Valentine's Day is just around the corner, but what chocolate should you get for your sweetie? We spent the past week tasting over 25 different chocolates and tell you what brands should make a lasting impression.

A Bittersweet Guide to the Best V-Day Chocolate

A Bittersweet Guide to the Best V-Day Chocolate

A Bittersweet Guide to the Best V-Day Chocolate

A Bittersweet Guide to the Best V-Day Chocolate

A Bittersweet Guide to the Best V-Day Chocolate

A Bittersweet Guide to the Best V-Day Chocolate

A Bittersweet Guide to the Best V-Day Chocolate

A Bittersweet Guide to the Best V-Day Chocolate

If life is like a box of chocolates, picking out a box to give is even harder: You never know what you're gonna get.

That's why a team of NPR employees spent the past two weeks blind taste-testing more than 30 brands of chocolate from all over the world. (A tough job, I know. We sacrifice.)

From Whitman's Samplers at the drugstore to truffles from the fancy boutiques in Paris, we tried it all. (Though no one except me knew what brand we were tasting.)

White, milk, dark, fudge, with cherry, cherry bombs, truffles, more fudge, cherry fudge, chocolate from Java, coffee-infused beans — even chocolate massage oil and chocolate lip gloss, with a dark, bitter flavor. (Yum!)

After gorging on the good (and not-so-good) stuff, NPR's stuffed staff reached some decisions about the best — and worst — Valentine's Day online-orderable gifts to give this holiday season. Read the guide, and meet some old favorites, some new treats — and some chocolate that will definitely win you a few points with your sweet.

Copyright 2013 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.

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