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William Curley ~ House Dark 65%

William and Suzue Curley, a husband and wife duo with a world class reputation as patissiers and chocolatiers. This bar once again, comes to me as part of the British Chocolate Invasion.

I was doing some random research about chocolate in London, when I stumbled upon the name William Curley. A quick search of the name and lots of accolades began to come up. This was about the time I asked my friend if he would sweep London and hit up all the fine chocolate shops for me.

About William and Suzue Curley:

The rise to the top has been a hard but rewarding climb for William and Suzue Curley. The couple have enjoyed many successes in their careers so far but retain the passion and drive that is certain to see them enjoy many more in the years to come.

In 2004, they opened their first shop in the leafy suburban haven of Richmond's Paved Court, just off the prestigious and picturesque Richmond Green and made an almost immediate impact. William was awarded the Best British Chocolatier accolade for 2007, 2008 and again for 2009 by the Academy of Chocolate.

 

[Images via Scottish Chefs Conference 2006]

Brought up in Fife, William's career began with an apprenticeship at Gleneagles. He then went on to spend 6 years at numerous Michelin-starred establishments, working with respected chefs including Pierre Koffman at La Tante Claire, Raymond Blanc at Le Manoir aux Quat' Saisons and Marco Pierre White at The Oak Restaurant.

He has won numerous awards, including The Caterer's Acorn Award, The Craft Guild Pastry Chef of the Year, The Academy of Culinary Arts Awards of Excellence and British Dessert of the Year. Having won the William Heptinstall Scholarship, he was given the opportunity to work under Marc Meneau at L'Espérance in France.

"During my twenty-five years in the business, only one or two like William have ever come along. He is a fantastic pastry chef and chocolatier - perfect!" declared Koffman, London's undisputed Chef of Chefs. He then became Chef Patissier at The Savoy Hotel under Anton Edelman (where he met Suzue), as Chief Patissier leading a team of 21 pastry chefs.

Suzue is also a highly respected patissier. Originally from Osaka, Japan, Suzue moved to London in 1996 where she trained at Le Cordon Bleu. She has worked at Claridges and The Savoy where she was in charge of the world famous Afternoon Teas. She has won many national competitions including Gold at Hotelympia in 2000. Both William and Suzue have represented Scotland at international culinary events, winning Gold medals in Chicago and Basle. Prior to opening their shop together William and Suzue both won Gold at the Culinary Olympics in Germany in 2004.

The Academy of Chocolate's Best British Chocolatier three years in a row. That's quite a feat. This particular bar was also the 2008 winner of the Best House Bar using cocoa liquor or courverture from the Academy of Chocolate in London.

They work exclusively with Amedei chocolate.

It gives us great pleasure to announce that William Curley will become the first ambassador for the Amedei chocolate brand.

Having already enjoyed a successful and rewarding partnership, Amedei and William Curley will cement this relationship further by working more closely together on a number of future projects. This means all our creations will be made purely with Amedei chocolate.

"We believe that there is currently no finer brand of quality chocolate on the market than Amedei. I recognise that being the sole chocolatier in the UK exculsively using only Amedei in his products is a rare honour and feel this reinforces my commitment to bringing the finest chocolates both to my art and more importantly, to my customers."

For me, this is all about pioneering new ideas in chocolate whilst setting the standards for quality."

Cecilia Tessieri commented, "I find in William Curley, uprightness and passion; the same cultural approach to the world of chocolate that we share, made of creativity and the constant testing of inspiration and technique.

"I’m proud that William has taken on this prestigious task and I’m sure that being such a perfect match will bring our brands to be ever higher level of leadership and prestige".

I have only reviewed one bar from Amedei so far and that was their "9" bar. I have had their Toscano Black 70%, but massive fat bloom made it unworthy of review. Too bad really, it tasted amazing. They pulled their products out of the US, so it's hard to get their chocolate now. 

William Curley House Dark 65% 

Bean Varietal: Unknown, probably a blend.

Type: Bittersweet 65%

Ingredients: Cocoa mass (65% cocoa solids), cane sugar, cocoa butter, vanilla.

Sample Size: 50g or Nearly 2oz

Appearance: Smooth, shiny, simple molding, no monograms, deep, rich brown color.

Score: 95

Snap: Excellent firm and crisp snap. Clean break lines.

Score: 99

Aroma: Interesting aroma of roasted cocoa and wood, with subtle hints of tobacco, cherries and cinnamon. It kind of smells like dish washing machine soap.

