20°N & 20°S

Bonnat ~ Ceylan 75%

 

 

 

Single origin Sri Lankan cacao made by French Chocolatier, Bonnat. Sri Lanka is just barely apart of that optimal range for cacao growing. But the conditions were right and here we are with the finished product.

 

I don't know really anything about Sri Lankan Cacao, but I found a good source for some quick information from The Spice Council. Word is that the whole island is a fragrant beast (The Perfume Isle) with the spices and terroir impacting some of the aromas and flavors.

 

Ceylan 75%

 

Type: Bittersweet, 75%

Bean Varietal: Unknown

Ingredients: Cocoa, cocoa butter, and sugar.

Sample size: 100g

Lot #: A

 

Appearance: Signature Bonnat molding, large tablet with small tablets easy for breaking and tasting, soft brown color, shiny surface with a few matting marks on the surface.

Score: 91

Snap: Excellent snap. Nice and audible, clean break lines, very firm snap.

Score: 93

Aroma: Soft berries, a little tart, light roasted cacao, mildly smoky, slight aromas of tobacco and wood.

Score: 89

Taste: Deeply bitter, a little acidic, but not astringent, very mellow flavors, oak wood, char, rubber, roasted cacao, very subdued berries and toasted biscuit flavors, and soft hints of floral vanilla. Some lingering fruits left on the palate, like a soft nectarine and strawberry flavor mixed with cream. Like a lassi maybe. Can't put my finger exactly on it.

Score: 90

Texture: A little hard in the beginning, but then opens up to an insanely silky smooth texture with a medium fast melt-time.

Score: 96

 

Bonnat just slays me with their texture. I don't know they manage it, but it's my favorite. It's like pure silk and creaminess. This bar was a little hard at first but then the true texture revealed itself. It's one of the reasons Bonnat was on my Top Ten last year and probably will be on there again this year too for the texture.

I expected more from the flavors and aroma. It was very soft on those areas. If Sri Lanaka is a big flavorful spice island, then how come this are didn't really reflect that? I can't speak for where cacao is grown, but certain Asian bars are known to have picked up very distinctive banana flavors and other flavors that terroir. I expected more flavors like that the present themselves. Cool mango/strawberry lassi flavors on the finish but very soft. It's a nice way to leave the bar instead of the more dominant char and rubber flavors in the beginning.

The flavors and aromas were just average, but again the texture of this bar is the major defining factor. I wish I could see the techniques they use to make their bars.

 

Final Score: 91.8

   score
  B+

Mast Brothers ~ Papua New Guinea 71%

 

 

I have been waiting for this. Papua New Guinea is sort of a favorite region for me. Each bar I have had using beans from this region never fails to produce something cool and drastically different from one bar to the next. I wouldn't say my experience with this region is vast by any means, but it's something I generally look forward to.

Solid packaging from the mast brothers. I like this wrapper and I think it's fitting for how this bar smells and tastes. That might sound strange, but wait until you read about the descriptions I picked up from this bar.

This is a different bar indeed using post fermentation smoking techniques.

  After harvest, these beans are uniquely smoked. This post-fermentation process imparts incredible flavor; think hickory smoked bacon and aged scotch.

This is definitely a smoked bar of chocolate and one for the bacon lovers without having any actual bacon in it.

 

 

Papua New Guinea 71%

 

Type: Bittersweet, 71%

Bean Varietal: Unknown, probably Trinitario.

Ingredients: Cacao and cane sugar.

Sample Size: 2.5 oz

Batch #: 22081211

 

Appearance: Deep dark brown color, shiny top surface, simple non-monogrammed molding, scratches, nicks, and particle crumbs on the surface.

Score: 90

Snap: Nice snap, firm, crisp sound, clean break lines.

Score: 92

Aroma: Very big and bold aroma. Intense smoke, savory, hickory, bacon, tobacco, char, fruity, esters, potting soil, earthy, musty, dirt, pen ink, slightly astringent, and not to be influenced by the packaging, there is an aged scotch aroma.

