consume chocolate on a daily basis, which makes it impractical to consume the most expensive product. For the top critical review, I must say Endangered Species is probably my favorite readily available smaller brand as well...but it's hard to find on sale!!!I try to have realistic expectations of price versus product. Cocoa is ridiculously expensive and intense dark chocolates can have up to 10 times the cocoa of mass-produced chocolate...so full-bodied dark chocolate is by nature more expensive to produce. At this price, I honestly figured the taste of the Ghirardelli would be a little muffled and decent but nothing special. I was 100% WRONG. This is a true FULL-BODIED flavor chocolate, with multiple flavor notes one can taste simultaneously, with a nice finish. I agree with the reviewers who note the start is a bit waxy, but it really doesn't bother me and it's presumably how they keep the chocolate in form...everyone seems to do it a little differently. This is NOT a dutch-processed chocolate and so it has the full flavor range (and the full health benefits). For someone looking for good, healthy and/or value (I look for all 3!), I think this is a great choice.IF you are currently eating mainly milk chocolate and thinking about moving to full-bodied dark bittersweet, I would advise NOT starting here. I note this as I used to eat milk chocolate like crazy...and it helped me get pretty fat and unhealthy. I did some reading, decided to revamp my diet and lifestyle, and part of that was going to high cocoa dark because the sugar content is almost nothing when you get above 85%, and high cocoa chocolate is loaded with beneficial nutrients and the good type carbs (versus milk chocolate which is primarily sugar). I tried an 80% right off of milk chocolate and hated it as I wasn't ready for the bitter...then I went down starting at 60%, moving to 72%, then to 80%, and finally to a preference of 85-95%. Note that most mass-produced commercial dark chocolate is still only going to have a cocoa content around 40-50%, and it is going to be loaded with sugar and processed in a fashion to remove the bitter notes of cocoa's natural flavor...so full-bodied natural dark chocolate is a different beast and it is not a 'sweet treat' in any sense! Progressively, my taste changed much like how it does with coffee and beer...now I am not a fan of anything below 75% because all I can taste is pure sugar. And with a much better body fat content and general health, I can still enjoy chocolate on a daily basis. I would also advise not eating close to bed time as a serving of dark chocolate with 86% coca will give the body quite an energy kick!!!I would also give this product a +1 for the packaging. Perhaps it isn't as eco-friendly, but it is portion-control-friendly, which I think is a critical aspect of all consumable goods given too much of anything can be bad. The small squares make it easy to take on the go, and helps avoid one from overeating...a giant bar is often a little too inviting and easy to lose track of. With these, it's simple. Somewhere between 2-4 of these a day is going to give the health benefits of chocolate without the health detriments of sugar or chemicals (they say 30-40 grams for health and these are 11 gram squares). If you eat three of these a day, you will consume only 3 grams of sugar. By comparison, a standard can of soda has 25-60 grams of sugar and so the sugar content in high-cocoa dark is almost negligible. Simultaneously, the antioxident intake of chocolate this dark is substantial, as are the high-density carbohydrates...these carbs are the ones you want. They help your GI tract and immune system among other things (...note that because dark chocolate contains high-density fiber, you DO want to consume sufficient water in your diet for obvious reasons!) Given these squares are small, 3 of them may not sound like a lot but with dark chocolate, I find portion control much easier as you tend to eat it slower and enjoy the flavor note of the aftertaste (and I could kill a 'King Sized' Hershey Bar in one sitting before I stopped eating that stuff...so, yeah....I was the worst offender in that category!)Want to pair this with something? Try it with a full-bodied red wine or a full-bodied black coffee. It also goes well with some hard liquor drinks although I think many of the 99% cocoa bars go best with many of the 90 proof+ spirits.