Score: 89

Taste: Strange opening taste. Just like the aroma it tastes like the way dishes smell coming right out of the dish washing machine. I know that's a weird way to describe this. Very funky then opens up to roasted cocoa flavors, sweet low acidity, hints of leather, once it's opened up and has lovely subtle cocoa flavors on the finish and through retro-olfaction. But that initial taste ended up being the dominating lingering taste on the finish, bitter and soapy mixed with cocoa.

Score: 76

Texture: Soft, very smooth, medium melt time.

Score: 94

I realize that this wasn't the most elegant way to describe this chocolate, but there were some strange things going on with the aroma and taste. It smelled like dishes right out of the dish washer with that clean soap smell. It was holding back the roasted cocoa and other aromas. It was odd but I honestly didn't know how else to describe that aroma.

Then the taste was totally loaded with that extremely odd soapy character. It was too funky right up front. I actually almost spit it out, but it did eventually open up with a lot of other flavors that were enjoyable. Still, this odd soap taste was too dominating and ended up being the lingering taste of the chocolate.

There is something else blended in this bar that I can't put my finger on. Amedei does not taste like this. I could just have a funky bar, but based on looking at it, nothing seemed off about it.

This is a case where it's technical marks prevent it from being scored lower. It was beautiful looking chocolate, simple molding, great snap quality, but the taste was very bad. The roasted cocoa that was hidden underneath this soap taste is what prevented the score from being even lower for the taste. I was very tempted, but there were great flavors hidden in this chocolate.

I am really hoping that this was just fluke for this one bar. With all of their accolades and the use of Amedei, this was not a good first introduction. Especially considering that this is their house bar.

Final Score: 90.6

score
B+

Melt ~ Bar II

Melt ~ Bar II, from Melt Chocolates in London.

A newer kind of chocolate making the rounds fro some fine chocolate producers, dark-milk. Milk chocolate with higher percentages of cocoa to give a deeper chocolate flavor.

Once again a chocolate that comes to me courtesy of my good friend Angelo from the British Chocolate Invasion. I am in love with Melt's packaging and square shaped bars. It's different and it looks great. 

See my other review of their Wild Bar.

There isn't much information about this particular bar so I will proceed right into a review for this bar.

Melt Bar II

Bean Varietal: Unknown, probably a blend.

Type: Dark Milk, 46%

Ingredients: Cocoa solids 46%, sugar, milk powder, cocoa butter, vanilla, soya lecithin.

Sample Size: 90g or 3oz



Appearance: Shiny, square bar, monogrammed molding, soft brown color, but deeper than most milk chocolates.

Score: 95

Snap: Soft, dull snap, clean break lines.

Score: 90

Aroma: Milky, but softer than most milk chocolates, rich buttery caramel nose.

Score: 94

Taste: Soft roasted cocoa, creamy caramel, sweet confection taste almost like handmade marshmallows through retro-olfaction.

Score: 95

Texture: Soft, creamy, fast melt time.

Score: 96

Their description on the package for this chocolate is correct, "Beautiful Dark Milk Chocolate." It really is pretty. It's soft, milky, and lovely with the higher cocoa percentage. It doesn't leave that cloying milk taste on the palate either. That aftertaste is why I tend not to like milk chocolates as much. While this chocolate hangs on to the palate, it's certainly not unpleasant.

This is fantastic chocolate. All milk chocolate should be like this. Creamy soft textures, milky caramel-like taste with more of a roasted cocoa taste, and a cleaner finish without the lingering milk taste.

This would make for an excellent gift to any so-called chocolate expert, snob, or self-proclaimed aficionado. Especially someone who says they only like dark chocolate. If they are not impressed by something like this, they are probably full of shit.

Final Score: 94

score
A-

Melt ~ Wild Bar 68%

 

Wild Bar from Melt Chocolates in London. A full service chocolate shop with truffles, caramels, barks, bars, single origin hot chocolates, and seasonal offerings.

You can find Melt all over London with their shop in Nottinghill, at Lidgates, Selfridges, and at Whole Foods in Kensington.

Lovely packaging presented in a square shape and not the traditional bar shape. This bar came to me as part of the British Chocolate Invasion. With this collection also came some the 2 Bar, a Milk-Dark chocolate. Also something I specifically asked for, their single origin hot chocolate stiring cubes. I got one from Columbia and Madagascar.

The Wild Bar uses organic beans from Bolivia. As described from their website:

Melt goes wild with this exciting dark chocolate bar. The rare organic beans are harvested from wild cocoa trees in Bolivia, this chocolate is not rough or untamed, but smooth, sweet and soft.

This will be my first experience with Bolivian beans. I like that this is an entirely wild bar with unknown bean varietals.

