20°N & 20°S

Santander ~ Dark Chocolate 70%

 

 

 

Santander Dark Chocolate 70%

 

Type: Bittersweet, 70%

Bean Varietal: Trinitario, Criollo blend

Ingredients: Cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa powder, cocoa butter, soy lecithin, natural vanilla.

Sample Size: 2.46oz or 70g

 

Appearance: Large square monogrammed tablet, deep dark brown color, muted, slightly ashy, a few minor and superficial surface marks.

Score: 89

Snap: Firm, crisp snap, nice audible snap sound, clean break lines.

Score: 93

Aroma: Opens up with soft almonds and wood, the same coffee notes as the 65%, then opens up to big peanuts again, sweet honey. All the same characteristics on the aroma of the 65% but softer and more muted. I don't detect the same floweriness or the spicy qualities I detected on the 65%. I tend to find stronger cocoa percentages can be softer on the aroma.

Score: 91

Taste: Peanuts and peanut butter, coffee, sweet sugars up front, then a little astringent when it opens up. Not much else is going on.

Score: 92

Texture: A little hard, mildly chalky, medium melt time.

Score: 91

 

See the review for the Dark Chocolate 65% here.

The aroma had all the same characteristics of of the 65% only muted a bit. But the flavor was a bust. It tasted good, but due to the dominating peanuts and peanut butter tastes, coupled with coffee, it drowned out every other subtlety that might have been present. While I liked the taste, it felt more like I was eating a peanut butter cup in dark chocolate than it felt like eating a nice single origin chocolate. While the 65% had too much sugar, this has too much peanut flavor.

I asked before in the other review of Santander, how much is natural and how much is infused from other flavors around their factory with coffee/chocolate products around? The coffee was much more pronounced in the 65% while this one is all peanuts.

I apologize if this review seems lacking, it just ended up being a lot of the same from the 65%. Just softer and more nutty. I didn't want to make this a verbatim review of the other one. But I put the link for the other review because it does contain more details and will explain a lot of what I meant with this review.

Final Score: 91.2

   score
 B+

L.A. Burdick ~ Dominican 72-74%

 

 

I had always maintained that L.A. Burdick makes exceptionally amazing chocolate bars. I knew that they weren't a bean-to-bar company and that they used Swiss chocolate making techniques and Swiss couverture chocolate as they like to boast on their Facebook page and website. But it wasn't until recently I found out that they sourced their beans from Felchlin and Valrhona. They also source from Venezuela, and more recently Grenada.

Mostly known for having the best cup of hot chocolate in all of New England, their truffles happen to be some of my favorite from the area as well. It wasn't until I started writing this blog, that I got into their bars. Again, it's couverture chocolate, but for cases like this it's how they blend their chocolate and how they tweak the finished product that counts. They continue to be top notch to me.

The only thing frustrating is not knowing exactly where they source their beans from for the bars. They mention Europe for blocks and liquors, but South America for the bars. They are not a bean-to-bar so I don't know if they are doing direct sourcing now or brokering the beans. They are working with Grenada for sourcing directly with farmers, but there is little information about the rest of the South American beans. Their website has little information about the bars.

Designed for true "Chocophiles", Burdick single source bars allow a sampling of six distinctive regional beans. From the fruity acidic notes of Madagascar Beans, to the earthy flavors of the Dominican and the nutty, deep, and spicy tastes of Grenada, Burdick single source bars provide a world tour of regional chocolate tastes; i.e., "terroir" amplified. The single source offerings reflect our recent discoveries. Try all 6 bars with our complete set, a "Burdick Choice" 3-pack, or buy each single source bar individually.

 

I have one pet peeve about chocolate, and that's not having a more detailed website for information about your products. It might not have always mattered as much as to where companies source their ingredients from, but these days it is important. Fair trading, locally sourced ingredients, child labor issues, and ethical corporate or business practices are extremely important. With just about everyone having access to the web and being more interested in where their food comes from, there should be no reason for sparse information. Also, after recently having a poor customer service issue with Burdick's, I really do not want to call them and speak to them directly about their chocolate details. While that's just me and my own issues with them, it's still a pain in the ass regardless of my own experiences with their company.

Having a website that offers details about chocolate such as how to store it, what kinds of varietals are out there, ect., to having piss poor information about the bars and chocolate being used itself, is rather lame.

 

Dominican Single Source 72-74%

 

Type: Bittersweet,  between 72-74%

Bean Varietal: Trinitario

Ingredients: Cocoa beans, sugar, and cocoa butter.

Sample Size: 100g or 3.5oz

 

Appearance: Simple, non-monogrammed small square molded tablet, shiny, smooth, barely a blemish, deep rich brown color.

