20°N & 20°S

Marou ~ Tiền Giang 70%

 

 

La deuxième ronde avec Marou, Faiseurs de Chocolat. Première dégustation avec leur barre d'origine unique à partir de Vietnam, Dong Nai 72% a été une expérience très jolie. Le Tien Giang à 70% aujourd'hui.

Samuel Maruta m'a honoré par Tweeting que mon premier examen de Dong Nai 72% étaient leur premier avis REAL. Je ne sais pas ce que mes opinions apporter à la table parfois, mais tout ce que je peux faire, c'est de rester vrai. Bonne ou mauvaise. Dong Nai a été très bonne.

Je suis amoureuse de leur emballage. Très simple et toujours très asiatique dans le thème. Elle coule très bien avec qui ces chocolatiers sont.

Blame my translator if the above is mangled in anyway.

 

Tiền Giang province on the Mekong Delta. Lush areas ripe for chocolate growing. It makes sense and in a way reminds of some of the delta river valleys in Madagascar. Not that I have been to compare the two. I am sure Vietnam is much hotter, and perhaps more jungle, but from what I gather the conditions seem similar. 

 

 

This full bodied chocolate owes its  spice and fruit notes to the organic Trinitario beans grown by farmers on the Cho Gao co-op in the Mekong Delta.

 

 

Tiền Giang 70%

 

Type: Bittersweet, 70%

Bean Varietal: Trinitario

Ingredients: Cacao, cane sugar, cocoa butter.

Sample Size: 100g

 

Appearance: Deep dark brown color, shiny surface, monogrammed custom molding, very slight scuffing and particle matter.

Score: 92

Snap: Very hard snap, too hard,  loud cracking sound, crumbling break lines.

Score: 88

Aroma: Very tart and citric aroma, char with some underlying rubbery tar notes, a little medicinal, aged wood, and fruity berries. Hard to find but subtly there are some coffee grinds and very faint cinnamon aromas.

Score: 92

Taste: Bold fruits up front, floral flavors mixed in with the berries, tart and acidic, deeply bitter, nutty biscuit flavors on the finish from retro-olfaction

Score: 87

Texture: Fairly hard. Hard to bite into, hard to snap, but it doesn't take too long to open up once in the mouth. Medium melt-time, nice creamy texture once it opens up, nice smooth texture.

Score: 91

 

Much cleaner appearance this time. I wasn't hard on my last review with appearance realizing that these bars did come all the way from Vietnam to Michigan, and finally to Cambridge. But this bar was in much better shape.

Really hard though due to it's thickness. It has a gloriously loud, cracking snap, but it left a lot of crumbles and broke half way down the center. Needs a little bit deeper grooves in the molding for an easier snap and easier bite size pieces. This also made it a problem biting into. It melts with a nice even medium melt-time, and has a nice smooth texture, but I ended up having to snap it into bite size bits with my hands. But once it's in the mouth and the melt begins, it has very nice texture. That's what I scored it on, but I have to make a note here about biting into it. A little too thick.

It's aroma was strong and citrus-y. It had big fruits, but also big aged wood aromas that mingled with the berries and fruitiness and left a medicinal aroma as an effect of that. Some char aromas from the roasting, and some slightly inky qualities. And just barely there, I had to really inhale this aroma for a while, but there are some coffee grinds and cinnamon aromas coming off this bar. Super light though.

The flavors were much more straight forward. Big huge fruit flavors and bold berries right up front with a soft layer of floral elegance lightly hanging on top of the big fruits, good balance of sugars, but very tart and acidic. Tart but not sharp. Very bitter but sort of rounded out by the big fruit flavors of this chocolate. Very distinctive nutty biscuit flavors on the finish. Bitter lingering after taste that holds on to the palate tightly.

I wanted to rate this higher on the flavor because the nuttiness, the floral aspect, and big full fruit flavors were stellar. But there is a bit of an acidity issue and a bit of some wild bitterness that dominates the palate. The flavors were so big and bright that they could stand up to the bitterness, but eventually the palate is overtaken.

I really want to stress that these are minor issues for me personally. I liked how big and bold the flavors were. Pretty straight forward and not a lot of hard-to-find nuances. It is what is is. But in the interest of fairness for reviewing, there were some mistakes with this bar. Tame the acid and bitterness and thin out the molding a little bit.

