20°N & 20°S

Chocrì Meine Schokolade

A few days ago a newer chocolate company Chocrì found me on Twitter. They have a fairly unique concept of building your own chocolate bars.

From their press release:

Chocri is a create-your-own chocolate bar that is hand-manufactured in Germany, with organic, premium qua- lity chocolate from Belgium. With chocri, the combinations are endless (literally). Consumers can choose from three base chocolates (dark, milk or white), and then select from over 80 toppings: from the usual suspects like peanuts, raisins, and almonds, to fun, unexpected ingredients like organic flax seeds, fennel and coriander! With over 10 billion combinations to choose from, your unique chocolate creation is only a few clicks away.

Chocri was founded by 20-something entrepreneurs Michael Bruck and Franz Duge in early 2008. It was Franz who had the "light bulb" idea to start a custom chocolate bar company when he couldn’t think of a personal gift to give his girlfriend on her birthday. At the time, Franz and Michael were running a chocolate fountain compa- ny, so Franz came up with the idea of using the liquid chocolate from that company, and turning it into a bar, which he topped with his girlfriend’s favorite snacks: gummy bears and trail mix. Needless to say, the gift made quite an impression! When Franz’s friends heard about his creative chocolate concoction, they asked him if he could make some for them too – and that’s how chocri was born.

Within the first year of launching, chocri sold over 120,000 bars of chocolate in Germany alone! The chocolate can be shipped to Germany, Austria, Netherlands, France, Luxembourg, and soon, the U.K. and U.S.! "We could no longer continue to deny Americans the right to create their own chocolate bars!" quips chocri co-founder Michael Bruck.

The chocri team also firmly believes in ethical chocolate manufacturing, in all stages of production: from how the chocolate is grown, handled, and produced, to how they are sold and packaged. Cacao, the main ingredient in chocolate, is usually grown in third-world countries where unethical working conditions and farming practi- ces are common. The quality of the chocri chocolate bar is reflected not only in its superior taste, but also in its respect for the environment and for fair working conditions. Thus, chocri chocolates are organic, and fair trade certified. In addition, 1% of all sales of the chocolate bars are donated to DIV Kinder, a German-based child welfare organization that helps children in Ivory Coast, the biggest exporter of cacao beans.

In January 2010, chocri will be made available for the U.S. market. Ethical, whimsical, and personal – chocri chocolate bars make the perfect gift for that special someone.

I took the plunge and ordered five bars. It will take a while to get to me. Arrival date is expected around Jan. 21, 2010. But they will keep you posted every step of the way like when your chocolate is being made and then sent.

I created five bars and named them.

Old World: Dark Chocolate (64%) with Anise, Rosemary, Sea Salt, Date Bits and Fig Bits.

Health Bar: Dark Chocolate (64%) with Blueberries, Cranberries, Organic Flax Seeds, Goji Berries and mymuesli - Organic Muesli.

Strawberry Basil Martini: Dark Chocolate (64%) with Strawberry, Ground Chili, Basil and Organic Mint Leaves.

Banana Nut: Milk Chocolate with Banana Chips, Cinnamon and Walnuts.

Pretty: White Chocolate with Strawberry, Papaya Cubes, Flower Mix, Silver Pearls and Macadamia Nuts.


So while this will take a while to be hand made and shipped out, you should really check them out and all the kinds of blends you can create and name yourself. They also have popular flavor blends you can choose from.

As I was blogging about this, I received notice that my bars have been made.

Dear Candice,

Your customized chocolate bars have been made! We will send them on their way to you either today or the next business day. Typically, shipping takes 4-6 days, so please expect your pieces of art to arrive on 21.01.2010.

These are the owners Franz Duge and Michael Bruck.

Images from their website creating custom bars and what the bars look like.

 

 

Their website also has a section for charitable donations. I definitely donated with my purchase of chocolate.

DVI-Kinder

DIV-Kinder (which stands for Deutsch-Ivorische-Verein and means German-Ivory Association) is a Christian organization that cares for the needs of homeless and orphaned children of the Ivory Coast. Their primary interest is to provide the children with shelter and supervision. The organization’s employees work directly in these countries and make sure that donations and supplies from Germany are transferred to the homes for children.