Score: 94

Snap: Firm snap, clean break lines, dull thud snapping sound.

Score: 90

Aroma: Wood notes, tobacco, almonds, vanilla, mild cinnamon notes, and lightly smoky.

Score: 93

Taste: Sweet, sugar, acidic, tobacco, rich, bold wood, small hints of tar and pen ink, earthy, unripened bananas and cream, mild cinnamon and toast on the finish.

Score: 95

Texture: Smooth, creamy, medium melt time.

Score: 93

Simple molding, pristine condition, a couple of nicks here and there but in fantastic shape. A medium snap of firmness and dull snapping sound. Still, it was firm and had clean break lines.

The aroma was fairly simple. Big wood, roasted cacao, tobacco, and some slight cinnamon characters. It was pretty straight forward and not overly complicated. 

I tried not to let the packaging influence my palate or tastes when reviewing but it did have the notes it mentioned on it's package. "Notes of tea, banana, roasted cocoa, and high acidity." It was sweet upfront with sugar, then it opens with big wood and earthy flavors. Slight hints of tar and pen ink. I tasted more tobacco leaves than tea leaves. There is a banana flavor but it's like green, unripened bananas and cream. And a little bit of buttered cinnamon toast on the finish.

Very bold chocolate, but fairly straight forward on it's taste and aroma. Just nice and rich. This would be great for baking and drinking too. You could make the most decadent chocolate cake with a bar or two of this chocolate.

 

Final Score: 93

   score
   A-

 

Chocolate Oatmeal Face Mask

 

 

Okay, so remember a few weeks ago I made a quick post about chocolate face masks and how to make them yourself at home? Well, I went ahead and tried one and it worked really well.

Make sure you wash your skin before applying. A helpful and natural tip is to cleanse the face, then use witch hazel as a toner. Also use on a Q-Tip with apple cider vinegar for any trouble spots before using the mask. You want that on on your skin first. You can also use the apple cider vinegar on the trouble spots after you wash the mask off. And be sure to moisturize.

I took some old scraps that had gone passed their prime for eating. Chocolate does have an extremely long shelf life, but these were passed that. Mostly I take chocolate bars, eat enough to review and fully understand, then I take the left over scraps and bake with it. But recently my stock pile is just too much. So, this is a good way to use the chocolate in a constructive way without having to throw it away.

 

I took leftover scraps of a Patric Chocolate Madagascar bar, L'Artisan du Chocolat Jamaica, and some Paul A. Young Valrhona bar scraps. All bitter sweet and 70% and over. I melted them down over a double boiler, I pulled the chocolate off before it all completely melted. Then I added oatmeal and honey and I let it cool down.

 

On whim, I decided to go ahead an add course turbinado sugar after the mixture had cooled so it wouldn't melt the sugar crystals.

 

Duck lips just for Gingerkiller!

 

I slathered it all over my face and waited for about 15 to 20 minutes. It was a bit messy to apply, but the trick is to go around the face more than once with the mixture. Each time you go around, it goes on thicker and thicker. The oatmeal might fall off a bit but overall it stayed on pretty good.

Washing it off, the oatmeal and sugar acted as a face scrub. It felt a little waxy as it was being washed off and I thought I might have to do a second wash with some face soap. But, I didn't have to. It all washed off clean, and my skin was brighter and extremely soft.

Having a glass of red wine while you mask is also fun. The antioxidants in wine is good for you to. You will feel like you are in a spa. Wine, masks, and Ed Norton on tv. La vita è bella!

It will be a while until I see any long term effects because I plan to do this more often. But for now my skin is actually brighter and my face feels a lot softer. Fantastic chocolate experiment.

 

Madécasse ~ Rich 70%

 

 

 

Madécasse ~ Rich 70%

 

Type: Bittersweet, 70%

Bean Varietal: Trinitario, Hybrid

Ingredients: Cocoa beans, sugar, cocoa butter, soy lecithin, natural vanilla.

Sample Size: 2.64 oz or 75g

 

Appearance: Simple square patterned, monogrammed tablet, ashy, medium chocolate brown color, smooth surface. Some minor matted marks on the surface.**

Score: 90

Snap: Good strong snap. Nice audible snap sound, clean break lines.

Score: 94

Aroma: Dried wood, soft roasted cacao and huge dried figs.

Score: 95

Taste: Deeply rich cocoa, a bit acidic, bitter, big cedar wood, mild leather notes, cereal grains, and deep in the back of the flavor of this chocolate are cherry notes.

Score: 87

Texture: Medium-hard, dry, long melt time.