 

Final Score: 90

   score
    B

Marou ~ Dồng Nai 72%

 

This begins my journey with new bean-to-bar producers, Marou Faiseurs de Chocolat, in Saigon, Vietnam. Two Frenchmen, Samuel Maruta and Vincent Mourou-Rochebois, who moved to Vietnam and began producing their own bean-to-bar chocolate locally made right there from the source. Vietnam's first single origin bean-to-bar producer in the country.

I have been in close contact with Samuel via twitter discussing as of late, French cheeses, chocolate packaging, and little bit about their crazy adventures in Vietnam. It's been rather nice discussing these things. I am utterly fascinated by anyone who gives it all up to follow and pursue a dream. After all that's what we did with BeerAdvocate and now this venture which is small for now, with Chocolate Advocate. I am running into that a lot right now and running into a some great foodies and chefs from that side of the world interested in their local goods and interested in talking about it without pretencions and without ego. Genuine excitement for the work they do. It's not that people aren't discussing those things here, but it's been a while where it was only about passion and not about egos.

I thank Samuel and my new Aussie twitter pals who have been very engaging and without knowing it, encouraging me to come out of my shell more in regards to food. I consider myself an extreme amateur who is doing whatever I can to learn and read everything about chocolate. So when someone excepts me into their food folds, I feel honored. I can bring chocolate and beer to the table at least.

Thank you Samuel for sending me chocolate to review. I am always eternally grateful for samples being sent my way.

 

Sam and Vincent. Image via their blog.

 

Samuel tells me that to begin this journey I should start with this Dồng Nai 72%, the yellow label first. This bar is made with beans sourced from the Dồng Nai Provence of southern Vietnam just north of Hồ Chí Minh City.

A rare and delicate chocolate, made in small batched, from agro-forestry farms around Cat Tien National Park's Primeval Forest.

 

Image via Vietnam Travels.

 

Here is a link to their blog about briefly describing cacao history in Vietnam.

 

 

Dồng Nai 72%

 

Type: Bittersweet, 72%

Bean Varietal: Trinitario

Ingredients: Cocoa, cane sugar, and cocoa butter.

Sample Size: 100g

 

Appearance: Thick solid tablet monogrammed tablet, deep dark brown color, shiny, but the shine lost a lost of luster along the way with a lot of particle matter all over the bar.

Score: 91

Snap: Very deep, hard and firm snap, very loud snap sound, but very crumbly break lines.

Score: 92

Aroma: Roasted wood, coffee, pen ink, berries, slightly green, mildly medicinal, and some wild flower honey aromas lightly hanging on at the top of the aroma.

Score: 93

Taste: Very fruity, big wild flower honey flavors, cocoa-y, roasted char flavors, big sugars, deeply bitter, a little tart, pen ink (wood and berries), coffee with cream flavors, biscuits and cereal grains through retro-olfaction,

Score: 94

Texture: Starts off a little hard, but opens up with a good medium melt-time, it's pretty smooth but not overly silky.

Score: 92

 

Let's get to the bottom of this once and for all. What exactly does "pen ink" mean in my reviews? To me it's a flavor or aroma of roasted cacao that has big wood flavors and berries that sort of blend together and remind me of Bic pen ink. Surely you must have had one explode on you before and that smell and that taste (it's exploded on me for gnawing at the end of the pen) of the ink is very distinctive. It's what I think these blended berries and roasted tar and char aromas of some cacao reminds me of. When they blend together and there isn't a clear picture of what kind of berries or wood because the char is there. It's not very eloquent but then again I don't really care about that. I care about the exact memories, the flavor profiles it evokes.

This was great chocolate. There is a lot going on with the flavors. The aroma's and the flavors matched up very well too. Big fruits right off the bat, and then a surprising honey flavor, it's big with sugars but not unbalanced since this bar is very bitter. Some wood flavors and berries in the middle and some roasted cacao with char flavors. It finishes with coffee and cream notes and of course the cereal grains. It has some tartness to it, but it's really not acidic at all.

I do want to mention that the molding has everything to do with the giant snap quality of this bar. It's almost a little too hard without any definitive tablet indentations. I also didn't take it out on them too much over the particle matter all over the bar. The bar was still in great shape, no bloom, no major scratching and scuffing. But it did lend to a much more muted surface appearance. I am stickler for chocolate looking as pretty as it tastes.

