ChocoYOU – make your own customised chocolates!

As Sassy’s resident chocoholic, as soon as the ChocoYOU press release landed in my inbox, I knew that Team Sassy would want in!

ChocoYOU is Hong Kong’s very first customised handmade chocolate company – and once you’ve seen how cool the concept is, you’ll wonder why no one has done it before! Creating your personalised chocolate bar on their website www.chocoyou.com is super easy; you simply select your choice of premium Belgian chocolate base (dark, milk or white) then add up to five other ingredients (including nuts, fruit or candy toppings to seasonings, infusions and fun decorations). Each bespoke creation is then handmade at ChocoYOU’s Sheung Wan studio… and with over 100 ingredients to pick from and a total of 27,000, 000, 000 (!) unique creations possible, it’s like getting the keys to Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory!

If you’re not feeling particularly creative, never fear – ChocoYOU also have a range of pre-designed signature bars for instant satisfaction… and if you’re quick, you can prolong the holiday spirit by snapping up some of their festive specials (including the extremely Christmassy-looking White Christmas, which features pistachio and raspberry, or the even more festive tasting Christmas Eve, a dark chocolate infused with cloves and orange).

Team Sassy whipped up a few bars for our Christmas get-together and the results were spectacular, even if we do say so ourselves. Simran’s ‘Curry In A Hurry’ chocolate showed just how adventurous you could be with ChocoYOU’s combos – she had lemongrass, ginger, orange rind, peppercorns and mixed dried fruit in hers! This was a chocolate bar with a real kick; it wasn’t to all tastes, but you definitely can’t pick up anything nearly as interesting or exciting from your local supermarket aisles, that’s for sure!

My creation was dark chocolate topped with pink Himalayan sea salt, caramel and cashew nuts. I was especially impressed with the quality of the rich and creamy chocolate (no cheap stuff here!) and the dusting of sea salt and caramel crunch added just the right savoury but sweet twist to my bar. Alas, my cashew nuts fell off before I even had the chance to try a piece – hopefully in future, ChocoYOU will be able to offer more ingredients inside the bar as opposed to just on the top.

Meanwhile, Jaime’s clove-infused creation was pronounced the winner in the taste test stakes, and we were all fans of ChocoYOU’s inventive and subtle yet flavourful infusions throughout (other options include ginger, cinnamon and chilli).

These would make for perfect presents any time of year or fun party favours, especially with their customised decoration options and lovely packaging… or simply as a spot of online self-indulgence for chocoholics with a desire for sweet treats way more unique than anything you’d find at Wellcome. With so many other awesome ingredients to try – freeze-dried strawberries, Reese’s Peanut Butter Pieces, popping candy, Japanese green tea, Oreo pieces and chicken ramen to name but a few, plus loads of iconic local Hong Kong and Chinese twists (Koala biscuits, haw flakes, dried plum) too, I can’t wait to get creating my next bar!

SASSY DISCOUNT: We’ve got a special discount on ChocoYOU chocolate bars just for Sassy readers! Simply enter the code SASSYJAN13 until 31 January 2013 at checkout to receive 10% off your order.

ChocoYOU base chocolate bars cost $50 each, with toppings starting from $5. Their signature pre-made bars start from $60 each or boxes sets from $210.

Customised chocolate bars are normally delivered within three working days, signature bars the next working day. The delivery charge is $45, or free for orders of over $500. Special orders for parties or events are also available.

www.chocoyou.com