1% of every chocolate bar purchased goes directly to the children of the Ivory Coast. So far, the first major donation project we financed was very successful and you are welcome to read more about this project and future ones on our blog.

A conscious company with customized chocolate market. So far I really like them.

*All images via their website.

Fine & Raw ~ Mesquite Bar

This comes part of a trade I did last year with a friend. Tickets to my beer festivals for chocolate via my friend Emily Shartin.

This is one of those moments where you don't even care if this chocolate you are about to eat is going to be good or not because the label is effing awesome! Just look at how hot that label is. Simple and awesome. Love it.

This is Fine & Raw. A chocolate company out of Brooklyn, New York. This is a little bit about them via their website.

Story:

FINE & RAW's chocolatier Daniel: After quitting his job as a financial analyst in New York, Daniel went in search of finding a chocolate that was both gourmet and healthy. Such a notion always had seemed like a myth to him. Across the world he traveled to bring back the power, creaminess and secrets of raw chocolate.

Daniel worked as a raw chef in the high desert of Arizona and perfected the art of chocolate back in New York. A sprinkle of adventure and creativity guided Daniel through his dreams and the ancient mysteries of cacao. He brought raw chocolate to life in a notorious Brooklyn loft. FINE & RAW was immediately alive, enlightened and intoxicating...

Green:

FINE & RAW is a fresh new company that believes the future is beautiful. To help bring this thought to life we strive to be green and sustainable where ever possible.

We'll be the first to admit we're not perfect. From the big issues, like fairtrade and carbon foot prints, down to using energy efficient light bulbs, we're learning to be greener all the time.

Our cacao is fairtrade and comes from a small cacao farmers co-op that practices sustainable farming. Cacao is a shade grown plant requiring a foliage canopy to grow. Our cacao farmers maintain the rainforests which provide natural symbiotic canopies for the plant. The farmers also grow an heirloom variety of cacao, which promotes bio-diversity of plant species within the rainforest ecosystem.

All our ingredients are organic, which means no unnecessary toxins, chemicals or pollutants are pumped into the environment. Our packaging is recycled and the inks we use are non-toxic and vegetable based.

We want the planet to be strong so it can grow more chocolate. Yum yum!

What is raw Chocolate?

Raw chocolate is a reverence for creaminess, possibility and ecology. Creativity, innovative play, laughter and movement are the infused flavors.

Raw chocolate is a carefully chaotic celebration of life! Cunningly absent of sugar, dairy and additives, its the highest antioxidant food source we know. All the ingredients are in their natural state - crafted at low temperatures to keep the flavor, nutrients and vitality of this celebrated food alive and buzzing.

Fine & Raw Mesquite Bar

Bean Varietal: I am only seeing via their website that the beans come from Ecuador. Since nearly all bear production from Ecuador is Arriba Nacional, I am going to assume that that is the varietal being used.

Type: Flavored semisweet.

Sample Size: 54g or 2oz. Only comes from their Chocolate Bar Gift Box, not sold individually.

Ingredients: Raw cocoa paste, yacón powder (sweetner), cocoa butter, mesquite powder.

More information on mesquite powder can be read about here. This is not the kind used in the chocolate but it has good detail on what it is and what it tastes like.





Appearance: A muted shine, softer, dark brown, simple molding without deep grooves, and the appearance of a grittiness.

Score: 82

Snap: Decent snap. Difficult to snap due to the light scoring marks or ridge lines from the molding. Breaks off in two bars not single bars (tested twice).

Score: 85

Aroma: Cinnamon, spices like chili powder or cayenne pepper, roasted cocoa but drowned out by spices.

Score: 84

Taste: No bitterness, very little sweetness, cinnamon, spicy pepper taste without any heat whatsoever, mesquite has big impact.  A savory retro-olfaction and lingering after taste of garlic and onion powder.

Score: 91

Texture: Gritty, soft, fast melt.

Score: 80

While this chocolate, certainly isn't getting the greatest ratings, it's really fun to eat. It's savory and leaves an interesting aftertaste. The nose may have been dominated by cinnamon and spice, but that doesn't mean it doesn't smell good. It smells wonderful, but for the purposes of reviewing, the cinnamon tended to drown out everything else.