Score: 84

 

**I did not deduct from the appearance of the bar based on it's ashy appearance. It's in great shape for holding on to it as long as I have. I am being completely honest about my Madécasse reviews as I have had their bars since the fall. They are not past their prime by any means, they're not close to being expired yet, but it has gone through the winter with me. I didn't expect a shiny bar after all this time. And it shouldn't be taken out on them that I waited this long.

Very simple descriptions on the nose of this chocolate. It was 3 simple things. Dried wood, roasted cacao, and dried figs. The fig aroma was awesome. It was big, but not too big and it didn't push down the other aromas. Well, the other aromas that I could detect anyway. I even pulled out a tin of dried  Turkish figs for comparison, and they were identical sans the wood and cacao on the bar. Simple yet fantastic.

 

It's all bitterness and acidity up front. Mild acidity, but deeply bitter and it interferes with some of the nuances of the flavors. In the middle, it opens up with big cedar wood flavors and cereal grains, some slight leathery notes. But the bitterness and wood flavors trump a lot of the deep and complex fruit notes. There is a cherry presence, but it's buried underneath everything else.

Although I love big wood flavors in chocolate, especially cedar wood, it's a bit much on this chocolate. It's all you really get out of it. The wood flavors coupled with the bitterness of this chocolate makes it taste a bit unbalanced. I could tell that there could be more going on with this chocolate and more flavors wanted to come out and play but the bully's were on the play ground as bitterness and wood.

The texture didn't do it any favors either. It was hard, very slow melt time and dry. It wasn't horrible texture by any means, but if this were softer and creamier, it could have been a lot better despite its dominating flavors.

 

Final Score: 90

   score
    B

20°N & 20°S Presents: The Top 10 Best Chocolate Makers

 

 

This is a collection of the best Bean-to-Bar that I have tasted so far (2010 -2011) with a few honorable mentions at the end. This isn't an exact reflection of what is available on the market, this is based on what I have personally reviewed and tasted so far.

After going through a lot of chocolate, and I mean A LOT of chocolate, and Lord above help me now, I still have WAY more to try, I have decided to present my findings thus far on whom I think are some of the best chocolate makers in the world. It's only me judging. It's based solely on my tastes and preferences and should be considered 100% subjective. This list will change every year, naturally, as more and more chocolate is introduced into my life. If you are a chocolate maker and are not on this list, either try harder for my affections, or send me products because I may not have had it yet!

You will notice if you go back and scroll through older reviews, that my review style is noticeably changing. This is the point exactly of my journey through chocolate. To learn about and grow with it. And to understand my own palate better. I have no intention of changing the old reviews, but rather move forward get better with time. I only bring this up because as I scroll through older reviews, I am totally laughing at myself. Some are vague, and some are overly descriptive. I am learning people, I am learning!

Amano ~ Cuyagua 70% Limited Edition

 

 

 

A limited edition bar of chocolate with beans from the northern coastal region of Venezuela. There has been quite a bit of buzz from the "chocolate elite" or the reviewing community about this particular bar. This bar and Amano's Chuao.

It's to be expected though, it's Amano. They are one of the world's best chocolate makers. Their skills in making cocoa beans show their true potential via aroma and taste is simply unrivaled. The dedication and commitment to the farmers and regions where they source their beans is admirable.

 

I hate to cut and paste everything from their website, but this is a very good description as well as personal insights from Art Pollard himself. I find all of it fascinating and want to highlight it here.

Nestled in a little valley on the Caribbean coast the small village of Cuyagua is home to some of Venezuela’s most highly prized cacao. Cuyagua’s plantation is old -- tracing its history back to the 1600’s. Its trees are tall — many twice the height of that found on other plantations. We buy this special cocoa from Cuyagua’s farmers, import it, and using our proprietary and labor intensive techniques transform them into a truly remarkable chocolate. The flavor can be described as being deep and hauntingly rich with wonderful fruit notes of melon and spice. This is an incredible chocolate — one you will treasure and share with your friends and loved ones (if you don't eat it first).

The Chocolate Maker's Notes:

For me, Cuyagua is a very special village and is home to one of my most precious chocolate memories. Not long after we launched, I went to visit Cuyagua’s farmers. Cuyagua is very remote and difficult to get to. I arrived at sunrise and spent the cool morning working with the farmers until their day was done. We crossed the Cuyagua river to a small clearing where they gathered round. I gave each farmer a chocolate bar that we made with their cocoa. They were so proud to see their village’s name on each of the bars.

We passed around one additional bar for each to sample. One old farmer came approached me and said: “This chocolate is like a river.” I thought this a very strange comment and so I asked him what he meant. He looked at me and said: “This chocolate takes you on a journey of flavor to all these wild wondrous places; the flavor goes on and on like a river.”

