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Backpacker's Chocolate: A Trailside Luxury

Submitted by Kurt Repanshek on September 8, 2006 - 5:56am

Backpackerschocola_copy Keeping chocolate from pooling into a liquid mess in your backpack long has been a dilemma for chocoholics. Oh, there are chocolate bars supposedly made for backpacking that take an awful lot of heat without melting, but they're typically bland-tasting, not something you can truly enjoy after making the summit or while cooling your feet in a river or lake after a 10-mile hike.
Well, my friends, if you need a chocolate fix deep in the backcountry, there's a product out there for you. Backpacker's Weatherproof Gourmet Chocolate not only stands up to the heat, but tastes rich and chocolaty.
The secret to its staying power is an outer shell of wax, kind of like that encasing a round of Gouda cheese. The wax keeps the chocolate in place until you're ready for it. If you're hiking on a hot day, once you reach camp, one preferably next to a stream or lake, you merely dunk the cake of chocolate into the water for a half-hour or so to firm up. Then you cut through the wax and have at the chocolate.
The times I used it this summer the chocolate never got hard like a bar, but rather was more like truffle in both consistency and taste.
It's kind of pricey, at $8 for four ounces, but if you really love chocolate and want a great-tasting backcountry treat, it's worth it. You can order it on-line here. The bars come in a variety of flavors, from raspberry and peanut butter to orange chili and nuts and berries.

Comments

Submitted by jersu on September 8, 2006 - 10:19am.
Kurt, Between the chocolate and the coffee in your pack, I'd say you know how to hike in style! What other goodies to you bring? I won't leave the house without at least a couple of those "sesame seed snaps", which are sesame seed crackers held together with honey. They fit easily in the top of a pack and typically don't get crushed between all the other gear. They are very lightweight, plus, they are very tasty.
Submitted by parkaholic (not verified) on September 9, 2006 - 9:01am.
I love goodies on the trail. I normally limit my backcountry trips to three days so I can take what I like including and 8 cup percolater (strapped to the back of my pack for all the world to see)Many laugh as they pass me on the trail but they sing a different song at sunrise when the aroma of freshly perked coffee awakens them. Other luxuries include frozen steaks for the first night dinner and a propane cannister for cooking and the single mantel lantern which also attracts visitors.
Submitted by Kurt Repanshek on September 9, 2006 - 2:23pm.
Hey Parkaholic, let me know next time you head into the backcountry in Utah, Wyoming or Idaho. I definitely want to pack with a guy who hauls in fresh coffee and steaks! I usually only haul that kinda grub when I'm canoeing. As for your mantel lantern, keep an eye on these pages for a review of a lantern folks won't see until you fire it up.