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Vosges ~ Creole Bar 72%

 

 

An homage to New Orleans with chicory root spiced coffee in dark chocolate from Vosges' exotic bar collection. 

Via Wikipedia:

The cultivated chicory plant has a history reaching back to ancient Egyptian time. Medieval monks raised the plants and when coffee was introduced to Europe, the Dutch thought that chicory made a lively addition to the bean drink.

In the United States chicory root has long been used as a substitute for coffee in prisons.^[38] By the 1840s, after New York, the port of New Orleans was the second largest importer of coffee.^[37] Louisianans began to add chicory root to their coffee when Union naval blockades during the American Civil War cut off the port of New Orleans creating a long-standing tradition.^[37]

 

Inspire The People Around You.

 

Creole Bar

Type: Flavored/Filled bittersweet, 72%

Bean Varietal: Unknown, probably Forestaro

Ingredients: Dark chocolate [cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter, soy lecithin, vanilla], chicory coffee, cocoa nibs. 

Sample Size: 14g or .5oz

 

Appearance: Deep, dark brown color, inspirational quote monogram, scratched up surface, and no shine. 

Score: 76

Snap: Good crisp snap. Small thin sample, but still produced a nice audible snap. 

Score: 90

Aroma: Char, coffee grinds, hints of licorice, trees, wood, earthy, spicy, rustic.

Score: 93

Taste: Deep dark chocolate, sweet, tart, acidic, coffee grinds, 

Score: 92

Texture: Smooth chocolate, quick melt-time, gritty yet crispy bits, very small bits of nibs. 

Score: 91

 

Another disappointing appearance for Vosges. What's up with the heavy scratches on the bar? There was no damage to the box so I can't figure out how it would get so scratched up. And another matted surface with no shine. Strange matted appearance on the back of the bar with a weird dotted pattern. I am not talking about from the nibs in the bar either. 

 

 

Wonderful earthy and rich aroma of spices, coffee, char, and wood. The taste was a little acidic and tart, but also sugary and sweet with coffee flavors. It's hard to explain. It's very coffee-ish and strong, but not beating you over the head with coffee flavor. The nibs added a nice earthy bitterness as well. 

But once again, the skimpy fillings and flavorings are becoming a bad hallmark of Vosges. "Here is a flavorful bar of chocolate and doesn't these ingredients just sound really good and special? We're going to tell you about it and show you glorious packaging of all the spices and flavors but only add scraps to the bar." The nibs in this bar are pathetic. They add enough flavor, but it could have been a much more dynamic and rich bar with actual nibs in the bar and not some shavings. 

It almost has a Taza Chocolate-like grittiness on it because the nibs are so scant and small. It's evenly spread out though and makes for a more coffee grind-like texture. Which means only slightly larger granules than Taza's texture. The texture is more crispy instead of of crunchy and full. The chocolate is smooth and nice with a good melt-time. 

This is a nicely flavored bar. Good coffee flavors but not over the top and no coffee jitters to add to the cacao caffeine. Good rich Sao Tome chocolate base and chicory flavors that are nice and mellow although a little tart and gives way to that acidic jab in the neck glands. The nibs do provide a nice earthy and rustic flavor, but would have been a lot better had they been fuller pieces. 

Final Score: 88.4

 

  score
 B

 

Vosges ~ Woolloomooloo Bar 45%

 

As part of the exotic bars collection from Vosges, the Woolloomooloo bar is an Australian inspiration. If the name didn't give it away that is. Or the macadamia nuts. 

The inspiration:

Macadamia nuts, native to Australia, were originally harvested by the Aboriginal people who occupied the eastern slopes of the Great Dividing Range. This chocolate bar is named after the famed suburb Woolloomooloo in Sydney and meant to honor the Aboriginal claim to the scrumptious macadamia nut.

I have been to Australia before and I do recall Woolloomooloo. I never went there specifically but I was close. It was one of those names that is so distinctly Australian.

