I love daily deals like this because I have no intention of buying one.

Hey, this is Josh from the Rain Republic and we just wanted to say THANK YOU wooter from all of us at RR family. We appreciate this opportunity to show you some of the worlds best chocolate right from Guatemala and we're excited to show you how we listened to your feedback. We have new easier to break, eat and share molds. We have new and improved flavors like cardamon, chile and coffee. Thanks!

Did you know that all chocolate as we know it comes from Guatemala? The Mayan's cultivated the cacao bean for its size and flavor right here in Guatemala and continue to this day.

Another cool note, Rain Republic was recognized by Michael D. Coe, in his revised edition of, The True History of Chocolate, as the first Guatemalan Chocolate Company to export fine and authentic chocolate from the birth place of it all, a continuation of the 4000yr old Mayan tradition.

Any chances you all looked into the banana chocolate?

Came for the Chocolate Rain comments, left wondering if you're all some kind of investors in chocolate futures...

loveladyelectric wrote:The shipping on the website is outrageous because the cheapest they offer is FedEx 2-Day. My total for one 10 pack was $46.XX.

Woot has been known to take credit for saving on shipping when the deal wasn't that great. However, they use a list price with shipping, but advertise their savings without showing their own shipping. I think this is pretty shady.

$46.xx - $5.00 shipping = $41.xx (list price)

It looks like they subtracted $5 from the (shipping-included) list price. That seems logical.

Comparing prices $(30+16=46) and $(30+5=35) is the same as comparing $(40+16-5=41) and $(30+5-5=30). Both have a difference of $11.

chocolatemaker wrote:Thanks! We hear you loud and clear. This time we lowered the chile flavor about 99% to show off the dark chocolate and now you just get the rich smokey flavor in the finish and then only fleetingly. It's a really cool effect.

What we love about trying new products out on Woot is the immediate and vocal response to our products. We take it all in a adjust immediately. Our new cardamom flavor is also constructed to showcase the dark chocolate and give you a minty burst at the finish. Let us know if it's too strong and we'll listen.

Very cool! I appreciate your listening, and so I am going to give you one more try. We really liked your other flavors and so hopefully, we will like the new chili one too.

I'm in for one!

I've gotten the variety packs in the past and it's all yummy. My favorite is the cinnamon chocolate.

I'm super excited to try the new flavors (especially cardamom - yum!)

And cheers for the new molds - the old 3-block structure was difficult to just nom on.

some of it was ok when I got it last time. However, they seem to have an issue with evenly mixing the flavors. I mean, getting a sea salt chocolate and taking a bite and getting a large piece of salt that over powers everything is kind of annoying. Same when eating a chili chocolate bar gettinging nothing, and then finding a large cash of chili in a bubble.

Yes! We've started with the banana trials with limited success due to humidity issues. Michael and Juancho over at SabeRico in Antigua are now drying our bananas and plantains in their newly inaugurated facility in Zacapa.

We've also been experimenting with candied chorizo, regional milks, balsamic vinegar, basils all locally grown. While their not quite ready, we'll probably release them here first when they are. Thanks a lot.

bkarlan wrote:Any chances you all looked into the banana chocolate?

Thank you. We're truly sorry about that issue, it was our first time experimenting with spices on a grand scale and our team didn't mix the spices well. So we fed a couple of slacker to the Jaguars!

The good new is that it won't ever happen again. We listened and learned. Now the spices are processed more finely, evenly mixed and then tested for dilution before molding and everybody on the team is aware and involved to make sure our product quality is as high it can be. Thanks for your support and understanding.

Specifically, with the chile, we first dark roasted the Cobaneros, lightly salting them to reduce the heat and develop the flavor profile. Then we reduced the amount to showcase the chocolate and then finish with smokey heat.

xserp wrote:some of it was ok when I got it last time. However, they seem to have an issue with evenly mixing the flavors. I mean, getting a sea salt chocolate and taking a bite and getting a large piece of salt that over powers everything is kind of annoying. Same when eating a chili chocolate bar gettinging nothing, and then finding a large cash of chili in a bubble.

chocolatemaker wrote:Yes! We've started with the banana trials with limited success due to humidity issues. Michael and Juancho over at SabeRico in Antigua are now drying our bananas and plantains in their newly inaugurated facility in Zacapa.

We've also been experimenting with candied chorizo, regional milks, balsamic vinegar, basils all locally grown. While their not quite ready, we'll probably release them here first when they are. Thanks a lot.

I don't know about anyone else but I'm equally hungry and fascinated by this process. Thanks for sticking around and sharing!

If it were fair trade I'd be in for three.

Thanks, we'd love to be Fairtrade too but they don't certify cacao here in Guatemala?

