20°N & 20°S

Chocolove ~ Extra Strong Dark 77%

 

 

 

Chocolove from Boulder, Colorado. Ecclectic packaging that looks like a mailed letter with a love letter enclosed inside the wrapper. Inside was a poem from Shakespeare.

 

from Venus and Adonis

Venus: '[Darling],' she saith, 'since I have hemm'd thee here
           Within the circuit of this ivory pale,
           I'll be a park, and thou shalt be my deer;
           Feed where thou wilt, on mountain or in dale:
           Graze on my lips, and if those hills be dry.
           Stray lower, where the pleasant fountains lie.

          'Within this limit is relief enough,
          Sweet bottom-grass and high delightful plain,
          Round rising hillocks, brakes obscure and rough,
          To shelter thee from tempest and rain:
          Then be my deer, since I am such a park;
          No dog shall rouse thee, though a thousand bark.'

 

If only the chocolate were good enough for the cute packaging and romantic poems. Sadly it's not.

 

Via Chocolove's website, the about page and history of Timothy Moley:

History of Chocolove

Tucked away in Boulder, Colorado sits an unassuming building where a little magic takes place... Every day, decadent chocolate bars are carefully crafted using the timeless combination of chocolate and love.

Chocolove chocolate bars are available in ten distinct flavors that range from a sweet, creamy Milk Chocolate with a 33% cocoa content, up to an Extra Strong Dark with an impressively strong yet smooth 77% cocoa content. Tied to chocolate's natural counterpart, love, each bar resembles a love letter, complete with a romantic poem.

For the past ten years, Chocolove has been quietly developing a loyal consumer following in natural and organic food stores around the country, including Whole Foods and Wild Oats. In 2005, Chocolove began its expansion into gourmet and conventional grocers, such as King Soopers, Gelson’s, HEB and Bristol Farms, making this delightful treat more readily available to its ever-growing fan base.

Chocolove started as the classic entrepreneur story – a dream, a garage, extended credit card debt and loans from friends and family. With its visionary chocolatier, and a solid concept, Chocolove became, and continues to be, a pioneer in the chocolate industry.

Timothy Moley is the founder, owner and chocolatier at Chocolove. A tall and slightly eccentric man, he reminds you a little of Willy Wonka. His laid-back attitude, wry grin, and lanky physique would never lead you to believe he is a man who lives and breathes chocolate, and has been consuming two chocolate bars, every day, for the past ten years. Seriously.

It all began in a cocoa field in Indonesia… Timothy was chewing on some cocoa beans doing volunteer work for USAID, a government program that promotes agricultural and technical education in developing countries. He had been living abroad on and off for two years, visiting over 28 countries, developing his palate with spices, teas and wines. And, like most of us, he had always dreamed of being his own boss, dedicated to something he loved. The idea of a career in chocolate inspired him and an idea began to form -  to create a premium chocolate bar, paired with the romance of love.

When he returned to the States, he began his chocolate education and quickly discovered a few key facts about the U.S. chocolate market: the average consumer could tell the difference between cheap chocolate and premium chocolate and they preferred premium chocolate; the available premium chocolate bar choices were limited, expensive and intimidating; no U.S. company was indicating the cocoa content on their wrappers; and flavors were boring.

Chocolove was born. The idea was simple - a selection of distinctly flavored chocolate bars made with all-natural ingredients and the classic techniques of Europe's finest chocolatiers. The package design would resemble a love letter sent from a distant land, and inside each wrapper - a classic romantic poem. The cocoa content would be clearly indicated on the front of each wrapper, the tasting notes would be simple and approachable, and the price, affordable.

Initially, bars were manufactured at a U.S. co-packer, but in late 2003, Timothy completed building his custom-designed chocolate factory in Boulder, CO, and by mid-2004, the factory was in full swing, running as smooth as melted cocoa butter. Today, Chocolove bars are made in small batches and shipped around the country, delivering a little bit of “chocolate–love” to discerning chocolate lovers everywhere.

 

Coverture chocolate bars made with Belgian chocolate, though Belgian source not listed. Cocoa beans from Africa and South America, 77% is the strongest bar in the Chocolove collection. Boasting extra cocoa butter and "Made especially for the dedicated chocolate enthusiast."

 

Click to enlarge images.

