20°N & 20°S

Dick Taylor Craft Chocolate ~ Black Fig

 

 

The joys of being surprised by the hospitality in the chocolate industry. What started out as a joke, ended up with the actual product in my hands ready for review. 

I casually saw the folks at Dick Taylor tweeting about this new bar they just packed up and that it had black mission figs in it. Well, you know I love chocolate, but I also love figs. So, I jokingly said you need to send some of that to me ASAP. To my surprise they said they would! I said my eternal words to live by, "I am just kidding if you're just kidding. But I am serious if you're serious." 

They were serious and it was delivered to me a short while later. I actually forgot I gave them my address and to see it arrive was a really nice surprise. It also came at a good time after that hectic Pralus Chuao review that shall now remain in infamy. Nice gestures that end up smoothing out your day.

It's important for me to point this out because I am eternally grateful to anyone who views this blog or my opinions worthy enough to send their products to review or just to try.

 

The name Dick Taylor comes from a blend of both the owners and chocolate makers names. Adam Dick and Dustin Taylor. Two craft furniture and boat makers who took some of the same basic principles of creating and crafting woodwork into creating and crafting chocolate. That explains the gorgeous packaging. 

 

As most of you already know, several months ago, we completely re-tooled our whole entire package from bar mold to wrapper. We slipped this in under the radar and have never really explained the concept, so here goes. 

Our idea is to have a continuing series of sketches highlighting different crafts.  We chose our first illustration to highlight a craft that is near and dear to us, the craft of a Shipwright.  In our minds the pinnacle of wood-craft is boat building.  The complex, and constantly changing curves of a boat hull represent the greatest challenge to the woodworker.  It is amazing, that even to this day, most wooden boats are built almost entirely by hand.  Even the most complicated of machines can't shape the changing bevel on the edge of a plank or the face of a sawn frame.  Patience and care must be taken to fit all joints water tight.  It is not a fast process.  We feel like much of the patience required to build a boat carries over to the chocolate making process.  We don't rush the process, often repeating steps if they are not done right the first time, scrapping an entire batch if we are not proud of the product.

We also selected the ship yard illustration because of the rich and complex history of ship-building in Humboldt Bay. It ties us to this place we call home. In San Francisco, the lumber schooner the C.A. Thayer, was built here on Humboldt Bay, along with countless other great ships used to carry lumber up and down the west coast.  It is one of the last remaining west coast lumber schooners.

Our idea is to roll our new illustrations every so often to continue to highlight this idea of craftsmanship that we hold so dear.

 

Their website and style reminds me of the Mast Brothers in Brooklyn. I hope they don't mind the comparison as they are artisan chocolate makers and hipsters that I happen like very much. 

 

 

Black Fig

70% Ecuador Chocolate with Dried Black Figs

 

Type: Filled, Bittersweet, 70%

Bean Varietal: Nacional or Hybrid

Ingredients: Cacao, cane sugar, black fig. All organic.

Sample Size: 2oz

 

Appearance: Nice signature custom molding with a monogram. Very detailed and fine. Shiny glossy finish, dried figs on the backside with a little bit of superficial chocolate crumbles or remnants from molding. 

Score: 93 

Snap: Firm, crisp snap, nice and audible. Crumbly break lines. 

Score: 91

Aroma: Bold aroma, Smelled a bit like beer right out of the package, pen ink, slightly medicinal, tar, smoky, sweet, earthy, very mild fig. 

Score: 92

Taste: Bold flavors of tar and pen ink, berries, cocoa, sweet, tangy, sweet dried figs and wine-like flavors from the figs, bitter, wood, biscuit, toast, very mild and slight hints of cinnamon from retro-olfaction.

Score: 93

Texture: A little hard at first, but overall good smooth texture, quick melt time, creamy once it opens up, and nice chewy dried figs.

Score: 91

 

This is very strong chocolate from start to finish. From it's design, packaging, flavors, and aroma. 

It's design is awesome. I love the signature molding and how intricate it is. But I do think that's what gave way to all the left over bits on the backside of the bar. That's really insignificant though. The finish was glossy and a nice deep dark color. The figs were gorgeous to look at on the back. You could stare at either side and be happy. I do think the molding might be why the snap was a little crumbly too. But the snap was firm and crisp. 

