and 
had a serious discussion and picked out some Valentine’s Day chocolates for 2020 (with one exception, maybe?) (^ ^) Chocolate from Tsumagari
Last year, we introduced Tsumagari’s cakes in our article We visited “cafe kabutoyama,” where you can eat Tsumagari cakes.
Tsumagari is known as one of Nishinomiya’s signature cake and cookie shops, and everything is incredibly delicious, so their chocolate must be delicious too!!
What we chose was the 6-piece “Tsumagari Chocolat” ↓
Chocolate oxidizes easily and absorbs moisture readily. At Tsumagari, it seems they are handmade little by little in the workshop so that the fresh flavor can be delivered just as it is.
The chocolate is top-class couverture from Lübecker in Germany, carefully selected in Europe, where high-quality chocolate ingredients gather. (Couverture is chocolate that contains cocoa butter for coating. It is a title given only to chocolate that meets international standards, such as containing no substitute fats other than cocoa butter.)
They are particular about the decorative box as well, and it appears to use paper from Italy’s Rossi company, a luxury stationery and paper maker founded in 1931.
Tsumagari’s website is here
Chocolate from Bern
We had previously bought Nishinomiya specialties, the “Koshien Sablé” and baked doughnuts, at Bern for the article We bought “Koshien Sablé” and “baked doughnuts” at Bern, so this time we tried buying their chocolate too.
The 8-piece “Truffle Chocolat” ↓
The chocolates are not even introduced on Bern’s website, so I got worried that maybe I just couldn’t find them and contacted them. Apparently the products vary a little by store, but they do seem to carry chocolate ^^; ← Well, of course they do, I bought some (~o~)
So please try visiting a Bern near you! By the way, the one I bought at Kotoen was 2,250 yen for 8 pieces (^^♪
At the main shop, it seems you can choose them one by one ← This is information I heard over the phone, so please confirm when you buy!
Chocolate Chosen at Nishinomiya Hankyu
At Nishinomiya Hankyu, there are so many chocolates lined up that they can make a small booklet introducing the shops and chocolatiers.
We picked some from among them (^^♪
Pierre Hermé Paris
Pierre Hermé, who was called the “Picasso of Pastry” by Vogue magazine ← I’m adding “san” in Japanese to somehow make him feel more approachable (*^^)v, makes these chocolates… I thought I’d heard that name recently, and then I realized he collaborated with Mister Donut!!!
First time opening at Nishinomiya Hankyu!!!
What we chose was the 5-piece “Assortiment de Chocolats” ↓
Part of the attached explanation sheet? ↓ Since they’re said to be one of a kind, even reading it doesn’t really help me imagine the flavors (ーー;)
Pierre Hermé Paris’s official website
Bel Amer
There were lots of dreamy-cute chocolates lined up (*^^)v
What we chose was the 5-piece “Palet Chocolat Bonheur” ↓
They look especially cutely decorated for Valentine’s Day, don’t they? (#^.^#) They sparkle too..☆
Apparently each one is carefully handmade!
Here’s the explanation ↓
Bel Amer’s website is here
es koyama
es koyama is famous for roll cakes and pudding (^^♪
I was supposed to go buy this ↓ from the catalog…. ^^;
But I ended up buying this, which looks really similar ↓
They look alike, right! And it really is from es koyama!!
The name is “Matteru Chocolat”.
The moist dough has a rich cacao flavor, and the filling inside has plenty of milky flavor. It tasted somewhere between a Japanese sweet and a Western confection.
How about giving it for Valentine’s Day to someone who loves manju～!(^^)! I’ll just play it off like that ^^;
Chef Koyama is also renowned as a chocolatier. His website is here
Finally
There was a small shopping mistake along the way, but this is what we picked for Valentine’s Day 2020.
At Nishinomiya Hankyu, they had Valentine’s chocolates under the theme “LOVE GROW: I love you and thank you.” There were so many other chocolates that caught my eye!!!
Next year, we’ll choose even more carefully, make sure not to buy the wrong thing (I’m really sorry), and bring you the information earlier (*^^)v
For reference, here is last year’s article: We bought 24 Valentine’s chocolates at Nishinomiya Hankyu. We’ll show you what they look like in photos