To this day, I get emotional when I think about this simple farmer. Here in this remote village was a simple farmer who in his heart was a poet. Somehow, our chocolate spoke to his soul and left a profound impression on him. This experience made me realize that we were making something truly special and caused me to redouble my efforts to respect each farmer’s hard work by making the best chocolate possible. It is my hope that this chocolate speaks to your soul in the same way that it spoke to the soul of this humble farmer.

Art Pollard
Founder / Head Chocolate Maker

 

“This chocolate is like a river.” This is a very true statement and I could tell immediately upon opening it and inhaling the aroma. Very complex, so many details and layers.

 

 

Each one of their bars has specific art work as well. This is an oil painting "Cocoa Flower" by Marcia Baldwin.

 

 

[Image via Surf-Forecast.com]

 

Coastal Venezuelan regions are world renowned for having some of the best cacao. But this chocolate is very different for anything else I have had to date from Venezuela. As far as the aroma goes anyway. I have come to recognize key hallmarks of certain regions where cocoa comes from. Coastal Venezuela generally has deep, robust characteristics and more funky, tar, toasted bread, earthy, and sometimes bright green or new wood characters, deeply roasted  or char characters, with deep berries. This of course, is a generalization and is highly subjective. But it's what I have personally come to recognize from chocolate bars being produced with beans from these coastal areas. Rio Caribe being the most intense region. And while this bar certainly has these hallmark tastes, the aroma masked all of that and allowed a nice "otherness" to be presented about this chocolate.

This chocolate however, is like a delicate flower in the middle of all that chaos of palate inundating flavor profiles. Like the pretty cactus flower that grows a brillaint pink on top of harsh cactus needles. More complicated and softer forcing you to find out it's secrets instead of being hit over the head with it's unique profile. Both on the taste and the aroma.

 

Click to enlarge images.

 

Cuyagua, 70%

 

Type: Bittersweet, 70%

Bean Varietal: Criollo,Trinitario, hybrid blends.

Ingredients: Cocoa beans, pure cane sugar, cocoa butter, whole vanilla beans.

Sample Size: 2oz or 56g

Lot #: 3/4/85C

 

Appearance: Square tablet, small squares, monogrammed molding, a bit dusty on the surface, not so much bloom, but more like a mix of sugar dust and chocolate particles all over the surface. A few nicks as well. A medium dark brown chocolate color.

Score: 89

Snap: Excellent snap. Firm, crisp, clean break lines, and nice audible snap sound.

Score: 95

Aroma: Very complex. Slightly roasted aroma, sweet candy, tobacco leaves, mild smoky hints, oak wood, berries, mild hints of pen ink, light almonds.

Score: 97

Taste: Sweet sugars up front, deep and bold bitter cacao, tar, wood, mild coffee notes, complex berries, pen ink, soft and subtle flowery notes, and buttery toast notes on the finish with retro-olfaction.

Score: 96

Texture: Medium hard, medium melt time, and a creamy texture once it gets opened up.

Score: 91

 

I think it's become a running joke now with Amano bars on appearance. I never seem to get the immaculately pretty bars as far as surface issues goes. But I will hold on to the dream of getting a pristine bar. Kidding aside, it's not a big a deal these minor surface issues, but it does prevent a high score on Amano reviews. I have decided against weighted individual scores.

The aroma was a bit of surprise. As mentioned above, it had virtually no characteristics of what I have come to expect from coastal Venezuela beans. So much going on too. I truly believe Amano are masters at drawing out the true potential in chocolate. It had everything on it from sweet, sugary candy notes, to oak-y woods, and tobacco leaves. A bit of some smoky characteristics and and light, sweet almonds. So much going on. I had to sit with it for a while and really let it all sink in.

The taste had more of what I expect from this region. More tar flavors, toast, pen ink, and deep berries. I am struggling to identify the specific berries. Forgive me for being vague on that. But there were nice mild coffee flavors and wood, but most surprising was a sweet and flowery taste hidden underneath all it's layers.

It's quite intense on the palate, yet the flavors are subtle. Some pop out more than others, but usually from what I have noticed about coastal Venezuelan beans, is that it's robust through and through and there are very specific flavors. Usually they are front and center and all of the nuances are harder to detect. This is however, let's everything come out and play. Delicacies and bold flavors alike all share equal footing.

This is why it's unlike anything I have ever had before. The aroma is soft, and gives off this impression of a delicate chocolate, the flavors are bold and complex yet soft at the same time. They show themselves without kicking you in the face. This is why I compared it to a cactus flower. A pretty little delicacy among giant and not so pretty flavor descriptions. It's as if this is the true nature of these regional beans and it should be kept a secret. Don't let anyone know just how dynamic these beans really are, let them think the region is rustic, bold, and unforgiving on your palate. That this is a region for bitter palate adventurers. Meanwhile, the rest of us will covet these glimpses underneath Venezuela's skirt.