The aroma was very big. It smelled like beer right out of the package which is good for a beer lover like myself, but the chocolate's original aromas were so big that the dried figs barely influenced it at all. Just a little bit if you really head this bar to your nose and inhaled for a little while. 

The flavors were also very robust and big. Like the aroma, there was huge pen and tar aromas. It opens up sweet and then gets tangy and bitter and has big wood flavor. Once the chocolate has melted away a bit, you get lovely biscuit or buttered toast flavors and very subtle hints of cinnamon. The figs adds a nice dried wood flavor of their own and some wine-like flavors. But I have to say, the figs very much get lost on this robust chocolate unless you have a good piece that you get to chew on long after the chocolate has melted. Perhaps some stickier dried Turkish figs might be a bit more appropriate for the strength of this chocolate. 

The chocolate is so full on flavor and aroma that the figs add very little to interact of marry well. Unless you prefer a smaller fig taste, I think they need to be a bit bolder or the chocolate needs to be tamed a tad bit more. It does leave some nice lingering fig tastes on the finish, but that's after the chocolate has melted away. 

The chocolate to me is like beer. It's funky, it's bold, and it's very complicated. It has a lot of descriptors that some might not find exactly appealing, but after awhile you come to appreciate them. It teaches you a lot about roasting and fermentation and sometimes regional hallmarks.

 

Final Score: 92

  score
 B+

 

Leonidas ~ 54% Dark Chocolate with Nibs

 

 

The obvious missed joke from the previous Leonidas post as pointed out by my best friend, Gavin.

THIS IS CHOCOLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATE!!!!!!!

 

Hey, it's not my fault that the movie 300 and Gerard Butler for ever changed the landscape of Spartans and the name Leonidas. Perhaps Urban Dictionary can help put things in to perspective. Sparta. Maybe not 3 and 4. But definitely 1 and 2. 

Tonight we review in Hell! 

 

 

Tablette with Nibs

 

Type: Filled, Semisweet, 54%

Bean Varitetal: Unknown

Ingredients: cocoa paste, sugar, cocoa nibs, cocoa butter, and soya lecithin. 

Sample size: 50g or 1.76oz

Lot #: 041511101

 

Appearance: Thin bar, Greek monogrammed tablets, mild scuffing on the surface, bumpy nibs on the underside of the bar with some air bubbles on the surface and a slight wavy pattern from filling on the back surface. 

Score: 89

Snap: Good snap, medium firm with a medium snap sound. Slightly crumble break lines. 

Score: 89

Aroma: Dry, chalky, citrus/lemons, mildly floral, very subtle aroma with some very slight hints of coffee.

Score: 89

Taste: Sweet, lemony, very subtle and soft cocoa flavors. Some lingering wood flavors from the cocoa nibs.

Score: 82

Texture: Very smooth texture, creamy chocolate, medium melt time, nice crunchy and crispy nibs. 

Score: 93

 

This was fun to eat. It's very sweet without being too cloying from the sugars. It's a semisweet chocolate, but the sugars do hold back a lot of it's potential. The interesting flavor is all of the lemons. Not sure where that is coming from, but it's big. It's really only flavor characters. Sugar, lemons, and cocoa. 

Again, the texture is good. Very smooth and silky, and nice crunchy nibs to break it all up. Not bad for basic commerical Belgian chocolate bar. It gets points for excellent nibs and good crunch. I am curious about the strong lemon flavor. But overall this is just basic commercial semisweet chocolate that scores a little bit above average for it's techinical marks.  

 

Final Score: 88.4

  score
 B

 

B.T. McElrath ~ Salty Dog Chocolate Bar

 

 

B.T. McElrath, Minneapolis, MN.

I used to sell B.T. McElrath products while working for Formaggio Kitchen a few years ago. I haven't seen their products in a while so it was nice stumbling upon them at Beacon Hill Chocolates. The Salty Dog sounded like just right thing too. Butter Toffee pieces in dark chocolate with with salt. God bless sweet and salty products. 

This is a really cute about page they have set up on their website.

 

A beautiful innocent 19 year-old server caught the eye of the chef de cuisine at a country inn on the Mississippi River. So he tossed a few peas and carrots at her. Stunned, she retaliated with ice cubes. Duly impressed by her quick response and sure aim, the chef married her. And together, they started a thriving artisanal chocolate company in 1996.

