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Xocolatl de David ~ Raleigh Bars

 

 

 

Handmade candy bars by Xocolatl de David in Portland, Oregon. Created for the affable Pine State Biscuits in Portland.

 

A few years back, my friends at the world renown Pine State Biscuits here in Portland asked me to create something for them to sell at their restaurant.  More specifically, a candy bar.  They bugged me for a good 3 months before I came up with the first and only prototype. It was so well received that I knew I was not going to be able to sell it just at Pine State Biscuits. To thank them I named it after the founder of the "Pine State" (North Carolina, for those not in the know), Sir Walter Raleigh.

To me the classic candy bar is, nougat, caramel, and nuts coated in chocolate.  I created mine with a southern vein since Pine State Biscuits is a southern style restaurant.  

 [Original Raleigh Bar]

Chocolate Pecan Nougat & Salted Caramel, coated in 72% Chocolate from Ecuador.

 

 

Bourbon Caramel

Buffalo Trace Bourbon Caramel, pecan chocolate nougat, 72% dark chocolate from Ecuador.

 

 

Visually this one was a little disappointing with the ashy appearance. But that's superficial for the huge flavors on this bar. Huge flavors except for the bourbon that is. Cutting into the bar I cut right through a pecan bit. Sadly it was the only real bit of pecan in the bar. I found this to be an issue as well with Liddabit's The Snacker bar. Handmade candy bars from Brooklyn, NY. Skimpy on the nuts and I am not sure why. In this case, the size of the bars maybe be a reason why. They are only about 2 inches long. But if they make them in bulk batches and strips only to be cut smaller, it doesn't completely make sense. Still, a small detail compared to the over all flavor but an issue with texture. You need those crunchy nuts to break up the chewy nougat and caramel mou consistency.

The aroma was dominated by the rich and full Ecuador chocolate. 72% and fairly bitter. It interacted nicely with the flavors of the burnt caramel and the chewy nougat. Salty caramel and sweet nougat. Lot's of contrasting flavors giving it an up and down quality for the palate. No one taste or flavor is the focus. I wished the aroma had more bourbon on it. Buffalo Trace is a big woody bourbon perfect for things like this and chocolate. I use it for my own Bourbon Pecan Truffles. But the subtle use of it in the caramel left everything else to dominate. The good news is though, the bourbon is present in the flavor but not really until the finish. It's lighter, but definitely distinguishable. The salt and then the sweet sugars dominate with the bitter chocolate leave the bourbon hanging on in the finish.

Texturally the caramel was awesome. It's burnt and salty at the same time with a gorgeous burnt rust color. It has a texture midway between runny caramel and caramel mou. The nougat was also soft and chewy. Right where you want it to be. Not too hard and not too chewy. Soft and easy. It just needed that extra crunch with more pecans.

It's an excellent bar full of big flavors, but it needs more pecans and more bourbon. I could be a raging alcoholic who just wants more booze at any cost, but realistically it's a subtle approach with the bourbon. It's the right size for all the flavors it packs and for how sweet and rich it is. The salt balances it out and makes it addicting like a fat crack rock. Not that I know anything about that. I wonder if David Briggs could make this even more ridiculously good by adding caramelized or cinnamon sugar pecans in the nougat.

 

 

Bacon Caramel

Bacon Caramel, pecan nougat, and 72% Ecuador chocolate.

 

 

Much better appearance with a shiny surface. The aroma dominates with big smoky bacon and rich chocolate. Did I mention crack in the previous review? Yeah, times that by 10 for this bar.

Same issues with the skimpy pecans. Again, it needs that break up with the chewy caramel and chewy nougat. I also think this could have benefited from crispy bacon in the caramel for added texture. It certainly had all the bacon flavor, but the crunch factor was missing again. It should be like their Country Ham bar. As with the bourbon bar, I could be a raging bacon-holic in my need for more bacon in this bar, but realistically it's a textural issue. It needs crunch some where, why not add bacon bits?

The chocolate has a less dominating flavor on this bar, but it's bitterness is very present. Bitters not acidity. The salty burnt caramel wins again, and the nougat rounds out the sweetness. The dominate flavor though is of course the smoky bacon. It's all in there. Sweet, salty, burnt sugars, chewy nougat and smoky bacon. How could you not love this thing? It's very sweet and rich. When you do get a bit of pecan in the bar, it adds a really nice layer of depth to the flavor. Needs moar!

Marou ~ Bà Rịa 76%

 

 

Le sigh, le sad face, le shit....

My final review with Marou. It feels kind of sad. But I can't complain. This has been a very generous offering of samples sent to me and I have really enjoyed writing about them. Not since Alan McClure have I felt this connected to a chocolate maker and talked to them through each review and learned more as the reviewing went on. And talk about a geography lesson. I knew next to nothing about Vietnam. My least favorite subject involving wars. This was a nice way to set all that stuff aside explore the southern tip of the country by way of cacao.

Our final stop takes us to the Bà Rịa-Vang Tau province just a little bit north-east of Ho Chi Minh City. Beans sourced directly from family farms. You can one of the other surrounding provinces from the other bars.

