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Santander ~ Dark Chocolate 70%

 

 

 

Santander Dark Chocolate 70%

 

Type: Bittersweet, 70%

Bean Varietal: Trinitario, Criollo blend

Ingredients: Cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa powder, cocoa butter, soy lecithin, natural vanilla.

Sample Size: 2.46oz or 70g

 

Appearance: Large square monogrammed tablet, deep dark brown color, muted, slightly ashy, a few minor and superficial surface marks.

Score: 89

Snap: Firm, crisp snap, nice audible snap sound, clean break lines.

Score: 93

Aroma: Opens up with soft almonds and wood, the same coffee notes as the 65%, then opens up to big peanuts again, sweet honey. All the same characteristics on the aroma of the 65% but softer and more muted. I don't detect the same floweriness or the spicy qualities I detected on the 65%. I tend to find stronger cocoa percentages can be softer on the aroma.

Score: 91

Taste: Peanuts and peanut butter, coffee, sweet sugars up front, then a little astringent when it opens up. Not much else is going on.

Score: 92

Texture: A little hard, mildly chalky, medium melt time.

Score: 91

 

See the review for the Dark Chocolate 65% here.

The aroma had all the same characteristics of of the 65% only muted a bit. But the flavor was a bust. It tasted good, but due to the dominating peanuts and peanut butter tastes, coupled with coffee, it drowned out every other subtlety that might have been present. While I liked the taste, it felt more like I was eating a peanut butter cup in dark chocolate than it felt like eating a nice single origin chocolate. While the 65% had too much sugar, this has too much peanut flavor.

I asked before in the other review of Santander, how much is natural and how much is infused from other flavors around their factory with coffee/chocolate products around? The coffee was much more pronounced in the 65% while this one is all peanuts.

I apologize if this review seems lacking, it just ended up being a lot of the same from the 65%. Just softer and more nutty. I didn't want to make this a verbatim review of the other one. But I put the link for the other review because it does contain more details and will explain a lot of what I meant with this review.

Final Score: 91.2

   score
 B+

L.A. Burdick ~ Dominican 72-74%

 

 

I had always maintained that L.A. Burdick makes exceptionally amazing chocolate bars. I knew that they weren't a bean-to-bar company and that they used Swiss chocolate making techniques and Swiss couverture chocolate as they like to boast on their Facebook page and website. But it wasn't until recently I found out that they sourced their beans from Felchlin and Valrhona. They also source from Venezuela, and more recently Grenada.

Mostly known for having the best cup of hot chocolate in all of New England, their truffles happen to be some of my favorite from the area as well. It wasn't until I started writing this blog, that I got into their bars. Again, it's couverture chocolate, but for cases like this it's how they blend their chocolate and how they tweak the finished product that counts. They continue to be top notch to me.

The only thing frustrating is not knowing exactly where they source their beans from for the bars. They mention Europe for blocks and liquors, but South America for the bars. They are not a bean-to-bar so I don't know if they are doing direct sourcing now or brokering the beans. They are working with Grenada for sourcing directly with farmers, but there is little information about the rest of the South American beans. Their website has little information about the bars.

Designed for true "Chocophiles", Burdick single source bars allow a sampling of six distinctive regional beans. From the fruity acidic notes of Madagascar Beans, to the earthy flavors of the Dominican and the nutty, deep, and spicy tastes of Grenada, Burdick single source bars provide a world tour of regional chocolate tastes; i.e., "terroir" amplified. The single source offerings reflect our recent discoveries. Try all 6 bars with our complete set, a "Burdick Choice" 3-pack, or buy each single source bar individually.

 

I have one pet peeve about chocolate, and that's not having a more detailed website for information about your products. It might not have always mattered as much as to where companies source their ingredients from, but these days it is important. Fair trading, locally sourced ingredients, child labor issues, and ethical corporate or business practices are extremely important. With just about everyone having access to the web and being more interested in where their food comes from, there should be no reason for sparse information. Also, after recently having a poor customer service issue with Burdick's, I really do not want to call them and speak to them directly about their chocolate details. While that's just me and my own issues with them, it's still a pain in the ass regardless of my own experiences with their company.