Meet Christine: Wife, Partner, Visual Designer, and Chief Taster.
“Brian opened my eyes to the world of cuisine, and fine chocolates. He’s a true artist in every sense of the word. From the freshest whole ingredients, he blends and balances flavors and colors with natural finesse.”

Meet Brian: Meticulous Artisan Chocolatier, Visionary, (still impishly young and doesn’t care about age; a Libra through and through, balance is his watchword in taste and in Life). A graduate of the California Culinary Academy, Brian worked fastidiously as a chef for 18 years at nationally recognized restaurants, bistros, hotels and clubs in the Midwest including the Nicollet Island Inn and Interlachen Country Club.

Read more about them here. 

 

At first when looking up their products, there wasn't much listed on the product pages about the chocolate being use. But luckily they have a pretty good FAQ page. 

 

Are B.T. McElrath Chocolatier products organic?

Cacao trees, grown only in the tropical rainforests, are part of a wide variety of plants, animals, and insects which provide a complex, natural pest-management system. On family farms, pesticides are expensive to buy and difficult to apply to cacao trees, making most cacao farms inherently organic.

While organic certification verifies farming practices, it does not ensure the quality of the cacao and/or the fermentation of the beans, two factors that fundamentally affect the flavor of chocolate. We are ensured of the quality of our chocolate ingredients through the well established relationships with our trusted suppliers, which go back for generations.

What kind of chocolate do you use?

Our chocolate products are sourced from premier chocolate makers in the U.S., Europe, and South America.

Our proprietary 70% dark chocolate blend is made exclusively for B.T. McElrath Chocolatier by Guittard Chocolate Company of Burlingame, California, under their E. Guittard family of products. We find this relationship forwards our mutual commitment to innovation, tradition, and a sustainable global community.

Our proprietary 40% milk chocolate blend is created in our kitchens with chocolate sourced from Wilbur Chocolate Company of Lititz, PA, one of America’s oldest manufacturers of fine chocolate, as well as several European manufacturers.

What is your policy regarding socially responsible sourcing?

Our commitment to quality extends to supporting global efforts towards sustainability and partnering with suppliers who are pioneers of socially responsible business practices which match those of B.T. McElrath Chocolatier.

Our chocolate suppliers are members of the World Chocolate Foundation (WCF), Cocoa Livelihoods Program (CLP), UTZ certified, Rainforest Alliance, and are licensed by Fairtrade Labeling Organization.

Our suppliers are actively involved at origin and purchase through agents selected by the farmers and in some cases bought through direct relationships with the farmers. A premium price well over market value is paid. These are long standing relationships and we are proud to be a part of that global supply chain.

 

 

Salty Dog Chocolate Bar

 

Type: Bittersweet, 70% filled.

Varietal: Unknown

Ingredients: Dark Chocolate (chocolate liquor, sugar, cocoa butter, soy lecithin), toffee (pure cane sugar, butter, soy lecithin, bicarbonate of soda, salt, natural flavor), sea salt.

Sample Size: 3oz or 85g. 

 

Big chocolate-y aroma of almonds, butter, smoke, berries, tobacco and hints of nuts. Nice deep dark brown chocolate color, shiny surface on a simple molded tablet with fat tabs. Simple monogrammed molding with some minor scratches on the surface. 

Salty and rich dark chocolate. Smoky flavors on the chocolate with a little bit of char, pen ink, and berries, that comes through even with the salt. Virtually no toffee to speak of, however. Pretty disappointed with that since that sweet and salty combo was what I was really looking for. Small, skimpy specks of it scattered throughout the bar.

I was hoping for that crunch factor with the toffee, but it came from the waxy chocolate. While it was smooth chocolate once it sat on the tongue and began to open, it was way too hard to bite into. The molding has everything to do with that leaving overly large and fat tabs. The salt lent for some nice crunch for a second until it dissolves on the tongue. 

Despite the disappointing lack of toffee bits, the chocolates flavor and aroma was good and strong. Lot's of good flavor characters in it and a good balance with the salt. The only issue here is lack of toffee and a hard texture. 

This could have been so much more had the Toffee been actually present. The chocolate was good and rich, and the salt was a good balance. I really need chocolate makers to start putting put products that are what they say they are on the packaging. If it's toffee, then there needs to be significant toffee in it. This is my main issue with Vosges skimping people on the bacon in their bacon products. You don't put it in there, or you go really skimpy on it, then you get a low score for misrepresentation.