 

[Image via vietecon.org]

 

 

Bà Rịa 76%

 

Type: Bittersweet, 76%

Bean Varietal: Trinitario

Ingredients: Cacao, cane sugar, and cocoa butter.

Sample Size: 100g

 

Appearance: Dark brown surface, but an ashy lighter brown interior. More like a subdued mahogany color. Monogrammed molding, a little scuffed and a little bit of particle matter, but over all in great shape. Still fairly shiny and looking good.

Score: 91

Snap: Good firm snap, not too hard this time. Crisp snapping sound. Slightly crumbly break lines, asymmetrical break lines against it's own molding lines.

Score: 92

Aroma: Very inky right up front, roasted cacao, char, subdued earthiness, brewed coffee through retro-olfaction, and a soft, mild sweet aroma on top like honey. Not a direct wild flour smell, but a sticky sweet smell sitting on top.

Score: 93

Taste: Big fruits right up front, tannins, sour and acidic, big wood flavors, char, roasted coffee flavors and bitterness, very faint traces of grapes or jam in the fruit flavor, lemon rind finish. A lot of lingering flavors on the palate. A tad cloying.

Score: 87

Texture: Smoother texture, medium melt-time, creamy center once it begins opening up. Not too hard despite it's thickness.

Score: 92

 

The final bar and it held up well. Really great shape. Different color from the others. An interesting ashy mahogany color. No significant scuffing or damage from transport.

The snap was so much different than all the others. Same thick molding, but this chocolate was so much different for some reason. It snapped easier, and felt almost airy compared to the other bars. Crumbly and asymmetric break lines, but still so much more pleasant the others. Great crisp sound too.

Very straight forward and big aroma. Just the brewed coffee from retro-olfaction that isn't exactly clear until you breathe back, but it's definitely there. Big fruits, a little sweet, but some tangy acids that get a little aggressive. It's not totally un-welcomed, but definitely toeing that line. I think the sugars and the big fruits help hold it at bay, but it is very aggressive on the flavor and sour, tart notes. It has some deep bitters, and bold wood flavors as well.

Samuel said this one was the fruitiest one of the bunch, but to be honest, the fruits on the Bển Tre 78% were better. They were only competing with bitterness. The fruits compete with too much sour on this bar so it's hard to focus on them. But I will say, just for a second, I got some jamminess (probably not a real word), a split second of the taste of grapes. The wood flavors and char add a nice depth and something great in the bar than just the strong bitterness.

The texture was much nicer than the Bển Tre though. Much smoother. Same melt-time, same creaminess that opens up in the center, but not hard like the others. None of the drying chalkiness observed on the other bar.

This bar hits all the technical marks, but the acidity and sourness is just too much for me personally. It's still good chocolate, but I would say it's the least favorite for me out of the group. The Dồng Nai 72% wa by far the best. Really interesting chocolate, all 4 bars. Each very different than one and other and the regions the beans are coming from are not very far apart from one and other

Marou has proved to be a great new company with a very unique perspective by actually living in the jungles where their beans are sourced from. I hope to see more of their presence in the U.S. But I know a certain Bangkok chef eagerly awaiting his chance to try something sourced pretty much locally from his point of view. I patiently await Bangkok street-food and S.E. Asian chocolate fusion dishes......

 

Final Score: 91

   score
  B+

Marou ~ Bển Tre 78%

 

 

 

My third bar from Marou, Faiseurs de Chocolat. French chocolatiers whom uprooted their lives and moved to Ho Chi Minh City and became chocolatiers using cacao beans directly from their source.

Bển Tre province of Vietnam. Situated on the Mekong Delta just below Tiền Giang in southern Vietnam. Rich crop producing area known for coconuts as well as durians, and mangoes.

Hot and tropical, a natural fit for cacao production.

 

[Image via: Traveling Vietnam Tours]

 

In the last two reviews, molding and appearance were the subject of some of the lower marks received on the bars. After talking to Samuel about it I learned a bit more about the molding of their bars. As Samuel noted, one of the reasons for the thick molded bars is due to the heat in Vietnam. You can get by with regular molding or they would melt too quickly. I should have probably made that connection myself, but it is an interesting approach.

Just today they blogged about the evolution of their molding from metal baking pans to custom moldings.

Breaking the Mold.

The shipping is one of the reasons for some of the more superficial appearance issues. This bar unfortunately, took more of the brunt than the others. It's not easy getting bars from Vietnam to Michigan and then off to Cambridge. I take those factors into accountability when reviewing the bars. Ultimately it's about the taste.

 

 

Bển Tre 78%

 

Type: Bittersweet, 78%

Bean Varietal: Trinitario

Ingredients: Cocoa, cane sugar, cocoa butter.

Sample Size: 100g

 

Appearance: Deep dark brown color, monogrammed molding, broken in two pieces with lot's of particle matter on the bar and some scuffing. Couple of air bubbles in the chocolate once snapped open.

Score: 87

Snap: Very hard snap, loud audible snap sound, crumbly break lines.

Score: 89

Aroma: Big aroma of roasted cacao, a little sweet smelling, fruits, inky, tar, brewed coffee, mild floral aromas, and a spicy character than almost comes off like a faint cinnamon aroma.