 

Final Score: 92.4

   score
  B+

Zaabär ~ Milk Chocolate with Guérande Sea Salt

 

A new chocolate company for me. Zaabär of Belgium. I picked this up in Quebec City. I wish I knew about them before now. I have been to Brussels twice in the last two years. It would have been nice to visit the shop. Those who aren't familiar with Brussels, it's completely choked out with bad Belgian "tourist" chocolate. Secret gems like this, Laurent Gerbaud, and Pierre Marcolini are some of Brussels saving graces.

 

The chocolate factory Zaabär was created at the end of 2007 by François-Jean Decarpentrie. “Zaabär”, name inspired by the Spices Bazaar of Istanbul, is a innovative concept : based on the association of Belgian chocolate and spices coming from all over the world.

The chocolate factory Zaabär also innovates by creating, in October 2008, the Zaabär Factory Shop, a chocolate manufacture and at the same time a point of sales and production. This 600 m² space marvellously designed, comparative to New York’s places, invites the visitors to discover the secrets of the chocolate maker’s craft. All the creations of the chocolate maker are sold in the shop, behind the factory.

Since 2009, the chocolate factory Zaabär organizes visits and chocolate classes to make truffles, spiced chocolate bars and chocolate shapes.

The chocolate factory Zaabär sells its chocolates in Belgium, of course , but also in France, Germany, Spain, Canada and Japan, in fine food stores, or qualitative confectioneries.

 

This bar comes part of their Duo series. Chocolate with spices.

Chocolate bars with spices. Each DUO combines with delicacy Belgian pure and fine chocolate with fruits, flowers and spices from the 4 corners of the world. The two 35gr-chocolate bars makes it possible to enjoy the surprising flavour of each tasteful combination. Vacuum packed, the chocolate bars preserve their flavour in an optimal way.

 

 Sel de Guérande (Medium) Brittany:

Roasting & Cooking - Sea Salt, All Natural

An unrefined natural salt, enriched with elements, especially magnesium, with a taste reminiscent of the sea and winds of Celtic Brittany. Guérande is harvested by hand and celebrated in kitchens throughout the world. Guérande is excellent as a finishing and well as a table salt.  

For hundreds of years, the inhabitants of the coastal town Guérande, have harvested salt by hand, using traditional Celtic methods. Today a cooperative of salt farmers continues to produce quality sea salt, which many argue is the ‘champagne’ of sea salts. A completely natural salt, it is light grey in color, rich in minerals, enhances flavors spectacularly, and is a favorite in kitchens throughout the world.

The grey color comes from the rain lightly disturbing the clay at the bottom of the salt ponds. Pure and unprocessed, the salt is dried slowly and then ground into a fine powder or left coarse. This is a proud table salt and a favorite with Celts for thousands of years.

Guérande enhances all recipes, and it is particularly good with seafood, steaks, or anything else you can find in a French kitchen, (although we haven’t yet tried it with frogs legs or snails).

 Via The Spice Lab

 

 

Chocolat au lait Sel de Guérande

 

Type: Flavored milk chocolate, 33.5%

Bean Varietal: Unknown

Ingredients: Sugar, cocoa butter, whole milk powder, cocoa mass, salt, soya lecithin, natural vanilla.

Sample Size: 2 35g bars.

 

Appearance: Deep burnt caramel color with dark flecks in the chocolate. Monogrammed custom molding, small size tablet, shiny surface, little but of some surface matting from vacuum sealed packaging.

Score: 93

Snap: Firm snap, low and very dull snap sound, clean break lines.

Score: 89

Aroma: Soft muted aromas of cream and peanuts, lightly smoky.

Score: 91

Taste: Sweet, milky and creamy up front, large salt granules, very sweet and salty, nutty and smoky flavors from the chocolate. But really this is about sweet and salty and creamy milk flavors. The salt disintegrates any lingering creamy milk flavors that tend to hang on and and end up cloying on the finish. Very Euro tasting as far as milk chocolate goes. Some slight floral notes on the very end of the finish from retro-olfaction.

Score: 93

Texture: Creamy, soft, medium fast melt-time. Large coarse salt granules adds a crunchy texture. A little too coarse though towards the finish of the melt.

