Theo & Philo Artisan Chocolates

I've been antsing to buy these for a few weeks now. Finally got to grab some at Soderno last Saturday!

I found out about these chocolates when they were featured in OurAwesomePlanet after the Ultimate Taste Test in Rockwell. After that, I looked up their website, and I really fell in love with the concept behind the product.

A week or so ago someone asked for Christmas gift ideas on Twitter and I told him to buy Theo & Philo chocolates even though I haven't even tried them yet hahaha. But hey, all those UTT participants liked it so I took it for a fact that the chocolates were good. ;)

After taste-testing all their available flavors in Soderno (unfortunately they had no Milk Chocolate with Toffee that time), I picked my four favorites --  Dark Chocolate with Siling Labuyo, Dark Chocolate with Calamansi, 70% Dark Chocolate and Milk Chocolate with Kapeng Barako -- and bought them for pasalubong for my family and err, myself. :D

At first I didn't want to open them (haha labo) because the wrappings are so pretty! I have a tendency to exaggerate but I think you'll have to agree with me on this one. Except for their 70% dark chocolate which comes in a black and grey box, all the others are wrapped in paper with various designs in red, blue, white, and gold. Like I said, it's very patriotic. 

Even the inner wrapping looks very elegant. I think the Theo & Philo sticker in gold foil is a very nice touch. The same sticker is on the free gift bag I got with my chocolates.

Looks really high-end, don't you think? :)

I felt a little sad opening the package but once I started eating, NO REGRETS! Dark chocolate is my favorite kind, and the siling labuyo and calamansi flavors did not compete with and instead complimented the chocolate well. The chili flavor is very subtle, pero may sipa! And the calamansi flavor was mild, except when you nibble on the bits of the calamansi peel, but there's an unmistakable citrus-y taste. I'm not sure if I'm still making sense here, basta it's really good, okay? :P As for the milk chocolate with barako coffee, don't try it if you're looking for the taste of chocolate with a bit of coffee -- it tastes more like chocolate- covered coffee beans (which I love, BTW) more than anything else. It's for hardcore coffee lovers. And the smell is enough to wake you up in the morning!

Is it the best chocolate I've ever tasted? Not really, but it's the best LOCALLY made chocolate I've had. And it's evident from the flavors to the packaging, that a lot of effort was put into it to make it something truly and proudly Filipino. :)

--

Visit them at theoandphilo.com :)