Score: 94

Taste: A mild hint of cinnamon right up front coupled with a bit of mustiness. Bold, very bitter, lot's of big fruit, charred cacao, inky with deep wood flavors, a little acidic, toasted biscuit flavors, very subtle floral flavors towards the finish. Lingering toast flavors on the finish.

Score: 92

Texture: A little hard, medium melt-time, a little chalky and slightly drying on the palate, but it does have a medium balance with the creaminess and rawness of the chalky texture.

Score: 89

 

I realize the transport issues took the worst toll on this bar in particular so I didn't take too much off for that in rating it as I mentioned before, but the effects were undeniable and it lost it's luster and some shine from all the particles and forced ashy appearance from those particles. There was some scuffing but it was very minor. Again, this is a tough call on rating when external issues are the problem and not the skills of the chocolate makers. I have to give it a grade but I always let my readers know if there are caviats to consider.

Again with the hard snap. It makes sense now that I understand the heat issues in the region they are at, but still makes it hard to break up. Although this one wasn't as hard biting into as the previous bars had been. Still, too thick for this climate.

The aroma was quite big with a lot of individual nuances. Sometimes the smells sort of blend together and that's when I get generic descriptors like pen ink. But this aroma had a lot going on and presented themselves separately. An interesting cinnamon-like aroma on this bar after all the big char and fruity aromas made it interesting.

The flavor was big. It's 78% so it warns you about how bold it's going to be but the flavor isn't as dynamic as it's aroma. And by dymanic, I just mean it's not as nuanced. It's very straight forward. Very bitter, a little bit acidic, but it had a huge fruity flavor. I wish it carried the coconut flavors the cacao trees grow next to in this region. That would have been awesome. Natural coconut without vanillas forcing it out. Like the Bali bar from Artisan du Chocolat with the natural banana flavors from growing in the same terroir.

It does have that slight hint of cinnamon on the opening taste, but that's quickly overtaken by the bitterness and fruits. Bold wood flavors, a little mustiness. It's such a mixed bag of dank rawness and big fruity complexity. Very big flavored chocolate. This is for the fans who like their palates aggressively inundated. The fruit in it made me want to bake with it. I think this would be some of the worlds best baking chocolate. It's also making me think about wine pairings. I am wondering which way is the right way to go with something like this. Sweeter ports or muscats to address the bold and deep bitters? Or pair a dry red with similar deep bitter flavors essentially canceling each other out to bring out even more of the fruits? I will have to take what's left of this bar and test it out at one of my local watering holes.

The texture had a confusing blend of chalkiness and creaminess. Good melt-time, but a little drying on the palate. It roughed up my palate a bit. A combination of the bitters and the texture.

This bar is for the hardcore bitter fans. It's so robust and bitter yet holds it's own with a big fruit taste and even some faint traces of a floral aspect to it.  If you like your coffee black and heavily roasted, you will love this.

 

Final Score: 90.2

   score
  B+

Patric Chocolate ~ Salty Signature Seventy

 

 

It's been a long time for me and my old pal, Alan McClure. Singing his praises behind every chocolate conversation. "I know that guy, he is a cool dude, and he is one of the few who truly gets it and creates truly good chocolate in this country." Truly!

Not too thrilled with the new packaging. Though it's hardly new now. He used to have much more sophisticated packaging, albeit a little same-y to the other bars out there. My homie has gone a little hipster on me. But whatever my opinions are, it's working. New products are being created, new collaborations, and new people out there talking about this fine American-made bean-to-bar chocolate.

I had a go with one of his newer creations called PBJ OMG. As silly as that lame name is, it ends being exactly what it is. He blended peanut butter into one of his more jammy/fruity bars of Madagascar chocolate to create a peanut butter and natural jelly flavored bar. It's fucking exceptional. I didn't review it, but I ordered it again with a promise to this blog to have that review up soon.

I was also lucky enough to get my hands on Deep Ellum Brewing Co.'s Double Cherry Chocolate Double Brown Stout. It's really a Baltic Porter all suped-up with Patric's Madagascar nibs and cherries. It's fucking delicious. Extremely limited edition, 300 bottles made, and my lucky ass got TWO of them. Thanks to the kind people at Deep Ellum.

There see what I've gone and done? Two F bombs in one review and in praise.

This review is about Patric's signature bar of blended cacao, and flavored with exotic sea salts. Limited edition bar with only 950 made. I bought four bars. I gave one away so far to my favorite restaurant owner, reviewing this one, and sitting on two to share with worthy friends.

 

On a foundation of our incomparable Signature 70% blend, we have sprinkled Prussian Blue salt, for sparkle, and Bali Sea Salt, for crunch. We sourced both of these salts with the advice and help of The Meadow in NYC, home of the world's best Selmelier: Mark Bitterman, author of Salted: A Manifesto on the World's Most Essential Mineral.

 

Salty Signature Seventy

 

Type: Flavored bittersweet, 70%

Bean Varietal: Blend

Ingredients: Cacao, cane sugar, cocoa butter, and salt.