I've never had this problem before with B.T. McElrath. I don't know what's changed. Hopefully this was just a fluke. It's been known to happen. But for now, C-. 

 

  score
 C-

 

Seattle Chocolates ~ Birthday Cake

 

 

Seattle Chocolates 

Birthday Cake filled truffle bar in milk chocolate. Yellow cake mix with confetti bits wrapped in milk chocolate. 

 

Birthday Cake

Type: Filled, truffle/candy bar.

Bean Varietal: N/A

Ingredients: White Chocolate (sugar, cocoa butter, whole milk powder, whey powder, soya lecithin, pure vanillia), Milk Chocolate (sugar, cocoa butter, whole milk powder, chocolate liquor, soya lecithin, pure vanilla), Confetti cake mix (unbleached wheat flour, sugar, colored bits [sugar, corn syrup, corn, palm oil, modified food starch, colors {elderberry juice, spinach extract, paprika, tumeric, citric acid}, baking soda, natural vanilla flavor, cream of tartar, salt, carob bean gum, guar gum), palm kernal oil. 

Sample Size: 2.5oz or 70g

 

Milk chocolate surface with Seattle Chocolates signature wavy patterned surface. Four large tablets. Shiny surface and creamy milk chocolate color with some slight surface marks. 

Smelled a bit artificial out of the package. The milk chocolate gives off a bit of a smoky and creamy aroma. Once spilt open, the center gives way to a creamy milk chocolate aroma. 

Nice and fully filled center. The center was a blend of white chocolate with cake mix and confetti's. The center was a little hard at first with crispy crunchy confetti bits. It melts away to a softer creamier texture. 

The white chocolate is a big distraction. If you are a white chocolate fan than this will be good, but if you were expecting cake flavor, it's dominated by the white chocolate. The milk chocolate was artificial tasting too and ends up being more distracting to the cake idea too. There is nothing really cake-like about this bar at all. Except with it's appearance when you break into the bar. It looks like a layer of cake covered in chocolate but the confetti's barely pop out. 

I wanted to like this bar because it sounded like fun and it sounded like a good idea. They ruined it with white chocolate in the center and the white and milk chocolate tasted completely artificial which ruined the taste for me completely. I don't mind white chocolate that much but it overpowered this bar and left no yellow cake taste. The confetti's added a fun crunchy texture, but the rest of it was hard and waxy at first until it began to open up and melt on the palate. 

Playful? Yes. Tasty? Disappointed. 

 

  score
 D-

 

Supporting Your Local

 

 

I support my local. If given a chance to order chocolate from far away or support the local makers in my community, obviously I am going to support the local makers. With more and more people venturing in to making their own chocolate or making their own truffles and confections, the choice is pretty easy these days. I count my blessings for all the new shops and new makers in the Boston area opening up. 

Over Thanksgiving, I decided I was already baking and making enough food to feed a small army. I didn't want to spend that much time baking more desserts. I had already made my own fig jam and port wine truffles and chocolate cake, not to mention several other things. I remembered a great local truffle maker in my area, Valerie Conyngham of Vianne Chocolat. I had tasted some of her treats before, but she now has several new truffles. She tweeted out that she had some Mulled Cider Caramels. That's what I had to have. That's what I wanted on Thanksgiving Day. It just sounds like the holidays. It was cold that day too. They worked like a charm. Plus I love her packaging. It's so cute and makes for great little gifts to pass around with the family and taste all the yummy goodness. 

Luckily for me, she came and met me for a drink and delivered me a nice big order of fun things. I ordered Mulled Cider Caramel Cups, Peanut Butter Hives with a Kick, Irish Whiskey Truffles, and Pumpkin Cups. 

The Peanut Hives with a Kick were my favorite. Lovely peanut butter truffles with a touch of honey and a really nice kick of heat from cayenne pepper that does exactly what I want, slowly build on the palate. I am a wuss about hot and spicy food. So if it's not a slow builder, then I don't want it. These were great. I don't have pictures of them because they were very popular at Thanksgiving. But they come in cute hive-shaped truffle molds. 

 

 

Irish Whiskey Caramel Cups

This wasn't supposed to happen. They are pretty popular and she said didn't have any left, but fortunately one box did make it into my bag. Thank you Valerie! 