Score: 95

Taste: Smoky, savory and bacon-y, pen ink, deeply rich and cocoa-y, fruity, fresh green tobacco, coffee notes, cereal grains, leather, tea flavors, robust and deeply bitter, acidic and mildly astringent, robust wood flavors, strange hints of kiwi.

Score: 93

Texture: Soft and creamy with a medium-fast melt time. Gritty grainy texture.

Score: 91

 

This bar was all over the place but really good! I opened this bar without realizing the beans were smoked after fermentation. It is every thing described on the package and more. Big huge smoke flavors, very savory and bacon-y. And then it sort of bounces around, fruity tart and astringent kiwi flavors, coffee, leather, grains, and tea flavors. It's very bold and bitter, and it does have that what is becoming a Mast Brothers signature hallmark of acidity and astringency. However, in this bar, those characteristics or flaws depending on how you look at it, don't really make this bar unpleasant. But it shouldn't be ignored that the Bro's really need to get on top of their game and refine these bars better. This bar just happens to have so much going on that certain flavors don't really interfere with one and other.

This is a vegan's dream right here. No meat in this bar at all, but the flavors have such a nice savory bacon flavor. The aroma has scotch on it, but it's not in the flavor. The Kiwi's, as odd as this may sound, almost lend to more of a mezcal flavor coupled with the smoked flavors.

Great snap on this bar, marred surface, but still a residual glossy shine on it's surface, and another mixed bag on the texture. I swear their bars didn't used to be as grainy as this. They are soft and melt great on the tongue, but the overly large particle sizes might be what is giving way to the astringency and acidity issues. Taza has this same problem but times ten. I have been at the factory and have had freshly made bars. I think once the bars are made they are smoother and less astringent. But once they have aged, they tend to sour a bit.

Whatever the technical flaws are on this bar, it doesn't manage to take away from how good and strongly flavored this bar is. Savory bacon and smoky mezcal makes for a big winner. This would pair awesome with beer. Rich deep and robust stouts or brown ales like a Munich Dunkel. But not smoked beers. Let the smoke on this infuse with the beer.

 

Final Score: 92.2

   score
  B+

Mast Brothers ~ San Martín 75%

 

 

Peruvian beans from the San Martín region, this is the Mast Brothers go at Peruvian beans. One of the more trendier regions to explore and experiment with as of late with all the bean-to-bar producers.

  From the rugged rainforests of northern Peru, this cacao epitomizes, elegance. Floral notes are followed by rich plum, orange peel and mint.

This is a very simple and straight forward map of the San Martín region of Peru.

 

 

I am pulling for some redemption with Mast Brothers after the Crown Maple Disaster. I am positive that was a one off, that something was off about that one particular bar or batch. The Mast Brothers quality is pretty damn great. I felt awful about having to write that because I have met them, I like them very much and I like every thing they are doing in Williamsburg. But in interest of fairness, I will always maintain my true feelings and convey my real opinions when it comes to reviews. Sadly I was very put off by the last bar I tried from them. Knock on wood that that will be a first and last time.

 

San Martín 75%

 

Type: Bittersweet, 75%

Bean Varietal: Unknown, possibly a new hybrid.

Ingredients: Cacao and cane sugar.

Sample Size: 2.5oz

Batch #: 12031211

 

Appearance: Nice paler color of brown, medium brown color, simple non-monogrammed molding, shiny top surface, drier bottom surface with some streaking, and a few nicks and particles on the surface.

Score: 91

Snap: Slightly weak snap, almost what you would expect on a milk chocolate bar. Crumbly break lines, small snap sound.

Score: 83

Aroma: Very delicate and soft aroma. Soft wood, almost like opening a new notebook of white paper, soft floral notes, mildly astringent, soft pen ink, and aged wood like an old wooden wine box.

Score: 94

Taste: Fruit forward, plums right up front, deeply bitter, spicy, woody, char and roasted cacao, pen ink, buttered toast, astringent and a little tangy.