Score: 90

 

This was really great. Lots of salt for a very sweet bar of milk chocolate. Creamy and rich milk chocolate. But the creams did dominate the chocolate. It tasted like most European-style milk chocolates.Big sweet fatty creamy milk chocolate, little hints of smoke and some nuttiness, but the salt really dominates once you get to the middle of the melt. It's almost too salty at one point. I kind of enjoyed that because it helped wipe the palate clean and not leave cloying milk flavors behind. But it was a bit over powering in terms of balance. It leaves you with sugary cream versus salt.

Technically this was imbalanced and overly salty, but I got to say I liked it. The salt totally rips up that cream dominance. It prevents it from becoming cloying. But at the same time, the rich fatty milky chocolate was too sweet and needed that taming. They just might want to ease up a bit on the salt to do that.

I was hoping for a much bigger aroma with the bar being vacuum sealed. It was fairly soft. Only a few notes to talk about. As someone noted on Twitter, the packaging reminded of them of a pharmaceutical packaging. I tend to agree with that, but I like the idea of the vacuum seal. Anything to hold aromas intact. But in this case the chocolate didn't have much of an aroma. The rest of packaging I liked very much. Textured box packaging with a duo sleeve for both bars and closes up like a book. I like it and I think it looks real nice.

 

Final Score: 91.2

   score
  B+

20°N & 20°S Presents: The Top 10 List for 2011-2012

 

 

 

I am doing things a little bit different this time around. Last year's Top Ten was based on the top ten chocolate makers. This year's list is based solely on the individual bars I have tasted to date. There are some chocolate makers whom I haven't gotten to yet for tasting like Potomac Chocolate or Soma Chocolate. A lot of my fellow chocolate aficionados have been waiting for those reviews on my blog, but I haven't had a chance to taste them yet. This list is only about what has been tasted thus far.

Having said that, I make this my official pledge to taste as many new products as I can. I have many new reviews on the way. The rest of 2012 will be an exciting year for me in regards to reviewing.

Without further ado, I present the Top Ten List for 2011-2012.

 

1. Amano Cuyagua

Once again, Amano takes the top spot for the best bar of chocolate I had all year. Limited edition bar made of coastal Venezuelan cacao with an amazing aroma and flavor profile. Fantastic bar of chocolate.

Aroma: Very complex. Slightly roasted aroma, sweet candy, tobacco leaves, mild smoky hints, oak wood, berries, mild hints of pen ink, light almonds.

Score: 97

Taste: Sweet sugars up front, deep and bold bitter cacao, tar, wood, mild coffee notes, complex berries, pen ink, soft and subtle flowery notes, and buttery toast notes on the finish with retro-olfaction.

Score: 96

 

2. Patric Chocolate Salty Signature Seventy

Just barely made it on to the list with this one. I reviewed this one over the weekend and was blown away with how good it was. I am so glad I managed to review it before the top ten list. I would have been upset to wait another year just to tell you about how good this bar was.

A wonderfully bold blended bar of chocolate with different origin cacao's and flavored with exotic salts. A truly incredible flavor profile and balance of intense flavors. Patric is really killing it with simplicity and true understanding of how to coax the best potential out cacao beans.

 

3. Ritual Chocolate Costa Rica 75%

A new bean-to-bar producer on the American chocolate scene. They sent me a sample of their 2009 vintage cacao bar. A big bold bar of chocolate with some floral flavors and an amazing aroma and flavor of Blackstrap molasses.

Very cool bar of chocolate and cool people behind the company. Passionate and talented. You will be hearing more and more about them as the progress with their range of bars.

 

4. Rogue Chocolatier Sambirano 70%

Aside from being a temperamental chocolatier and difficult to talk to about chocolate sometimes, Colin Gasko's Sambirano bar is by far and away one of the best in the world. He has released newer origin bars from Peru and Bolivia, but in my opinion they fail to cast a shadow on the greatness of his Sambirano bar. It was in my top ten last year, and continues it's dominance again for being one of the best bars I have tasted period. Although Mr. Gasko complains incessantly about how hard it is making chocolate, and how difficult it is to maintain a solid profile of spectacular chocolate in this business, and often discouraging others to make chocolate, his products nonetheless, prove to be some of the best chocolate in the world, not just the United States.

 

5. Mitzi Blue Mit Liebe

Gorgeous white chocolate with pretty flower petals sprinkled on top for that extra special appearance. Incredibly flavorful and creamy white chocolate. It was meant to be a gift from my friend Angelo Scarnera and his lovely sister Simone. But it ended up being amazing white chocolate worthy of changing the minds of those who swear they hate white chocolate. It was simply fantastic.

