20°N & 20°S

Artisan du Chocolat ~ Vietnam 72% Limited Edition

 

 

 

**Archived Notes

 

Finally an origin that I am not that familiar with. Sometimes there is a game to find new regions or unexploited regions for cocoa growing and be different or a step ahead of the curve. I am not against this race. It's a win win for chocolate lovers. "Why no, I haven't had a bar of chocolate with beans grown in Vietnam. Do tell." 

 

[Image Via Infoplease]

 

Via their website:

In Vietnam, small entrepreneurial farmers are remaking cocoa history by successfully farming fine cocoa commercially for the first time since the French period (late 19th century), making this batch of ground cocoa beans a precious and rare find. We chose well fermented and dried beans that morph into a silky chocolate with notes of raisin and oats. Surprisingly mellow at the start, this chocolate melts with a long and slightly peppery bitter finish. We meticulously select our raw ingredients for their flavour and wholesomeness: carefully fermented ground criollo and trinitario beans from chosen regions, pure cocoa butter and cane sugar. We mix, conche and refine each batch in our production in Kent. We make our own chocolate with love, devotion and the sole intent to bring you great chocolate
• Weight (e) 45g
• Shelf life 3 months
• Cocoa beans, cane sugar, cocoa butter, soya lecithin
• Contains soya. May contain traces of nuts, sesame, milk and gluten.

 

 

 

I have to preface this review with the unusual circumstances this bar found itself in. I reviewed this last year, or took pictures and notes on it and put the notes away until now. This bar has a dusty, dry sugar bloom appearance because I found this bar hiding in a drawer. While it was far from expired or past it's prime, the storage conditions were not exactly optimal. Having said that, this bar has held up remarkably well. Just some light dusting but a really great surface despite that. And being stored in plastic, it retained and held on to an insanely good aroma. But for the sake of fairness to anyone reading this, I must note at all times when the mistake was mine. The mistake here was not knowing a few bars got left in a drawer and I won't be deducting points on the appearance for that.

 

Vietnam 72%

 

Type: Bittersweet, 72%

Bean Varietal: Criollo and Trinitario blend.

Ingredients: Cocoa beans, cane sugar, cocoa butter, and soy lecithin. 

Sample size: 45g or 1.59oz

 

Appearance: Deep dark brown color, simple and light non-monogrammed molding, slight surface particles, relatively smooth surface, sugar bloom. 

Score: 91

Snap: Light but very firm snap, crisp snapping sound, moderately clean break lines. 

Score: 91

Aroma: Big full aroma of coconuts, roasted cacao, coffee, very creamy and nutty, and very slight hints of cinnamon.

Score: 95

Taste: Sweet, lightly tangy and acidic, small hints of cinnamon, cereal grains, raisins, slight hints of strawberries, pepper on the finish.

Score: 94

Texture: Smooth, creamy, medium melt-time, slightly drying finish.

Score: 92

 

Really nice bar of chocolate. Very fun and interesting. Aside from the bloom, the bar of chocolate was in really great shape. The aroma was amazing. Not overly complicated just straight forward and full. Good snap quality too for a relatively light or thin bar of chocolate on the molding. 

The taste was layered and deep. it was sweet with some slight hints of cinnamon and depp raisins with a light strawberry taste. I loved the cereal grains in the middle of the taste, and the finish was just as the package describes with a long finish of pepper. There was also a slight soapy perfume taste in the finish but very faint. Nice and complicated. 

So, even though I inadvertently ruined it's appearance, this bar held up so well. I enjoyed it's complexities in its flavors but bluntness in it's aroma. This would be a fun bar of chocolate to take to some friends and sit around and talk about it. Chocolate geek chocolate. The kind that sit there with a pad and pen and write notes while they preform retro-olfaction and nod their heads at one and other and furrow their eyebrows in silent agreement as if they figured out some long lost secret. 

 

Final Score: 92.6

  score
B+

 

La Maison du Chocolat ~ Pariguan 69%

 

 

 

 

Pariguan, Dark chocolate with flowers and citrus notes.

A Porcelana bean bar from La Maison du Chocolate in Gay Paree. Actually, it's from one of their shops in London courtesy of Angelo Scarnea again. Named after the plantation, Porcelana Criollo del pedregal, in Venezuela. Valrhona couverture.