Score: 92

Texture: Soft, creamy, medium-fast melt time. Gritty texture though.

Score: 91

 

Much better showing from The Mast Brothers. I knew they would redeem themselves. I have total faith in them as artisan producers.

This bar was shiny and sleek with some superficial nicks and particles and a little streaking on the backside of the bar. It looked a little dryer on the backside as well. But overall a fairly solid appearance. I love the lighter color. Some reddish tones in it and not a deep dark bar.

The snap was pretty weak. Not bad, but nothing to write home about either. Nothing exceptional. And it's texture was a little bit of a nuisance. It was very soft and creamy and had a nice melt to it, but there was a bit of a grainy texture that kind of ruins the integrity of this soft and pretty chocolate. 

The aroma was great. I liked this very much because it was so different. It smelled like a fresh new notebook of white paper. I love that smell. As it breathed a bit it let some stronger deep wood aromas out. It began to smell like and old wooden box. But with some tart notes and some underlying floral tones. Really nice and soft.

It's taste was fruit forward right away. They were not exaggerating with the plums description. That's what you taste right off the bat. Then it opens up and it's balanced really well with the sugars, it's sweet, but not over done, it's a little spicy like maybe some hints of cinnamon, but that doesn't hang on long enough to really matter, it's very bitter, but not very acidic or sharp. There is astringency and a little bit of tang at the end, but it's fairly tame. Some pen ink and big wood flavors, lingering tastes of buttered toast. I thought I might have tasted some jasmine from the deep bitterness. It was hidden in the back. They describe orange peels but that's not what I was picking up.

This is a very nice bar of chocolate. Soft and pretty, some mild texture issues, and a classic flaw of some astringency but none of that takes away or disparages this bar of chocolate from it's true intentions.

 

Final Score: 90.2

  score
B+

Mast Brothers ~ Crown Maple 73%

 

 

 

Mast Brothers Chocolate and Crown Maple syrup from the Catkills. Simple enough concept, but not a lot of information about this bar except that it's made with Crown Maple products. No word on what the base chocolate is except it's 73% dark chocolate. Their minimalist website has zero information about it. Kind of frustrating to have to scour the web and other blogs to gather information about it. I get it guys, you are hipsters and artisans who don't like to use computers. But the rest of us do and we would like some more information about your products. Even after scouring, I still have no idea what the base is. I suspect it's either something Venezuelan or from the Dominican Republic.

Striking packaging as usual though.

 

Crown Maple

 

Type: Flavored bittersweet, 73%

Bean Varietal: Unknown

Ingredients: Cacao, maple sugar.

Sample Size: 2.5 oz

Batch # 21081211

 

Appearance: Deep dark brown color, shiny molded surface with streaky back side. Regular, non-monogrammed molding.

Score: 90

Snap: Light and dull snap sound, clean break lines with a chalky appearance on the break lines.

Score: 82

Aroma: Roasted cacao, smoky, little woody and a little tangy, caramel, medicinal, earthy, inky.

Score: 90

Taste: Tart, very acidic, inky, sour, big bold wood, toast, no maple taste whatsoever.

Score: 45

Texture: Very soft, grainy, fast melt time. Creamy but the grainy texture messes that up.

Score: 63

 

Tastes like something from Venezuela, but completely out of balance. This is the second time ever I have to report that I found a chocolate to be gross. It's terribly sour, extremely acidic, there is no natural harmony with the extremely robust flavors of the chocolate and the maple syrup. They're using a great product like a wonderfully natural maple syrup from small craft producers in the Catskills, you would think they would want that to shine through even just a little bit. I couldn't taste any of it in this bar. The chocolate is so over the top raw and untamed, it left little to be desired. I never thought I would say that about the Mast Brothers ever, but this bar was out of control.

It actually made my throat a little sore after eating a few squares from the acidity. I don't know what to make of that.

The appearance was simple and good. Just some odd streaking on the back of the bar. The aroma was fairly decent. But the snap was dull and weak and the texture was good up until the overly large granules of the chocolate interfered with that.