Sample Size: 65g or 2.3oz

 

Appearance: Signature monogrammed splatter paint custom molding, Matted finish from the molding, back surface lightly sprinkled with salt. A little dry looking on the backside, and flow marks from filling.

Score: 87

Snap: Excellent snap. Very firm, crisp, nice loud snap, and clean break lines.

Score: 94

Aroma: Softer aroma than expected. Pen ink, a little rubber and char, soft roasted cacao, slightly floral, and some tiny hints of blueberries. Really faint though.

Score: 91

Taste: Salt up front, strong fruity flavors, tar, pen ink, a little tart, sweet sugars, berries, coffee flavors, wood, floral spiciness.

Score: 95

Texture: Nice gritty salt, then it opens up to a perfect medium melt time. Just long enough for all of the big huge flavors to take center stage. Creamy with a slight drying effect.

Score: 91

 

Aside from the gorgeous salt, and the shine that barely peeks out of the monogrammed molding, I am just not in love with the new molding. I liked it better with it was a tablet with monogrammed P's. It was much simpler, and more beautiful. Had better shine and sophistication.

Don't hate me Alan.

I am positive this bar is blended with Madagascar and Rio Caribe. All the hallmarks are there. Huge jammy fruits from the Madagascar, and tar, pen ink, and rubber from the Rio Caribe. Rio Caribe is by far and away not my favorite region for cacao, but Patric's stood out as the most robust and layerd versions of that origin. And blended with the Madagascar, it really softens up the Rio Caribe, but it doesn't deflect it's own big huge flavors. I am not sure if anything else was blended into this bar. These two origins dominate, but I would like to know where that insanely good spicy floral note comes from. 

The palate is totally dominated immediately by gorgeous salt, but then it melts away allowing a huge roller coaster of flavors to take over. The dank and dirty Rio Caribe flavors of pen ink, char, and rubber, then big bold sugars dominate the bar and huge fruits pop out, then this gorgeous floral spiciness takes over. It's simply amazing that last part. Best part of the entire bar in fact.

The aroma is fairly soft leaving only the less desirable aromas of Rio Caribe coming through. It doesn't leave any impression of the roller coaster about to invade your palate.

At first, I thought the salt sprinkled on top might have been a little skimpy just based on appearance. But tasting it, it was well balanced. You forget how big some of these salts can be and it ends up being the first huge flavor impact the palate is fronted with. Well balanced with extremes though. Big salt, big fruit, and bold sugars. They each take their turn presenting themselves. A well balance of the blended cacaos.

I freaking loved this bar. Probably one of the best bars I have had all year. No Bullshit. The letter grade is only reflective of the molding and mildly about the aroma and texture. This bar is still one of the best tasting bars I have had in a while.

 

Final Score: 91.6

   score
  B+

A Little Easter Treat

 

 

I have been sitting on these and now it's time to savor them. A little Easter treat for myself. Not only is it the sea salt caramel mou, but it's the Assam flavored on. I love it.

Thank you, Angelo.

 

Xocolatl de David + Cochon 555

 

 

It happened one drunken night at The Hawthorne in Kenmore sq. I demanded to my husband that we go out to Island Creek Oyster Bar for some amazing seafood and oysters. It's one of my favorite restaurants. The customer service cannot be beat there. While waiting for a table, we slipped over to Hawthorne's for a pregame drink before dinner. Our table was called in 5 minutes so we vowed to come back.

When we came back, it was quite packed but we were able to get arm chars in the back room with a private bar. We shared the area with some cool people whom I later found out were the owners of the Cochon 555, Brady Lowe and his awesome girlfriend Heather Craig. Cochon 555 is a traveling circus of pork gluttony and bourbon debauchery. I kid. They are a traveling festival working with premier chefs in various cities around the U.S., hosting competitions and food challenges revolving around pork and educating the public about heritage breed pigs and small local pork farmers. 5 chefs, 5 pigs, and 5 wine makers. We'd love to see 5 beer makers too. One day.....

They liked that we were from BeerAdvocate and that we like a good drink or cocktail aside from beer. Brady introduced Todd to the world of Mezcal and I introduced him to the world of Vieux Carre's. It was then that he asked Todd if he would like to be a judge for the event held in Boston. This was on a Friday night and the event was on Sunday. Score!!! The Boston event featured Tim Cushman of O Ya, Jamie Bissonnette of Toro and Coppa, Barry Maiden of Hungry Mother, Barbra Lynch of Menton, and Nookie Postal from Fenway Park.

 

Table toppers and O Ya's menu printed on pork skin.

 

Bourbon, pork, bourbon, pork, wine, pork, lard ice cream, bourbon, and then these chocolate bars handed to me at the post party event.

 

 

Whipped lard truffle with Valrhona Milk Chocolate from O Ya.

 

Jamie Bissonette easily took winner of this event, he is currently hot right now with his impressive James Beard nominations and Chopped victory. He is like Hansel, so hot right now. I personally loved it all but found Hungry Mother to be the best display of the pork but I wasn't judging. The idea of the event is showcasing heritage breed pigs, and  head to tail challenges. HM's offerings were not about pizazz but very much about the true flavors of the pork. But in a subjective world and being pitted against some insane culinary heavy weights in this town, it wasn't an easy challenge. Jamie dropped the bomb using Asian street food with pork after recently having been on a trip to Asia and it pretty much slayed everyone.