In doing some light searching about this particular plantation, I found that Valhrona uses the plantation for these Porcelana beans. I had to guess that La Maison used Valrhona as couverture. This was confirmed to me by Stuart Robson, Whiskey and Chocolate aficionado, who used to work for La Maison. The founder of La Maison, Robert Linxe worked closely with Valrhona on certain ventures. I believe that not everything is made with Valrhona coverture, but this bar is.

Chocolate companies should really make that more clear. It's not like it's top secret information or trade secrets. If you use courverture, just say so. Or please list your information properly on your websites.

History of La Maison du Chocolate.

 

Click images to enlarge.

 

 

Pariguan Noir 69%

 

Type: Bittersweet, 69%

Bean Varietal: Porcelana, Criollo varieties

Ingredients: Cocoa paste, brown sugar, cocoa butter, soy lecithin, vanilla.

Sample Size: 75g or 2.6oz

Lot #: LP7510312

 

Appearance: Smooth surface, flat large squared tablet, slightly textured surface with a simple monogram on each square. Medium brown color. One minor scratch on the surface.

Score: 93

Snap: Good firm snap, good snap sound, and clean break lines.

Score: 93

Aroma: Very acidic right out of the package, tar, and cherries, but then softens up quite a bit with a nice floral aroma, soft muted roasted cacao.

Score: 90

Taste: Sweet, very sugary sweet, lightly acidic, cherries, wood, pen ink, slightly nutty.

Score: 87

Texture: Smooth, creamy, fast melt time.

Score: 93

 

This has all the hallmarks of fantastic Venezuelan cacao, but I feel like a lot was lost due to too much sugar. And while it doesn't have an immediate intense acidic quality to it, it's pretty tangy. There are deep tart cherries, ink, rich wood flavors, and a little bit of nuttiness in there. I love these flavors, but the sugar tore my palate up. It made it difficult to focus on these flavors and fully understand them better. It was too sweet and that's why I gave it a lower score.

The aroma is everything is says on the package, but really soft. It's big and citrus-y right out of the package and then softens to a nice floral aroma and soft roasted cacao. There really wasn't a lot going with this aroma and it dissipates so quickly leaving only a light roasted aroma and some smoke. That's why it didn't score that high. It's good for a few minutes, but doesn't last long.

Technically every thing else was right on the mark. It's snap was fantastic, the surface was flawless barring one very minor, superficial scratch. You need to click on the image and see this bar up close to know what I am talking about with the sort of textured surface. It doesn't look like it from the small pictures but you can see it when it's enlarged. The texture was excellent. The technical elements hold this chocolate up. If it weren't for the addition of all that sugar on this bar, I think they could have had and A+ bar here.

 

Final Score: 91.2

   score
  B+

Mitzi Blue ~ With Love

 

 

Mitzi Blue "With Love," given to me by Angelo Scarnera, from London as part of our ritual trading of chocolate for beer. In Austria this is called "Mit Liebe." I kind of wish some of the products meant for UK markets or US markets kept the German words. At least in this case anyway. Mit Liebe just sounds better.

A bean-to-bar line from Josef Zotter based around a love affair with a car. The Story of Mitzi Blue from inside of the package. Click to enlarge.

 

 

With Love:

A chocolate as beautiful as love. In love? Beloved? Liked? Out of love? In love again? Enchanted and thrilled? As beautiful as love is the unbelievably fine taste of the wonderful Mitzi Blue® With Love, a chocolate able to express in a very romantic way the unique feeling of loving somebody. But love is not only written on the package, this chocolate is made with love. This variety is made with love for lovers, and that is why it looks different. Enchantingly light-coloured, finely conched and – to everybody’s surprise – covered with flowers. Seduction at the highest taste levels, something that may be given with love at any time.

 

With Love is white chocolate with 31% cocoa butter content. It's covered in flower petals of blue corn flowers, red roses, and yellow marigolds. It's very pretty and certainly special enough to hand over to someone you love.

 

Dear Angelo,

I heart you too, homie. Friends fo lyfe yo!

Mit Liebe, Candice

 

 

 

Mit Liebe

 

Type: White chocolate, 31% cocoa butter

Ingredients: Raw cane sugar, cocoa butter, full cream powder, sweet whey powder, whole cane sugar, mixed flowers (roses, corn flowers, and marigolds) vanilla, salt, soy lecithin. (Almonds??)

**Fair trade and organic ingredients.

Sample Size: 50g or 1.76oz

 

Appearance: Circle tablet, shiny back surface covered in pretty flower petals. The front is a simple monogrammed design. Gorgeous almond color. Soft and muted and not yellowish-white.