I am so frustrated with this bar. This is certainly not Mast Brothers quality that I am used to. In the past I have noticed consistency issues, and an acidity issue that I felt might become a problem if they didn't get on top of it. I noticed it in a couple of different bars making it a signature issue of the makers and not the beans. I have always said these guys are amazing. If they just tweak a few issues, they will be one of the best in the US. This bar was a huge step in the wrong direction.

This score should be lower than it is because taste is everything, but it's other technical marks hold it up higher than it should be.

 

Final Score:

score
D+

Pralus ~ Chuao 75%

 

 

This review comes with great regret. Great regret that I bought something this expensive without some background information and great regret that I was let down by it when it comes from a chocolate maker with huge respect in the industry. Maybe it's a fluke, maybe it's a one off with my bar, maybe it's just me because I find Chuao to be largely overrated. But regardless of the reasoning, this was a major disappointment for technical marks. 

Francois Pralus has a very long standing history in the chocolate industry as being one of the best chocolate makers in the world. I have been meaning to get more reviews on to this blog of their products. Consistently they have been making world class chocolate and have been leaders in the single origin lines of chocolate. This is one of the few times I have felt actually duped by a brand name of chocolate. That's saying a lot with Pralus' reputation.

I think chocolate makers are really pushing the limits of "rarity," regions, and packaging. These prices are just unreal and the quality simply doesn't match the price. Sometimes I don't care how far you had to trek into the wild jungles to forage for that rare bean/genetic varietal that no one else is using. I just want it to taste good and not cost me my first born child.

Chuao beans of Venezuela, porcelana beans, criollo beans, cut-the-head-off-6000-snakes-in-the-jugle-to-get-to-these-beans..... Most of it is bullshit, and I think we're really wearing out Chuao beans and holding them up in high regards that it may not necessarily deserve. I am not saying it's all for naught and that we should throw in a towel for this region. There are people who have done the region justice with some amazing bars. But overall, I just think it's over done now and 100% overrated and over priced. Maybe it's just me, but I haven't been that impressed. I think there are other regions of Venezuela that deserve much deeper exploration and attention. I am sure many chocolate makers will dismiss this with convoluted facts about the Chuao region, but as a consumer I am here to tell you that so far, I think it's overrated. 

 

Via their website:

To the west of Caracas, Venezuela, accessible only by boat, and after several miles of winding road and uncertain is a mythical place: Chuao.

This small village is famous for generations for the purity and quality of the cocoa growing there.Bordered on the north by dense tropical forests to the south by the Caribbean Sea, this isolation ensures a pure criollo hybrids and some unique. An exceptional, ancestral knowledge, a traditional drying ground before the front of the church have made this the most sought after cocoa in the world and the best. The tiny production makes it a rare product that we are proud to present. 

This chocolate is balanced by acidity and bitterness, woody, robust.

 

I rolled my eyes at, "accessible only by boat," part. While I am sure that's true, I bring back my orginial point. Who bloody cares if it's not all that? 

Click to enlarge images.

 

 

Chuao 75%

 

Type: Bittersweet, 75%

Bean Varietal: Criollo hybrids.

Ingredients: 75% cocoa, sugar, pure cocoa butter, GMO-free soya lecithin.

Sample Size: 50g or 1.476oz

 

Appearance: Lighter brown color, rich and orange-ish hues, square tablet with monogrammed molding. Very scratched and scuffed surface with no indication why. The package was not damaged and it was flawless wrapping inside the package. It would have had a nice shiny surface if not for the major scuffing. Also, very sloppy manufacturing marks on the underside of the bar. 

Score: 55

Snap: Good, deep firm snap. Excellent snapping sound. Crumbly break lines. 

Score: 87

Aroma: Virtually no aroma whatsoever. Nothing but dried raisins and a slight bit of dried wood that barely hangs on as soon as it's exposed to air. There was literally nothing else. 

