Joseph Schmidt Confections

To this day, I still miss these wonderful chocolates. The very best. The closure of Joseph Schmidt is the reason I no longer support Hershey.

The most beautiful chocolate specialty store in the city has closed.
You will be missed. xoxo

Such a shame they closed down… SNIFF SNIFF.
After getting my haircut at the Viking, around the corner; I would stop in and pick up a few of J Schmidt’s decadent truffles. You’d always find great bargains after specific holidays like Valentines and Easter.
The closing of Joseph Schmidt is a great loss to the neighborhood: /

People will be pining the loss of Schmidt chocolates for years to come.
I won’t forget this, Hershey’s Evil Empire.

Dear Joseph Schmidt,
I’ll miss you and your great company! I was not an avid chocolate eater but you changed that! You also spoilt me to never enjoy any other confection.
I’ll miss the mini milk truffles, the egg-​shaped truffles and the sculpted Easter chocolates.
I’ll miss the champagne mini truffles that made me fall in love over and over again, that reminded me what it felt like when I first fell in love (puppy love, mind you!), that I gave to the one I loved, the one I wanted to make up with and the one I wanted to just say «I care»… AND the ones I gave to folks to improve their taste in fine confections!
I’ll miss the signature 10 pack mini truffle box that lit up anyones face when I gave it to them.
I’ll miss sitting on my terrace on a cool night with my best friend looking at the starry sky and having the 24 pack mini mosaic confections and sighing.
I’ll miss the truffle boxes that could win anyone over (and that I collect!).
I’ll miss your company that your employees have considered family, that has been adding sweetness to all our lives since 1983.
I’ll miss you — Joseph Schmidt — a real, genuine and down to earth person, who personally had a hand in designing all the fine confections on the plant floor.
… I guess one day I’ll have to eat my last box of JSC truffles lest they go bad… anyone know of a formula to cryogenically freeze truffles?
I won’t miss Hershey’s and its decision to discontinue Joseph Schmidt Confections… heart breaking.
Joseph Schmidt, and to each and everyone of your employees… infinite thanks for bringing so much sweetness to my life, my family and my friends.
Always,
Amit

I can’t believe it’s happening… Joseph Schmidt is really going away!
At first I thought just the Church/​Castro boutique was closing, but no, it’s ALL going away and will be completely unavailable!
I was first introduced to the chocolates 7 years ago when I first moved to San Francisco and I’d never tasted anything so good before. Since then I’d buy chocolates for special occasions or really just for any occasion when I was in the mood for great quality chocolate (in my case, that’s all the time). To think that Joseph Schmidt truffles will no longer be around is pretty unbelievable.
I will continue to stock up on these chocolates until they really are no longer available… it really will be missed. :-(

This was a solemn day and will be one of my last visits to JS’s for their chocolate truffles. The clerk told me after their June 30^th closing, there will no longer be any JS truffles, the stores will be closed forever. Some of the truffles might be sold during the holidays at the Scharffenberger Choc store in the Ferry Building but Mr. Schmidt will be joining the Scharffenberger brand and continue to create his chocolate sculptures. I admired the huge choc pandas, Coit Tower and SF skyline on display. Hard to believe such works of art can be created out of chocolate.
A few of their spring line choc truffles are 20% off. I picked out a lovely box ($ 24) and will be shipping it to my GF in Australia, her last chance as an expatriate to get some JS truffles. Tried a couple of new truffles — pomegranate (tart) and Mexican choc (a bit spicy). Single sold truffles run $ 1.25 for a petitie and $ 2.50 for a large one. They now offer some of the Dagoba and Scharffenberger chocs in the store, something you would’ve never seen pre-Hershey’s acquisition of the Artisan chocs.
If there are no lines, you can cross the street and head up to Ike’s Place for a sandwich, just the next block over.
Merci and Au revoir, JS. Thanks for the memories, they’ll have to sustain me when you are gone forever.

Joseph Schmidt’s window displays are probably some the most inviting ever! Ton’s of gift boxes, bows, and chocolates! How could I resist and not stop in:)
The store has truffles that make your mouth water upon looking at them, but they also carry the full line of Scharffen Berger (made in Berkeley– for now) bars.
I was purchasing a couple of bags of Scharffen Berger dark chocolate pieces and the next thing I know, the sales person gave me at least 4 other chocolate bars to taste/​tryout, some super cute chocolate alligators, and some great info on purchasing chocolate in bulk.
What a great place to stop in and pick up goodies for the home or for perfect gifts.