 

 

Hungry Mother plating up for the onslaught of hungry pork lovers. HM's Lard Ice Cream Sundae with smoked chocolate sauce, crispy pork rind, and charred sorghum marshmallow.

 

So, after all that eating and drinking (Todd judging and my eating the offerings with the farmers of the beloved pigs we noshed on all day), we still had a post party to attend. This is where Heather handed me a shit ton of bars. She said, "Here! I know you like chocolate. Take it." You don't have to twist my arm. And I haven't had anything from Xocolatl before. Score! It's also chocolate with pork in it. Well, one has caviar, but it's a creative play on words. Ham and Eggs.

 

Xocolatl de David is the brain child of David Briggs, formally the sous chef of Park Kitchen in Portland, Oregon. David has previous judged Cochon 555 and created these bars for the event. And is one of the sponsors of the event. He also has a wonderful collection of pig-infused products.

 

Country Ham

 

Type: Filled, bittersweet, 72%

Bean Varietal: Nacional

Ingredients: Cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter, vanilla, Benton's County Ham, fleur de sel.

Sample Size: 2.2oz or 62g

 

Appearance: Flat, no pattern, non-monogrammed simple molding, streaking on the back with matting on the front side. Deep dark brown color, a little dry looking, shiny on the top surface despite matting (my camera didn't conveying that), and lumpy with ham bits.

Score: 79

Snap: Firm snap, decent crisp sound, clean break lines.

Score: 91

Aroma: Dried wood, savory, ham, salt cure, dried peanuts.

Score: 92

Taste: Sweet and salty, a little smoky, salty cured ham, tangy acids, robust wood flavors, fruits.

Score: 95

Texture: Very smooth and silky chocolate texture, fast melt-time, crispy bits of ham.

Score: 95

 

Aside from a boring looking mold and streaky appearance, this bar is anything but that. It has a very straight forward aroma and flavor. Sweet and salty, a pot heads heads dream of a chocolate bar. Sweet up front with sugars in the chocolate, and then salt from the cured ham and fleur de sel. Ecuador cacao with hints of peanuts on the aroma, but hard to notice on the flavor. Some fruits in there too but they are caught in the middle. It's really between two flavors, salty ham and bold wood-flavored cacao. Most nuances present themselves, but really get trounced by the salt. But when the focus is the ham, it balances with the bold cacao very well. There isn't much to dissect with this bar except it tastes awesome. It's part of that every growing throw-bacon/ham/pork-into-everything trend and I do not mind it one bit. This is a perfect creation for something like Cochon 555.

What I really like is how smooth and silky the texture of the chocolate is. Having recently debated the merits and flaws of what is considered to be waxy chocolate, this might fall into that line for some people, the way some have described waxy as super soft and chewy. I don't know if that's a bad thing. And I get a different impression of what I think waxy is like. Think hard surf wax versus soft hair wax. To me waxy is the hard surf wax. Other factors contribute to a hard texture, but there is a definite chew that makes it waxy. This is why chocolate makers are skeptical of soy lecithin and how much cocoa butter to use. To me this was soft and delectable with it's fast melt-time from the cocoa butter. I don't find it waxy at all no matter which side you tend to fall on. I find it quite nice and a good contrast to the crispy, salty ham.

Best of all, they didn't go skimpy with the ham. You hear that Vosges? You can actually put pieces of ham and bacon in your products and still get good results. Stop being cheap and charging a mint for a product with little or no meat in it!

 

Final Score: 90.4

   score
  B+

 

 

Eggs (Black River Caviar)

 

Type: Filled Bittersweet, 68%

Bean Varietal: Unknown, probably a wild hybrid.

Ingredients: Cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter, Black River Caviar, sea salt.

Sample Size: 2.2oz or 62g

 

Appearance: Flat, no pattern, non-monogrammed simple molding, streaking and a little ashy on the back side with air bubbles, shiny (camera didn't really convey that) but matted markings on the top surface, deep dark brown color.

Score: 79

Snap: Good firm snap, small snap sound, a little crumbly on the break lines.

Score: 89

Aroma: Briney sea water, ocean, floral jasmine, roasted cacao, lightly smoky.

Score: 94

Taste: Sweet sugars, roasted cacao, then salt, and very briney, metallic-y caviar taste, jasmine, berries, pen ink, and wood, some smoked characters hidden in there too. Like smoked salmon.

Score: 92

Texture: Creamy, silky texture, fast melt-time, crunchy caviar and large salt crystals.

Score: 95

 

This one is a bit of a mixed bag for me. If you love caviar, then you will love this bar. For me it was a good balance of a more neutral chocolate origin and salty, briney, fish tastes. I didn't think it was perfect but that's also because I am not very big on caviar. But as for the balance, the caviar did not over take this despite the nose. It didn't over power it and the chocolate flavors definitely made an appearance.