From their website:

Our store appeals to all the senses: sight, touch, smell and of course taste. Watching chocolate being made is fascinating and the smell is intoxicating. Our shop is unique – you can see the chocolates being made and you can select the chocolates you like yourself.

Chocolate is the only food that melts at body temperature, hence our name. You can only appreciate chocolate if you let it melt slowly in your mouth – so we encourage you to taste the best chocolate and eat it in a different, rather slower and more seductive way. What we are doing at Melt is creating truly sublime chocolates using the best ingredients in the world. We source our ingredients from the best producers globally. At Melt we work closely with chocolate producers. We will only use chocolate that is sourced from companies with strong credentials for supporting the local community and the environment.

Melt was founded by Louise Nason in 2006 – a mother of four demanding children – who only like to eat the best chocolate. Hence our commitment to the best quality the world has to offer.

Their head chocolatier is Chikako Watanabe. They work with producers such as Art Pollard of Amano, Mott Green of The Grenada Chocolate Co. and

Santander, a single origin producer from Columbia.

They also work with Britain's top chefs to create special chocolate collections. Sophie Conran, Mark Hix, The river Cafe, and Skye Gyngell.

Melt Chocolates ~ Wild Bar 68%

Bean Varietal: Unknown, wild cocoa trees, probably blended hybrids.

Type: Bittersweet, 68%

Ingredients: Cocoa solids 68%, sugar, cocoa butter.

Sample Size: 90g or 3oz



Appearance: Deep, dark brown color, smooth, shiny, cool square shape with monogrammed molding.

Score: 95

Snap: Light crisp sound, but firm snap. Clean break lines.

Score: 93

Aroma: Light nose with hints of peanuts, fruity with cherries and hints of leather and a little smokey.

Score: 93

Taste: Sweet, no bitterness, slightly nutty right in the beginning, roasted cocoa, earthy, a strange spicy note that briefly makes an appearance then quickly goes away almost like a mild curry spice but it doesn't stay long enough for me to be sure, a little soapy tasting, hints of lemon, deep, dark fruits from retro-olfaction. Lingering light bitterness and roasted cocoa.

Score: 95

Texture: Smooth and soft, fast melt time.

Score: 94

The taste is a bit all over the place. The soap characteristic isn't necessarily a bad thing either, but strange in it's presence on a wild bean bar.

This was a very complicated bar for me. It has a lot of the same hallmarks of English chocolate that I have noticed from other bars. These bittersweet bars from the UK have no acidic bitterness or deep bitter cocoa bitterness, but they are very sweet instead. This isn't a bad thing but it doesn't usually leave way for a lot of complexities of the cocoa to come through. That wasn't the case with this bar. There was a lot going on here.

This is a thinking chocolate by trying to pin down these flavors bouncing all over the place. Each piece I tasted new flavors presented themselves. I really enjoyed this. 


Final Score: 94

score
A-

L.A. Burdick ~ Grenada 75%

Burdick's chocolate has now taken to making single origin bars. So far they have a collection of three bars from Grenada, Madagascar, and the Dominican Republic.

Good places to start an origin collection. This is the 75% Grenada bar.

I don't have a lot of information about this chocolate. There was very little information on their website and there wasn't even ingredients printed on the package. They may have had actual information about the bars at their store and cafe, but this was a Valentine's Day gift and I am not going to be too upset that my gifts didn't come with a full disclosure of information. I will just get right into the review.

Here is a little bit of general information about what to expect from Grenada chocolate from The Nibble.

Grenada

•Trinitario •Light body •Fresh dairy, white fruit •Woody & grassy •Acidic, citrus

Home to some fine Trinitarios, Grenada’s cacao shares similar flavor properties with many of its Caribbean cousins. It is lighter on the palate with varying flavors of fresh dairy, woody and grassy nuances, white fruitiness, and even some degree of acidity, depending, on the manufacturer.

L.A. Burdick ~ Grenada 75%

Bean Varietal: Unknown, but probably Trinitario or some hybrid varietal.

Type: Bittersweet, 75%

Ingredients: Unknown

Sample Size: 3.5oz or 100g



Appearance: Beautiful and shiny, simple non-monogrammed molding.

Score: 98

Snap: Light, crisp snap sound, excellent! Good clean break lines.

Score: 96

Aroma: Softer nose, a little smokey, roasted cocoa, a little bit nutty, fruity with plums and a little acidic with citrus aromas.

Score: 92

Taste: Deep cocoa flavors, bitter and rich, a little spicy, inky, oak wood, lingering roasted cocoa taste.

Score: 93

Texture: Very smooth, medium melt time.