Having a website that offers details about chocolate such as how to store it, what kinds of varietals are out there, ect., to having piss poor information about the bars and chocolate being used itself, is rather lame.

 

Dominican Single Source 72-74%

 

Type: Bittersweet,  between 72-74%

Bean Varietal: Trinitario

Ingredients: Cocoa beans, sugar, and cocoa butter.

Sample Size: 100g or 3.5oz

 

Appearance: Simple, non-monogrammed small square molded tablet, shiny, smooth, barely a blemish, deep rich brown color.

Score: 94

Snap: Firm snap, clean break lines, dull thud snapping sound.

Score: 90

Aroma: Wood notes, tobacco, almonds, vanilla, mild cinnamon notes, and lightly smoky.

Score: 93

Taste: Sweet, sugar, acidic, tobacco, rich, bold wood, small hints of tar and pen ink, earthy, unripened bananas and cream, mild cinnamon and toast on the finish.

Score: 95

Texture: Smooth, creamy, medium melt time.

Score: 93

Simple molding, pristine condition, a couple of nicks here and there but in fantastic shape. A medium snap of firmness and dull snapping sound. Still, it was firm and had clean break lines.

The aroma was fairly simple. Big wood, roasted cacao, tobacco, and some slight cinnamon characters. It was pretty straight forward and not overly complicated. 

I tried not to let the packaging influence my palate or tastes when reviewing but it did have the notes it mentioned on it's package. "Notes of tea, banana, roasted cocoa, and high acidity." It was sweet upfront with sugar, then it opens with big wood and earthy flavors. Slight hints of tar and pen ink. I tasted more tobacco leaves than tea leaves. There is a banana flavor but it's like green, unripened bananas and cream. And a little bit of buttered cinnamon toast on the finish.

Very bold chocolate, but fairly straight forward on it's taste and aroma. Just nice and rich. This would be great for baking and drinking too. You could make the most decadent chocolate cake with a bar or two of this chocolate.

 

Final Score: 93

   score
   A-

 

Chocolate Oatmeal Face Mask

 

 

Okay, so remember a few weeks ago I made a quick post about chocolate face masks and how to make them yourself at home? Well, I went ahead and tried one and it worked really well.

Make sure you wash your skin before applying. A helpful and natural tip is to cleanse the face, then use witch hazel as a toner. Also use on a Q-Tip with apple cider vinegar for any trouble spots before using the mask. You want that on on your skin first. You can also use the apple cider vinegar on the trouble spots after you wash the mask off. And be sure to moisturize.

I took some old scraps that had gone passed their prime for eating. Chocolate does have an extremely long shelf life, but these were passed that. Mostly I take chocolate bars, eat enough to review and fully understand, then I take the left over scraps and bake with it. But recently my stock pile is just too much. So, this is a good way to use the chocolate in a constructive way without having to throw it away.

 

I took leftover scraps of a Patric Chocolate Madagascar bar, L'Artisan du Chocolat Jamaica, and some Paul A. Young Valrhona bar scraps. All bitter sweet and 70% and over. I melted them down over a double boiler, I pulled the chocolate off before it all completely melted. Then I added oatmeal and honey and I let it cool down.

 

On whim, I decided to go ahead an add course turbinado sugar after the mixture had cooled so it wouldn't melt the sugar crystals.

 

Duck lips just for Gingerkiller!

 

I slathered it all over my face and waited for about 15 to 20 minutes. It was a bit messy to apply, but the trick is to go around the face more than once with the mixture. Each time you go around, it goes on thicker and thicker. The oatmeal might fall off a bit but overall it stayed on pretty good.

Washing it off, the oatmeal and sugar acted as a face scrub. It felt a little waxy as it was being washed off and I thought I might have to do a second wash with some face soap. But, I didn't have to. It all washed off clean, and my skin was brighter and extremely soft.

Having a glass of red wine while you mask is also fun. The antioxidants in wine is good for you to. You will feel like you are in a spa. Wine, masks, and Ed Norton on tv. La vita è bella!

It will be a while until I see any long term effects because I plan to do this more often. But for now my skin is actually brighter and my face feels a lot softer. Fantastic chocolate experiment.