It opens up sweet and soft, it hits you with sugars up front and then there is course salt, sea water brininess, and a metallic fishy caviar taste. It doesn't last long, but it is definitely noticeable. It's a big pop. Then the chocolate lets off some very nice jasmine flavors, almost as if it's trying to clean up the brine, and some fruity berries, and a little smoke which gives off an almost smoked salmon effect. But no lingering fish tastes.

The texture was once again a creamy and fast melt-time, but not like the Country Ham. This bar was much more firm but still maintained the same integrity of a silky smooth texture. I like what they are doing with these textures.

I think this is pretty cool for chocolate. It's definitely a novelty and the balance was right with this Bolivian cacao versus briny caviar. A different take on sweet and salty. Just a little odd match up with jasmine, berries, and sugars, and salty, briney, caviar.

 

Final Score: 89.8

 

   score
    B

 

 

 

Ibérico de Bellota

 

Type: Flavored bittersweet, 68%

Bean Varietal: Unknown, probably some wild hybrid.

Ingredients: Cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter, Ibérico de Bellota (pork) lard, fleur de sel.

Sample Size: 2.2 oz or 62g

 

Appearance: Same streaky back surface with the plain and flat non-monogrammed molding, shiny surface, but matting on the front, very soft to touch. melting in my fingers with nano-seconds of touching. Softer brown color.

Score: 79

Snap: Very dull, very soft, very light popping sound almost inaudible, and it bends before it snaps. Having said all that, it still managed to produce a fairly decent snap giving the make up of this bar.

Score: 79

Aroma: Roasted nuts, salty, mild pen ink, buttery, berries, smoke.

Score: 93

Taste: Sweet sugars, peppery, savory, a light oily pork taste, salt, pepperoncini, wood, fruity, nutty.

Score: 94

Texture: Silky smooth, creamy, fast melt-time.

Score: 96

 

Basically this is a lard chocolate bar. The lardo adds almost no flavor to this chocolate sans some savory and very transparent oily pork flavors. It's so subtle you almost don't know it's there. It sits on top of every taste point like an oil slick on water, reminding you it's there but not really interfering with the chocolate. There is some salt mixed in and you then taste the lard more, but it's almost like it subdues the chocolate flavors. Where as sugars tend to enhance fruity flavors on chocolate, the salt in this case is holding it down a bit. It is a more mild and subtler chocolate, but this makes it seem almost like it's an overly delicate porcelana bean.

It's very sweet and sugary right up front, then there is a bit of black pepper flavors, nutty, fruity and woody and then this oily taste followed by some tangy pepperoncini tastes. You'd hardly notice the lardo at all without the salt to remind you it's there.

It's very interesting. I don't know why but I was expecting bigger PORK flavor with this Spanish ham lardo. It mostly adds to the insanely good and silky smooth creamy texture. There is a hint or a trace of the lardo here and there but ultimately it's just traces on a subdued bar of chocolate. It tames it and then sort of haunts it like a ghost. Not to be convoluted here, but it's very odd and interesting.

I like it very much. It has salt, peanuts, pepperoncini, black pepper, fruits, and pork flavors. Very dynamic for one bar, yet still soft and still fairly delicate. It deserves a much higher score. The appearance was weak though and the snap was well, it was bad. I had a hard time deciding what to do with the snap score. In the end I judged it for what it was like the other bars. Even though this bar is double-edged with soft cocoa butters and lard, it had a better than expected snap too. I thought it would be a lot softer considering it begins melting the second your skin touches it.

 

Final Score: 88.2

 

   score
    B

 

Just for the sake of argument, my digital camera was not showing the shine on these bars, but I was able to get a good shot with my iPhone so you could see what I mean. There is a great reflection of my lamp in the shine.

 

Mast Brothers ~ Papua New Guinea 71%

 

 

I have been waiting for this. Papua New Guinea is sort of a favorite region for me. Each bar I have had using beans from this region never fails to produce something cool and drastically different from one bar to the next. I wouldn't say my experience with this region is vast by any means, but it's something I generally look forward to.

Solid packaging from the mast brothers. I like this wrapper and I think it's fitting for how this bar smells and tastes. That might sound strange, but wait until you read about the descriptions I picked up from this bar.

This is a different bar indeed using post fermentation smoking techniques.

  After harvest, these beans are uniquely smoked. This post-fermentation process imparts incredible flavor; think hickory smoked bacon and aged scotch.

This is definitely a smoked bar of chocolate and one for the bacon lovers without having any actual bacon in it.

 

 

Papua New Guinea 71%

 

Type: Bittersweet, 71%

Bean Varietal: Unknown, probably Trinitario.

Ingredients: Cacao and cane sugar.

Sample Size: 2.5 oz

Batch #: 22081211

 

Appearance: Deep dark brown color, shiny top surface, simple non-monogrammed molding, scratches, nicks, and particle crumbs on the surface.

Score: 90

Snap: Nice snap, firm, crisp sound, clean break lines.

Score: 92

Aroma: Very big and bold aroma. Intense smoke, savory, hickory, bacon, tobacco, char, fruity, esters, potting soil, earthy, musty, dirt, pen ink, slightly astringent, and not to be influenced by the packaging, there is an aged scotch aroma.