 

Extra Strong 77%

 

Type: Bittersweet, 77%

Bean Varietal: Blend

Ingredients: Cocoa liquor, sugar, cocoa butter, soy lecithin.

Sample Size: 3.2oz or 90g

Lot #: 030209

 

Appearance: Ashy! Ashy! Ashy! Looked dried up from sugar bloom. Different molding but still simple with small hearts in the center of each square. 

Score: 79

Snap: Good, very firm snap. Clean break lines.

Score: 94

Aroma: Delicate, soft roasted cocoa, wood, and almonds.

Score: 91

Taste: Boring! For such a robust cocoa percentage this has virtually no flavor at all. It took so long for any of it's flavors to present itself. Wax is the first thing noticed. Not just texture but taste. When it finally does open up there are hints of almonds and woody cocoa flavors, fairly sweet for a 77%. There are berries detected but they are so subdued it's almost not worth mentioning.

Score: 73

Texture: Very hard, waxy, extremely long melt time.

Score: 70

 

Once again I am pushing it with this review. It's Jan. and this bar has a March exp. Still, I am willfully admitting to pushing it with this bar. However, the appearance shouldn't look this ashy and dried up. The review before this bar of the Pralus Ghana 75%, is very similar to this review as far as pushing it with reviews. The Pralus bar held up and didn't appear to be THIS ashy. And the Pralus bar still had flavor to it.This is the difference between a skilled chocolatier and dabbler. Forgive me for being insulting here to Timothy Moley.

Another reviewer of the Pralus bar wrote and complained that there was too much cocoa butter and it diminished the integrity of the chocolate bar. I didn't find that was the case. I found for the Pralus bar, it toned down the boldness but didn't cut any of the flavor out. In this bar, all the flavor is virtually gone. No flavor and nothing but a hard waxy texture. No aroma either. Whatever aroma it had was very slight. However, there were the hallmarks of African beans with the distinctive almond aroma. It should have been much richer though.

It's not horrendous chocolate, but it's not good either. It probably should have a lower grade but it had great snap and the aroma wasn't bad. Those key factors are holding up it's score otherwise this should be graded at a D level. And they claim on their packaging that this is for the "dedicated chocolate enthusiast." I don't think so. Having said all that, I am not completely done with this company nor am I writing them off just yet. I will need to try fresher samples before I can fully make an informed enough decision about Chocolove. Not a good first impression though.

 

Final Score: 81.4

   score
     C

Pralus ~ Ghana 75%

 

 

 

French chocolate. Even better French single-origin chocolate. Pralus (Prah-loo not Pray-lus. Which I was corrected by Alan McClure of Patric Chocolate, who laughed at me about several mispronunciations of French chocolate makers or French names.)

François Pralus, second generation pâtissier, and Maitre Chocolatier. His father, Auguste Pralus, opened his own pâtisserie and became famed for his invention of the Praluline in 1955. A French classic for over 50 years. Francois apprenticed for his father in 1975 and from there began extensive training in chocolate making. In 1988 he took over the pâtisserie in Roanne. From there, he began production on chocolate bars sourcing his own beans from various exclusive and rare plantations around the world using classic French techniques.

The French dream. Passed down traditions of baking evolving into chocolate making at it's finest.

 

 

Image via Larry Krakauer.

 

 

Click images to enlarge.

 

Pralus ~ Ghana 75%

 

Type: Bittersweet, 75%

Bean Varietal: Forastero

Ingredients: Cocoa, sugar, pure cocoa butter, GMO-Free Soya Lecithin.

Sample Size: 3.53oz or 100g

 

Appearance: Simple square molding with a corner dedicated to a signature monogram in the molding. A little nicked up and slightly ashy. Deep dark chocolate color.

Score: 89

Snap: Good firm snap with deep snap sound. Clean break lines.

Score: 93

Aroma: Very subdued and soft. Almonds, a little medicinal right out of the package but that quickly dissapted, chalky, wood, soft roasted cocoa.

Score: 92

Taste: Deep bitter cocoa, takes a moment before the sweetness opens up. Mildly spicy, woody, sweet almonds, berries, no acidity or astringency, and finishes with a rich roasted cocoa and toasted almond flavor. 

Score: 96

Texture: Hard, slow melt time, slightly waxy, but then opens up to a creamy finish.

