I've been hearing about this for years.

With the recent explosion of premium chocolate brands and the increased availability of these fancy-pants items, I've finally found that I can get a regular dose of the really good stuff. One brand I've been hearing about for years is Scharffen Berger--they have an enormous reputation. My sister and I have frequent discussions about high-end chocolates--she likes the dark stuff (partly so she can claim it's a healthy habit) while I like milk chocolate--and I had mentioned that I had spotted this stuff, but was too cheap to go buying a small bar for nearly three dollars.

After that, you can see why it was so thoughtful of her to give me a couple of the Scharffen Berger milk chocolate bars for my birthday. The first bar I tried was rich and complex, with hints of carmel--but sadly, there was an aftertaste that was closer to rotting baby diapers (I think it was supposed to be a milk-flavored finish). In fact, the finish was so odd that I wonder if the bars came from a bad batch?

CDs listened to today:

• Dominick Argento: From The Diary Of Virginia Woolf
• Andrew Bird: Andrew Bird & The Mysterious Production Of Eggs