Score: 65

Taste: Sweet sugars, very bitter, berries, astringent, tart, lemony, bold and dominating wood flavors, slight hints of lingering passion fruit. Longer lingering finises of tar and roasted cacao.

Score: 89

Texture: Very smooth texture, medium melt time, creamy texture. 

Score: 93

 

I know why people revere this region. It's flavors are immensely bold and complex. But everything else about the total package with Chuao beans is a total let down. Especially with this bar. 

The appearance is simply unacceptable. There is no visible reason for those scuffs. They pretty much packaged it like that. It's beat up and it totally takes away from it's gorgeous color and what would have been a shiny surface. Not to mention the very sloppy fill lines on the back of the bar. It's just not good quality for the price, reputation, and the excessive packaging. 

The snap quality was great. Good sound, and very firm snap. Just some crumbling with the break lines but a very minor issue there.

I am really surprised at the absence of an aroma. Too bold to too faint, it's not a good thing for me. I want to smell it's richness. This smelled like an old wooden box that had dried raisins in it for the last 5 years. Two notes and that was it. Nothing else came through and I was disappointed. 

Flavor wise it's huge but it's all over the place. It had some complicated notes to it, most intriguingly were the passion fruit notes. But all of it is completely dominated by wood flavors. Anything remotely interesting that comes up is dominated by tree and wood flavors. While it's hugely rich on it's flavor, it's not very well balanced. It's also astringent and deeply bitter. The bitterness and sugars seem more like they're fighting. Good berry flavors get annihilated very quickly as well. You're left with lingering char flavors and very little nuanced retro-olfaction flavors. 

The last remaining factor was it's texture, which I found to be great. Really nice and smooth. Creamy with a nice medium melt time that allowed the flavors to hang on and not quickly melt away or disapate. Texture and flavor are the only thing holding up this particular bar. And while some may say that's the only thing that matter, it's not in this case. This bar suffered from so many technical flaws it's a little embarrassing.

Again, it's with great regret to write so strongly against a major chocolatier. But this bar was truly absurd. The boasting of the rare region, the gorgeous albeit gratuitous packaging, the horrible scuffing, the complete lack of aroma, the almost single note flavor..... It's time to stop touting Chuao as this coveted region and really work these flavors to find a better balance. Otherwise, I will just go take a tree branch and chew on that for free instead of paying $12.95 for 50 measly grams of overrated chocolate. 

The price, however, is something to talk about. It's not Pralus' fault how retailers mark up their products. One store in particular is notorious for putting an outrageous mark up on their products. I am sorry Formaggio Kitchen. This isn't about railing you guys, but you know $12.95 is absurd pricing. Other retailers are charging $8.95. Even that is excessive for only 50g. Now you see why I am being extremely critical of the conditions this bar of chocolate. For $13 or $9, this thing should have been covered in gold or made to look like it was. Having said that, no one twisted my arm into buying this bar. I bought it based on Pralus' name alone. I should have done more research for a blind purchase. But with an excellent track record, how could I have known this bar would have been so grossly overrated?

 

Final Score: 77.8

 

  score
 C-

 

Vintage Plantations ~ 65% Dark

 

 

Vintage Plantations

New product alert for me. And thank god it's a company who likes to include all the information. I can't tell you how amazing it is to be able to click on a product and have all of the information there. No one has beaten the level of information Taza Chocolate provides, but this is pretty good information here. 

 

About: 

Unlike most chocolates made in Ecuador, Columbia, or Venezuela that tout themselves as “Farmer’s chocolates,” Vintage Plantations is an independent company. Not having to satisfy outside investors allows us to prioritize the quality of our products over the size of the bottom line.

The Mission: To support the small chocolate industry in countries where the chocolate originates by re-designing the cocoa commodity chain, thereby aiding farmers to adopt better farm management practices, protect the environment, ensure crops are free of harmful chemicals, and maximize their income in order to encourage the farmers’ optimal re-investment in the development of high-quality chocolate. The post-harvest cocoa processing is done in the country of origin, hence our seal (P.I.C.O. – Produced In Country of Origin) and we minimize the carbon footprint by eliminating unnecessary shipping.