Score: 95

Snap: Low thud sound, slightly firm snap quality.

Score: 89*

Aroma: Delicate cinnamon toast and cream. Very simple and not much else happening.

Score: 93

Taste: Cinnamon, cream, buttery, slight nutty characters, a bit of a perfume-y character from the petals, but it's softly folded into the flavors of cinnamon and nuts. Distinctive rose flavor though. A blended cinnamon and milky aftertaste.

Score: 94

Texture: Super soft and creamy texture, the petals on the surface are dry, but soften really quickly, fast melt time.

Score: 94

 

*The score on the Snap is adjusted a bit for white chocolate. I factor in cocoa butter content and how thick the bar is. This had a relatively good snap to it, it just had no sound. Which is why is scored a bit lower than what it should have been based on it's feel.

Very pretty bar of chocolate. The color of the white chocolate was a beautiful almond color and not a weird neon white color you sometimes see with white chocolate. Simple molding with beautifully accented flowers all over the back surface.

I was slightly confused by the almonds in the ingredients. It says it contains almonds online, but not on the package. It does have a slight nutty character. It confuses me if I am really tasting almonds or just a natural flavor profile from the cocoa butter and ingredients.

The aroma and taste were fabulous. I am not one who is generally sold on white chocolate, but I don't turn my nose up at it and I will always try it. It smelled and tasted like cinnamon and cream. Awesomely buttery and sweet. It had a little bit of a flowery taste with distinctive rose flavors. It was also a bit nutty with a texture to die for. So creamy and soft. The petals were a bit dry on the palate at first, but it's a small detail considering how soft the white chocolate was.

There was a slight milky after taste that I didn't care for, but It took a few tastes of the bar for that to be present. It's a classic flavor of white chocolate I have come to not like. But again the rest of this bar tasted so good, I was willing to over look the aftertaste this time. It wasn't anything like the Hand-Scooped Black Cherries with Vanilla bar. Plus the cinnamon lingers a bit so it's a milky cinnamon flavor. There were some cloying spice notes towards the end. But again, a minor detail like the milky after taste that wasn't enough to interfere or ruin this fantastic bar of white chocolate.

I recommend this bar for the non-believers of white chocolate. Originally I was going to write that this is a good bar to give to your lover, unless they are a chocolate snob. But I think this will be good enough for the snobs after all.

Final Score: 93

    score
    A-

Zotter ~ Hand-Scooped Black Cherries with Vanilla

 

 

Zotter "Hand-Scooped" Black Cherries with Vanilla. Artwork by Andreas H. Gratze.

 

Black Cherries with Vanilla

Fine Bitter Couverture 60%

A fine dark chocolate that has the air of a chartbreaker. A black-cherry fruit puree and its layer of vanilla-almond nougat are determined to make it to the top.

 

Type: Filled bar, Semisweet 60%

Infredients: Raw cane sugar, almonds, cocoa butter, cocoa mass, fructose-glucose syrup, dried sweet cherries, full cream milk powder, cherry brandy, sweet whey powder, whole cane sugar, vanilla, salt, soy lecithin.

**Fair trade and organic ingredients.

Sample Size: 70g or 2.47oz

 

Major bloom on this bar. I like these Hand-scooped bars, but the chocolate coatings are very temperamental and finicky. This bar was the most bloomed out the three I have tried so far. And they are not past expiration or close to it. I can go as far as to say there may have been a big shift in temperature from transport or where they were bought in London. But I doubt that's the case. I think these bars are just delicate and temperamental.

Smells like cherries and a bit sweet like the kirsch brandy. Just a tad hint of that boozy character, but sweet overall with cherries, sugar, and vanilla.

Very sweet taste. Rich, sweet and slightly tart cherries, sweet vanilla filling, and semisweet chocolate rounding out the flavor. It's nice that the chocolate is at least present for this bar. On the other bars it was there but the fillings in the bar over took the chocolate. Then again, the chocolate is supposed to be an accent and not the main focus. But nice that you can taste it. 

There is a bit if a funky taste on the finish though that I do not like. I am left with a funky milk taste and milk breath. Something is artificial about it. The entire bar tasted good up until the finish. It's a leftover by-product of either too much milk powder in this bar or too much sugar and milk combined. It kind of ruins it for me.

I feel like this could have scored higher despite the bloom and overly sweet content of this bar because it tasted good, but it's the aftertaste that I can't get behind. The cherries were good, the vanilla was strong but good, the chocolate taste on the end was nice, but that finish kills it. It's not often I give something a score like this.