Score: 91

 

I bought this in the fall so I have to be honest with this review that I am pushing it a bit. This bar held up very well though. Slightly ashy on it's appearance and a bit nicked up, but over all in great shape. This is the power of good chocolate making skills and good tempering. Chocolate can last for a while.

One thing I wasn't sold on was the package saying "Relentlessly aromatic, cocoa, spicy." I didn't find it to be huge on the aroma. Maybe fresh from the source it is. But this was quite the opposite. It was very soft and subdued but did manage big almond aromas and soft woods. Definitely spicy on the flavor though.

The flavor is very complicated and deep. The texture is the reason it takes it's sweet time to present all of it's nuances. The texture is a little bit of every thing. Hard and waxy and then opens up in a creamy finish. The flavors are so deep. Berries, and wood flavors, sweet almonds and then finished with toasted almonds. Very nice taste. Back to an old expression I have used before when I have labeled certain chocolate "thinking chocolate."You have to take your time and sit back with this one and really let it open up and present itself.

I have seen reviews that argue it may have been too much cocoa butter in this bar. That might be the case with this bar, but I liked it. I liked that it isn't an "in your face" bar of chocolate. The only big issues I had with this chocolate were superficial appearance issues, a weak aroma, and a hard texture in the beginning. The flavor was still desirable even if it's not as robust as some expect or want it to be.

And one last thing to note, I like the distinction in the soy lecithin used for this bar. GMO-Free. Genetically modified free soy. I have never had a problem with the use of soy lecithin as an emulsifier. Gawk all you want you self-important purists! But one of the controversies stemmed from whether it was genetically modified or not. Most chocolate makers are opting not to use it. But if they do it's important to know the details of all ingredients listed.

 

Final Score: 92.2

   score
  B+

Mast Brothers + Stumptown Coffee

 

 

Once again my partners in craft. American Craft Chocolate makers The Mast Brothers. This time they have paired up with Stumptown Coffee. Stumptown is out of Portland, Oregon with branches out in Seattle and now in New York. They make some of the best coffee in the nation. You might see Wil Wheaton tweet about this place a time or two. Sixpoint Craft Ales, another New York connection and fellow partner in the craft world, also uses Stumptown in some of their beer offerings. Locals supporting locals.

 

Madagascar base peppered with coffee beans on top. The beans are direct trade from Africa, part of the Kayanza Province in Burundi. The coffee beans are then roasted in Red Hook, Brooklyn. Madagascar beans are organically farmed in Madagascar and then roasted, cracked, winnowed and stone-ground, and aged in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

 

 

 

Mast Brothers Dark Chocolate + Stumptown Coffee

Type: Bittersweet, 72%

Bean Varietal: Unknown but probably Trinitario.

Ingredients: Cacao 72%, organic cane sugar, coffee beans.

Sample Size: 2.5oz or 70g

 

 

Appearance: Amazing contrast between the brown on brown colors of the chocolate and coffee beans. The chocolate was a lighter brown and a bit ashy. But the coffee beans were bright and popped against the background of the bar. The actual molded surface was ashy as well but smooth.

Score: 91

Snap: Decent and firm snap. Clean, but asymmetrical break lines.

Score: 92

Aroma: All coffee. Not freshly brewed coffee, but rich cracked beans. A bit like used coffee grinds. The roasted cocoa enhances the coffee aroma.

Score: 91

Taste: Coffee right up front, but then the tangy sharpness of the madagascar cocoa takes over. Sharp at first and a little bit acidic. But then it's followed by rich fruitiness and roasted wood flavors on the cocoa. Classic Madagascar flavors. It finishes with the crunchy coffee bits leaving a coffee and fruity taste. Very well balanced on the finish. The coffee is also not bitter and not acidic. Just lovely and roasted.

Score: 95

Texture: Creamy and crunchy. It's obviously supposed to be crunchy but the chocolate texture was smooth and creamy and the coffee beans were excellent and crunchy but not gritty.

Score: 91

 

The appearance score should have been a bit lower, but that gorgeous contrast of lighter chocolate and coffee beans saved the day. It was ashy. It's tough when reviewing the Mast Brothers. They shine when their bars are super fresh. With in a couple of weeks. After that they are very sensitive products. It only really effects the appearance in small ways. Maybe some ashy surfaces and maybe some streaking.