These are my kind of caramels. Belgian chocolate shells, boozy aroma straight away, as soon as you open the box as a matter of fact. A little green shimmer hand painted on each one. Soft, runny burnt caramel center with a nice boozy kick of whiskey. What's not to love? Butter, caramel, nutty chocolate, and whiskey. Good stuff. 

 

 

Pumpkin Cups

Dark chocolate shell with pumpkin seeds on the top and real pumpkin puree in the center. So many times things that say pumpkin are usually about the pie spices and not actually about the squash itself. This is largely the case with many pumpkin ales, but that's a story for another blog. This has the puree in it and you can taste it. The spices were great too because the truffles were lightly spiced. Pumpkin pie spices tend to be over done and end up cloying. Add a little but of nuttiness from the pumpkin seed and we got a winner here. Perfect holiday truffle. 

 

 

Mulled Cider Caramel Cups

The reason I'm here with this post today. Dark chocolate cups filled with mulled cider caramel and dried apple bits on the top. Very sweet and buttery. Spiced just right like the Pumpkin Cups, soft and runny, buttery burnt caramel center flavored with mulled cider. The dark chocolate leaves a nice lingering coffee-like flavor. Perfect after dinner caramel. 

 

Valerie is really nailing it with these wonderful caramel cups and truffles. I recommend sneaking in a last minute order for your holiday gatherings. A box of one of these these flavors would make for a really nice gift for someone at work too. The packaging is so cute and chic. 

Chuao ~ Panko in Semisweet 60%

 

Another fun and unusual filled chocolate bar from Chuao Chocolatier. I loved the Milk Chocolate and Potato Chips bar. Crumbled salty chips broken up into a milk chocolate bar. As if you even need to ask if that would be good. It was amazing. 

Today we have panko. Japanese bread crumbs typically used for their fine texture and coating for breading and frying things.

 

Click to enlarge images.

 

 

 

 

Panko in Chocolate Bar

 

Type: Filled Semisweet, 60%

Varietal: Hybrid

Ingredients: Dark chocolate (cacao, sugar, cacao butter, soy lecithin, vanilla), panko (unbleached wheat flour, dextrose, yeast, salt), salt. 

Sample Size: 80g or 2.8oz

 

Appearance: Deep dark chocolate color, very dark brown, Shiny and beautiful bar with almost a glittery-like effect from the panko on the top of the surface. Monogrammed tablet, textured surface on the back with a well blended and filled bar. 

Score: 94

Snap: Deep, firm snap with fairly loud and crisp snap sound, crumbly break lines due to the panko. 

Score: 90

Aroma: Sweet, deep and hidden berry notes, pen ink, lightly smoky, roasted cacao and tobacco notes.  

Score: 90

Taste: Tangy acid notes, very fruity, big berries and sweet cacao, very small hits of salt. 

Score: 91

Texture: Smooth but very hard chocolate, a little waxy, medium melt time, very gritty panko crumbs but a nice crispy crunch. 

Score: 87

 

Beautiful looking bar. Nice shiny and unblemished surface with the panko on the top almost looking like glitter. Click the first picture in the set of the bars to see what I mean about that glittery effect. Cool surface on the back and proves that the bar is evenly distributed with panko crumbs. 

Good, very strong snap. I only scored it lower because of it's grit it leaves when snapped. That is of course, due to the panko, but I have to say it is one of the more messier bars when snapping a piece off. But the firmness of it and the sound was excellent. 

The aroma was kind of weak. It had all the hallmarks of big South American chocolate but it was so subdued. I wonder if the sugar content had something to do with that or if the panko crumbs stifled the aroma. But it did have berry notes, smoke, and tobacco. All trademarks I have come to know from Venezuelan beans.

A bit acidic in the first taste. Tangy and tart. Very sweet and sugary with big berry flavors. Not enough salt to handle the sugar content of this semisweet bar. The panko didn't have as much of a toasted taste as I wanted and pretty much just added a crispy texture and absorbed all the flavors of the chocolate. I found it to be too sweet over all. There simply wasn't enough salt for this bar. The sugars from the chocolate completely trumped the salt and panko. 

The panko ended up being a bit annoying for me in the end. It didn't add enough flavor, just a crispy texture that I did like, but then it ended up being gritty and kind of obnoxious as I was trying to focus on the finishing flavors but ended up rinsing my mouth to clear it of the crumbs. 