 

   score
 D+

Zotter ~ Hand -Scooped Scotch Whisky

 

 

Zotter "Hand-Scooped" Scotch Whisky with Highland Harvest Organic Scotch. Artwork by Andreas H. Gratze.

 

 

Scotch Whisky

Nobel bitter couverture 70%

The 'smoky flavour' of whisky and the dry acidulous flavour of dark chocolate blend together for that perfect combination.

 

Type: Filled bar, bittersweet, 70%

Ingredients: Cocoa mass, raw cane sugar, cocoa butter, whisky (6%), milk, fructose-glucose syrup, full cream milk powder, whole cane sugar, salt, vanilla.

**Fair Trade and organic ingredients.

Sample Size: 2.47oz or 70g

Highland Harvest Organic Scotch Whisky

 

Nice shiny surface with the blow dried chocolate waves on the surface. A few marks on the surface but probably from the packaging rubbing against the chocolate ripples. Still shiny though and in great shape.

Smells boozy and chocolate-y. A lot like the Grape (Grappa), Cheese and Walnut bar. Smells more like the sweet richness of the chocolate than it does of peaty scotch.

From the Caskstore page about the Whisky:

Deep golden amber color. Buttery caramelized nuts, anise, vanilla frosting, and dried fruit aromas. A soft silky entry leads to a dryish medium body of honeyed nut toast, caramel, honey, and spice flavors with wet grain and delicate mineral fade. A smooth, delicately flavorful, and evenly meshed blend.

Rich bittersweet chocolate and full scotch flavors without being overbearing. Has a bit of scotch esters and some slight peat characters, the buttery quality described on the page about the whisky comes through in a great way and interacts nicely with the sweet chocolate. Definite vanilla, cream, and honey from the scotch. There is a really nice flowery overtone to the bar as well which is either coming from the chocolate, or the scotch's honey notes, or a combination of the two. Either way, its really nice. And a nice nutty character just before the finish. Lot's of flavor profiles going on.

For someone who isn't a big scotch fan, this was very enjoyable. It is was it says it is too, unlike the Bacon Bits bar. Just a creamy center of chocolate and scotch covered in dark chocolate. A nice balance of esters, sugars, butter, and cream. And all organic ingredients including the whisky which falls inline with Zotter's principles perfectly.

 

   score
   A-

Zotter ~ Hand-Scooped Bacon Bits

 

 

Zotter "Hand-Scooped" Bacon Bits bar. Artwork by Andreas H. Gratze.

 

 

 

Bacon Bits

Noble bitter couverture 70%

Contest of nutty flavours. Cracklings roasted in a crispy fashion and then caramelised develop nutty flavours. Hazelnut nougat competes for this nutty taste. Refined with cinnamon and coated in noble bitter chocolate.

 

Type: Filled candy bar, nougat, Noble bitter couverture, 70%

Ingredients: Raw cane sugar, cocoa mass, cocoa butter, hazelnuts (16%), bacon crackling (7%), full cream milk powder, skimmed milk powder, butter, whole cane sugar, salt, cinnamon, vanilla.

*Fair trade and certified organic ingredients.

Sample Size: 2.47oz or 70g

 

Ashy and bloom-y chocolate coating. Rippled wavy surface pattern from the chocolate being blown and cooled.

Smells like cinnamon and walnuts even though it's ingredients contain hazelnuts. No smokey or bacon aroma. Cinnamon dominates everything even the chocolate.

Hazelnut and cinnamon taste, very sweet, slightly salty with small bits of crispy bacon crackles, soft chocolate coating, soft nougat-like center, and crunchy, sweet, caramelized bacon.

The namesake simply doesn't hold up. It's called Bacon Bits, and while it does have it in there, it's very disappointing with the amount. I expected it to be more loaded with bacon. It's basically just a cinnamon-y gianduja bar with scant amounts of bacon crunchies in it. This cinnamon and hazelnut also dominate the flavor of the chocolate.

I think this bar tastes very good. It's actually really good and it's texture is very nice and creamy with the crunchy caramalized bacon for added texture contrast. But I wanted more bacon. The bacon is also candy-like. Barely any smokey flavor to it at all. But there is a little bit of a salt kick which helps balance out the sweet bar, but not enough though.

I don't know exactly how to grade this bar. For taste it would get a strong B+ or even an A-. But technically since it's called Bacon Bits it should be more bacon-y and that's what you should be left with when eating this bar. But you don't get left with bacon. And while it tastes great, it should be called something like "Cinnamon Gianduja," to more accurately name this bar.