One of the best things about Australia are the macadamia nuts. Something everyone must try when visiting are the Weis Ice Cream bars. Half and half mango and macadamia nut ice cream bars. It's to die for and you can find it in any corner store or convenient store in Sydney. Or just buy a large tub of it. But this post is about chocolate. I must stir myself back or I will get lost in my own thoughts about Sydney and Australia. My favorite place in the world.....

 

Don't Judge A Book By It's Cover.... Unless it's a Vosges Bar.

 

 

 

 

Woolloomooloo Bar

Type: Flavored/filled Milk chocolate, 45%

Bean Varietal: Unknown

Ingredients: Milk chocolate [sugar, cocoa mass, cocoa butter, dry whole milk powder, soy lecithin, vanilla], roasted macadamia nuts, hemp seeds, coconut, salt. Chocolate ratio: 36% cocoa solids, 15% milk solids. 

Sample Size: 14g or .5oz

 

Appearance: Darker milk chocolate color, appearance of seeds and chopped nuts on the surface, monogrammed molding with inspirational message, Matted surface, no shine.

Score: 64

Snap: Very low and dull thud snapping sound. Very soft snap. 

Score: 73

Aroma: Big milky and creamy caramel-like aroma. Soft roasted cacao and a strange vegetal aroma almost like alfafa sprouts or mold. Very earthy.  

Score: 94

Taste: Slight earthy hemp taste up front but is quickly over taken by the sweet sugars and salt from the macadamia nuts, slightly nutty, milky, 

Score: 94

Texture: Creamy smooth chocolate, very quick melt-time. Slightly crunchy seeds, particle size nut pieces and chewy but scarce bits of coconut. 

Score: 93

 

It's funny that the message is "Don't judge a book by it's cover." Did they need to have that there to cover up for the fact that none of their bars ever have a desirable appearance? I have yet to have one bar from Vosges that has a nice surface or appearance. 

I had a hard time deciding on the aroma. I liked it but it's strange. I liked the creamy and milky aroma. Lovely soft roasted cacao, and then a strange green and vegetal aroma that smelled like mold or alfalfa sprouts. Very earthy, but it seems out of place with the sweeter and creamier milk chocolate. 

It tastes good but the palate is overwhelmed with milkiness, cocoa, and salt. The nuts barely leave a tangible nutty flavor, the coconut is skimpy and the hemp seeds seem irrelevant for the most part. They left a richness to the aroma but the taste was overwhelmed. This is due to Vosges going skimpy on the ingredients. Everything sounds good on paper, but when it comes to executing it, they skimp so badly. And it makes me mad because their prices and fancy packaging lead you to think that they are something more than they are. 

The coconut is so scarce that it leaves no impact on the flavor unless you happen to be lucky enough to get a piece of coconut to chew on. The hemp seeds leave a slight marijuana taste, with some earthiness and green taste up front but it's not enough to hang on or greatly impact the flavor. There is virtually no nuttiness to speak of except for some slight hints and the salt. There are some lingering seed tastes at the end, but that's only if you get pieces big enough to taste. The micro particles of macadamia nuts leave little or no flavor, but plenty of salt. Can we be sure there are even macadamia nuts in this bar and not just large kosher salt bits? 

The sweet and salty balance is fantastic. And for a milk chocolate it's great. But pretty underwhelming for the bar it claims to be. How is this an homage to Australia? Where are the macadamia nut chunks? Pretty weak and pretty pathetic if you ask me. And if I were Aboriginal, I would feel cheated. 

This is exactly the same problem I had with Vosges and their bacon and chocolate bars. Flavor wise the bacon taste is there, but the pieces in the bars are so pathetic. And these bars are not cheap. I want more. I want more macadamia nut pieces. I want more bacon. 

This was a good tasting milk chocolate bar. It's due primarily to the salt content of this bar. But overall I am not impressed with this. It should have been prettier than this, it should have been richer in flavor from the added ingredients. 

Final Score 83.6

   score
 C+