I think this is one of those bars that sounds good on paper but didn't come out as well as it could have. Put this on milk chocolate, and add more salt and you would have a winner despite the lingering grittypanko crumbs on the finish. The creaminess of the milk chocolate, the added creamy milk flavors and the salt would help tone down the acidity of the chocolate and the huge berry flavors and allow all the flavors to present themselves nicely. 

A milk chocolate would be a nicer melting chocolate as well. I get that you are supposed to bite into and crunch it up. But there was still a slight hard waxy texture to the chocolate. It should have been smoother and softer to accommodate or not get in the way of the crispy panko. 

 

Final Score: 90.4

  score
B+

 

Galler ~ Kaori

 

I have to preface this post by saying my customer service experience at Galler has changed. And when I say changed I mean it was a night and day difference in the attitudes of the people who work there. 

The first time I walked into Galler, in Central Place in Brussels, the woman behind the counter was rude, bored, and barely lifted a finger to help me. Offered no information about anything and it wasn't because of a language barrier. She spoke English and was completely rude. But that was last year. 

This year I was back in Belgium only this time I was in Bruges, when I found another Galler store. I reluctantly went in, but found an excellent shop person behind the counter. He not only talked to me, he went through every product, even let me sample some of the chocolates on his own prompting. He gave me a curry truffle and it was fantastic. Beautifully spiced, not over done and balanced well with milk chocolate. I was so happy and completely over the moon with the night and day difference in customer service. I even told him about what happened the last time I was in Belgium. He said no more. Galler had made it a point to focus more on customer service. This makes me wonder who else had issues in the past. But no matter, things have definitely changed and for the better. They have also taken a more hands on approach to the chocolate. When I went to buy the Kaori sets, he told me he just packaged them. They make and package certain things right there in the small stores now. Freshness is important. I couldn't be more pleased. 

 

Kaori: Perfume, scent, fragrance. 

"The Japanese call a beautiful calligraphy 'calligraphy with taste'. The emotion is in the movement and in the expression of what resonates within us." 

 

Chocolates: 

Saffron

Cardamon

Yuzu

Ginger

Vanilla and Coconut

Strawberry and Balsamic

 

Compositions: 

Orange and Cocoa Nibs

Matcha and Opium Poppy

Kalamansi

 

The idea is to take each flavored chocolate stick, which is kind of like a truffle or bon bon stick, and dip them into the flavor pots creating different flavor combinations. Unless you lick each chocolate before dipping, it doesn't work so well without the Kalamansi which is the pot that looks like honey. Kalamansi is an Asian citrus fruit with tangy, sour notes. 

The orange and nib pot is pretty flavorful with orange and slight tannins with the bitter cocoa nibs. The matcha and opium poppy pot is very earthy. 

 

The best flavor profiles: 

Vanilla and Coconut with the Kalamansi and Matcha and Opium Poppy.

Cardamom with Kalamansi and Orange and Cocoa Nibs.

Ginger with Kalamansi and Matcha and Opium Poppy.

Saffron with Kalamansi and Orange and Cocao Nibs.

Yuzu (so tangy and powerful in it's own right) works well with both. 

Strawberry and Balsamic with Matcha and Opium Poppy. 

 

This is a wonderful and unique tasting experience. The flavors and spices were perfect and the tasting cups were a fun and interesting mix and match set up. This is a perfect gift to bring over to a dinner party or to share with friends who really like tastings and flavors. For people who really appreciate this kind of thing. And no, I won't say foodies because I deeply hate the term and the obnoxious trends around it. This is for people who enjoy nice things. 

Really fun, really tasty, and a simple elegant design. You can sit around for ages reflecting on each flavor and each combination. Cardamon was my favorite stick flavor. The yuzu was my least favorite only because it's tanginess surpassed the other flavor combinations. Though it did work quite well with both, it was just a bit too tangy.

If you bring one of these over for a dinner party, you will be a big hit amongst your friends.  

**Forgive the appearance of the chocolate sticks. They suffered through some heat issues traveling back to the States with me. This was due to the aggravating situation at the Le Meridian Hotel in Brussels. They had no working a/c, only heat and it was dreadful and miserable for the one night staying there. It was the reason my Westvleteren 12 truffles had melted to ugly shapes. That's in another post. I expect other chocolates that I brought back in bar form to have the same issues. But the ashy appearance is due to that. When I opened one of the Kaori boxes on our beer boat cruise in Belgium, they were shiny and beautiful. 

