Ghirardelli's Midnight Reverie is the highest cacao content dark chocolate bar Burma Mike brought over to Thailand in his American chocolate parcel.  It's also the highest cacao content bar in Ghirardelli's Intense Dark collection, and one of the three Intense Dark bars in Ghirardelli's range that really counts as 'intense' and 'dark.'        

Intensity can be a good thing.  Daniel Day-Lewis gives a very intense acting performance in Gangs of New York, and he's the best thing in the movie. Who doesn't like an intense coffee flavor in mocha almond fudge ice cream?  But intensity can also be a bad thing.  If fruit has gone rotten and has an intensely spoiled flavor, no one's asking for seconds.  Drew Barrymore gives intensely unconvincing acting performances.  You'd rather she was less focused; the bad acting might not hurt so much to watch.      

Ghirardelli tells us all about their Midnight Reverie.  Its "deep, full bodied flavor is noticeable upfront and evenly throughout with hints of dark cherries, dried plums, and a roasted flavor from the high cacao content."  There are allusions to a "lasting, enchanting finish."  Obama promised health care for all and the closing of Guantanamo Bay.  Those promises weren't kept, so what harm is there in Ghirardelli issuing PR bunk from San Francisco they can't back up?  If there were really hints of dark cherries and dried plums and an enchanting finish, I'd be proposing to this bar for its hand in marriage.

What we get is a lasting, bitter finish.  The cacao flavor isn't as rich as you'd expect.  Tasting it side-by-side with the Theo Ultimate Dark, with an almost identical cocoa solid percentage, you can see how little Ghirardelli has really developed their intense dark concept.  What's with the milk fat and the "natural flavor" on the ingredient list?  Oh, I remember.  Ghirardelli likes to talk big, just like Obama did before November 2008, without any real intention of execution. 

Any chocophile truly addicted to extreme darks would be as likely to become a devotee of the Midnight Reverie as a vegan would be of McDonald's.  Only dilatantes convinced Ghirardelli is the best in American chocolate should shell out to buy this turkey for Thanksgiving.