Zchocolat.com: There is no better chocolate or service on the planet today!
Written: Feb 24 '03 (Updated Feb 24 '03)
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Background:
Some years ago, I was looking for a gift that I could send some people that I worked with that they would all enjoy. Something of quality that showed that I was a man of good taste. That’s when I discovered Zchocolat.com. Since that time, I’ve ordered lots of gifts from there for a variety of different people and no one has ever been anything less than thrilled with the gift.
Feel free to take some time to wander over to Zchocolat.com while reading this review if you like:
http://www.zchocolat.com/default.asp?zid=ref&zmid=5252
What is Zchocolat, Exactly?
Zchocolat is quality. Zchocolat is exceptional customer service. Zchocolat is delicious.
Well… to be more precise, Zchocolat.com is a web site that offers the very finest French chocolate from a number of French chocolatiers. They do all the hard work of finding the chocolate and combining them into some incredible collections. They then ship those chocolates worldwide via DHL (typical time to delivery on the East Coast of the USA is 1-2 days typical, maximum 3).
What makes Zchocolat.com better than any other chocolate site and worth every penny of the exorbitant prices they charge? Let’s take a look, shall we?
I had no idea Chocolate was so… complex!
Apparently true French chocolatiers must go to school for many years to learn the fine art of chocolate making. What’s that you say? Years? For chocolate? Yup. The French believe (and rightly so, in my opinion) that chocolate shouldn’t be about sugar and fat. It should be about the finest pure cocoa and other quality ingredients (often nuts or fruits). This means that the chocolate you get from Zchocolat.com will be unlike any chocolate you have ever had. It will contain less fat and sugar (though it’s not calorie free!) and this allows more of the natural chocolate flavor to come through.
Allow me to warn you right now! Once you have Zchocolat, everything else will be a pale imitation in comparison. I kid you not. I used to think that Hershey Foods made some very high quality chocolate, but now I can barely stand the stuff if I am really in the mood for chocolate. It just can’t compare with the hand-crafted excellence of Zchocolat. I have trouble eating Nestle candy bars because the chocolate just doesn’t taste like chocolate, If you are a beer connoisseur the difference between Zchocolat and your average every day chocolate is like the difference between Samuel Smith’s and Bud Light. Really.
Zchocolat.com’s selection of chocolates changes over time to reflect whatever the fine chocolatiers they work with are currently producing. They only take the very best chocolates for their collections.
The Zchocolat Experience:
However, Zchocolat.com doesn’t just stop with picking the very best chocolates available in France. They also make sure they offer those chocolates in the best packaging with the best possible customer service. All this attention to detail really shows!
There are a lot of different products available, and the selection changes fairly often. The products mentioned here are currently available as of the date of this review, but the selection may change over time.
The first thing to do when you visit Zchocolat.com is to take a few minutes to look around and see what is available. Click the SHOPPING link and browse around. Thankfully, Zchocolat.com’s web site is well designed and easy to navigate. They also provide a lot of information about their products and this makes shopping fun.
There are a few basic categories of products with many choices in each.
Tasters boxes, Minis and Survival Packs: These three are generally the least expensive options for chocolate. The Taster’s boxes and Minis come with only four chocolates in a fine Sapelli wood box and as such make for good party favors or as a “test” order to see if Zchocolats are worth the premium they command (they are). You can order Minis in large quantities if you want. The survival pack (a fairly new addition) is more like a traditional “box” of chocolates, except that inside you will find an assortment of fine French chocolate and other treats. The box is made of paper, but is less expensive considering what you get.
Signature and Deluxe Signature Series Boxes: These boxes are the capstone of the Zchocolat experience. Each Sapelli wood box is filled with a number of different Zchocolats. The deluxe series boxes are designed specially to accept refills (more on this in a minute). These boxes make quite a statement! While you can’t choose what chocolates you are sent, you can request all dark chocolate, all milk chocolate or a mix of both.
Ballotins: It’s all about the chocolate, baby! These paper containers hold a large assortment of Zchocolat. If you don’t want the Signature series box, then a Ballotin is for you. It contains more chocolate than the Signature series boxes and cost somewhat less. Even better, you can personally pick each Zchocolat in the Ballotin if you want to do so. (Once you’ve tried all the different Zchocolats, you undoubtedly will to make sure you get more of your favorites.) As with the Signature series boxes, you can pick whether you want all dark, milk or a mix of chocolates.
Refills and zClubs: Refills fit the Deluxe Signature series boxes. One refill fits in a single drawer inside the box. Therefore, if you want to refill a Reflet box, you will need 4 refills. Refills are cheaper since you don’t need the expensive wood box. This is where zClubs come in. You can, if you want, have Zchocolat.com send out an appropriate number of refills at a regular interval you request. This means you never need to worry about running out of chocolate. Oh… scratch that… you will eat the chocolates faster than a month, to be sure.
