Part two of my reviews for Paul A. Young chocolates. I received four chocolate bars from Paul A. Young from my friend Angelo as part of the British Chocolate Invasion. Introductions were already made with the first post, so I will just get right to the review.
The origins of the beans come from Venezuela, though I am not sure which region they are from. I also can't be sure of the bean varietal. They are also most likely beans from Valrhona, as Paul Young primarily uses Valrhona cocoa for his products.
Venezuela 86%
Type: Bittersweet, 86%
Bean Varietal: Unknown
Ingredients: Cocoa beans, cocoa butter, sugar, soya lecithin, natural vanilla extract.
Sample Size: 50g or about 2oz
Appearance: Very dark brown color, smooth, shiny, square bar, simple molding but steaks on the top side of the bar.
Score: 89
Snap: Strong, firm snap, deep snap sound, clean break lines.
Score: 96
Aroma: Berries, soft aroma, lightly smokey, and lightly floral.
Score: 93
Taste: Very bitter, roasted cocoa, dry, berries notes were fighting hard to make their presence known but bitterness over takes any subtleties, barely any sweetness, wood, tar finish.
Score: 95
Texture: Hard, dry, smooth, slow melt time.
Score: 92
Very robust and bitter chocolate. But just enough room for a bit of sugar to prevent it from being too bitter. Very bold roasted cocoa flavors, berry and wood flavors present, but quickly overtaken by bitterness. No astringency, and finishes very dry.
This is a big palate killing chocolate. A good chocolate for those who put no cream or sugar in their coffee. Those bitter-heads, similar to the hophead and bitter fanatics with beer. Less malts for the beer and all hops, and less sugar and cocoa fats for the chocolate.
I think technically this hits all the marks of a very bitter chocolate, but it was just a bit too bitter for my palate. Certainly not as bitter as the 100% bars, but 86% is pretty high up there.
Final Score: 93
A-
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