 

   score
  C+

 

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.

April 5th is National Caramel Day!

 

 

To celebrate this food holiday I have the perfect thing. William Curley's Almond and Orange Caramel Mou and Sea Salt Caramel bar.

When Angelo Scarnera, my London chocolate hook up, came back to the States, he asked me what I wanted and I specifically asked for the William Curley's Sea Salt Caramel Bar. I only had one of these bars before, but I knew I needed more. And this time Angelo came with a different Caramel Mou from Curley that I haven't had had before either. Mou is just the proper name for chewy caramel.

 

This is not something you should cut into pieces. I only did that to illustrate the awesomeness of the soft, runny caramel in this bar. No too runny where it's all over the place, but just right. Soft, buttery, and just about heavenly. Using Amedei Chocolate as the base for this piece of wonderfullness. I am not sure, but I think it's probably the 70% Toscano.

Deeply intense chocolate, rich and bold with lingering coffee notes. Caramel so soft and creamy like sweet butter. And just like the package describes, a hint of sea salt. Not actually salty or blended with coarse sea salt. The chocolate also has some bright berry notes that come through and a tiny hint of acidity.

This thing is just awesome. I once described this as "eyes-rolling-in-the-back-of-your-head-good!" This is sinfully good and the kind of thing that takes you places. Kind of like those old Calgon Bath commercials. "Calgon, take me away!" I know that's corny, but if you were to try this thing, then you would know that makes perfect sense.

Lord have mercy this kind of confection deserves and A+.

   score
  A+

 

 

 

 

 

Slightly dusty surface as you can see my finger print in the chocolate from pulling it out of it's wrapper. Two "Fun-size" bars in the box individually wrapped. Very light orange aroma from cutting one piece in half. And of course rich smells of buttery caramel.

Soft, chewy, caramel, buttery and perfectly balanced with orange flavors. No artificial orange tastes, just lovely orange oils, soft and flowery. Very sweet and rich. Lightly crunchy slivered almonds for added texture depth.

This is how I want to enjoy caramel. Sometimes you get them too chewy, too hard, or too sugary. This is sweet, soft, and wonderful. Both caramel and orange in chocolate are not usually my favorite combinations of flavors with chocolate. But this was fantastic. The orange was beautifully balanced though out the caramel adding the right kind of flowery sweetness to the rich buttery caramel. The chocolate doesn't hold up as much. It's a rich pop of flavor right up front and then gets lost along the way. But chocolate isn't entirely the point with this confection. Elegant and gorgeous.

   score
  A+

 

I have been an admirer of William Curley for a long time now. There is a lot of skill in his work and possibly some of the best confections I have had period. I long for the day I am back in London and I can sit in one of his cafe's and taste all of the pastries they make too. What an awesome way to spend a national food holiday.

Zotter ~ Hand-Scooped Cheese-Walnut-Grapes

 

Simple art design for Zotter by Andreas H. Gratze.

Handmade filled or layered chocolate bars with unique flavors from Zotter in Austria. This was given to me by my good friend in London, Angelo Scarnera. I requested some more Zotter products and he found a few of these funky bars to try from some of the local markets around London.

Zotter has a fairly large range of products. All unique and interesting and packaged with awesome artwork. A bean-to-bar producer who works with fair trade and organic ingredients.

 

"Hand-Scooped"

Via Zotter's website:

Zotter was the first chocolate manufacturer who introduced the term “hand-scooped” in order to create a distinguishing feature that would set his chocolate apart from the usual pure chocolates. Scooping is also an appropriate expression for his manufacturing of unique chocolates and the creative combination of ingredients into constantly new varieties.

The manufacture of hand-scooped chocolates can be carried out without the use of any moulds. Using a ladle and a cylinder our BASiC couverture – the final product from the conching plant – is applied manually to a millimetre-thin layer of paper which has been spread over stainless steel tables with a length of 15 m.

This is followed by the first filling layer, e.g. a deeply red raspberry mass and subsequently by the next layer, for example an aromatic coconut mass. It is applied using a spatula and afterwards distributed evenly. Certain chocolate varieties are composed of up to 6 layers, which are all applied manually. However, the heavy pots which contain the fillings are held by a crane. The BASiC couverture comes into play as the final layer.