 

6. L'Artisan du Chocolat Limited Edition Bali 72%

This wasn't the absolute best bar of chocolate I have ever had, but it was certainly one of the coolest bars with a great natural flavor profile of bananas. An insanely good aroma and very interesting flavor profile. This bar really took a big step outside of the norm.

Aroma: Big sweet aroma of ripened bananas, spicy, peppery, smoky, almonds, wood, earthy, inky.

Score: 96

Taste: Sweet, cocoa-y like powdered hot chocolate, mellow and mild, lightly bitter, tiny hints of acidity, fruity, peanuts, lingering banana flavors, and coffee grinds. Way later in the finish were mild hints of cinnamon toast.

Score: 92

 

7. Slitti Super Novanta Amazzonia 90%

An excellent example of bold and deeply bitter cacao with zero bitterness and astringency. A hallmark of Italian chocolatiers that I have come to love. They just know how to tame cacao and really master the bolder stronger cacao percentage bars without kicking you in the face and allowing you to actually enjoy something so strong and bitter. I haven't been a big fan of 100% bars or uber high percentages like this. Sometimes it's just too much and too raw. But this was handled so well that you could actually taste good flavor profiles in it. It wasn't dominated by pure bitterness.

 

8. Zotter "Hand-Scooped" Scotch Whisky

Filled bar with a scotch whisky center and chocolate dipped in 70% cacao. Though this is more of a candy bar, this was a really cool bar to eat. I am not a fan of scotch at all, but this was handled real well and tasted quite amazing. I wanted to remind my readers that it's not always about the dark bars of chocolate.

 

9. Xocolatl de David Country Ham

A special bar made for Cochon 555, this bar of chocolate proves that you don't have to be stingy with pork products in your bars. Big bold chocolate and salty ham makes for the perfect sweet and salty combination. Nothing soft about this bar at all in terms of flavors. And what's not to love about having Benton's Ham in your chocolate?

 

10. Durand Madagascar Criollo 70%

I didn't want to like this bar, but I ended up loving it. I get pissy about the term Criollo being branded and labeled on everything now. Generally it's false, and means the price of the bar just went up at least $3 more dollars. But this bar really did have good flavor. The aroma could have been more had it not been poorly packaged, but at the end of the day, this bar ended up being very sophisticated chocolate.

 

Honorable Mentions:

Dick Taylor Black Fig

Mast Brothers Papua New Guinea 71%

Chocolat Bonnat for texture.

 

Best Hot Chocolate: William Curley House Blend

Honorable Mentions:

       Whole Food's Allegro Peru 68%

       Eríco Tanzanie 75%

Best Dairy-free: Zotter Lobooko Soya & Green Tea

Best Caramel: William Curley Assam Caramel Mou

Best Truffle/Bon Bon: Amano Dos Rios Palet D'Or

Best Chocolate Covered: Elaine Hsieh Pecan Clusters

Best Brownies: Homemade French Fleur de Sel Caramel Brownies with TCHO Baking Drops

Best Flavored Bar: Patric Chocolate PBJ OMG

Best Filled: Chuao Potato Chips in Milk Chocolate

Best Baking Chocolate: TCHO Baking Drops

Best White Chocolate: Askinosie White Chocolate with Davao Cocoa Nibs

Most Creative Use Of Chocolate: Hungry Mother's Lard Ice Cream with Smoked Chocolate Sauce, Toasted Sorghum Marshmallow, and Pork Rind for Cochon 555 in Boston.

 

Biggest Disappointments:

Pralus Chuao 75%

Mast Brothers Crown Maple

Zotter "Hand-Scooped" Bacon Bits

Patric Chocolate ~ Salty Signature Seventy

 

 

It's been a long time for me and my old pal, Alan McClure. Singing his praises behind every chocolate conversation. "I know that guy, he is a cool dude, and he is one of the few who truly gets it and creates truly good chocolate in this country." Truly!

Not too thrilled with the new packaging. Though it's hardly new now. He used to have much more sophisticated packaging, albeit a little same-y to the other bars out there. My homie has gone a little hipster on me. But whatever my opinions are, it's working. New products are being created, new collaborations, and new people out there talking about this fine American-made bean-to-bar chocolate.

