Tea Time with Brandy: XXL Icons from La Maison Du Chocolat

It should come as no surprise to anyone that Brandy is a self diagnosed chocoholic. Though her mouth is almost entirely filled with sweet teeth, she does have discerning tastes when it comes to chocolate and how to experience it. "You can't just be biting and chewing away like a heathen," she says, "One has to nibble and savor. Let the chocolate coat the tongue. Experience all parts of it, from the texture to the complex flavors. I've never been one of those people who can taste oak and summer fruits and such in a glass of wine, but I most certainly could be a chocolate sommelier."

The XXL POMME D’AMOUR chocolate, meant to evoke a caramel apple

In fact, Brandy's one criticism of most high end chocolates is that there is never enough of them. "You get one little blissful bite of heaven and it's gone. Now, I understand that too much of a good thing can spoil the experience, but sometimes you just want that one bite to be a little less ephemeral. "It's the difference between a song and an opera," as Brandy likes to put it. 

The entire XXL Icons collection

This is exactly why Brandy was so excited to hear about the XXL Icon collection from La Maison du Chocolat. The infamous Parisian based chocolatier will be celebrating its 40th anniversary this October by releasing six classic and modern favorite flavors in extra large sizes. Each chocolate is about four times the size of a typical piece, making the high quality chocolate shell and sumptuous fillings even more indulgent. They are so special, in fact, that each one comes individually packaged in its own metallic box, as if it were a precious piece of jewelry. 

The XXL NÉROLI chocolate, filled with a strawberry and orange scented dark chocolate ganache

The flavors range from milk and dark chocolate ganaches to luxurious fruity fancies to crisp and delicate pralines. Since each chocolate is over a quarter of a pound, just one is decadent enough to satisfy even the most ravenous sweet tooth (though they're so flavorful and so skillfully made that someone like Brandy might be tempted to have more than one per sitting).

The XXL DENTELLE chocolate, scented with hazelnut and dotted with delicately crispy crepe pieces

The XXL Icons collection will be available online at the La Maison du Chocolat store and in their boutiques on October 11th. Rest assured that Brandy will be waking up especially early that day to make sure she can snag as many of these limited edition chocolately treasures as she can get her virtual hands on.

The XXL BOHÈME chocolate, a dream for milk chocolate fans

The writers of this blog were sent products free of charge in order to facilitate the writing of this post.