Okay, okay, maybe I am romanticizing this a bit too much, but I am very happy with this chocolate. Not since Rogue Chocolatier's Sambirano, have I been this excited about a flavor experience. And not since Amano's own Dos Rios, have I been this intrigued by an aroma. If this chocolate were just a tad softer, I think it would be a damn near perfect representation of highest quality Venezuelan chocolate.

It's just really nice being reminded just how good chocolate really can be.

 

Final Score: 93.6

   score
   A-

Melange ~ Mixed Flavors, White, Milk, and Dark

 

 

Angelo comes through for me once again. I asked specifically for some more Melange Chocolate tasting samples, or as I call them, chocolate straps. Thin tasting bars of flavored chocolate. Last time the flavor pack was all dark chocolate. This time I thought it was an all-milk tasting. To my surprise, it was a mix pack of white, milk, and dark.

 

 

Unless things have changed at Melange, the chocolate base used for these chocolates is from Belcolade, Belgian chocolate couverture.

I don't review these particular tasting straps the same way I normally review chocolate. They are too thin for a snap quality, they have been damaged by travel from the UK to the US (Not anyone's fault, they are just very fragile.) Some people have more of a weighted system towards their review marks, but I do not. I take the time to explain in full detail what each score means and why it received the mark that it got. With these kinds of tastings, I will just explain the taste, texture, and aroma and give a general score based on my own personal tastes.

 

Matcha & Strawberry (White Chocolate)

 

Ingredients: 28% cocoa butter, milk powder, sugar, lecithin, natural vanilla, matcha, and strawberry.

Type: Flavored White Chocolate, 28% cocoa butter

 

It's appearance doesn't quite show up the way I wanted it to in these pictures. It looks more yellowish based on the photos, but really it's more of a soft lime green color.

It smells like classic white chocolate, creamy, fatty, buttery, and soft. It has more of a lime aroma than a strawberry aroma. More citrus and fatty cream notes. Classic white chocolate aroma is dominating over everything else. I don't smell the matcha which hardly has an aroma anyway unless it's wet leaves or it's flavored, and the strawberry is barely there leaving a tart aroma that is more like limes.

Tastes like very rich and creamy white chocolate, buttery, rich creamy texture, virtually no strawberry taste at all, it's a little fruity, but mostly it's rich, and milky, has a bit of a grassy lingering flavor from the matcha. The last flavors on this chocolate are the strawberries. I'm a little disappointed that it's that faint or subtle. At least it presents itself though, but not until the very end through retro-olfaction.

I think this is actually fairly nice for white chocolate. I am not a big fan of it in general, but this was very nice. I only wish the flavors were a bit bigger. More of that grassy, green, matcha flavor, and bolder strawberries. The white chocolate flavors dominate so much that you are only left with lingering tastes of the matcha and strawberries. It could be so much better.

   score
   B-

 

Coriander & Grapefruit (Milk Chocolate)

 

Ingredients: 33% cocoa mass, cocoa and cocoa butter, milk powder, sugar, lecithin, natural vanilla, coriander and grapefruit.

Type: Flavored milk chocolate, 33%.

 

Light creamy milk chocolate color, lightly citrus-y on the nose and soft and subtle coriander. Creamy milk qualities with a very slight smoky aroma. They coriander was big right out of the package as was the lightly smoky aroma, but then it tames itself down for a nice creamy soft milk chocolate aroma with light hints of the citrus grapefruit and the spicy coriander. Soft and creamy texture, but a little bit of grit from the coriander spice.

Coriander right up front, very soft grapefruit, more like sweeter red or pink grapefruit, less tart and bitter citrus notes. Very soft and gorgeous flowery taste on the finish. Very slight though. Creamy milk taste on the chocolate with a few peanut notes. Sweet milk chocolate. The coriander and grapefruit are toned down quite a bit on the second and third tastes of this chocolate. The first taste the spice and the fruit are very present, the rest of the time it's all about the creamy milk chocolate and that lovely aftertaste.

   score
    B

 

 

Coffee and Aniseed (Milk Chocolate)

 

Ingredients: 33% cocoa mass, cocoa butter and cocoa solids, milk powder, lecithin, natural vanilla, coffee and aniseed.

Type: Flavored milk chocolate, 33%

 

Black licorice. That is the dominating aroma. Not even subtle aniseed aromas but straight-up black licorice. Creamy milk chocolate aromas with a subtle smoky hint. No coffee on the aroma at all. Light brown color with black flecks pepper through out the strap.