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+

The Chocolate Line ~ Bruges

 

 

Left virtually abandoned by my chocolate twitter pals on where the good chocolate is to be found in Belgium, I was forced to fend for myself in a barrage of terrible tourist chocolate. Bruges, the historic and beautifully preserved Belgian town, is not unlike Brussels when it comes to the onslaught of crappy tourist chocolate. Someone really needs to publish a guide book on how to navigate the throngs of chocolate shops. 

Having said that, there are some saving graces. In Bruges, the saving grace is a popular and crowded little shop called The Chocolate Line. It was as though people had come from far and wide just to visit this shop. I found it online when I had a rare internet connection. Good thing I found them too. There is a lot of bad chocolate around Bruges. And it all claims to be the "Finest Belgian Chocolate."

The Chocolate Line was founded by Fabienne De Staerke and Dominique Persoone in 1992. Dominique dubs himself a "Shock-o-Latier," to push the boundaries in flavors. 

The people who worked there were very nice despite the crowded shop. The pushy and rude patrons did not discourage me from getting a taste of something worth while. Although, I wished I had more time to linger and search the store. I really wanted to buy the Tequila. The gentleman behind the counter with glasses, forgive me, I can't remember his name, patiently gathered up truffles for me and even recommended a few to try like the Bacon truffle and the Sun-Dried Tomato truffle. He even slipped me a Snobifram, raspberry cream chocolate cup to try while purchasing my goods. Very generous and thoughtful. That raspberry cup was fantastic too.

 

 

Admittedly, these truffles were meant to be eaten on the boat. We were on a barge for a beer cruise that took us from Amsterdam through Antwerp, Ghent, and Bruges. I could have had them boxed, but the kind man beind the counter said it would be cheaper just to take them as is. I agreed and had intended to eat them after dinner. But our fantastic dinners on our boat were so fantastic and filling, we simply had no room to eat them. This was probably a good thing anyway. I am never stingy and will always share. Now, I selfishly have them all to myself. The condition these truffles are in are because I traveled with them from Bruges to Brussels, and then in my carry on the way home and stopped at 3 airports. They managed to survive relatively intact, but their appearance was not the way the store had given to them to me. 

 

The Bacon

Sadly the one truffle that suffered the most abuse on it's journey to my house. Milk chocolate coating, smells of salt and bacon fat. Creamy peanut butter and tastes like cured ham. Small bits of crispy bacon. Perhaps a bit too skimpy on the bacon, but the flavors are full and very apparent. 

Like Vosges, the bacon flavor is full but the bacon itself is lackluster. I need my chocolatiers to stop being stingy with the bacon and please put in real pieces. Go big or go home! Truffles are not meant to last so why not be realistic with the bacon? Your fans would appreciate it. Trust me on this one. 

 

Framboos

Bitter ganache with pure raspberry juice.

Firm deep rich chocolate ganache, extremely sour, tangy, and tart with the pure raspberry juice. A bit of a puckerer this one is. Full of flavor, but the raspberry is way too tart. Stick-you-in-the-glands-of-you-neck sour. While some people will surely love the extreme tanginess of this truffle, I found it to be over-the-top. Lingering chocolate on the aftertaste, but it is virtually destroyed by the raspberry. You get rich chocolate right up front and then it's all but destroyed and left whimpering on the final lingering finish of this truffle. The ganache was super rich too. Kind of sad really. 

Definitely different than the overly sweet and sugary raspberry truffles on the market. But this is a palate killing truffle. The Snobifram is much better and much more delicate.

 

Wasabi 

 

Bitter ganache, marzipan, with Japanese wasabi. 

Pungent but not spicy hot wasabi. Chocolate shell, top layer of green wasabi marzipan, and deeply rich chocolate ganache. Wasabi is very dominating right up front, but quickly dies away and leaves a wonderfully rich chocolate ganache taste. Delicious truffle. This had the balance the Framboos was missing. It has very bold and strong flavors and each one is allowed to shine. 

 

The Havana

 

Ganache with a distillate of Havana leaves. 