The taste on this bar is fantastic. The big bold complexities of Madagascar cocoa is exactly what was needed to balance and play off of the coffee beans. The cocoa added a big spike of acidity and bitterness, but quickly smoothed out with fruits, and roasted wood flavors. This toned down what might have been a double whammy of bitterness from the coffee beans and allowed a lovely rich roasted flavor off the beans. Very well balanced on the finish but the opening was huge for various flavors.

And the texture was great too. Crunchy and creamy at the same time. Not gritty.

I loved this. It's gorgeous to look at and tastes awesome. There is a lot going on with the flavor of this bar. I think this is one of their best flavored bars yet. That's a pretty big statement. If you have ever tried their Salt and Pepper bar then you will know that that bar was tough to beat.

Be advised though, to expect a big caffeine kick. Chocolate naturally contains it and more than most people are aware of. And of course the coffee beans. You will be jacked so I advise eating it little bits at a time. Unless you are at work and really need to woken up, then you can eat this whole thing.

 

Final Score: 92.4

   score
  B+

Chocolat Moderne ~ Red Fruits

 

 

I won! I won! I won! I won this bar of chocolate through twitter. I just started my new Chocolate Advocate twitter page and these fine folks, Chocolat Moderne began following me. They run a weekly contest about art. Guess the answer correctly from a series of tweets they send out as clues and you just might win. Granted when I won, it took me about 20 guesses. I am a total dunce about anything related to art. But needless to say their patience made it fun to guess and the very next day they sent me this fun bar of chocolate.

Chocolat Moderne is located in New York with Joan Coukos at the helm. Her biography:

Joan Coukos, Chocolatier & CEO of CHOCOLAT MODERNE, is a Native New Yorker. She graduated magna cum laude from Duke University with a degree in French and Russian, and received an MBA from UNC Chapel Hill before entering the New York banking scene. Her extensive career included six years in Moscow during the rough and tumble days of Russia’s transition to a market economy, after which she returned to New York and Wall Street in 1999.

Open to new inspiration and challenge, in December 2000, on a trip to Brussels, she fell under the spell of old world, hand made chocolates and began creating recipes back in her tiny Manhattan kitchen. Her co-workers became the first enthusiastic guinea pigs, and upon receiving repeated accolades, she began taking formal steps to becoming a chocolatier.

Since that memorable day on the Place du Grand Sablon, she has studied chocolate and confectionery arts with a coterie of world-class French, Belgian, American and Swiss chocolatiers in NY and at The World Pastry Forum in Las Vegas. She is also a member of the New York Women’s Culinary Alliance. Now, after five years of honing her craft, Joan is creating sumptuous assortments of luxury gift boxed chocolates in her own chocolate laboratory on West 20th Street.

 

Chocolat Moderne has a lot going on with the products they sell. From Salt Caramels, to truffles, and hot chocolates. But more importantly they have Bistro Bars. Bars with fillings such as Banane Flambe which is caramel with bananas and cognac.

They are a courverture shop using Valrhona blends as their base for their chocolate creations.

 

 

So what exactly have I won? It's called Red Fruits. It's one of their chocolate and toffee bars. Butter toffee infused with cherry, raspberry, and strawberry and crumbled into dark chocolate, 65%. I am totally ready for this.

Ingredients: Dark chocolate (cocoa beans, sugar, cocoa butter, soy lecithin, natural vanilla), butter, cane sugar, salt, cherry, raspberry, strawberry.

 

Click images to enlarge.

 

One thing to note about this bar, it was sweating a little bit when I opened it. My apartment is a very dry place so it was interesting to see the bar sweating. Because of this, it had a messy appearance. However, it smelled wonderful. Like flowers, fruits, and butter. That's a winning combination for sure.

Very soft bar. No snap sound whatsoever. A little acidic and sharp at first taste, a combination of the chocolate and the fruits. Nice consistency throughout the bar of soft flavorful chocolate and crispy yet chewy toffee bits. Extremely tasty and not dominated by the fruit like the title suggests.

Really nice bar. Fun, flavorful, and a mixture of textures. Very enjoyable.

I will look forward to trying their Bistro Bars and their Hot Chocolate collection soon. Their hot chocolates are called Cocoa Casbah and they have some really interesting flavors. I hope they expand on it and make more combinations.