Sweet milk chocolate, excellent balance of coffee and aniseed up front. The coffee makes the peanut-y taste on the milk chocolate present itself more. Coffee is more roasted at first taste and then has more of a grind flavor. Despite the black flecks in the chocolate, it's not gritty. Coffee ends up the dominating flavors int he end. The aniseed was very much up front on the first taste of this chocolate and then takes a back seat. Creamy, soft texture.

I only wish the licorice hung around longer and interacted more on this chocolate. It dominates the aroma and then plays nicely with the coffee but then never comes back through the rest of the tasting. Overall though it was good tasting milk chocolate with a good blend of flavors.

   score
    A-

 

 

Raspberry & Rosemary (Dark Chocolate)

 

Ingredients: 72% cocoa solids, Cocoa butter and cocoa solids, sugar, lecithin, natural vanilla, raspberry and rosemary.

Type: Flavored bittersweet, 72%

 

This one had an interesting nose right out of the package. It had tart raspberries, a little smoky chocolate, and a strange aroma that reminded me of yellow mustard and ketchup mixed together. The rosemary on the aroma wasn't as dominating as you might think which left a strange interaction between the cocoa and the raspberry. Deep dark chocolate color.

Nice rich dark chocolate flavor, lightly sweet, light raspberry, and lovely rosemary. Despite the strange aroma, the flavors are really nice. The texture is a little chalky and dry, but it's not overbearing. Deep dark chocolate, roasted cocoa interacts nicely with the rosemary, raspberry flavors are very soft, and hard to find in the middle of the bold and rich chocolate and dominating rosemary flavors. The rosemary is strong but not overpowering. There is a little bit of raspberry at the end of the tasting. It lingers on the palate and you can taste it through retro-olfaction.

Very nice chocolate. It is getting the score it's getting for that initial strange aroma, and being a bit drying and chalky on the texture. But the flavors are awesome with the deep rich chocolate. I just wish the raspberry stood up more in this chocolate. It's there but kind of hiding in the background to the rosemary.

   score
  B+

 

 

Cardamom & Cloves (Dark Chocolate)

 

 

Ingredients: 72% cocoa mass, cocoa butter and cocoa solids, sugar, lecithin, natural vanilla, cardamom and cloves.

Type: Flavored Bittersweet, 72%

 

All cloves on the nose. A slight undertone of green cardamom, but the predominate aroma was cloves. Some roasted cocoa on the surface of the aroma, but it's dominated by the spice. Deep, dark chocolate color.

All cardamom on the taste. Bright green, fresh cardamom and deep roasted chocolate. No real hints of the cloves like the aroma suggests, a little spicy kick to the chocolate too. A nice roast-y, deep cocoa flavor lingering on the palate.

A nice play of flavors depsite only smelling one, and tasting the other. But the cardamom and dark chocolate together were very nice. And not all was lost for the cloves on the taste. I got a little tiny spice nugget later on that finally impacted the flavor.

  score
 B+

 

 

The biggest theme with these chocolates was a sort of bait-and-switch with the flavor profiles. The nose has one strong aroma, and the flavor dictates another taste all together. Both of the dark chocolates were the best example of this. They were also the most surprising to me. Despite it's score, the Milk Chocolate Coffee and Aniseed was my favorite. The white chocolate had a lot of potential but I needed the flavors to be a lot stronger. The classic flavors of white chocolate just dominated the palate. It's one of the reasons white chocolate is not my favorite.

Once again, a very nice collection.

Santander ~ Dark Chocolate 65%

 

 

 

 

My first experience with Santander from Colombia. A bean-to-bar producer in the north eastern part of the country, in a state called Santander. With beans sourced from 3 different municipalities, San Vicente de Chucurí, El Carmen, Rionegro and Landázuri.

 

Images via Wikipedia, and Zonu.com.

 

A fair trade company with corporate distribution that focuses on fair treatment to farmers and their families.

Via their website and Compañía Nacional de Chocolates.

• Fair prices and cash payments to growers.
• Permanent attention to maintaining good working conditions for all our personnel.
• Contribution to the wellbeing of workers and their families.
• Support to research and new technological developments at the Company’s agriculture farm.
• Promotion of sustainable and friendly agricultural practices.
• Establishment of a new farm with other sector members.
• Strengthening of cooperatives and growers associations.
• Improvements to growers’ competitiveness and returns, emphasizing sustainable environmental management of crops.
• Active participation in the Cocoa National Council, the Sector’s Policy Committee and the Technical Committees that direct and determine the sector’s future.
• Sponsorship of educational programs in cooperation with the Presidency of the Republic.
• Execution of the educational program “Nacional de Chocolates loves children” in existence for more than ten years.

