Taste Test: Chocolate Chip Cookies

For the second installment of taste tests focusing on gourmet foods suitable for the independent specialty retailer, the Gifts & Dec editors recently undertook the enviable task of sampling six brands of chocolate chip cookies. (The results of the first taste test — salsa — appeared in the July 2001 issue.) In addition to getting our chocolate fix, this taste test enabled us to make some strictly personal observations about fine products that pleased our palates. We present these comments to help you in choose the right cookie for your store.

But first, a little history: Chocolate chip cookies have had legions of fans since their invention in 1937 by Ruth Wakefield of the Toll House Inn in Whitman, Massachusetts. While preparing the dough for a batch of sugar cookies, she added pieces of a Nestlé semi-sweet chocolate bar, thinking they'd melt. They didn't, and Ruth's inadvertent creation was an undeniable hit. She eventually reached an agreement with Nestlé allowing them to print her recipe on their packaging in exchange for a lifetime supply of chocolate. Today, the chocolate chip cookie is the country's most popular variety, with seven billion consumed annually.

Company: Byrd Cookie Co.

Background: Ben T. Byrd, Sr., started this award-winning company in 1924. Now under third- and fourth-generation leadership, it continues to grow even as it maintains the image of an old-fashioned Southern bakery.

Cookie details: Bite-sized cookies feature Dutch chocolate with mint white chocolate chips.

Aroma: Chocolate and mint.

Consistency: Crunchy.

Taste: Most found these untraditional cookies a pleasant snack, commenting that they're "refreshing and not overly sweet" and that the "chocolate cookie with mint chips reverses expectations."

Addictiveness: For those who like mint, they're irresistible, especially because of their "tea party" size.

Packaging/Presentation: The reusable tin is distinctive, "smart," and "sophisticated."

Overall Impressions: Almost everyone would purchase this as a gift "based on the packaging alone."

Specs: 7-oz. tin, $9.95. Byrd Cookie Co., Savannah, GA. (800) 291-2973.

Company: Immaculate Consumption

Background: Begun in a garage in 1995, this award-winning company produces baked goods in original American folk art packaging, marketing the product and art as simple, pure, and from the heart.

Cookie details: Bite-sized Chocobillys combine chocolate chunks, butter, brown sugar, unbleached flour, and natural spices.

Aroma: Hints of brown sugar, vanilla, and butter.

Consistency: Crunchy, "but they melt in your mouth."

Taste: Some found them more like shortbread or butter cookies, even "faintly caramelized."

Addictiveness: Some wanted only one or two, others found the small size and buttery taste addictive.

Packaging/Presentation: Most everyone liked the folksy packaging. "It adds character and catches the eye."

Overall Impressions: Even split — some would buy it and some wouldn't.

Specs: In 3-oz. bag ($1.75) or 3-oz. ($2.65) and 7-oz. ($4.25) cartons. Immaculate Consumption, Flat Rock, NC. (888) 82-MOJOS.

Company: Poppie's Cookies

Background: Begun in 1992 and named for the owner's "Poppie," the company's mission is to create products reminiscent of home.

Cookie details: Each batch is made from scratch.

Aroma: Margarine, vanilla, chocolate, and flour.

Consistency: Crunchy, with large chocolate chunks in every bite.

Taste: Traditional, with the taste of brown sugar coming through.

Addictiveness: Some editors would eat one to two at a sitting, others would want three to five. "Could eat several before OD-ing," one said.

Packaging/Presentation: Unanimous "yes" vote for the packaging: "eye-catching," "very gifty," "upscale," "fun," "sophisticated," and "a grown-up take on a childhood favorite."

Overall Impressions: All would buy it for self or as a gift.

Specs: 8-oz. canister, about $11.50. Poppie's Cookies, Chicago. (888) POPPIE-1.

Company: Ruby et Violette

Background: Wendy Gaynor opened this business, named for her daughters, in 1989. The company shut down for several years when Ruby suffered a brain injury, and ever since she recovered a portion of sales goes to Mt. Sinai Hospital's Traumatic Brain injury unit.

Cookie details: 18 cookie varieties, including crystallized ginger, marshmallow, and various dried fruits.

Aroma: Fresh, with the guest ingredients also apparent.

Consistency: A "just-cooled" soft-and-chewy-ness.

Taste: Traditional and rich, with dazzling flavors. "The lemon is only a hint, even when you get a chunk. Surprising, and good," one wrote.

Addictiveness: Most adored these, although their richness limits the amount consumed.

Packaging/Presentation: Most found it elegant with a "romantic" label.

Overall Impressions: "A chocoholics dream" that most said they would buy.

Specs: Available in 5-oz. ($6) and 10-oz. ($11) bags, plus one-pound silver tins ($22) by single flavor or any assortment. Ruby et Violette, New York. (877) 353-9099.

Company: Tate's Bake Shop

Background: Started by Kathleen King, who was selling cookies by age 11 at her family's farm stand.

Cookie details: Thin, slightly crispy cookies with a buttery taste.

Aroma: "Rich," "fresh," and "home baked," with chocolate, butter, and brown sugar.

Consistency: Crunchy and delicate with soft chips.

Taste: Traditional, although one editor finds them "a little more buttery and less sweet than your standard, with chips of a slightly stronger chocolate."

Addictiveness: Tate's has created seven new addicts.

Packaging/Presentation: It reminded several of Girl Scout cookie packaging, while two commented that it looks like a box for a personal care item.

Overall Impressions: These would be unanimously purchased, both for the self and others.

Specs: 8-oz. box, $5. Tate's Bake Shop, Southampton, NY. (631) 283-9830.

Company: Traverse Bay Confections

Background: Inspired by memories of northern Michigan's Traverse Bay, Richard Anderson developed cookies and confections with a European influence and natural ingredients.

Cookie details: Created from scratch and made by hand, the cookies combine high quality chocolate, Madagascar vanilla, and natural flavor extracts.

Aroma: Butter, chocolate, and, especially, vanilla.

Consistency: Somewhere between soft and crunchy, "almost a shortbread consistency."

Taste: Non-traditional, with the vanilla offsetting the chocolate. Some liked this, others preferred a more traditional variety.

Addictiveness: Most editors were pleased with only one.

Packaging/Presentation: Editors dubbed it "attractive," "feminine," "old-fashioned, reminiscent of a hat box," "distinctive," and found the ribbon closing "both romantic and functional."

Overall Impressions: Those that would purchase it would buy it as a gift.

Specs: 6½-oz. box, $7. Traverse Bay Confections, Seattle. (206) 725-0099.

All prices retail