Again, not the prettiest shape they could be in due to traveling. But the cigar design is intact. Tastes like smoky leaves and rich chocolate. Not lit leaves, but rich natural smoky flavor. The ganache almost has a boozy quality to it. I am not sure of the distillate was an alcohol or a hydrosol, but it definitely has a boozy quality to it. That smoky tobacco leaves taste is fantastic. You won't feel like you are puffing a Cuban, but it certainly tastes like you had one in your mouth before you lit it. Definitely has nice, rich lingering tobacco notes on the finish. 

 

Italiaanse Javanais

 

White chocolate ganache with fresh basil, a chutney of sun dried tomatoes, marzipan with black olives. 

I thought this one was just going to be a sun dried tomato truffle. I am very happy to lean that this is a complete foodie truffle. 

It ends up being too funky. Basil dominates right up front. It tastes like a sweet candy pizza. I wanted to like this one too. The black olives are there but not as much as I would have hoped for. The tomato is there too but the sugary marzipan interferes with the natural sweetness of the tomato chutney. While the cool factor is there, it's not enjoyable at all. The chocolate does not match at all with the flavors of this truffle. 

The savory flavors do end up lingering on the palate which isn't a bad thing, but the flavors shoudln't have been mixed with all that sugar. 

 

 

Cabernet-Sauvignon

 

A caramel with Cabernet-Sauvignon and pine seeds praline. 

Big oak-y wine flavor right off the bat. Tangy wine mixed with soft runny caramel. It's a bit of a shock at first with that tangy wine, but then it finishes with extremely oak-y flavors. It's a bit of vinegar taste mixed with the buttery caramel at first, but then it finishes sweet with the chocolate and levely pine seeds. There is definitely a lot going on with this caramel. The wine is a bit of a shock and almost out of place but ends up being balanced or smoothed out by the chocolate, butter in the caramel, and pine seeds. 

Overall I like this quite a bit. But it's a bit odd and almost doesn't work at first. 

 

Espelette 

 

Bitter ganache with mazipan and slightly smoked "Espelette."

Another truffle that took a beating as far as it's appearance goes. But so far despie what they look like, they have all tasted fine. Fine as far as freshness goes. I can't speak for the Italiaase Javanais. 

A bit of a jelly or gel-like consistency in the middle. Virtually no pepper taste at all. A mild numbing sensation on the tongue at the finish of the truffle is all you get that indicates chili pepper. There is no smoky flavor. It's just a sweet jelly-like chocolate ganache center full of rich chocolate flavors and a bit f a nmbing at the end. No heat, and not chili flavor. Bit of a let down to be honest. Chocolate and chili's are wonderful together and in chocolate, it's one of the few ways I can tolerate spicy chili heat. 

 

The Creole

 

Bitter ganache with Arabica espresso coffee. 

Soft rich ganache but again, another let down of a truffle as far as flavor goes. Where is the coffee. Arabica espresso should have yeilded a nice bitter and roasted rich flavor. There is virtually none. I even saved this truffle for last anticipating a big robust taste. It's a delicious chocolate truffle. There is nothing bad about it. It's super rich and chocolate-y. But the coffee flavor or lack there of is weak. There is just a tiny bit of lingering coffee grinds taste on the finish. Takes a while to present itself. It's Europe people. Once again, go big or go home. 

 

I liked these truffles. A few misses with the coffee, and bacon and a big miss with the candy pizza truffle. But this is a chocolatier who isn't afraid to play around with flavors. Perhaps maybe a bit too timid on some flavors and then over the top on others. The Havana and the Wasabi were the best.  Still, this was better than 99% of the tourist chocolate crap to be found all over Bruges. Brussels is no exception. The Chocolate Line will be recommended should anyone need chocolate advice for Bruges. Maybe stay away from the candy pizza truffle, though. 

 

 

My favorite way to have hot chocolate lately. Chocolate on a wooden spoon to be stirred into some scaled milk. An ingenious idea really. But this looks like a huge block of chocolate for one hot chocolate. I got it in milk because I felt like the dark chocolate would have been too rich. I think even this milk chocolate block will also be intensely rich. 

 

 

 

I did pick up some chocolate lipstick. Will I ever wear this as real lipstick? Sure! It goes on dark and then rubs into a light brown color that isn't Halloween-ish. The only problem is, it tastes like brownies and won't last five minutes on my lips without being licked off.