 

 

 

Dark Chocolate 65%

 

Type: Semisweet, 65%

Bean Varietal: Trinitario, Criollo, blends.

Ingredients: Cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter, soy lecithin, natural vanilla.

Sample Size: 2.46 oz or 70g

 

Appearance: Large squared tablet with monogrammed molding. Deep dark brown, smooth surface with some very minor streaking on the surface.

Score: 92

Snap: Very firm snap, clean break lines, and nice audible snap sound.

Score: 93

Aroma: Opens up buttery, woody, and sweet. Then comes the big peanuts and coffee aromas. At first the nuttiness was a little bit almond-like. Then it opens up and it's all peanut butter and coffee. The coffee is a very rich brew on the aroma, a slight hint of honey and flowers, and a wee bit of spiciness on the aroma.

Score: 93

Taste: Sweet, roasted cacao, more sugars, big, flavorful, lightly astringent, fairly bitter for 65%, coffee, peanuts, peanut butter, slight hints of berries and a little spicy character in the center.

Score: 91

Texture: A little hard, medium-fast melt time, slightly creamy when it opens up, smooth texture.

Score: 92

 

I am wondering how much is natural and how much is a bit of forced influence on the aroma with the big coffee notes? They have bars with coffee beans in them and espresso, so how much of those bars are influencing the aroma or is this a natural effect with coffee being grown close by the cacao itself?

Whatever the answer is, I am loving the aroma. It's big roasted coffee and peanut butter. When I first opened this bar, it was very different. Almonds on the aroma with huge sweet butter notes and wood. After about 30 seconds to a full minute, the peanuts on this bar and coffee take over. The coffee is almost a layered effect with the peanuts. You don't smell the roasted coffee at first because of the peanuts, but the finish of the aroma is all fresh, and strong brewed coffee.

I lightly tanked the taste score on this chocolate not because of the flavor profile and character markers, but because of the excessive sugars. There were too much sugars in this bar and they interfered with the flavor profile.

The bar is a bit inundated with coffee which leads me once again to ask, is the coffee a natural effect from the cacao growing close to coffee? Or is it from the factory where the other coffee chocolate bars are made. Based on how roast-y the aroma is and how much it's like brewed coffee on the taste, I am going to say it's from the factory.

Peanuts, and a mix of peanut butter. I realize that sounds strange but it has distinctive peanut flavors and commercial peanut butter tastes. There are some spicy notes in there, and some deep berries, but all of that get interfered with by the sugar, coffee, and peanut flavors.

I think this will be good to melt down in some milk or almond milk for a steamed hot chocolate. It's very sweet, but it does have big flavors that would make for a nice roast-y hot chocolate. It might be April now, but I live in New England. There is still time for a cold night that requires a hot chocolate.

 

Final Score: 92.2

   score
  B+

Madécasse ~ Smooth 67%

 

 

 

 

Smooth 67%

Mellow & Subtle Sambirano Valley

 

Type: Semisweet, 67%

Bean Varietal: Probably Trinitario hybrids

Ingredients: Cocoa beans, sugar, cocoa butter, soy lecithin, natural vanilla.

Sample Size: 2.64oz or 75g

 

Appearance: Monogrammed tablet with cocoa pods, simple square bite size squares, A bit ashy, and broken and nicked up,  soft brown color.

Score: 83

Snap: Fairly decent snap. Firm with a mildly audible snap sound. Crumbly break lines.

Score: 91

Aroma: Wood, soft, sweet, mild pen ink aromas, slightly acidic, soft roasted cocoa, soft floral aroma, peppers and berries almost like a pepper jam.

Score: 94

Taste: Berries right up front, a bit of tar and acidity, mellow sweet sugars, then it opens up into bright cherries and huge cedar wood, a bit drying on the finish and soft a wood and cacao finish.

Score: 95

Texture: Medium melt time and medium hard, a bit chalky, but overall smooth.

Score: 92

Slightly harsh on that appearance, but I can't be soft on them with a broken up bar. I am pushing it a bit however, with this bar, and I want to be completely honest and fully disclose that I have been sitting on this bar for a while. While it has a 6/11 expiration date on it, I have had this bar since last fall. I am not deducting point on it's slightly ashy appearance. Just for being destroyed in it's package.

That aroma has a lot going on. This is supposed to be smooth and mellow, and while it is a softer chocolate, it has a lot of characteristics on the aroma. More fascinating was this aroma of pepper jam. It was slightly acidic on the aroma which I think lends credence to this idea of pepper jam.

 

Image via Formaggio Kitchen

 

Not sure what pepper jam is? Here is one example from Formaggio Kitchen. It's a condiment jam for cheeses and cured meats. Hungry Mother in Cambridge is famous for their small plates of homemade biscuits with ham and pepper jam. It's amazing.

