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Claudio Corallo ~ Sablé 80%

 

 

 

Click to enlarge images.

 

Sablé "Sandy" 80%

 

Type: Bittersweet, 80%

Bean Varietal: Trinitario/ Hybrid

Ingredients: Cocoa, sugar, cocoa butter.

Sample Size: 50g or 1.76oz

 

Appearance: Two raw and unrefined tablets, broken tablets, no molding, large course sugar lightly covering the top and mixed with in, but not overly sugared and shiny. No glossy finish but a matte finish.

Score: 90

Snap: Thinner tablets, lightly firm crisp snap, lightly audible, but clean break lines that left a clear image of the hallows inside from the course sugar.

Score: 89

Aroma: Huge, massive aroma. Fresh coffee grinds, roasted cocoa, char, burnt toast, a bit medicinal, rubber, tar, and huge blueberries. Very slight lingering aromas of honey and cinnamon.

Score: 98

Taste: Sweet sugar up front, then charred and roasted cocoa, deeply bitter but not astringent or acidic, toasted almonds and cereal grains, and a light Cinnamon finish. The sugar is balanced and comes through at various stages of tasting. Lingering char from retro-olfaction.

Score: 96

Texture: Crunchy sugar crystals, dry and chalky, medium melt time.

Score: 82

 

I have learned to appreciate the simplicity of these bars appearance. I wasn't as kind in my first review of Claudio Corallo on appearance. Technically they should score real low on appearance but this is just straight up chocolate and simply molded. It isn't trying to be fancy and it isn't trying to be glamorous, which I like about these bars. Either be pretty and have an elaborate or unique/signature molding or just be raw and natural. It was just too broken up to score higher for rustic integrity in my opinion.

The aroma is by far and away one of the biggest aromas I have ever smelled on a bar. I took all the notes I could upon opening this package, I then repeatedly went back to the package and it took two full weeks for the aroma to dissipate from it's packaging. It still has this amazing toasted cinnamon aroma. It's like my inhaler. Two weeks later!

The aroma right out of the package was amazing. Huge blueberries underneath some pretty raw char aromas. Roasted cocoa and coffee grinds. Like someone took freshly ground, super strong, French roasted coffee grinds and put it in with this bar. But the blueberries held on. It had lots of charred aromas, burnt toast and rubber. That might not sound very appealing to some people, but I love how funky it is.

The taste is deeply bitter without any astringency or acidity. The large course sugar was exactly what this chocolate needed. It added a good sweet balance and crunchy texture. The flavor was toasted grains and cinnamon with coffee and char. Breakfast chocolate. Cinnamon toast and coffee. The char on the aroma was not as robust on the flavor but still nice mingling with toasted almonds. Not very fruity. I was hoping for a blueberry taste as strong as it was on the aroma.

Aside from the crunchy sugar crystals, I wasn't in love with the texture of this chocolate. It's dry, and chalky and had a medium long melt time. This chocolate would be perfection if it had a creamier texture.

 

Final Score: 91

    score
 B+

TCHO ~ Chocolate Drenched Mango Pieces

 

 

 

I like the folks at TCHO. They are some beer loving peeps who like taste experiences from all different aspects. Although I wish they had a beer and chocolate pairing guide on their website like they do for wine and cheese. Just saying.

They were kind enough to send me a lovely shipment of chocolate to sample. In that shipment came these lovely little noshes. Chocolate Drenched Mango Pieces dipped in 60% Peruvian chocolate.

Today I won't dig too far into TCHO's history. Normally I like to include a history about a new company I am writing about. I would like to save that for the next reviews I have coming up. Some of their origin chocolate is up for review.

After having a not-so-great Valentine's Day, I cracked open the large tin of the chocolate covered mango pieces from TCHO. They're just what I needed. I am also thrilled to note that 17 pieces are only 90 calories. This is fabulous news for those of us who are keeping an eye on the waistline but still want a sweet spot.

 

 

Via TCHO about their Chocolate Drenched line.

"...our Chocolate Drenched Treats have leapfrogged our bars — and for very good reason: they are just compulsively delicious, if we say so ourselves. We can’t stop eating them, and we have a whole chocolate factory full of amazing stuff to choose from."

They are very addicting. Foodie crack right here y'all.

These little unassuming nuggets are very surprising. As soon as you open the tin and open the plastic covering you are flooded with deep rich chocolate aromas. It filled my whole living room. Dry roasted cocoa, a little tart and astringent on the nose at first, but then deep roasted nutty aromas.

A little sharp at first from the tangy mango and bitter chocolate, but then it smooths out. The mango bits are soft and flavorful. They hold up well to the rich and bold chocolate. The chocolate is deep, fruity, and complex. Fruity by the sweet and soft mango and by the chocolate they called "Fruity" from Peru, which does have strong fruit forward characters about it.

These are nice and surprising because you wouldn't expect something that rich or good on a product like this. You would think 60%, a semisweet, would be too sweet but the chocolate is very bold, deep and rich. Almost on the line for being too much for the chocolate but strikes just the right balance instead. And again those mango bits hang on and don't allow themselves to be overtaken by the rich chocolate. Usually it's cheaper chocolates and chewier, dried up pieces of mango or fruit. Not here. These are awesome. I could pick on these all day. Good Peruvian chocolate and soft mango pieces and not that high in calories. And I kind of want to leave the tin open like a fruity, chocolate-y, reed diffuser for my apartment.

 

Product information:

Chocolate Drenched Mango
Ingredients: Dark chocolate (cacao beans, cane sugar, cocoa butter, soy lecithin, vanilla), dried mango, sugar, corn syrup, tapioca dextrin, confectioner's glaze

Nutrition: Serving Size: 17 pieces (20g), Calories 90, Calories from Fat: 45, Amount Per Serving (% DV*): Total Fat 5g (8%),Sat. Fat 3g (15%), Trans.Fat 0g (0%), Cholesterol 0mg (0%), Sodium 0mg (0%), Total carb. 12g (4%) Dietary Fiber 2g (8%), Sugars 9g, Protein 1g, Vitamin A (6%), Vitamin C (15%), Calcium (0%), Iron (2%) *Percent Daily Values (% DV) are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.