The giant chocolate bar is cut longitudinally and transversely by means of a machine which only carries out the arrangement of the bars but is moved manually. 1120 chocolate bars are produced on one table. Afterwards the small 70g-bars are dipped into and surrounded by liquid couverture. Their typical wavy surface results from a flow of cold air with which the surplus chocolate is blown off. The transport through a cooling tunnel solidifies the chocolates and lends them a shiny appearance. After having been wrapped into golden paper, the chocolate bars look forward to being surrounded by their enchanting package bands.

 

 

My first experience with Zotter was excellent. I tasted his Labooko bars from Brazil. Two bars of chocolate from two distinctly different regions from one country in one package. Incredible art work as well for a chocolate bar.

Same art designer, simpler design for the Cheese-Walnut-Grapes bar. I kind of like it being simpler. It's an already crazy flavored bar. It doesn't need more bold and wild packaging. At least in my opinion anyway.

Austrian mountain cheese, walnuts, grapes and a touch of balsamic apple vinegar, altogether dipped in fine bitter chocolate.

This bar asks that you open it and let it "breathe" a bit before eating. Like a fine wine. I wonder if they will make a chocolate that is nuanced towards beer palates?

 

 

Cheese-Walnut-Grapes

Fine bitter couverture 60%.

 

Type: Filled, coated in semi-sweet, 60%.

Ingredients: Raw cane sugar, cocoa mass, cocoa butter, walnuts, milk, cheese, fructose-glucose syrup, raisins, full cream milk powder, skimmed milk yogurt, whole cane sugar, apple balsamic vinegar, Grappa, sweet whey powder, skimmed milk powder, lemon concentrate, soy powder, salt, vanilla, Bird's Eye chili, and soy lecithin. 

*Fair trade ingredients and controlled organic cultivation.

Sample Size: 70g or 2.47oz

 

Slight damage to the corner of the bar. Some leaking of the wet ingredients. Minor flaw to the bar. Cool waving pattern on the surface from the chocolate being cooled as it's being coated.

Upon opening it smelled sweet, like grapes, lightly boozy, wet raisins like from a loaf of Challah or raisin bread, and nutty from the walnuts. Once it's "breathed" a bit the aromas intensify mostly the raisins and the boozy esters from the Grappa.

Soft filling in the center, very light chocolate coating. Big roller coaster flavors. Sweet, sugary, cinnamon, big raisins, funky cheese with salty and tangy notes, and chocolate. Walnuts give added lingering flavors and texture.

Very funky and weird, yet very good. You get the sweetness and raisins right away, then it breaks out in the funky cheese, almost like a washed rind or a big blue cheese. Those flavors you think will dominate, but they end up being smoothed out by the sweet chocolate.

The first few bites I didn't notice the Bird's Eye chilies, but as I got closer to the center I could detect small amounts of spicier heat coming through. It's also not as boozy as it's aroma makes you believe. It has a little bit of a milky/ creamy lingering aftertaste with some Grappa and cheesy notes through retro-olfaction. But after all those crazy flavors piled on, I get the lasting bits of chocolate on the front of the palate.

It's like a little European picnic rolled into one bar. Cheese, raisins, walnuts, hints of Grappa, spices, and chocolate. All you need is a bottle of wine or a good Belgian beer, a little bit of bread and this would be a complete picnic meal ready for the park. Although it is very unusual for a bar of chocolate, I an very impressed with this funky little thing.

 

    score
     A

Chocolate Truffles And Other Noshes

 

 

Looking at my inventory of chocolate to be reviewed, I asked that if anyone had anything to bring me by way of chocolate that it not be be bars, but rather truffles or other chocolates to be eaten right away. I have a library of over 50 bars. All in due time for those reviews. For now it's nice to break up the reviews with fun things.

 

Angelo Scarnera brought me a nice little collection from London again. If you will remember, he is the person responsible for the British Chocolate Invasion. This time he came through with specific requests. One of those requests were more Milk Chocolate Bars with Welsh Sea Salt from Rococo. With it were two truffle bites.

 

Rococo has become a favorite of mine. That milk seas salt bar is ridiculously good. It snapped me out of this constant string of dark chocolate reviews and reminded me how good milk chocolate can be.

These truffle were lovely and rich raspberry truffle. Really clean finish. It opens up bright, bold and full of tangy raspberry. Follows through with some coffee notes of the rich chocolate but finishes clean. I am not sure of the cocoa percentage but it is a Valrhona single origin chocolate. I would be impressed with myself if I could identify the region, but the raspberry is the dominating factor. Tasty little treats.