JOSEPH SCHMIDT CHOCOLATES WILL SOON BE EXTINCT. Hershey bought Schmidt along with Dagoba and Scharffenberger in 2005 to diversify into the high end of the chocolate world. When times got bad they announced this winter they would keep the brands but maunfacture them at a central location. But this week Hershey’s announced that they are simply going to shut down Joseph Schmidt, period. According to Hershey’s spokesman Kirk Saville as quoted in the AP, «the brand’s founder, Joseph Schmidt, will remain a Hershey employee». Meaning he is not able to go back into business and hang up his shingle in a new company.
This is all incredibly sad. These truffles were both delicious and beautiful. And it was extra special that, when we moved to the Lower Haight in 1994, we discovered they were made right down the street from us at 16^th and Sanchez.
What can we do? Write to the company and urge them to free Joseph Schmidt so he can restart the company, since he’s no longer of interest to them. Start a petition. (As of this evening, the domain name
is available for purchase from
.) And no more Hershey’s Kisses till this is fixed, for god’s sake.

Sad to read that this retail store (and the San Jose store location) will close this year, by June 30^th, 2009. Hershey’s bought Joseph Schmidt Confections (and Scharffen Berger Chocolate) in 2005. In January they announced that both Joseph Schmidt and Scharffen Berger’s bay area chocolate factories will be closed (Scharffen Berger chocolates will continue to be produced elsewhere).
So stock up on these delicious confections before it’s too late!

I was able to buy one of my X-​mass presents any time before Monday the 29^th and looked forward to taking advantage of all of these deep discounts I’d been hearing about.
The person I was shopping for is a chocolate lover so I headed up to Joseph Schmidt to pick up a discounted box of their large truffles. I was surprised to not only find that they had almost exclusively the mini truffles in boxes but there was no X-​mass/​post x-​mass/​recession sale to speak of. In fact the only deal they had was a two for one sale on holiday items. That is fine if you want two small X-​mass tree shaped boxes of mini truffles but if you do not everything was full price, and considerably more expensive than it was the last time I was there about six months ago.
The only box I could find of the large truffles was three of them for $ 15 and that was ridiculous. I would have walked out but decided that getting ripped off once would have been better than starting the gift search over at the last minute. I finally settled on 12 mini truffles for $ 18 that was not part of the two for one deal.
That is the story of how I paid $ 18 for 7.8 ounces of chocolate and didn’t even get what I wanted. I will probably go somewhere else next time.

Delicious!
Great sales and gift boxes for the holidays, and crazy deals right after; an essential stop for us sugar addicts. You can’t go wrong with those signature pretty marble streaked egg-​shaped chocolates.

I met Joseph Schmidt today. It was pretty exciting for me. Kind of like a sports fan meeting a hero. Anyway, he was super nice, warm, engaging, and genuine. He was at Draeger’s in San Mateo giving away free truffles (did I mention how nice he is?!) and signing boxes of candy.
I was with my son, a 2-​year-​old chocolate lover. Joseph Schmidt gave him lots of truffles (get them started early!). I mentioned that we had his truffles at our wedding, and he told us that we’d be married for life.
He told me a little about the serendipitous way he became a chocolatier, but I’m on too much of a chocolate high to remember the details. Suffice to say, I love his chocolates and now I’m also a fan of the guy who makes them.

I saw Joseph Schmidt on a Food network special about chocolate while I was visiting my sister in Texas. I guess the trip wasn’t that fun if I was watching the Food network.
Anyway, Hubby and I noted that the place was in SF and we decided to visit once we got home. I’m glad we did. The chocolates here are delicious– and PRETTY! Also, the chocolate SF Cityscape that sits behind the counter is amazing!
Go here after a holiday (Thanksgiving works) and they’ll have the holiday themed items on sale. I don’t mind eating chocolate from a Christmas tree shaped box in mid-​January!

Forgive me father, for I have sinned…
6x
w/​in
60 seconds…
thealldark, allmilk, darkblackberry, orangesherbert, peanutbutterandjelly, seasaltcaramel, avemaria.

I’ve eaten hand made, gourmet chocolates all over the world. I love well made chocolate confections. I refuse to eat Hershey’s and Nestle’s, that’s bad tasting crap that gives me a headache.
I love Joseph Schmidt truffles. Creamy, flavorful, satisfying. I never catch a nasty caffeine rush even when I eat too many. The truffles are perfect with a glass of Wellington white port.
I’ve never been inside the store. I buy J. Schmidt chocolates at Macy’s or get boxes as gifts.