William Curley ~ Caramelized Piedmont Hazelnuts

 

 

I have been sitting on these pictures for a while and forgot to post them until William Curley announced new packaging for this product. They came with a sweet package he sent to me from London after reading a not-so-great review of one of his bars. William Curley is a very talented and amazing chocolatier. I believe the review was a fluke. I stand by it of course, but his kindness was to send a care package overseas to me and these were in it. I only wish I was able to get back to London sooner rather than later to try his pastries. Follow him on Facebook to see what I mean.

 

Caramelized Piedmont Hazelnuts

These were just a lovely and fantastic treat. Whole Piedmont hazelnuts dipped in and then dusted with Amedei (Italy) Toscano 70% cocoa. Crunchy, sweet, but not too sweet. A lovely treat. A nice chocolate treat when you want a break away from chocolate. The crunchy hazelnuts are the main dominate flavor.

Not to be too English about it, but since it is a lovely British product, these are the perfect little bites to be served with tea. A nice rich, full flavored black tea.

Once again, I am forever grateful Mr. Curley, for such a wonderful package you sent. Even if this is a late post.

Amano Truffles

 

 

 

This was a nice surprise. I was contacted by the awesome Amano people about tasting the Chuao bar. I told them I actually had it already for review They sent me chocolate anyway. And with that was a bar of Cuyagua and a box of their 12 piece truffles using various spices and different chocolates such as Ocumare, Dos Rios, Guayas, and Madagascar.

I love this life.

 

 

Amano Chocolate:
Cocoa Beans, Sugar, Cocoa Butter, Whole Milk Powder (Ocumare Milk and White), and Whole Vanilla Beans

Centers:
Cream, Whole Milk, Glucose, Butter, Honey, Raspberries, Lime, Tangerine, Vanilla, Salt, Cardamom, Black Pepper, Pecans, Yuzu, Lemon Juice, Morello cherries, Morello cherry juice, Citric acid, Sugar, Invertase.

Click this entry to view the reviews and details of these truffles.

 

Amano Chuao Update

 

 

After posting the review for Amano's Chuao bar, Art Pollard himself emailed me to send me some cool pictures in Venezuela. Mr. Pollard is known to do chocolate bar release parties with the farmers from where beans are cultivated. I admire this and wish I could be there one time for one of those release parties.

 

"In November, I went back to Chuao and threw a mini party for the farmers. I presented each of the farmers with a chocolate bar made from their beans. They were so incredibly happy. It was really an amazing and humbling experience -- as it always is when I have the opportunity to take chocolate back to the farmers. I spent a week in Chuao and ate an amazing number of Arepas. ;-)"

Art Pollard

All pictures are via Art Pollard.

 

 

 

 

Vosges Caramel Toffee Chocolate Chunk Brownies

 

 

Yep, you read that title right. Caramel Toffee Chocolate Chunk Brownies. Word is bomb! I picked these up while visiting Chicago over Christmas. They have a very cute boutique shop inside the loop in downtown Chicago.

Now, I have made gripes about Vosges before when it comes to their prices. They are very expensive for artisan chocolate and truffles. This brownie mix from them wasn't any exception at $18 a box. However, this is an exception to the rule where I say damn the costs. These brownies were so damn good! I will be ordering Three more boxes of it. Two for friends and one more for me.

I liked that even though this is a premixed brownie set up, it's more involved than just whisking in an egg or two. You have to get into this recipe a little bit. Makes you feel like you are still a baker and not a Duncan Hines cheater.

 

Recipe:

Yields 16 Brownies

1. 8" square baking pan
2. Aluminum foil
3. Brownie Mix (enclosed)
4. Brownie Mix bag 2 (Chocolate chips enclosed)
5. Toffee bag (enclosed)- Be sure to keep this bag away from the head of your oven.
6. Sugar bad (enclosed)
7. 3 large eggs
8. 1 1/2 sticks (6oz) unsalted butter, plus 1tbsp to grease the pan
9. 2tsp pure vanilla extract (I like Neilsen Massey

 

 

 

Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C) and place an oven rack in the lowest position. Line an 8" square baking pan with two pieces of foil, crisscrossed to enable you to lift the brownies out with ease after they have baked. Butter the pan and set aside until needed.

 

 

In a wide bottomed saute pan over low heat, melt 1 1/2 sticks butter. Add the contents of the sugar bag and cook over medium heat, stirring with a wooden spoon, for about 5 minutes. Pour the mixture into a large mixing bowl, set aside and cool for 10 minutes. The mixture should be cool or slightly warm to the touch before adding the eggs.