Cocoa: Zchocolat.com offers bags of pure cocoa that you can use in all of your own recipes or to make a really excellent hot (or cold) chocolate. Please, please make sure that if you make hot chocolate with Zchocolat.com cocoa that you use MILK and not water. Why anyone would use water is beyond me. They also offer a bag of vanilla hot chocolate pellets. This makes a very creamy perfect cup of hot chocolate. You don’t need to add any sugar or anything. Just heat up some milk and put a few spoonfuls of these pellets into the mug. Wow. This stuff is great!
Gift Baskets and Other Items: If you are looking for something really different, consider Zchocolat.com’s fine baskets and other French confections. I’ve yet to try anything from Zchocolat.com that wasn’t absolutely perfect and delicious.
The Zchocolat’s:
I’m not going to go through each Zchocolat one-by-one, because they change and besides, Zchocolat.com’s web site does a great job of showing you and explaining each Zchocolat. I do want to make a few observations, however.
Each Zchocolat is a real work of art. These are not the kind of chocolates that you pop into your mouth one-after-another without looking at them. Take the time to really enjoy each one. Bite into them at take a look at the filling... smell the chocolate aroma, etc. You’ve probably paid more than $1 per chocolate, so make the experience last. I think you will find that you did get your money’s worth.
I have yet to find a Zchocolat that I didn’t love. I guarantee that there aren’t any Zchocolats that you will take a bite of and then throw away. Even the more unusual combinations that don’t sound like they would be tasty (at least to an American palette), like the Lavande (made with lavender essence, honey, almonds and poppy seeds) are in fact, quite delicious. Don’t be afraid to try new things!
There are no “nearly impossible to chew” Zchocolats. No hard, chewy nougats or caramels. All of the Zchocolats are smooth, creamy, perhaps with a slight crunch. Your dental work is safe with Zchocolat! :) Of course, if you like those hard-to-chew or overly sweet confections, then feel free to go out and buy a Whitney’s Sampler box at the store.
My personal favorite Zchocolats of those currently available are, in no particular order:
* Praline Café: If you like the taste of coffee, this is the confection for you. Made with real ground coffee beans and cocoa, it has a wonderful smooth, but not overpowering, coffee flavor. The dark chocolate shaped into a coffee bean provides a welcome contrast in texture to the creamy center. I recommend the dark chocolate version of this confection (although it is available in milk chocolate as well).
* Diablotin: This confection looks as good as it tastes. What draws you in is the delicate chocolate cream piping on the top. You might not realize this at first, the filling inside this confection is different than the piping on top. The center has a hazelnut praline that adds a nutty note to this creamy chocolate.
* Sauvagine: Now this is an interesting confection! On top is a crunchy (and slightly chewy) cap that tastes buttery. Under this cap is a layer of seedless raspberry preserves and under that is a hazelnut crème (different from the Diablotin). All of this is available drenched in milk or dark chocolate. As usual, my preference is for the dark chocolate.
* Valentin: I usually hate caramel, but the caramel inside this dark chocolate is very smooth, buttery and creamy with a hint of vanilla and not chewy at all. One of the few caramels that I’ve come across that isn’t a mess to eat.
* Piaboisine: I love the combo of chocolate and raspberry. I know what you’re thinking... this is the same as the Sauvagine. It’s not. This confection has a totally different taste and texture and more raspberry than the Sauvagine.
Shopping and Customer Bonuses:
Zchocolat.com’s web site makes it easy to order your chocolate online. However, if you like, you can call Zchocolat from the USA (via a toll free number) and the rest of the world (via a number in France) to order or if you have any questions.
If you choose to order online, the process is fairly simple and straightforward. Create an account (or you can choose to do so after the next step, if you prefer), choose the item(s) you want and add them to your shopping cart, let the zWizard walk you through configuring your purchase (What?! Am I buying a computer or chocolate, I hear you say... more on the zWizard in a moment.), provide checkout information and confirm your order. If you have any experience with shopping on the Internet, this process will not cause you any trouble. If you are a newbie to online ordering, then the zWizard will be very helpful in walking you through the process.
The zWizard is basically a shopping cart assistant that makes it easier to customize your products and place an order. The zWizard is smart enough to change the options available to you depending on what product you order. For example, if you order a Deluxe Signature Series box, the zWizard will offer to let you add refills to your current order or set up a zClub subscription. Alternately, if you order a Bulotin, then you are given the option to pick each chocolate if you want to do so. The zWizard remembers where you sent orders to in the past and automatically sets up an address book for your next order. It also calculates your zBars.
zBars? Yup. Zchocolat.com offers a special reward to its loyal customers in the form of free chocolate bars. For every zBar in your account, you are entitled to one free chocolate bar from a wide selection of choices (again, all fine French chocolate from award winning chocolatiers). There is only one catch, however, you must have a minimum of 5 zBars credited to your account before you can cash them in for real chocolate bars. Why? Zchocolat.com pays for all the shipping costs on the free chocolate anywhere in the world via DHL, which isn’t cheap. Once you have 5 zBars, you can cash them in or wait until you get more, if you want to.