The Challenge: We make chocolate in cooperation only with entities willing to follow the Rainforest Alliance Guidelines, and we train them to achieve very high standards of quality. We only support small farmers and league with local small enterprises in both Ecuador and the USA for all services needed to run our company.

We selected among three roasters to find the Ecuadorian partner which had the finest equipment to convert all the work we had done on fermentation into a ground liquor without losing any of the organoleptic qualities we had so carefully developed during cocoa bean fermentations. Since we have established this process for creating very high quality chocolates, we are proud to say that 17 new chocolate companies have sprung up in Ecuador, Venezuela, and Columbia following our footsteps. Vintage Plantations pioneered the renewal of artisan, batch chocolate making.

We have reconfigured chocolate making — from beans to bars — by requiring best farming and business practices in accordance with the Rainforest Alliance Guidelines. Moreover, we strive to balance the profit at every stage of the commodity chain between farmer and consumer, in order to make it more sustainable for all actors, thereby bringing added value to the chocolate in your hand.

The Result: Our model aims to protect you, the consumer, from the degradation of chocolate quality that is often the consequence of the single-minded pursuit of meeting “profit benchmarks” in major confectionery and chocolate industrial groups. Our products are made only from fermented, native original Vintage cocoa beans and honor the local flavor of the plantations, each harvest, and the distinctiveness of beans from one farm to another.

In order to get back to the vintage chocolate process of yesteryears, we had to design a new commodity chain, where only parties contributing to enhancing the quality of the end product were invited to join; those merely seeking profit from the current market imbalances were left out. The savings derived from circumventing the usual players were passed along to the farmer and re-invested in the development of the farms.

At Vintage Plantations, we have the unique perspective of having forged this standard of chocolate making from beginning, including several trials and unsuccessful partnerships from which we have been able to perfect and further develop our process. The end result, we are proud to say, is the first chocolate made with the farmer, offering you a“Vintage” chocolate of the highest quality.

 

Click the About link to find out more about their history and the Rainforest Alliance.

 

Product details: 

65% Vintage Plantations Dark Chocolate Bar (3.5oz/100g), Rainforest Alliance Certified, Sustainable Cocoa Program.

Made of 100% shaded Ecuadorian cocoa varietal "Nacional" – a classified "fine flavor cocoa". Its flavor is smooth, nutty, with a long dominant chocolate note and no bitterness or acidity. To transmit the purest flavor, we did not add any vegetable fat nor vanilla covering aroma. Our chocolate bars have a high content of cocoa solids, less cocoa butter fat and a lower glycemic index. The cocoa beans are roasted slowly to preserve the high antioxidant levels of pure cocoa.

Vintage Plantations' mission is to safeguard heirloom cocoa varietals, encourage sustainable shade cocoa cultivation methods preserving the rain forest, and guarantee a fair price for cacao farmers.

This project is the coordinated effort of Vintage Plantations with the Rainforest Alliance, a conservation organization dedicated to implement better business practices for biodiversity, conservation and sustainability and “Conservacion y Desarrollo,” the Rainforest Alliance’s partner in Ecuador which audits the sustainable cocoa certification program. Vintage Plantations develops the chocolate and guarantees heirloom traceability from the farmer to you. Together we plan to protect the shaded Cocoa plantations.

By buying our bars, you support the farmers directly, help preserve shaded native cocoa varietal in Ecuador and safeguard the Ecuadorian rain forest.