 

 

Add the 3 eggs one at a time, stirring well with each addition to combine thoroughly. Add 2 tsp vanilla and the contents of both brownie mix bags (flour mixture and the chocolate chips), stirring until just combined. Do not over-mix. Pour the batter into the preparred pan and place in the center of the lowest oven rack.

** That last picture is all about licking the spoon! It should be written into every recipe that once you get the mix in the baking dish, rock the shit of the remaining batter in your mixing bowl and on your spoon.

 

Bake for 20 minutes then remove from the oven and sprinkle the broken toffee pieces on top. The mixture will be quite wet still at this phase. Bake for an additional 25 minutes. You will see the caramel toffee pieces liquefy and coat the top of the brownies. Check for doneness by inserting a toothpick in the center of the brownies. The toothpick should come out somewhat dry (but not wet) with a few gooey crumbs attached. Place pan on a rack to cool. Hold off on cutting into these decadent brownies until they are almost cooled, about 40 minutes. This will ensure that all the moisture stays in the brownie. Store up to 2 days in a tightly sealed container.

 

Click to enlarge pictures.

 

 

These brownies were incredible. Super gooey and rich without being underdone. Warm and fabulous. Even the next day when they cooled completely, the toffee bits solidified again and gave a lovely buttery crunch. Also, the chocolate chips which are 62% dark chocolate, solidified as well giving it a nice crunchy texture as well. When they are warm, it's like swimming in chocolate caramel. When they are cool it's like swimming in chocolate with a much better texture balance.

These were better than sex!! Yeah, I said it.

 

Mast Brothers ~ Dark Chocolate + Serrano Peppers 70%

 

 

My allies in the craft world. Craft beer drinker and chocolate eater, they are American Craft Chocolate makers. Once again coming through with stellar packaging. I LOVE skulls and this entire wrapping is just bad ass. It makes me want to say Suprasternal Notch. If anyone has seen the English Patient then you will know how amazing that word is and what it means. It's in my top five of all time for packaging.

 

 

Dark Chocolate + Serrano Peppers 70%

Type: Bittersweet, 70%

Ingredients: Organically farmed  Dominican Republic beans, organic cane sugar, stone ground Mexican hot chilies, Serrano peppers.

Sample size: 2.5oz or 70g

 

Unfortunately I can't fully review this bar. It was broken up inside. I didn't have anything to do with that since it was gift chocolate. Probably banged up a bit in shipping. Normally I would just eat the bar and move on, but I have been wanting to talk about this one for a while.

I have had it a bit longer than I should have as well for Mast Brothers which is another reason why I can't review it in good conscious. Mast Brothers is one of the few chocolates that doesn't have a very good shelf life. Get it and eat it right then. Normally chocolate can go about a year or so depending upon it's wrappings. Mast brothers cannot. As you will notice in the pictures aside from being broken up, the bar is quite ashy.

I am happy that they chose the Dominican Republic for the cocoa beans for this bar. It's a much deeper and richer chocolate. They have been using Madagascar as their base lately for chocolate and I haven't been 100% sold on that. They need a little bit more time to perfect their Madagascar. They are right there on that cusp of greatness though. I liked their chocolate much more when Venezuela was the base. And by base I mean their base for most of their flavored bars, like almonds and sea salt or cranberries.

It tasted sweet and spicy right off the bat. A little waxy, at first bu then it opened up nicely. The heat was a slow building heat. I prefer this. I am a major wuss about spicy foods. If it builds slowly, I can take it. My palate is so sensitive I can barely tolerate medium salsas.

The chocolate flavor is robust and bitter, but not acidic or astringent. Nice sugar balance and the heat is just holding on the background. The peppers also add a nice flavor to the chocolate. Chocolate and chilies are made for each other. The spices help bring out a bit of a dried tart cherry taste on the chocolate which was an unexpected delight. Cherry pie filling lingering on the palate with tingling hot spice left remaining on the tongue. Fantastic.

I am very impressed that they kept the balance of the heat in check. Serrano Peppers is a no no for a wuss like myself, and I could handle this chocolate. The only issue I have with it, is that the heat is a bit distracting from trying to taste any nuances with the chocolate. But then again, that's not the point of something like this. And that cherry flavor is an unexpected bonus thanks to the heat. But that's all I am really picking up through the heat.