 

Ahh Liddabits. Fun makers from Brooklyn, Ny. After having previously tried their pate de fruits and chocolate bar "The Snacker," which is sort of their version of a Snickers, I was given a bar of "Chocolate Doom." These are adult candy bars. Handmade, super rich, and super good.

"Chocolate Doom" is a chocolate sable cookie, milk chocolate ganache, white chocolate ganache, and dipped in chocolate. The cookie is a lot saltier than anticipated but is actually a nice break up to what would be an overly sweet candy bar. It ends up tasting like an Oreo cookie candy bar. Very rich. I could have done without the white chocolate, but that's just me being overly picky about white chocolate. The white chocolate gives off a weird artificial flavor. Again, this is just me being weird about white chocolate. I have never really liked white chocolate all that much except in obligatory things like white chocolate chunk macadamia nut cookies.

 

I liked this bar quite a bit. But I didn't think it was as good as "The Snacker." The peanuts in "The Snacker" end up being a more natural salty break up to the sweet handmade nougat in the bar. Still, anything called "Chocolate Doom" is worth having a go at.

 

 

Another William Curley truffle collection courtesy of Angelo. Can't ever be without a William Curley product within my reach. I've previously reviewed this truffle collection. I had a great time going through these truffles. They were very sophisticated. I had reviewed most of these but there were a few new ones in the box I hadn't tried before. The hand rolled collection.

The House Dark, Cassis and Hibiscus, House Milk, Framboise, Rothschild Champagne, and Yamazaki Malt Whiskey.

"Our fresh chocolates are made without additives or preservatives and have a shelf life of 14 days."

 

 







House Dark: Fairly intense truffle. Handrolled chocolate shell, with a deeply rich, creamy, and bittersweet ganache filling. Dusted in unsweetened cocoa powder.

"William Curley's Classic Truffles are made with a blend of Amedei's 9 and Toscano 70%. It has a fresh soft intense ganache, with a light coating of chocolate and cocoa. The House Dark has won Gold for Best Dark Truffle in 2006, 2007 and 2008."

Cassis and Hibiscus: Very tangy! The coating has a tangy cassis powder with a bump of rich and also tangy ganche right in the center, and finishes with a delicate hibiscus flowery finish. This isn't my favorite truffle, but I thought it was pretty cool. Certainly wakes your palate up.

I don't have the ingredient list for this one but I am pretty sure Amedei Toscano is one of the chocolates used.

House Milk: Much softer center and delicate flavors but still a fairly rich chocolate shell and unsweetened cocoa powder coating the truffle. This is still a very rich truffle it just has a creamier and milkier ganache filling. I liked this one much better than the house dark.

"The House Milk Truffle is another classic, rich and creamy made with a 32% Toscano chocolate. Enrobed in dark couverture and cocoa, this compliments the sweeter ganache creating a perfect balance. The House Milk has won Silver for Best Milk Truffle in 2007 and 2008."

Framboise: Tastes similar to the house dark with a delicate raspberry ganache filling. Mostly you find super tangy and overly flavored raspberry flavors. This is a lot softer and allows for more chocolate interaction.

"Fresh raspberry puree has been blended with Toscano 63% complimenting the acidity of the raspberry, coated with dark chocolate and cocoa. The Framboise has won Gold in 2008."

Rothschild Champagne: Very sweet with powdered sugar coating, and lightly flavored with champagne. You can taste classic champagne flavors but it's so subtle the sugars and chocolate over take it quickly. Still very nice though because of how sweet it is.

"Our Champagne truffles are made with Champagne Moutard which only uses the pinot noir grapes. It is an elegant and subtle light ganache dusted with icing sugar."

Yamazaki Malt Whiskey: Single malt whiskey from Japan. Very subtle. I am not sure what this whiskey is supposed to taste like though it's website mentions honey flavors. It doesn't taste like scotch or American whiskeys. I also don't know exactly what it's coated in but it's a clean tasting powder but a bit chalky.

It's interesting and soft. But perhaps if I knew the flavors better, I would understand what I was tasting. I could taste the Amedei flavors coming through but the the whiskey was so subtle I wish it were more bold.

 

Then Emily Shartin of Formaggio Kitchen, came through with some little noshes. She also brought the Liddabits candy bar. She likes the local Brooklyn food scene as much as do. She brought me a chocolate cluster, a small turtle, and two little truffles. I am not sure of the sources of these bits, but I will be sure to add an update to this post when I find out. Again, keeping with my theme of no more bars for the time being but bringing me small things I can eat and enjoy without deeper reviews.