The grittiness may have come from the mesquite powder as some variations of it are not as refined. I don't have a lot of experience with mesquite powder, so you will have to forgive my lack of detail on that.

This chocolate is fun. A little funky, but fun. And again I refer you to the label. How can you ignore something so cool like that.

Final Score: 84.4

score
C+

Askinosie ~ San Jose Del Tambo, Ecuador 70%

The second bar of chocolate sent to me from owner Shawn Askinosie. As mentioned in the review of Davao, Philippine 77%, I was sent samples from Askinosie after reviewing the Soconusco 75% bar. Since the previous two reviews mention a lot about Askinosie, I will just jump right into the review of this chocolate bar.

Askinosie  Springfield, MO.

Askinosie San Jose De Tambo, Ecuador 70%

Bean Varietal: Arriba Nacional

Type: Bittersweet 70%

Choc-o-lot # 030309

Sample Size: 85g or 3oz.

Ingredients: Cocoa beans, organic cane juice, cocoa butter.

From the website:

70% Cocoa Beans from San Jose Del Tambo, Ecuador (this includes 2% Askinosie cocoa butter that we make with the same beans). Your actual batch may have a slightly different amount because we experiment with texture (you will find the details by entering your Choc-o-lot # in the bottom left of the screen). Other companies don’t usually disclose the amount of cocoa butter, but we do.

30% Pure Cane Sugar

San Jose Del Tambo is located in Ecuador near the Andes Mountains. No map this time but a description from the website give some details.

San Jose Del Tambo, at least 200-years-old, is situated in the foothills of the Andes Mountains. It is said that the Quechua Indians used this little village as a resting place before journeying further into the Andes. At Del Tambo, the hills rise sharply until the tops are obscured by low-hanging clouds. The Rio de San Miguela, a fast-flowing river, along with just the right climate provides the land for some of the best cocoa in the world. The centuries famous Ecuador Ariba flavor is found in these beans.

Appearance: Smooth and shiny deep dark brown, black-brown in coloring, with standard Askinosie molding.

Score: 94

Snap: Good snap sound. A little more subdued than the Davao, Philippine 77%, but still top notch snap with clean break, no crumbling.

Score: 93

Aroma: Big lavender and jasmine nose, honey, spicy, mild tobacco notes, slight hints of tar.

Score: 99

Taste: Lightly bitter, low acidity, very delicate flavors despite big full body, lavender and jasmine tea, honey, hints of orange peel, extremely mild hints of green bananas, subdued and muted wood and cereal grains from retro-olfaction.

Score: 95

Texture: Smooth, hard mouth feel, very slow melt, big body once it's fully opened up, finishes very dry on the palate, it nearly wipes the slate clean with a drying effect.

Score: 75

Upon smelling this chocolate, the word sexy comes to mind. Very feminine with the big honey, jasmine and lavender nose, but the hardness from the texture doesn't match the aroma. Once this chocolate finally melts a little on the palate and opens up the taste is big, but again feminine with low acidity and beautiful lavender notes. It finishes clean on the palate.

I gave the texture score a lower number, because it's too hard, and takes almost too long to open up. The aroma and the eventual flavor of this chocolate is beautiful but is almost trapped by an extremely slow melt time on the tongue. This would be fabulous if it had softer edges to match it's soft flowery nose and taste. Soft and faster melt time.

Arriba Nacional beans are very interesting but I am not entirely sold that they are my cup of tea. They are the forth group of beans, a cousin to Forastero. They have no bitterness while their cousin Forastero has big bitterness. But with it's big spicy, flowery nose, the taste is so light and finishes super clean. I think I like the chocolates with more robust flavors. This is a chocolate meant for those who want to take it easy with their bitter chocolates.

Final Score: 91.2

score
B+

Askinosie ~ Davao, Philippines 77%

[Forgive my shoddy photography. The shiny, waxy packaging made it hard to snap a pic with out a gleam so I tried angles. I am not a professional photographer and you can clearly see that.]