It's not a real review, but still fun to taste and talk about. If I were to give this a grade, I would give an A- or a B+.

 

Rogue Chocolatier ~ Piura 75%

 

 

Very small batch, Limited Edition bar from Rogue. This is beyond Single Origin. This is a single plantation bar with a very limited quantity of only four bags of cocoa beans.

 

Colin Gasko explains it best in his words from his packaging and website.

For a year we have been working to bring in this very special cacao from an isolated population of trees in Northern Peru. We have finally managed to bring in a “nano-lot” of only four bags of cacao from Juan Tirado’s 7.5 acre organic cacao farm in Morropon Province in Piura, Peru. This is the smallest micro-lot ever made into a bar. All four bags of this storied “white-bean” cacao come from a single fermentation and drying cycle, giving us the rare opportunity to create a chocolate that will give new meaning to the term “single origin.” More importantly, Juan’s farm produces the finest cacao that we have tasted. This is a result of genetics, but also of excellent post-harvest handling, leading to a distinct floral aroma with an extremely mild, buttery flavor of nuts, cocoa, and raspberries. Each of the fewer than 4,000 bars produced is wrapped in a beautiful limited edition letterpress printed packaging.

 

The Piura Region of Peru is located in the northern region of Peru. The Morropon Province is located in the center of this region.

Via Wikipedia and the image:

This province is located in the center of the Piura Region, being a land of contrast and climatic fusion. It is dotted by tropical forests of the dry-equatorial style in its flat areas were the carob tree predominates. In high areas of an elevation 1,500 to 2,000 metres (4,900–6,600 ft) the landscape changes to smooth high jungle and a lack of varied hilly valleys.

 

 

 

Click to enlarge images.

 

 

 

Piura 75%

Type: Bittersweet, 75%

Varietal: Unknown. I will have to ask Colin if he is aware of what the bean varietal is on this bar of chocolate. Peru has all the classic bean varietals plus hybrids and even some unknown or new varietals. Peru a chocolate geeks paradise for discoveries.

Ingredients: Cocoa beans and cane sugar.

Sample Size: 2.12oz or 60g

Bag #: 2

Batch #: 2

Date: 07/05/2010

 

Appearance: Smooth, sleek, un-molded bar. Thin and shiny, completely unblemished... on one side, the other side matted heavily from plastic wrapper.

Score: 85

Snap: Light crisp sound, asymmetrical break lines due to no molding lines. But still firm for a thinner bar of chocolate.

Score: 87

Aroma: Tangy aroma, floral, raspberries, tobacco, slightly nutty aroma, and dry.

Score: 92

Taste: Tangy, lightly acidic, astringent, big wood, big raspberries, inky, a bit of toasted malts. An interesting burst of sugar right after the initial taste, but it is quickly overtaken by astringency.

Score: 91

Texture: Smooth and creamy with a slightly drying finish, medium fast melt time.

Score: 98

The appearance score was tough to give. On one side it was pure perfection for an un-molded bar of chocolate. Completely unblemished except for my finger prints when pulling it out of it's wrapper. On the other side it's the prime example of the some of the unwanted effects from wrapping your chocolate in plastic. However, the plastic allows for the aroma to stay intact and allows for a much longer shelf life. I will always be in favor of this no mater what happens to the appearance.

It's aroma was quite tangy and floral. Normally I don't like to be influenced by what the package descriptions say you should smell or taste on a bar, but sometimes it's just unavoidable and completely not up for debate. The aroma and taste are there through and through. It smelled like big bright raspberries and tasted like it too.

As I mentioned it's highly fruity with raspberries and it's very tangy A little too tangy for my liking, but it had what is becoming a classic Rogue hallmark of cedar woods. I got a lot of raspberries and wood and it didn't allow for some of it's subtleties to come through. A little bit with some toasted malt flavors. The astringency leaves a slightly bitter lingering taste on the palate, but not offensively. Also some lingering coffee notes.

I am in love with the texture. It is a little bit drying on the finish, but the creaminess of it and how it softly melts away is truly amazing. I didn't get a nutty buttery taste on this chocolate like the package suggests, I did get a lovely buttery soft texture.

 

Final Score: 90.6

   score
  B+