 

Buttery pecan turtles with candied pecans. Soft chewy caramel with a slight bit of chocolate. This thing is all butter and it's all good. I am usually not a fan of turtles, but these are fantastic. I would love to cut these up in large chunks for the ultimate butter pecan ice cream.

 

The Cluster is chocolate covered nuts and corn flakes!! Simple yet so delicious. I should have saved it for breakfast. Pretty salty and barely sweet at all. This is something for someone who professes they don't have a sweet tooth. I think Jacques Torres had some of these clusters in his DUMBO store.

 

The polka dotted truffle turns out not to be a truffle at all but a chocolate shell filled with the softest, gooiest caramel. Nice little surprise. I almost ended up wearing it. But managed to recover it. The chocolate added some nice rich coffee notes. Sweet, sticky, and delicious. Nice little treat.

 

The dark purple lustered truffle was super rich and made with something from South America, possibly a Rio Caribe or something equally bold and deeply complex. Something coastal of Venezuela. At first I thought it was Madagascar cocoa with the strong wood characters, but it has to be something else based on the big tar, berries, and pen ink characters. I will be curious to see if I was in the right direction when Emily tells me what it is. Sweet caramel center but more of a creamed truffle texture instead of the runny and gooey caramel. The Center isn't the main attraction of this little nosh. It's the strength of the chocolate flavors carrying through to be the last thing you focus on as it lingers on the palate.

 

Update: Emily has advised me that these treats came from Elaine Hsieh in Somerville, Ma. Now I know where to buy in bulk, the Pecan Clusters. (Fresh pecans roasted in maple syrup and a touch of sea salt surrounded with soft Knob Creek Bourbon caramel and topped with E. Guittard’s 65% dark chocolate and a sprinkle of fleur de sel. Each box is 6.5 oz and contains approximately 12 pieces.) I want to large chop them and toss them into an ultra exquisite batch of butter pecan ice cream. It would be dope yo!

She also made those incredible Rochers. (A "haystack" of crunchy caramelized flakes, roasted and candied almonds, covered in dark and milk chocolate. Each box is 6 oz and contains approximately 8 pieces.)

The polka dotted caramel was a Bourbon Caramel. I feel way off the mark with that because I didn't notice the bourbon in it at all. It just means they are getting another day in court. (Bourbon Caramel - Bourbon Caramel - Buttery soft caramel with a touch of Knob Creek bourbon.)

 

Hot chocolate spoons seems to be all the rage in the UK. Large chocolate squares on stir spoons from Melt, and now these chocolate cups with spoons for easy stirring into a hot mug of steamed milk. Angelo, knowing that I wanted more drinking chocolate this time around, spotted this little gem at L'Artisan du Chocolat.

It's called First Crush. Dark chocolate with salted caramel spoon.

 

I scaled a cup of vanilla almond milk for this cup. Scalded vanilla almond milk smells like toasted marshmallows when coming off the stove. Stirring in the chocolate cup, it took a while to melt it all down but it made a nice rich brew. I licked the spoon at the end like advised on the package. It was really good rich dark chocolate and sugary just like the UK likes it.

I didn't get much of a salt caramel taste until the finish of one sip. The almond milk made it taste like I had stirred a peanut butter cup into hot milk. Very tasty. Super rich brew too.The almond milk is sweet already and flavored with vanilla so it added more sweetness to the drink as did the dark chocolate.

After not have a good introduction with L'Artisan du Chocolat's Jamaican bar, I was very impressed with this cup of hot chocolate. Nice and rich and sugary. I am kicking myself however, I should have had this in the morning and not after 5pm. I am going to be jacked for the rest of the night.

One thing I didn't like was the wooden spoon. I had to be very careful licking the rest of the chocolate off. I have a serious aversion to wooden spoons. It's cringe worthy and gag inducing for me like nails on a chalk board. Teeth scraping wooden spoons is a horrible thing and makes my teeth ache just thinking of it. I am not the only one with a reaction like this. My husband has it too. We both cannot deal with doctors office tongue depressors, flat wooden sticks for Italian icees, or Popsicle sticks. I freely admit that this is not their fault but my own weirdo aversions.

 

Just look at that thing. You can tell that sucker is rich and I am in for a long night of being awake. I didn't taste all of this in one day either. Okay, two days is still pretty gluttoness. But these are items with a very short shelf life. I HAD to do it, right?