But, there are still the light flowery aromas, bright and full berries, a mild hint of pen ink, soft roasted cacao, and cedar wood. This is quite a complicated aroma for something that is supposed to be soft and mild. One thing to note though, the aromas didn't hang around for long. Some chocolate opens up and gets bolder the more it breathes, this aroma popped out and then checked out, leaving the berries and and pen ink aromas to hang around.

The taste is what I have come to know as very classic Madagascar flavors of bright cherries and big cedar wood. It's a bit inky at first but opens up sweet and mellow. A bit tangy and astringent, but not over the top by any means. It's fully flavored of these deep and complex berries, but it's definitely rounded out and smoothed out. Full flavors, but not kick you in the face with flavor. I like that the berries present themselves, dominate, take over the palate and then slip away as the cedar woods finish up and dry out the palate leaving a nice soft aftertaste without being cloying.

The texture could have been a little bit better than what it was. A bit hard, medium melt time, and a bit chalky. Not too bad though. Still, it was over all smooth, but if this was a tad creamier and a tad softer, this could be brilliant mellow semisweet chocolate. The flavors more than make up for it's texture though. Just a good tasting Madagascar chocolate.

 

Final Score: 91

   score
  B+

Claudio Corallo ~ Gengibre (Ginger)

 

 

Gengibre (Ginger)

 

Type: Flavored, Bittersweet, 75%

Bean Varitetal: Trinitario, Hybrid

Ingredients: Cocoa, sugar, crystallized ginger, cocoa butter.

Sample Size: 50g or 1.76oz

 

Appearance: Two non-monogrammed tablets of chocolate, mildly ashy, couple of surface cracks, bumpy surface from the crystallized ginger, a few white rings around the ginger that wasn't completely submerged in chocolate.

Score: 90

Snap: Fairly decent and firm snap this time around. Light but crisp snapping sound. Asymmetrical but clean break lines.

Score: 92

Aroma: Dominating ginger right out of the gate. But more like a fresh pickled ginger and wasabi. Tar and roasted notes from the cacao, ginger and chocolate give way to some lemony characters, a few blueberry notes.

Score: 94

Taste: Sweet up front, light, clean ginger taste in the beginning, sugary crystallized ginger, slight hints of soap, a weird mix of the cocoa and ginger in the center but the sugary and spicy ginger takes over and completely tones down the big, rustic, and bitter cocoa.

Score: 92

Texture: A little hard at first, then opens up to a little bit of a gritty texture on just the chocolate, medium melt time, and soft chewy crystallized ginger.

Score: 89

 

This is one of those moments where I must be as objective as I can because I am not a fan of ginger. This chocolate surprised me over all though.

Finally, I got some tablets that came intact. I always get broken tablets from Corallo. These were intact albeit a little ashy and white sugar rings from the crystallized ginger. But still you get a look at their more rustic tablets and more of a feel for the plainness of it all and the raw chocolate tablets. And the snap was nice and firm this time. Usually there is very little snap to speak of. These tablets tend to be fairly soft. This had a nice little snap for being thin tablets.

It smelled like fresh pickled ginger and wasabi and roasted char aromas from the cocoa. It opens up with a sweet taste, and a clean ginger taste, a bit tangy and lemony from the roasted characters of this rich chocolate and the crystallized ginger. I think the ginger dominates the flavor of this bar. The chocolate barely has time to shine. There is a moment when it's boldness comes through. But there is a slight weird interaction in the middle with the ginger and the char characters. Then it had a bit of a soapy taste. This is why I usually don't like ginger. The clean flavors up front were very nice and giving way to that lemony taste with the cocoa, but then it turns into soap and flavors that my palate flat out rejects. But this soapy flavor doesn't last long which is why this chocolate surprised me and ended up being a lot better than I expected. I think the sugars had a lot to do with keeping those off flavors at bay. And that crystallized ginger is very sweet.

I do feel like the ginger was a bit overwhelming over all. But this isn't a bad thing. This is perfect for those who adore all things ginger. However, I wish the chocolate interacted more and gave off more flavors. The sugars only gave way to the chocolates contrasting flavors like tar, and bitter roasted notes. There wasn't a good enough balance in my personal opinion. But like I said, as someone who isn't a lover of ginger, this was actually pretty nice over all.

The texture was a bit of a mixed bag for me. It was loaded with the soft and chewy crystallized ginger bits, but the actual texture of the chocolate was hard, fairly dry, and a bit gritty. If only the chocolates texture was smoother and softer and just just a bit more of an impact on the flavor, this would have had an exceptional score.

 

Final Score: 91.4

   score
  B+