A while ago when I first had the idea of reviewing chocolate, I reviewed a chocolate bar from Askinosie. I had this put on my other blog Pork Chops & Chicken. I also write about beer and food. When I realized what I was doing after these first reviews, I decided the chocolate reviews would need a focus and home all on their own. That's when I created 20°N & 20°S.

I had met Shawn Askinosie before, two or three years ago at the Great American Beer Festival in Denver. Someone finally had the brilliant idea to invite a chocolate maker to a beer fest. I have been teaching people for years how to pair beer and chocolate at a place called Formaggio Kitchen. I have even hosted beer dinners featuring chocolate in every course. Shawn also happens to be a BeerAdvocate! That's my husbands website and whom I manage and organize beer festivals for in my real life.

Based on my review of their Soconusco 75%, Shawn sent me more chocolate to review. One of them was a single origin from the Philippines.



Askinosie Davao, Philippines 77%

Askinosie is located in Springfield, MO. USA

Bean Varietal: Trinitario

Type: Bittersweet 77%

Choc-o-lot #:  011909

Sample size: 85g or 3oz.

Ingredients: Cocoa beans, organic cane juice, cocoa butter.

From their website: 77% includes 1% cocoa butter (that we make with the same beans) 23% organic sugar.

Davao is in the southern most region of the Philippines.

From their website:

The first cacao brought to Asia in 1600 was grown in the Philippines and we are the first chocolate maker to export Filipino cocoa beans in nearly twenty-five years. The beans used to make this tantalizing bar are very exclusive, making the Davao, Philippines chocolate bar uniquely exotic. There has never before been a single origin bar from the Philippines.

Appearance: Deep brown color. Slightly muted and not as shiny as expected. Classic Askinosie molding.

Score: 92

Snap: Excellent snap sound. Clean break.

Score: 97

Aroma: Green was the first thing that came to mind. Super green and fresh scent. Pineapples, green mangoes, roasted cocoa beans, *fresh laundry smell.

Score: 99

Taste: Acidic, bitter, bitterness gives way to slight tropical fruit character, citrus, then a clean almost purfume-y laundry taste. Like the way fabric softener might taste like based on the way it smells, not unpleasant, but curious tasting. A tiny bit of rose petals, wood, and mango mixture.  Retro-olfaction has leather, and more flowers from the perfume taste. The after taste ends with a little bit of tar and smoke.

Score: 85

Texture: Smooth, and creamy once it begins to melt down a bit. Slow melt time.

Score: 93

Freshest smelling chocolate I have ever smelled. I am disappointed in it's high acidic content. Jabs you in the neck. I wanted to give this a higher score than what it got, but I am bit unforgiving when it comes to too much acid content. It's a shame really because the flavor does open up brilliantly with that perfume, flowers, wood, and tropical fruit characters.

This is a thinking chocolate. It is very peculiar, but still very solid.

*There was a bit of that same laundry freshness on the nose but I couldn't quite identify it until I tasted it.

Final Score: 93.2

score
A-

Rogue Chocolatier ~ Sambirano 70%

Rogue Chocolatier from Minneapolis, MN.

Bean Varietal: A blend of single origin Venezuelan Beans Criollo, Trinitario, and Forastero cultivated in the Sambirano Valley, Madagascar.

Type: Bittersweet 70%

Ingredients: Cocoa beans, Sugar, cocoa butter, Tahitian vanilla

Sample size: 60g or 2.12oz

The Sambirano Valley is located north of the island facing Mozambique.

Madagascar falls perfectly within the 20°N and 20°S parallel. The optimal region around the equator in which cocoa beans are produced.

[Image via Guittard]

This was given to me in a trade. Thanks once again to my source Emily Shartin of Formaggio Kitchen. We trade chocolate for beer festival tickets. (In my other life, I manage and organize the BeerAdvocate.com beer festivals.) I think it's a great trade off for the both of us.

Appearance: Flat bar with no molding or any significant patterns. Shiny, smooth, and dark brown in color. Not black-brown, but more a rich deep brown. I am giving this a bit of a high mark for it's simplicity.