I had a go with one of his newer creations called PBJ OMG. As silly as that lame name is, it ends being exactly what it is. He blended peanut butter into one of his more jammy/fruity bars of Madagascar chocolate to create a peanut butter and natural jelly flavored bar. It's fucking exceptional. I didn't review it, but I ordered it again with a promise to this blog to have that review up soon.

I was also lucky enough to get my hands on Deep Ellum Brewing Co.'s Double Cherry Chocolate Double Brown Stout. It's really a Baltic Porter all suped-up with Patric's Madagascar nibs and cherries. It's fucking delicious. Extremely limited edition, 300 bottles made, and my lucky ass got TWO of them. Thanks to the kind people at Deep Ellum.

There see what I've gone and done? Two F bombs in one review and in praise.

This review is about Patric's signature bar of blended cacao, and flavored with exotic sea salts. Limited edition bar with only 950 made. I bought four bars. I gave one away so far to my favorite restaurant owner, reviewing this one, and sitting on two to share with worthy friends.

 

On a foundation of our incomparable Signature 70% blend, we have sprinkled Prussian Blue salt, for sparkle, and Bali Sea Salt, for crunch. We sourced both of these salts with the advice and help of The Meadow in NYC, home of the world's best Selmelier: Mark Bitterman, author of Salted: A Manifesto on the World's Most Essential Mineral.

 

Salty Signature Seventy

 

Type: Flavored bittersweet, 70%

Bean Varietal: Blend

Ingredients: Cacao, cane sugar, cocoa butter, and salt.

Sample Size: 65g or 2.3oz

 

Appearance: Signature monogrammed splatter paint custom molding, Matted finish from the molding, back surface lightly sprinkled with salt. A little dry looking on the backside, and flow marks from filling.

Score: 87

Snap: Excellent snap. Very firm, crisp, nice loud snap, and clean break lines.

Score: 94

Aroma: Softer aroma than expected. Pen ink, a little rubber and char, soft roasted cacao, slightly floral, and some tiny hints of blueberries. Really faint though.

Score: 91

Taste: Salt up front, strong fruity flavors, tar, pen ink, a little tart, sweet sugars, berries, coffee flavors, wood, floral spiciness.

Score: 95

Texture: Nice gritty salt, then it opens up to a perfect medium melt time. Just long enough for all of the big huge flavors to take center stage. Creamy with a slight drying effect.

Score: 91

 

Aside from the gorgeous salt, and the shine that barely peeks out of the monogrammed molding, I am just not in love with the new molding. I liked it better with it was a tablet with monogrammed P's. It was much simpler, and more beautiful. Had better shine and sophistication.

Don't hate me Alan.

I am positive this bar is blended with Madagascar and Rio Caribe. All the hallmarks are there. Huge jammy fruits from the Madagascar, and tar, pen ink, and rubber from the Rio Caribe. Rio Caribe is by far and away not my favorite region for cacao, but Patric's stood out as the most robust and layerd versions of that origin. And blended with the Madagascar, it really softens up the Rio Caribe, but it doesn't deflect it's own big huge flavors. I am not sure if anything else was blended into this bar. These two origins dominate, but I would like to know where that insanely good spicy floral note comes from. 

The palate is totally dominated immediately by gorgeous salt, but then it melts away allowing a huge roller coaster of flavors to take over. The dank and dirty Rio Caribe flavors of pen ink, char, and rubber, then big bold sugars dominate the bar and huge fruits pop out, then this gorgeous floral spiciness takes over. It's simply amazing that last part. Best part of the entire bar in fact.

The aroma is fairly soft leaving only the less desirable aromas of Rio Caribe coming through. It doesn't leave any impression of the roller coaster about to invade your palate.

At first, I thought the salt sprinkled on top might have been a little skimpy just based on appearance. But tasting it, it was well balanced. You forget how big some of these salts can be and it ends up being the first huge flavor impact the palate is fronted with. Well balanced with extremes though. Big salt, big fruit, and bold sugars. They each take their turn presenting themselves. A well balance of the blended cacaos.

I freaking loved this bar. Probably one of the best bars I have had all year. No Bullshit. The letter grade is only reflective of the molding and mildly about the aroma and texture. This bar is still one of the best tasting bars I have had in a while.

 

Final Score: 91.6

   score
  B+

Weiss ~ Kacinkoa 85%

 

 

 

French chocolatiers since 1882.