Score: 94

Though it's packaging leaves it susceptible to nicks and damage, this bar made it to me in very good condition. Shiny and pretty. Simple is always best.

This is a very subtle bar on the aroma, but the flavor reveals big and complex roasted cocoa flavors. It's deeply rich and bitter without being too acidic. The bitterness is complex with ink notes and spicy characters. Leaves a nice woody oak finish.

L.A. Burdick's makes amazing truffles and little noshes around their cafe's but I have to admit I am pleasantly surprised by the quality of this bar. The texture is fantastically smooth, the taste is deep and complicated.

Final Score: 94.6

score
A-

Madagascar Chocolate Cookies

I was sent  a care package of chocolate bars from Patric Chocolate. Along with it came Roasted Madagascar Cocoa Nibs, and a package of Madagascar Cocoa disks for hot chocolate.

Having recently discovered that I can no longer drink milk, I didn't want to waste the Hot Chocolate on soy milk. I also found a recipe for Cocoa Nib Cookies on Alan McClure's blog. I decided to blend them and make some super cookies with Madagascar cocoa.


Patric Chocolate Nib-Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp baking soda
½ lb unsalted butter (two sticks)
1 cup dark brown sugar
¾ cup white sugar
1 tsp real vanilla extract
1 egg
¾ cup Patric Chocolate’s Roasted Cacao Nibs
1 package of roughly chopped Patric Chocolate Hot Chocolate disks (about 3/4 cup)



My flour isn't pictured because it's a massive 25 pound bag that doesn't fit on my tiny counter tops. God Bless Costco. Also I only had light brown sugar which worked out fine but definitely use dark brown sugar if you have it.

Procedure:

1) Preheat oven to 375 F. Adjust oven
rack to middle position.

2) Combine flour, salt and baking
soda in bowl.

3) In a mixer cream the butter and mix in sugars.

4) Add the vanilla and egg to the
butter mixture and beat to combine.

5) Beat the flour mixture into the
butter mixture until just combined.

6) Stir in the Patric Chocolate Cacao
Nibs and chopped cocoa disks.

7) Refrigerate dough until cool and
stiff.

8) Drop by rounded teaspoons onto
a good quality baking sheet (thin black baking sheets are not good options).

9) Bake for about 10 minutes and remove from oven. After several
minutes remove to a rack to cool.

Amano ~ Dos Rios 70%

Amano Dos Rios 70%

The second bar up for review in my trio of bars sent to me from Amano. Using Dominican Republic beans for this bar, though I am not entirely sure of the region the beans come from or the type of bean varietal used. More than likely they come from the Santa Domingo or San Cristobal regions of the Dominican Republic and are probably a hybrid of some sort. Maybe Trinitario or Forastero.

From Amano's press release:

Hailing from the Dominican Republic, Dos Rios is perhaps the world's most unusual chocolate. And these may have been the most difficult beans I've ever worked with.

As these beans were roasted, winnowed, ground, refined and conched, they rapidly lost their flavor. This required us to develop a whole number of techniques to make this chocolate. Even so, the flavors shifted wildly during processing, making it almost impossible to simply taste the chocolate to see how it is turning out! We really had to trust our instincts. It was only after several weeks after we made the chocolate that the flavor fully revealed itself.

 

Amano ~Dos Rios 70%

Bean Varietal: Unknown

Type: Bittersweet 70%

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

Sample Size: 2oz or 56g

Appearance: Shiny bar, but more of that ashy and banged up look again. Simple monogrammed molding and a deep, rich brown color.

Score: 90

Snap: Extremely low thud instead of a crisp clean snap sound. Clean break lines.

Score: 83

Aroma: Unbelievable aroma! Big, bright floral notes of bergamot and lavender, a bit woody with classic soft roasted cocoa notes once it was first opened, slight hints of herbs and a bit minty and medicinal at first. Then the bergamot and floral aromas completely took over leaving a bit of a spicy character to the aroma.

Score: 100

Taste: Huge bergamot and lavender taste right up front with a little bit of black pepper, extremely sweet tasting for bittersweet cacao, very low acidity and bitterness, bold flower flavors, mild hints of wood and tangerines, lingering bergamot flavors.

Score: 98

Texture: Soft, very smooth texture, medium melt time.

Score: 96

Excellent, excellent, excellent chocolate! But sadly once again, lame technical marks take the score down a bit. The snap was pathetic and the appearance of the bar was less than stellar. But the taste and aroma were incredible. I have never given any bar reviewed to date a perfect score of 100. This one has it for the aroma.

