Chocolate Show

So I'm standing in the Metropolitan Pavilion, hoardes of chocolate fans coursing around me (baby on one arm, chocolate-covered potato sticks in another). And more than half of these hurried New Yorkers are smiling at me, cooing at the baby. I'm handing over lavender-scented milk chocolate to junior chocoholics who can't get to the booth because of my overhung and overflowing stroller, and there's a smile on my face, too.

It's chocolate euphoria. And it has convinced me that the world would indeed be a better place if we all had our daily dose of chocolate, right along with the vitamins (instead of the vitamins?).

Maybe it's because this is where I was looking, but I noticed three things going on all over the place at the show: low-sugar, no-sugar (works because people love their bittersweet these days) and theraputic chocolates, drinking chocolate and single-origin chocolates.

What I bought:

NewTree's lavender-infused milk chocolate (part of their "mood-enhancing" line of dark and milk chocolates with botanical extracts; this was my favorite, even though I think of myself as more of a dark-chocoholic).

Chocolats Pralus tower of single-origin chocolates, since my palate was so chocolate-fatigued that I couldn't taste the difference between most of these varietals and I wanted to do a proper chocolate tasting. E. Guittard had a nice collection of single-origin chocolates, too, that I could not taste the difference between. Chocolove had a collection of single-origin, 2004 vintage chocolates in three different cacao concentrations: 70 percent, from Sao Tome; 60 percent, from Grenada; and 33 percent, from Java. The last chocolate had a smooth, buttery flavor that surprised me. The woman working the booth said that the flavors of the various varietals will develop and change with time, like wine (the bitterness of the 70 percent smoothing out, the 33 percent developing more coconut flavor). I was already a fan of Chocolove's Ginger chocolate so it was fun to try some other flavors.

A Michel Cluizel bittersweet chocolate round with different nuts and dried fruit on it (pictured).

What I wish I had bought:

Schokinag's mint and Dagoba's Xocolatl hot chocolate with chiles and cinnamon (it's one of their new line of hot chocolates; I've used this flavor chocolate bar, with chilies and cocoa nibs, to make hot chocolate, and it's fantastic). Schokinag also had a Moroccan spice that wasn't quite spicy enough for me (maybe it was the milk to mix ratio they used when they made it).

Galler's no-sugar dark chocolate with toasted walnuts. The warm, toasty nut taste mellowed the bitterness of the chocolate so you didn't miss the sugar at all.

Vere's collection of stacks, particularly to try the seed stack: dark-chocolate covered toasted pumpkin, poppy and sesame seeds. This is a new company with a factory in Manhattan that sources milk from a local dairy (Ronnybrook) and beans from Equador, then processes them in a way to double the antioxidents and mellow the bitterness so less sugar is needed. Their chocolates are unofficially diabetics-friendly and officially gluten-free (the dense, rich brownie I sampled was made with almond flour), and their packaging is simple and modern.