Summer...

How I miss it...

Bittersweet Cafe, Oakland CA

Bittersweet Cafe is a tiny mecca for chocolate lovers tucked away into Oakland's Rockridge district. With friendly employees, an impressive array of chocolate bars and a growing selection of house-made confections, Bittersweet is the perfect place to spend a rainy hour or two.

Bars are divided into three sections: Dark, Milk, and Surprises! The particular chocolate pictured below is an Earl Grey-infused dark chocolate, with tiny crunchy nibs for added texture. There's a benefit here to spending too much money on chocolate; I don't know if it was just a Valentine's Day special, but we bought four bars and got a free aluminum tin to keep them in!

Divine ended up being my favorite - pure dark chocolate, with a really sweet and mild aftertaste; we got another bar that was 70% cacao (read: delicious) but was a little too acidic for me.


Besides their impressive array of chocolate, Bittersweet is, after all, a cafe. Go with any one of their chocolatey drinks, including Spicy! ("Hot and spicy, a kick of pepper and a hint of cinnamon and rose"), and you won't be sorry. They also supply Blue-Bottle coffee for all of your caffeine needs.

(First image from the Bittersweet website, second from my camera!)