Score: 96

Snap: For such a thin bar, I expected more a decent snapping sound. It produced more of a thud or a pop than a good snapping sound. It did snap clean however, and not crumbly.

Score: 89

Aroma: Soft roasted cocoa beans, a tiny, teeniest hint of mint, a slight hint of nuts. Very subtle aroma. Rubbing the bar between my fingers to open up more of an aroma releases a big of a tangy aroma.

Score: 94

Taste: Acidic, bright, citrus, grapefruit, wood, vodka esters through retro-olfaction (breathing back into the mouth), low bitterness, and bright berry fruit such as blackberries cherries.

Score: 99

Texture: Smooth, creamy, short melt time in the mouth.

Score: 98

I have never had anything quite like this before. Vodka esters? And bright acidity, but no sharp reactions in the neck. This is incredible chocolate. I enjoyed this a lot. Based on this one bar, I will be doing a lot more research into Madagascar chocolate.

Upon further reading of what is typical for Madagascar cacao, this bar has all the classic hallmarks including vodka, citrus acids, and wood. I picked up big wood on this bar but couldn't recognize which kind of wood. Cedar is what is classic about Madagascar chocolate, though I didn't recognize the wood to be cedar. I am completely hooked and hope to explorer more Simbirano bars. In doing research on the region I saw that a ton of chocolate makers have a Simbirano bar. 

Final Score: 95.2

score
A

Maglio Origine

Maglio is an amazing company from Italy. Maglie, Italy in the Pugia region. (The Heel of the Boot.)

I received this collection last Valentine's day from my husband and another one a few months later from my friend Emily Shartin who works at Formaggio Kitchen. I used to work there as well once upon a time where I was first exposed to some amazing chocolate.

Maglio, for me, has been a long time favorite chocolate producer. I openly admit and will admit through out my blog, that I am enamored with Italian chocolate producers. The way they care for the beans they produce and the way they process the cacao that leave no sharp pangs for too much acidity that hit you in the glands in your neck when eating their chocolate. I find most Italian producers to be world class. There is a bit of a bias towards the nation in an overall manner, but I am still fair about my reviews for tasting.

All of these samples are single origin chocolate tasting mini bars. Single origin doesn't necessarily mean the the same bean varietal, but mostly it means the region where the beans come from. All are bittersweet chocolates with the exception of the Papuasia which is a milk chocolate. 

[Click Images to enlarge.]

  
Each sampler comes with 6 samples of minibars. Although the sample starts with their Crue de Cacao, It's a 65% cocoa percentage while the second in line is the Papuasia is 36%. I started with the Papuasia when I reviewed this collection.

Papuasia 36% Pure Origin Milk Chocolate. Bean varietals:  Criollo and Forastero from Java.

Appearance: Pale brown color. Yellowish, almost golden in comparison to what is considered a normal milk chocolate. The pale coloring makes it appear delicate. This is the first time I have seen a chocolate this pale barring white chocolate from the equation. 

Score: 97

Aroma: Spicy, rich, buttery caramel, big tobacco, cream, big vanilla, and hints of hazelnuts.

Score: 90

Snap: There was a moderate pop to this minibar. I expected this to be soft an give a subdued thud, but it gave off a good enough snap and broke evenly. Milk chocolates tend to be softer and usually won't produce clean breaks or snapping sounds. This one did.

Score: 89

Taste: Like the nose, buttery taste, vanilla,  caramel notes, soft and delicate cocoa notes. It mostly tastes like butter, milk, and finishes up with light a cocoa taste. Very delicate cocoa that is almost overwhelmed by the milky, vanilla content, but strong enough to hold on and linger on the palate. The aftertaste is a bit like a milky caramel.

Score: 94

Texture: Soft, creamy, smooth, and melts fairly quickly on the palate, but not too quickly.

Score: 98

This is unique chocolate. Such low percentages of cocoa, yet strong enough to stand up to the milk content. I am admittedly not much of a fan of milk chocolate, but this is so unique tasting, I could have little bits of this daily. It's almost confusing eating this. You know it's chocolate but it smells, tastes, and has a lingering aftertaste of buttery caramel. This is a very unique and delicate taste of milk chocolate.

