This Chocolate Box Should Be Your Top Priority For Valentine's Day (And The Sales After)

It's that time of the year again; the sweet and cozy time when every pink and red grocery store display tempts you into purchasing obscenely large amounts of chocolate-covered goodies. Unlike Halloween, where long-time candy favorites are blatantly advertised on the spooky packaging, Valentine's Day candy boxes are more demure, inviting you to take a bite before finding out what, exactly, is inside the chocolate. This sweet cloak of mystery is fun when you're diving into a box of chocolates you've never seen before but incredibly frustrating when you're just trying to buy something nice for someone you love.

That's why we took on the heroic task of sampling 12 store-bought boxed chocolates, to find out which box reigned supreme above the others. While there were some decent front runners, like the highly accessible Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate Collection and Magno's breathtaking box of geometrically shaped treats, L.A. Burdick's simple, yet elegant, box of 22 treats was hands down the best. L.A. Burdick's Valentine's Day gift sets range from $25 to $210, depending on size, but these exceptionally made fine chocolates are worth the added premium. If you're interested in conducting your own boxed chocolate taste tests this Valentine's Day check out our handy guide on How To Taste Chocolate Like A Connoisseur.

Unlike many of its mass-produced, American-manufactured counterparts, L.A. Burdick never uses molds. According to the website, the chocolatiers at L.A. Burdick "cook, pipe, cut, dip, garnish, and pack our chocolates by hand." Handmaking chocolate adds a (literal) individual touch to each piece of chocolate, letting the flavors and textures fall into a natural place, however, it's the ingredients that really shine in L.A. Burdick's production process.

The founder of L.A. Burdick, Larry Burdick, got his start training as a chocolatier in Bern, Switzerland (and acclaimed Swiss chocolate differs from Belgian chocolate). When he came back to the U.S. he used what he'd learned in Switzerland to open his own chocolate shop, eventually becoming a pioneer of the American fine-chocolate industry. High-quality ingredients are tantamount to the Swiss way of making chocolate, and L.A. Burdick strives for nothing less: Its chocolates are handmade with fine-quality cocoa beans and all-natural ingredients. What this means is that there are no additives, preservatives, or extracts. All of the flavors you taste are made from things like fresh vanilla beans, seasonal fruits, and fresh-brewed coffee and tea. So while the price tag might be steep compared to a grocery store brand of boxed chocolates, the level of craft you get is worth every penny.