We remain direct-trade and certified slave labor free chocolate. Our Guatemalan cacao is sourced direct and farm fresh from local growers and processed and packed here by Guatemalans under strict labor and safety standards. Thanks for caring!

msharkin wrote:If it were fair trade I'd be in for three.

msharkin wrote:If it were fair trade I'd be in for three.

Yes, this company has the gall to force kids to read! And not just American children, poor Guatemalan children! ;-)

http://guatemalanchocolate.wordpress.com/2012/01/25/rain-republic-forces-guatemalan-children-to-read/

Nice job Josh, keep up the good work!

fredrinaldi wrote:got this a few yrs back, gave it away, didn't like at all.

Another true Brandini fan, I trust your opinion ....

3rd time buying this chocolate! I like the variety this time around. Can't wait!

thomwatson wrote:I don't actually think $2.90 per bar is a bad price for good chocolate (I haven't tasted these, so I don't know how good they are). Here's what I don't understand, though: Woot is selling these for $29.99, allegedly 27% off a list price of $41.10. But if you go to the Rain Republic web site, this same ten-pack lists there for $29.00, 99 cents less than Woot's price. And the $29.00 price there isn't listed as a special price or a sale price; that appears to be the regular price.


[MOD: Don't forget to add in shipping.]

Add shipping and it's only 15% of the $41.10 list. Remember to add shipping to BOTH the retail and the woot.

It just struck me that accepting the wine.woot given discount takes the same sort of "please fool me" mind that it takes to believe anything Romney says.

You have to do your own research and math if you want the truth, don't accept what woot tells us. You can't add shipping on one side of the equation and not the other just to make your prices look better... If you believe your customers have the ability to think.

This isn't just shady, this is down right current day republican...

At the rainrepublic.com website they retail for $29.00, cheaper than woots $29.99. I'm not sure were the reatail of $41.10 came from. Where's the deal woot?

Please, let's keep this non-partisan here. The big discount comes in shipping. Also, yo are comparing our last years product and pricing with our new products. Sorry for the confusion.

Remember, Rain Republic is Pro Party. So buy some chocolate and share it at a party.

Rain Republic supports this message.

Paid for the people who support dark chocolate- ChocoSuper10Pac 2012.

mschauber wrote:Add shipping and it's only 15% of the $41.10 list. Remember to add shipping to BOTH the retail and the woot.

It just struck me that accepting the wine.woot given discount takes the same sort of "please fool me" mind that it takes to believe anything Romney says.

You have to do your own research and math if you want the truth, don't accept what woot tells us. You can't add shipping on one side of the equation and not the other just to make your prices look better... If you believe your customers have the ability to think.

This isn't just shady, this is down right current day republican...

chocolatemaker wrote:Remember, Rain Republic is Pro Party. So buy some chocolate and share it at a party.

Rain Republic supports this message.

Paid for the people who support dark chocolate- ChocoSuper10Pac 2012.

This message has my vote.

It's been a week and still waiting shipping... Not good.

ilgea wrote:It's been a week and still waiting shipping... Not good.

Put the words "wine related product" where "wine" reads below, and this may help just a tiny bit Sorry! We know you're eager.

How long is shipment going to take?
You should get your wine in 2-3 weeks, often sooner. We know the wait is kind of a drag. But it's still gonna taste good (maybe even better), and since we leave it to the wineries to get the wine to you, you can count on their experience to send their wine using their expert methodologies.

Ugh, are SmartPOST warnings a thing of the past? Between the huge (warned-about) shipping delay and freakin smartpost, i'm not going to have this in time for giving to some family at thanksgiving. (and it would've arrived on time with regular shipping too)

Arrived yesterday, I have yet to try them, but .,,, these are tiny bars of chocolate!!! I thought they would be the ghiradeli large size bars, but they are more the size of regular Hershey bar :-(

Your chocolate arrived and I tried the cardamom one. Wow, it is spectacular! Also love the new size and piece design of the bars. Well done.

Mine was delivered on the 23 according to FedEx tracking, but it never made it to my house. That makes me a sad panda

ROGETRAY wrote:Sorry for the late reply,
Have you emailed into Member Services? You can reach them at support@woot.com and they'll be glad to assist you with resolving the issue.

Sincerely,
Woot Staff

Just did, I gave USPS a few days to hopefully deliver but still nothing. I was looking forward to this chocolate Thanks for the follow up though!

cjreynold wrote:Just did, I gave USPS a few days to hopefully deliver but still nothing. I was looking forward to this chocolate Thanks for the follow up though!

Thanks for letting us know you wrote in and keep us posted.

inkycatz wrote:Thanks for letting us know you wrote in and keep us posted.

Post office finally coughed it up. They put it in the parcel box but didn't put the parcel key in my mail box. Can't wait to try!!!