Final Score: 93.6

score
A-

Crue de Cacao 65%. Bean Varietals: Unknown. Blend of single origin beans from Guayaquil, Caracas, and Ghana. Semisweet.

Appearance: Shiny, deep, dark brown color. Cocoa nibs appearing on the back of the minibar.

Score: 98

Snap: Clean snap, decent snap sound.

Score: 94

Aroma: Deep powdery cocoa notes, big fresh tobacco notes lightly fruity, hints of berries, spicy characters. This chocolate too was almost overwhelmed by the big tobacco aroma. It gets more points than the Papuasia because the milk wasn't adding to the tobacco nose. This was fresh tobacco despite how big the aroma was.

Score: 90

Taste: A little spicy almost peppery right in the beginning, then it evens out to almost nothing, until the chocolate begins to melt. Then light fruit-forward berry notes, slight herb taste before the nibs. Nibs have a slight woody and toasted taste and are a touch bitter. Nibs also have a slight strawberry hint. Hints of blueberries from retro-olfaction. (The art of exhaling back in your mouth during tasting.)

Score: 96

Texture: Smooth but lightly chalky, gritty, crunchy nibs. Slow melting in the mouth.

Score: 93

Crue, Cru, or Grand Cru usually means the best of. This offering from Maglio is a good example of that principle with the blending of high end single origin beans from three different chocolate producing nations. This is a very smooth chocolate despite the crunchy nibs mixed in. It has a lot going on by way of nose and taste. Many different elements going on from the big tobacco aroma, to berries and pepper tastes. This is for serious chocolate lovers to sit back with and spend a little time analyzing.
 
Final Score: 94.2

score
A-

Santo Domingo 70% Bean Varietals: Dominican Republic Criollo and Forastero. Bittersweet.

Appearance: Deep, black-brown color. Shiny and smooth.

Score: 95

Snap: Nice clean break.

Score: 97

Aroma: Roasted Cocoa, tobacco leaves, tar, rubber, caramel .

Score: 92

Taste: This changes in big ways on the palate. In succession sweet, to bitter, then Earthy, with a barely there roasted taste. Sweet, complex, and deep berry flavors, then more bitterness. The bitterness is reminiscent of grapefruit bitterness. A light trace of black pepper and cinnamon give a spicy taste. Roasted coffee notes about two minutes after with retro-olfaction.

Score: 94

Texture: Very slow melting. Exceptionally smooth.

Score: 98

This is a a complex, yet straight forward chocolate. The nose is very simple, but the flavors evolve right in your mouth making each stage distinguishable. The pepper and cinnamon taste is so delicate you need to really search to find it. There is more of a warming sensation that indicates the black pepper and then you taste the pepper but it's very subtle. 

Final Score: 95.2

score
A

Ecuador 70%. Bean Varietal: Arriba Nacional, a forth species, related to the Forastero bean. Bittersweet.

Appearance: Smooth and shiny. Deep dark, brown color.

Score: 93

Snap: Clean snap, but low thud sound.

Score: 87

Aroma: More big tobacco aromas. Roasted cacao notes, a tiny bit of dried fruits, oats, but almost nothing else comes through.

Score: 89

Taste: Upfront bitter taste that lingers through the whole experience, creamy texture but not a buttery or creamy taste, subdued dried fruits with a minor amount of sweetness that doesn't stay or very long, and tobacco leaves. Finishes with a little tartness and lingering bitterness, but otherwise unremarkable. That or it's so delicate it barely registers on my palate accept for the bitterness and the acidity.

Score: 90

Texture: Very slow melt, finishes clean on the palate and not cloying due to a lot of residual bitterness. The bitterness lingers, but not the creamy texture. It almost has a drying effect on the palate.

Score 94

This wasn't all that great after the previous tastings. It's certainly unique that that has this ability to be so big and yet have no complex characters at all. It's bitterness though is nearly palate killing but the tartness doesn't jab you in the neck. It's very bitter, but unassumingly bitter. The tartness and bitterness wipe out any chance for the roasted qualities, or dried fruits to make a viable presence. The bitterness and tartness also block the lingering after taste from any cocoa butters from settling.