There are 15 sections to a zBar, and you earn sections of zBars for every product you order. zBar sections are not directly linked to a dollar value of your order, so some products might be more “efficient” in terms of zBar earnings. If you click on “more information” for any product, you will see exactly how many sections of zBars that you earn for buying that item. All zBar sections get credited to your account as soon as your order ships.
You don’t just earn zBars from buying stuff, though. You get an entire zBar for free, just for signing up as a new customer. Further, as soon as you create your account, you’ll have access to a special referral link that you can send to people. If they use your link to sign up as a new customer and they buy anything from Zchocolat.com, then you personally get an entire zBar credited to your account when their first order ships. There is a caveat, though. If they have ever visited the Zchocolat.com website before with their current web browser, then you do not get the referral even if they only browsed there and never bought anything or registered for an account. In that case, tell your friends to delete any cookies in their web browser from Zchocolat.com before using your referral link (or just use another web browser). zBars do not appear to have any expiration date, so you don’t need to worry about losing them.
What if you are a company and you don’t want free chocolate? You can register for a corporate account that allows you special discounts on zChocolats and corporate/employee features. The employees can register for an account under the corporate account, which simplifies accounting.
The zWizard can also help you pick out other customization options, like gift-wrapping, a special note card (in a nice envelope), or even custom engraving of a Signature Series box. As with everything else, Zchocolat.com offers only the most tasteful and rich-looking gift options. Rest assured you will make a good impression.
After you’ve placed your order, Zchocolat.com customer service kicks into high gear. Not only can you visit the website to cancel or modify an unshipped order, but once your order has shipped you will get several e-mails. The first lets you know the tracking number so you can track your order online. In addition, you will get e-mails direct from Zchocolat.com when the “status” of your shipped order gets updated by DHL. This means you really don’t have to worry about checking the status of your order, since the status comes to you. :) In addition, they send out an e-mail to you and a letter to the recipient asking them if the order was OK and they encourage you to write or call them with any issues you might have.
One thing I have to say about Zchocolat.com: They have the most responsive customer service department I have ever seen. Real people read e-mails and respond almost immediately, not in days or weeks. They really go out of their way to “do the right thing” for their customers. They even offer live customer service in hours that are convenient even if you live in the USA. I assure you, all those happy customer e-mails you see on their website are real. The service really IS as good as they say.
International Issues:
If you live in the USA and this is the first time that you’ve ever ordered something from a company outside the USA, you need not worry. Zchocolat.com ships over 70% of all of its products to the USA and has gotten very good at handling international issues such as shipping, currency conversion, etc.
First, all prices on the Zchocolat.com website can be customized to your local currency (US Dollars are the default.) Keep in mind that you are buying a product of France from a French company, so the actual costs have to be converted into Euros. This means that the price you see on the website might be slightly different than the price you pay, due to conversion rates. That being said, in my experience with Zchocolat.com, the prices listed in US Dollars have been totally accurate, but don’t be surprised if you end up paying a few cents less or more.
Secondly, as I am sure I don’t need to point out, chocolate is rather sensitive to temperature variations. Perhaps you’ve seen chocolate that has a slightly lighter brown (or nearly white) spot on it. This is often caused by heat and is a natural reaction as the cocoa butter in the chocolate “blooms” to the surface of the chocolate. This does not affect quality or taste, but it doesn’t look appealing. Of course, heat can also end up melting your chocolates so you end up with an $80 puddle of ingredients. ;-) Zchocolat.com has thought about this, too. They offer special “summer” packaging on ALL orders if you feel that your chocolate may be subjected to very hot temperatures. Therefore, if you live in Death Valley, AZ, you can still get your chocolates in good shape. If you choose this option, they place your order into a special box that helps to keep temperatures at a reasonable temperature. They also place a special packet in the package that is cooled slightly to help to keep everything cool.
Third, Zchocolat.com only ships via DHL to the USA. I speak from experience when I say that DHL is by far the best international shipper, bar none. I live in NJ and I’ve received my order in less than 24 hours from the time I placed it (shipped from France). Average delivery time is 2 days, and in some cases, 3. The packages have always arrived in good shape without looking like they got drop kicked from France to my front door. ;-)
One thing to note that isn’t Zchocolat.com’s fault: As required by law, Zchocolat.com must place a commercial invoice on the outside of the package (in a sealed pouch). This invoice has to show the actual value of the product. Naturally, this is a problem if you are sending this directly to someone as a gift. To Zchocolat.com’scredit, they DO explicitly state, right on the shipping label, that DHL should remove the commercial invoice just before delivering the product. DHL has never done this. Not really a huge issue since if your gift recipient wants, they can just visit the website themselves to see what the product cost.
The Final Word:
If you need to make a big impression on the chocaholic in your life, you owe it to them to buy them something from Zchocolat.com. Don’t forget about yourself! :)
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
aricpedersen
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Member: Aric Pedersen
Location: New Jersey
Reviews written: 34
Trusted by: 15 members
About Me:
"He's just this guy. You know?" - Currently on sabatical
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