Score: 95

Taste: Smoky, savory and bacon-y, pen ink, deeply rich and cocoa-y, fruity, fresh green tobacco, coffee notes, cereal grains, leather, tea flavors, robust and deeply bitter, acidic and mildly astringent, robust wood flavors, strange hints of kiwi.

Score: 93

Texture: Soft and creamy with a medium-fast melt time. Gritty grainy texture.

Score: 91

 

This bar was all over the place but really good! I opened this bar without realizing the beans were smoked after fermentation. It is every thing described on the package and more. Big huge smoke flavors, very savory and bacon-y. And then it sort of bounces around, fruity tart and astringent kiwi flavors, coffee, leather, grains, and tea flavors. It's very bold and bitter, and it does have that what is becoming a Mast Brothers signature hallmark of acidity and astringency. However, in this bar, those characteristics or flaws depending on how you look at it, don't really make this bar unpleasant. But it shouldn't be ignored that the Bro's really need to get on top of their game and refine these bars better. This bar just happens to have so much going on that certain flavors don't really interfere with one and other.

This is a vegan's dream right here. No meat in this bar at all, but the flavors have such a nice savory bacon flavor. The aroma has scotch on it, but it's not in the flavor. The Kiwi's, as odd as this may sound, almost lend to more of a mezcal flavor coupled with the smoked flavors.

Great snap on this bar, marred surface, but still a residual glossy shine on it's surface, and another mixed bag on the texture. I swear their bars didn't used to be as grainy as this. They are soft and melt great on the tongue, but the overly large particle sizes might be what is giving way to the astringency and acidity issues. Taza has this same problem but times ten. I have been at the factory and have had freshly made bars. I think once the bars are made they are smoother and less astringent. But once they have aged, they tend to sour a bit.

Whatever the technical flaws are on this bar, it doesn't manage to take away from how good and strongly flavored this bar is. Savory bacon and smoky mezcal makes for a big winner. This would pair awesome with beer. Rich deep and robust stouts or brown ales like a Munich Dunkel. But not smoked beers. Let the smoke on this infuse with the beer.

 

Final Score: 92.2

   score
  B+

L'Amourette ~ Rio Caribe Superior 75%

 

 

Round two with L'Amourette. This time a Rio Caribe bar. Coastal Venezuelan region that has become very popular for all the bean-to-bar or small artisan chocolate makers right now. If looking at a map of the northern Venezuela coastline, Rio Caribe is on that eastern arm that branches out a bit from the mainland.

 

Via their website:

The luxuriant, fruit filled aroma with a hint of citrus is released when the silk-like texture melts before your tongue.

The taste is balanced—an intricate agreement between cacao butter and beans, made from hand selected

Rio Caribe Superior beans imported from Venezuela— hand crafted, giving individualism
to each bar.

Delicately roasted beans, 36-hour conching process.

 

Fair trade, Kosher, and vegan product.

 

No fooling around, let's get right into this.

Click images to enlarge.

 

 

Chocolat Noir 75%

 

Type: Bittersweet, 75%

Bean Varietal: Unknown, probably Trinitario.

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

 

Appearance: A rich mahogany color, nice and shiny and glossy, custom signature monogrammed molding, large square tabs, and it has chocolate particle dusting on it but much finer than the other bar I reviewed from them. Again, I think that was due to shipping.

Score: 92

Snap: Same issue with the other bar so I am literally cutting and pasting the exact same description and score.

"Very weak snap due to thin molding lines and overly large tabs. It's a light crisp snap from the molding lines, but a deep hard snap when breaking the fat tabs in half with moderately clean break lines."

Score: 86

Aroma: Big tar aromas, smoky, burnt, wood, nutty, acidic, mildly medicinal, and soft floral overtones.

Score: 92

Taste: Fruity, sweet, tangy, but still mild on astringency, herbal, tar, inky, complex bitters, buttery, slight hints of coconut, roasted cacao, earthy, peanuts, lingering bitter palate.

Score: 94

Texture: Smooth texture, medium melt time, this bar is much more creamy than silky and smooth like the other bar, but still very nice. 

Score: 94

 

Rio Caribe hasn't been one of my favorite regions. It gets high marks for it's deep complexities, and technical scores. But having said that, this was better than what I am used to. More depth of flavor than the typically over charred characters from the roasting on these beans. As mentioned in the previous review from L'Amourette, I heard that a lot of the beans that are sourced from Rio Caribe are roasted in the same facilities. This is why that overly charred taste on a wide range of brands using these beans. I haven't confirmed that, but it does make sense. However, there are certain hallmarks that I tend to find on a lot of coastal region beans from Venezuela, especially Rio Caribe. The deep earthy and medicinal flavors, tar and pen ink, and a deep bitterness.

I gave this bar high marks on it's taste because it was layered with lot's of complexities. One didn't interfere with one and other they just stripped away like peeling paint to revel the flavor underneath it. This bar had many different things going on, coconuts, peanuts, earthy, musty, dirty, tar, charred toast, butter, and fruit characters. The only thing I didn't really like was how bitter it was and how long it holds on after the chocolate has long melted away. It was fairly tangy on the first taste, but not sharp with acidity. Just deep bitters that over take the palate in the end.