In the immortal words of that wise sage Rhoda Morgenstern (
)
…“I don’t know why I should even bother eating this. I should just apply it directly to my hips.” Gee, I like that line so much that I already used it in my review of Recchiuti Confections.
But it’s true about a moment on the lips… so why not make it count? Despite common wisdom, chocolate is not for the weak among us despite the small-​mouth glares you may receive from your skinny friends. I can’t understand anybody who could buy just one truffle. What’s more, I don’t want to know anybody who would buy just one truffle. They are hateful, hateful, hateful people — the ones with the holier-​than-​thou attitudes who view my gorging of a chocolate as a violation of their aesthetic values.
Sure, I’ve bought a $ 37 box of the Signature 20-​Pack Large Truffles. What of it? I bought them… uhh…for my aunt, that’s it. Yes, she is a diabetic, but she’s 79 and likes to live on the edge. Stop judging me. Hey, I let her have first pick… All Dark, All Milk, Almond Supreme, Irish Cream, Champagne, Double Latte, Grand Marnier, Kahlua, Macadamia, and Peanut Butter Praline. I’m a good nephew.
Nice shop, kinda out-​of-​the-​way so it makes getting chocolate a clandestine affair if need be. Lots of fru-​fru packaging and fru-​fru ribbons. There are even decorative bowls made of chocolate for $ 40…now that’s a sunk cost. They have the kitchen in the back. That’s where the chocolate magic happens, I imagine. No, I’m not talking about Barack.
CHOCOLATE — 4 stars… expensive but who isn’t worth it… sometimes?
AMBIANCE — 4 stars… chocolate everywhere… seems to be an estrogen magnet
SERVICE — 4 stars… oh sure, they’re friendly… like drug dealers near the border
TOTAL — 4 stars…
Mary: «Oh Rhoda, chocolate doesn’t solve anything.»
Rhoda: «No Mare, cottage cheese solves nothing; chocolate can do it all!»

When I moved to the City someone told me about this place, it was then owned and operated by Joe and his wonderful wife, Audrey. The products were amazing, excellent quality, super delicious and oh so creamy and rich tasting. I was hooked…
A long time ago, right after Hershey bought them, I went in and had a run it with some young man who had such crappy attitude that I took him on dragged in other staff members to hear my complaint, and he disappeared after that. Never, ever been one to tolerate bad service.
Over the years I’ve seen staff come and go, but one constant has been Caroline, this wonderful woman who’s been there since I started coming, I guess. Some of the staff there have a less than pleasant attitude (ignore them) and enjoy buying some of the best chocolate products available in the City.

Why did they have to go and make their truffles so big? With braces, I can’t really bite down into anything with my front teeth, so I weighed my options: 1) bite and risk losing a bracket, 2) cut the truffle open with a knife, 3) just stuff it into my mouth and see how that goes.
Option 1: It’s just not worth the price of getting the braces reattached.
Option 2: Not within reaching distance. Too lazy.
So I picked Option 3. In the truffle went.
I could barely breathe. In fact, I had to start breathing through my nose. Luckily, neither stuffed nor snotty! But there I was with a giant truffle in my mouth, thinking that I was going to choke to death. I suppose it would’ve been fine — I was already in chocolate heaven!
Death by truffle!
The various flavors were marked on a little card attached to the box, but once inside the box, it was all a mystery. There was a unique design on the outside of each truffle. Trying to figure out which piece of artwork went with which flavor was going to be tough since I can’t just bite into one to see the inside. I grabbed the one from the bottom edge of the box. The mystery flavor: Peanut Butter.
Other flavors available in the Holiday Tree box [aside from Peanut Butter] — All Milk, All Dark, Vanilla Cognac, Pomegranate, Meyer Lemon, English Toffee, Tiramisu, and Double Latte.
Thanks, Stealthypoo, for letting me eat the first one in the box. Now, UFC me, biznitch! [Read: You’re the best, and I wuv you!!!]

«Candy is really yummy but too much candy gets crazy in your tummy» are the lyrics to a song from my current favorite TV show, Yo Gabba Gabba, and truer words have never been sung by a group of acid-​trippin, candy raver puppets (Foofa, Muno, Brobee, Toodie, and Plex, who are controlled by DJ LANCE, who appears to be a direct descendant of Sun Ra).
If you are familiar with any of the characters mentioned in the above paragraph, pat yourself on the back and treat yourself to a couple truffles over at Joseph Schmidt. I suggest you try the following varieties of truffle: peanut butter chocolate, Irish Cream, the seasonal PUMPKIN, and praline. JS has delightful seasonal truffles in shapes reflecting current themes and the Mosaic chocolates make for delightful gifts. The large truffles can taste a little waxy, so stick to the small truffles or buy the flat disks in the front, which come in most of the same flavors and are WAY less messy to eat than the truffles. But be careful: Joseph Schmidt chocolates tend to get WAAAY crazy in my tummy (minus one star). Eat in moderation. Or suffer the consequences.
**I love the Turkey and Pumpkin shaped truffles they currently feature, so if you’re looking to surprise me with a sweet and tasty treat, you can’t go wrong with those.