Via the Weiss website and translated from Google:

The young Alsatian chocolatier confectioner Eugene Weiss founded his chocolate factory in Saint-Etienne in 1882. He is the inventor of the Top Chocolate, or the art of assembling the various soils beans to create a chocolate aroma of great subtlety and rare regularity. He also became a master in the preparation of praline he imagines in his famous Nougastelles always manufactured to the original recipe.

Chocolaterie Weiss is one of the last French chocolate to control the entire manufacturing: selection of beans, assembly, roasting the old to the gas ball, crushing, cocoa grinder, mixer, grinding and conching (the conching is the last essential step that will give the chocolate all its finesse and smoothness).

Complex aromas, slightly sweet, silky and fine quoits, a rare long finish: discover why chocolate lovers recognize Weiss eyes closed.

Weiss provides an authentic chocolate of rare purity, pure cocoa butter, no added vegetable fats, and offers mostly chocolate candy hazoïque without preservatives or coloring.

Weiss uses only beans of noble origins from the best vineyards in the world: Venezuela, Ecuador, Trinidad ...

Weiss chooses the best beans high, knowing the combine, according to the desired mixtures, the Trinitario cocoa from Trinidad & Tobago, the Venezuelan Rio Caribe Forastero or Ivory Coast, whose power is needed to spice up some specialties.

Weiss is as uncompromising in the selection of its raw materials. The ingredients in the composition of confectionery are rigorously selected pod natural vanilla, honey Pilat, almonds of Valencia in Spain and Marconas, Piedmont hazelnuts and Rome, oranges South of the Iberian Peninsula and apricot Luberon , Ceylon tea and jasmine tea, pure Arabica coffee, old kirsch, cognac ... and, the highlight, the 22-carat gold that covers the famous Or Palets

"My passion, my art.
Chocolate as love
Is an eternal source of inspiration
Rich of the noblest emotions. "

Eugene Weiss (1858-1939)

 

 

 

Kacinkoa 85%

 

Type: Bittersweet, 85%

Bean Varietal: Blended

Ingredients: Cocoa, sugar, cocoa butter, GMO-Free soy lecithin.

Sample Size: 100g or 3.5oz

 

Appearance: Patterned molding without monogram, deep dark brown, ashy, a little dusty with light sugar bloom, particle matter all over the bar from rough handling either from store in Quebec City where purchased, or in shipping, lined molding marks on the back surface.

Score: 87

Snap: Excellent snap quality. Firm snap, nice and audible, clean break lines.

Score: 92

Aroma: Big aroma of almonds, vanilla, coconuts, smoke, and aged wood.

Score: 93

Taste: Cocoa-y, almonds, wood, spicy, earthy, *moldy, deeply bitter, cinnamon, tart, some slight hints of grapes. Lingering but very faint hints of tar from retro-olfaction and hints of notebook paper.

Score: 92

Texture: Creamy with a medium melt-time, but drying and a little bit gritty with some large particles, and chalky.

Score: 86

 

I really liked the molding. Aside from the bloom and particles, the pattern was nice and good size small tablets for tasting.

This was some pretty funky chocolate. I kind of liked it because of that. I don't know for sure if it's flawed chocolate or not, but the taste was very different than what I am used to. Like the so-called flaws of the Papua New Guinea beans at the moment. Some people don't know what to do with the smoked beans, and others handle it just fine. I like it when things taste different. This had big coconut, almonds and dried wood flavors, but more curiously were the earthy moldy flavors with grape and tar flavors on the finish. *I know that sounds bad to say mold flavors, but it didn't find it bad. It wasn't moldy chocolate, it just had very deep rustic earthy flavors. Like the time the Mast Brothers had a bar that smelled exactly like potting soil.

This is very deep chocolate as it's 85%, big strong, musty, and earthy with pleasant almonds and coconuts in it. Very different. I don't know the ratios of this blend, but I'd say African beans give the almonds and coconut flavors. Maybe some hints of Rio Caribe in this but small traces of it for the tar and deep bitter factor. I can't say for sure what makes it so earthy.

Very interesting. I would like to take a bar of this to wine tasting and try and find a good fruity counterpart to offset it's deep bitterness and earthiness. Normally I would suggest a beer, but I want to see what this funky thing would be like with wine.

 

Final Score: 90

   score
    B