I liked this much more for being less charred and more layed with flavors even if it's not my favorite region or favorite flavors. The coconut was faint and interesting as was the peanut character. But the medicinal flavors are not something I look forward to. Some people really dig funky flavors. Like sour heads who love Guezue and Lambics from Belgium. Which is why I always called Rio Caribe, a beer lovers chocolate. This is nerd chocolate, geek chocolate, thinking chocolate. This bar just happens to be more layered than usual and not dominated by the charred characters.

Texture was great, snap was weak with overly large tabs, but a full aroma and big full taste. Another winner I'd say.

 

Price point highlight: $4.80 a bar from their website.

 

Final Score: 91.6

   score
  B+

 

L'Amourette ~ Carenero Superior 75%

 

I am not going to lie, my life is pretty good. You can't deny that fact when someone emails you and asks to send you their bars of chocolate to review. I don't care who you are or what the circumstances are, you have to admit that that makes life pretty sweet.

This chocolate comes from L'Amourette Chocolatlier in San Francisco. Andre V, a French chocolatier who worked in the research and development side of chocolate for over ten years. I don't know much else about him or his company, other than what's described on his website, but I am honored he sought me out to review his products. No word on weather he is a bean-to-bar company, but the products are handmade, kosher, vegan, and the beans are fairly traded.

 

 

Carenero is another coastal town in northern Venezuela, but more in the center of the coast closer to Caracas. 

For centuries, the Carenero bean has been known for its complex, intricate flavor. In fact, due to this quality, it most often serves as a supplement to a vintage of other beans; it is often added to deepen and smooth the flavor of chocolate. We would like to bring you a bar that is made purely from Carenero— after tasting it once, you will never forget your journey to the place east of Caracas.

 

Click images to enlarge.

 

Carenero Superior 75%

 

Type: Bittersweet, 75%

Bean Varietal: Unknown

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

Sample Size: 100g or 3.5oz

 

Appearance: Deep dark brown color and very shiny and glossy, custom signature monogrammed molding, large square tabs. A bit of some chocolate particles all over the surface.

Score: 91

Snap: Very weak snap due to thin molding lines and overly large tabs. It's a light crisp snap from the molding lines, but a deep hard snap when breaking the fat tabs in half with moderately clean break lines.

Score: 86

Aroma: Big strong aroma of wood, pen ink, berries, very sweet aroma, sugary, roasted cacao, slight hints of coffee and smoke.

Score: 91

Taste: Rich roasted cacao, very deep and complex, wood, berries, woody tequila notes, toasted biscuit flavors, no sharp astringency, good balance of sweetness from sugars and deeply bitter cacao.

Score: 94

Texture: Very silky and smooth texture, medium melt-time at first, but then opens up very creamy and soft and gives way to a medium fast melt time.

Score: 96

 

Really nice chocolate. Finally something from coastal Venezuela that isn't a charred mess. I am not quite a big fan of some of the over-roasted beans coming from coastal regions all across Northern Venezuela. I once heard the reason for this is that a lot of the farms use the same roasters, but I haven't researched enough of that to comfortably talk about that. But to me, it's become a hallmark that I can instantly recognize. This tastes like Venezuelan chocolate, but without all the interference.

Just some slight chocolate particles on the surface of the bar which probably came from transport. The molding was custom, and even though I didn't like the molding lines, it had a wonderfully deep color and very shiny surface.

It's no secret after some other reviews of late that I don't like large square tabs with weak mold lines. It gives way to a weak snap which doesn't do the chocolate justice, and the tabs are usually too hard to bite into. That was the case with this bar. But snapping the large tab did give a nice firm and quality snap, but I graded it on the mold lines.

The aroma was a nice strong aroma, but I found it to be pretty common. Lot's of similar descriptors. That doesn't mean it wasn't enjoyable by any means. It just means for me in particular it was fine but nothing really spectacular. I know that sounds pretty snobbish and I assure you it is a good aroma. But with the way this tasted and those cool notes coming off the flavor, I wished more of that was on the aroma.

The taste was extremely balanced. No sharp astringency, not overly sweet and sugary. Big bold wood flavors, berries, pen ink and then an very awesome hint of aged tequila on wood barrels. It's not a dominate flavor, but definitely cool. I do wish they could extract more of that flavor. I can't tell you how happy I am to have picked up on that. This puts this chocolate in a different realm for me. Not just because of that flavor hint, but mostly because of how extraordinarily balanced it is.

I don't think I can say this is by far the best chocolate I have ever had, but I can say this is very solid and very good chocolate. It's not overly complicated, it's just good eating chocolate with some really great flavors. Nice cocoa-y flavors, interesting tequila flavors, big wood and fruit balance as well as a deep bitterness that is balanced by a good ratio of sugar.

Something worth mentioning, this bar is only be sold for $5.00 on their website. I don't know what it retails for, but that is a great price. Keep that in mind when you see it retailed. Make sure the stores are not gouging.

Excellent introduction to L'Amourette.

 

Final Score: 91.6

   score
  B+

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+