I’m sure you’ve all heard of or even seen the extravegent spending Beirut has to offer, and now the “Switzerland of the Middle East” is adding chocolate to its list:

Patchi, a chocolate company in Lebanon, markets a soft leather covered box embroidered with exquisitely colored silk threads from Iran and India. Each heavy box (because of all the metal) holds 49 chocolates and each is decorated with a 24-carat gold floral motif, a handmade mini silk rose or a tiny piece of Swarovsky crystal. The chocolates are separated with real silver and platinum linings. Inside the gold-plated box there is alloted space to engrave with your personal sentiments.

So a bling-ed up chocolate for people who cannot find enough ways to flout their ‘wealth’. I must say, they have really gone all out with the box. I’m sure they’ve spent just as much effort on the chocolate itself:

For the price tag of only $10,000 for a box of 49 chocolates you can safely assume that these confections must be quite fabulous, right? No. Comments on these candies were surprising. Some tasters commented on the heavy slimy taste due to too much cocoa butter. Others complained of the ‘nasty taste’ because these chocolates were deemed ‘too dark’.

I guess Patchi should move towards product presentation rather than creating a good product.