The aroma is still lingering around my house and there were only 3 small squares sitting out for review. I have never smelled any chocolate that aromatic before, and the wonderful perfume-y, flowery taste of bergamot and lavender make this borderline flavored chocolate. It's unreal how flavorful this chocolate was. 

Also from the press release:

The beans we used for Dos Rios have strong flavor notes of bergamot, cinnamon, and clove. We did not add any flavorings to create this chocolate's unusual flavor. Rather than to tr and hide or tone down these flavors, we enhanced them.

Final Score: 93.4

score
A-

Amano ~ Guayas 70%

Amano Guayas 70%

This bar was sent to me as part of a trio. My previous review of Amano's Madagascar 70% bar, led them to find my site. From there, they sent me a few more bars to review. This one is from Ecuador.

Touted as 100% Arriba Nacional beans, Arriba meaning up river from the Guayas river basin, and free from cloned species of Nacional beans CCN-51 (a prolific cocoa hybrid that contributes to the depletion of the soil and is quickly replacing the native varieties of cacao such as Nacional).

Amano guarantees that they are taking steps to preserve the heirloom varieties of Nacional beans and continue to showcase their flavors in it's purest form. They even held a launch party with the farmers and their families in Guayaquil, Ecuador.

The Chocolate Life has begun a good discussion asking the right questions about the Nacional beans and the producers who tout that they use the beans but offer up no proof that they are actually using the real beans.

This is a more in depth look at Ecuador beans, Destination Ecuador.

In a previous post, I discussed the definition of “Arriba” chocolate and beans-while there’s no legal definition, Arriba can be used to denominate either beans of the Nacional variety from the “Arriba” or upriver area of the Guayas River Basin in the lowlands of southwestern Ecuador, or chocolate made from those beans. So is Arriba a chocolate or a type of bean? It can be both, depending on with whom you are speaking. Growers may call their beans Arriba variety, and chocolate manufacturers may call their finished chocolate Arriba. Many beans in Ecuador are labeled “Arriba” when they may not actually be, due to the blending of different bean varieties which is a common practice in Ecuador. You are probably asking, ok, why does this matter?

The loss of the Arriba flavor profile is happening right now. This is due to the bastardization of the chocolate being produced under the Arriba name, as well as widespread abuse by marketers of the name Arriba. The loss of the Arriba flavor profile would mean increasing homogeneity of fine chocolate, and all chocolates for that matter. The Arriba flavor is an important one, recognized for its unique floral aroma, deep chocolate flavor, and lack of bitterness.

This is why Amano plays an important role in preserving the integrity of the Nacional bean. If they are honest and true to their word, about working with the farmers exclusively and keeping the cloned hybrids out of their farms, then they deserve a lot of credit for doing their part to preserve the beans. A demand that other producers touting the name prove that they care about Ecuador, and prove that they are using the real beans.




 



Amano ~ Guayas 70%

Bean Varietal: 100% Arriba Nacional

Type: Bittersweet 70%

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

Sample Size: 56g or 2oz


Appearance: A little banged up and kind of ashy looking (not from bloom). Shiny, monogrammed molding, deep dark rich color.

Score: 90

Snap: Low and dull thud rather than a crisp snapping sound. Clean break lines.

Score: 87

Aroma: Rich and roasted coffee smells as soon as I opened the package, slight hints of roasted peanuts, and tiny bits of flora notes. The aroma dissipates as almost as soon as it comes out of it's package. But for one minute there is a richness of coffee and peanuts that make it very appetizing.

Score: 92

Taste: Soft roasted cocoa, big floral jasmine taste when it begins to open up, a little bit spicy, low acidity, but deeply bitter, fresh roasted peanuts and a little big of lingering wood notes on the finish from retro-olfaction.

Score: 96

Texture: Soft, extremely smooth, medium melt time.

Score: 96

I am not sure what it is about Amano that their bars always look beat up in appearance. It was the same with the Madagascar bar, and the up coming Dos Rios review. They are certainly shiny and simple in their moldings, but I never know what makes them look nicked, kind of ashy at times. They don't have a clean looking appearance. Is it the transport that does this to them?

It's no secret that I am not entirely sold on Arriba Nacional beans. They are so delicate and their flavors and aromas are extremely subtle.

This bar however, is very interesting. The aroma comes on strong then almost completely disappears. The flavor is very unique, such low acidity but beautiful floral notes of jasmine and a delicious fresh roasted peanut taste on the finish. What a weird combination, but awesome to think about.

Unfortunately the appearance and snap give way to a lower score than it probably deserves. This was fantastic chocolate. Delicate and gorgeous in hiding it's secrets.

Final Score: 92.2

score
B+