Final score: 90.6

score
B+

Cuba 70%. Bean Varietal: Criollo from Cuba. Bittersweet.

Appearance: Rich, dark brown chocolate. Not black-brown like some of the others in this collection.

Score: 96

Snap: Good clean snap. Little bit of a subdued snap, but more stable than the others.

Score: 94

Aroma: A slight roasted character, a little bit floral, and fruity, cherries and yes more tobacco, but significantly less than the others.

Score: 97

Taste: Spicy, sweet, opens into bitterness but mixed with big sweet characters, roasted coffee, very slight hints of licorice and cinnamon, bright cherries lingering on the back end of the palate followed by more roasted coffee notes and a slight nutty character.

Score: 98

Texture: Smooth, slow melt. This one needed time to melt in order to understand all the complexities of the chocolate.

Score: 96

This one has been my favorite so far. It's sweeter, and more complex. You have to wait for this one to completely open, and then wait a few minutes after it's gone to get the full effects. It makes you take your time with it. I like that. It also has a lot going on with big cherries, and roasted coffee and nuts. It even toys with you with the hints of cinnamon and licorice. Those are just the effects of the roasted and bitter characters playing with the sweet and tart notes.

Final Score: 96.2

score
A

Africa 75%. Bean Varietal: Unknown but their origin is from Tanzania. Bittersweet.

Appearance: Deep, dark, black-brown color. Not as shiny as the other offerings.

Score: 91

Snap: Good snap, clean break.

Score: 98

Aroma: Coffee, yet again more tobacco leaves, nutty, toffee, buttery, caramel. There are some slight berry notes hidden in the aroma, but the tobacco aroma is a bit over powering.

Score: 97

Taste: Deep, bitter cacao, smooth around the edges, low acidity meaning low tartness, subtle leather taste, tobacco leaves, French roast coffee, tar, ash, red wine grapes, and macadamia nut taste from retro-olfaction.

Score: 98

Texture: Very slow melt and very smooth, but hard and not enough cocoa butter to soften more of the edges. The longest melt time in the group. 

Score: 96

This is by far the most complex of the varieties in the sampler pack. You wouldn't even know you were 75% cacao unless you read it in the label. The absence of sugary sweetness is your only real indication that it's extraordinarily bitter chocolate. But it's so smooth around the edges, the bitterness does not overwhelm the palate. Lots of rich flavors that in this chocolate that take their time to reveal themselves. It's vary smooth, but not as creamy as I would like it to be. Just a bit too hard. The flavors found in it more than make up for the texture.

Final Score: 96

score
A

All in all this is a spectacular sampler of world class chocolates. I didn't like that all of the samples had big tobacco aroma. It just became too same-y after a while and made it difficult to pick up more subtle nuances, but it didn't impact the different flavors on each sample.

The Maglio Origine pack would be the perfect gift for a chocolate lover. Or the perfect sampler pack for tasting groups.

The Grading Scale

[Image via Concurring Opinions]

How this will all work for the next 30 reviews or so, I will be posting reviews from chocolates I have been taking notes on for over a year. Certain chocolates I have have bin numbers on them, but they were reviewed when received. Each review will explain where they came from and around the time they were reviewed.

There will also be a Grading Scale for each review. A standard A-F scale but with a little bit of a twist. There will be five categories that can earn a maximum of 100 points.

Appearance
Aroma
Snap
Texture
Taste

The average total of all five scores will be tallied up to give a final score. The totals will be reflected with a letter grade.

A+ 98-100
A 95-97
A- 93-94

B+ 90-92
B 87-89
B- 85-86

C+ 82-84
C 79-81
C- 77-78

D+ 74-76
D 72-73
D- 70-71

F 0-69

Standard high school grading system.

A note for the readers. Taste is a subjective thing. What I might like or notes I taste in chocolate maybe completely different from you. Everyone has a unique and individual palate. It's best to remember that when imbibing on glorious things such as chocolate. The point is, there are no right or wrong answer when it comes to individual tastes. There are big generalizations about specific regions, but each palate has a number of reasons or variances which may drastically change the way one person smells or tastes something compared to another.