The Bluestocking - your local women's pub, warm, friendly, and not at all unusual in any way.

[MarieDeGournay]

Welcome to The Bluestocking, the welcome is warm, the conversation is wide-ranging, the food and drink are delicious but magically free from anything they need to be free from, and the bar staff are highly-trained, professional, efficient and very friendly gerbils.

I've not had one for years - have they changed the recipe?

If you’re a woman who wants to be somewhere among other women, then you ‘align here’.

Just seem soooo sweet! I think my tastebuds change once I had the menopause, though.

I looked at After Eight chocs today and they were all palm oil, so I'll stick with chocolates from Lidl and Aldi were they still make them from chocolate. I like the ones with little crisp bits of minty sugar. Or sugary mint.

I'm very careful which chocolate I buy these days. With the price of cocoa beans very high, a lot of the bigger chocolate makers seem to be moving towards a US recipe i.e less cocoa solids and more sugar. I prefer dark chocolate, so tend to stick with Hotel Chocolat or Lindt. We also have a couple of very good local chocolatiers in the area, whose shops I have to walk past quickly whilst looking in the opposite direction <sigh>

I am cautious about what chocolate I buy over here. A lot of it is Hershey's, which really is rank. Sadly, they make the US version of Cadbury's so I don't buy that either. Of the mass market chocolates, Dove dark chocolate is not bad at all, but I tend to stick to Lindt or Ghirardelli generally. We have a good local chocolatier here, but I'm not inclined to pay $5 for one chocolate - not a bar, just one chocolate.

Chocolate- IMO you can't beat Monty Bojangles truffles.

@Britinme $5 for one chocolate - not a bar, just one chocolate.

😨

I find co-op and Waitrose own brand 80/85% pretty good.

The gerbils, though we tend to forget, are actually Grimbut's T-shirt factory workers who came into existence during the Aston University data scrape debacle. They were at of a bit of a loose end after that and do like to keep busy!

Then of course they got unionised and they have been absolute twats ever since!

I was just thinking they have been very quiet today - probably sleeping off the after-effects of the sugar rush from Myrtle's cake.

I remember buying a bar of Hersey's the first time I went to America.

I never bought a second bar.

It's the most disgusting chocolate in existence surely!

I don't know how anyone can eat Hershey's. It smells of baby sick.

I don't blame them. I did see a group of them getting in the minivan earlier. Gaynor was wittering on about blackjack tables so expect some very happy and some very sad gerbils when they get back!

Afternoon all. You'll recognise this image.
And I'm working tomorrow too.
And perimenopause is a bitch.
That is all.

Different manufacturing methods there lead to more butyric acid. Possibly related to the USA needing products which could be transported across a large continent. If you’re brought up with it then that’s how you expect ‘chocolate’ to taste.

We typically don’t mind butyric acid in cheeses, we expect it in the flavour profile of something like Parmesan.

Apparently some US chocolate brands add butyric acid because American consumers expect that taste.

I have wondered this. I loved them but I can't eat them now because they're so sweet. I'm not sure if it's me or the mints that have changed.

I've been on MN since I was first pregnant in 2005! I've often been more of a lurker though.

@ErrolTheDragon @SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius

Thanks for explaining why Hershey's smells like it does. Doesn't make it any more palatable though. I'm glad that I'm not a septic. Can you imagine expecting chocolate to smell like that?

I went to Hershey's & brought back some bags of various things. But I couldn't finish them & threw a lot away. I did my best to educate the company - we did a customer survey taste test & I recommended they look into dark chocolate. You would've loved the singing cows ride, though, Boily!

ASDA do some decent dark chocolate bars at a good price. Agree on Waitrose, & also Divine and Green & Blacks. Not that I'm addicted, not at all. And you have to buy them when they're on offer. Who would've predicted £3.50 for a bar of chocolate??

@Britinme is very welcome to send us care packages of Ghirardelli chocolate whenever she's so inclined.

I’m afraid I’d succumb to temptation on the way!

I think m&s and Waitrose are the best supermarket ones, but hotel chocolate is very special. Lindt milk chocolate suits me when I'm in the mood for something creamier.

Bit of an eye opener about the butyric acid - I had no idea.

The thread has moved on a bit but i wanted to join in.

I can’t quite recall when I first joined Mumsnet, although it was FWR that drew me in, not parenting as my kids are grown up! I have found my contribution to the Spartacus thread in August 2016 though! I remember the Bluestockings threads going into abeyance and being really sad, but not doing anything about it 🙄😬. So I was really delighted when these were revived.

I read a lot but (as I’ve said many times!) I don’t always post a lot. I appreciate the madness, the camaraderie, the almost instant support when in need, the kindness. I would so love this as a real place, although I’d be the quiet one in the corner!!