Additional Information

Product Weight	3.5 oz. / 100 g
Sugar-Free	No
Vegan	Yes
Gluten-Free	Yes
No Added Aroma(s)	Yes
Soy Lecithin Free	No
Certified by the Rainforest Alliance	Yes
Chemical-Free	Yes

 

 

As mentioned in another review, I have to preface this review with the unusual circumstances this bar found itself in. I reviewed this last year, or took pictures and notes on it and put the notes away until now. This bar has a very slight appearance of bloom appearance because I found this bar hiding in a drawer. While it was far from expired or past it's prime, the storage conditions were not exactly optimal. Having said that, this bar has held up remarkably well. Stored in plastic, it has upheld an amazing aroma and still has a very glossy surface. Just some slight beginnings of dusting and some superficial plastic matting marks. For the sake of honest reviewing I am informing my readers of a mistake in storage. Although it really hasn't effected this bar in any serious sort of way, I will not be deducting points for the presence of slight bloom. 

 

65% Dark

 

Type: Bittersweet, 65%

Bean Varietal: Nacional

Ingredients: Cocoa mass, raw cane sugar, soy lecithin.

Sample Size: 100g or 3.5oz

 

Appearance: Simple non-monogrammed tablet, glossy finish, deep rich brown color, almost a hint of particle detection in the surface, minor scuffs and plastic wrapper matting on the surface and some slight beginnings of sugar bloom. 

Score: 89

Snap: Good firm snap, dull and low thud snapping sound, moderately clean break lines. 

Score: 90

Aroma: Big full robust aroma, very perfume-y. Right out of the package it smelled like rich cream and butter, almonds, coconuts, and deep red wine aromas. After it aired out a bit it still maintained a big aroma and became more floral and soft. The snap gave way to some added red wine aromas. 

Score: 94

Taste: Sweet, earthy, flowery, fruity, coconuts, nutty, wood, deep bitters, no astringency, a little bit oak-y and flowery jasmine at the same time on the finish through retro-olfaction, some clean laundry-like flavors, hints of coffee, lingering pen ink and wood flavors.

Score: 96

Texture: Smooth and glossy surface, a little chewy, creamy, medium melt-time, drying effect on the palate.

Score: 91

 

A lot to think about with this chocolate. Some minor surface issues, and a medium snap quality aside, the aroma was huge and so was the flavor on this bar. The ingredients claim no added aromas or vanilla. Very complex aroma with deep red wine aromas, and a creamy butter aroma right out of the package. Hugely floral, with some coconut and almonds and nicely roasted cacao.

But the taste was complex. So much going there. Deep, rich wood flavors, complexly bitter, no astringency, and wonderful earthy coconut and nutty flavors mixed with clean flowery jasmine and perfumed clean laundry flavors. I know that sounds weird, but if you have ever smelled your dryer exhaust with big scented dryer sheets in there, then you know what I am talking about. Some interesting hints at the end of coffee and pen ink to round it out and complete a bizarre range of almost all flavors of South American Beans. All that's missing is the overly charred coastal region flavors. 

Very complex and complicated flavors. I liked this quite a bit. The only thing I didn't care for was that drying effect once again. It's becoming a hallmark of Nacional beans. I don't know if anyone else notices it, but I am really not a fan of it. The other textures of the chocolate were just fine though. It wasn't rock hard, it wasn't waxy and it wasn't too soft. It melted just slow enough to really sit back and think about this chocolate and allow each one of it's bold characters to come out. 

 

Final Score: 92

  score
B+

 

Artisan du Chocolat ~ Vietnam 72% Limited Edition

 

 

 

**Archived Notes

 

Finally an origin that I am not that familiar with. Sometimes there is a game to find new regions or unexploited regions for cocoa growing and be different or a step ahead of the curve. I am not against this race. It's a win win for chocolate lovers. "Why no, I haven't had a bar of chocolate with beans grown in Vietnam. Do tell." 

 

[Image Via Infoplease]

 

Via their website:

In Vietnam, small entrepreneurial farmers are remaking cocoa history by successfully farming fine cocoa commercially for the first time since the French period (late 19th century), making this batch of ground cocoa beans a precious and rare find. We chose well fermented and dried beans that morph into a silky chocolate with notes of raisin and oats. Surprisingly mellow at the start, this chocolate melts with a long and slightly peppery bitter finish. We meticulously select our raw ingredients for their flavour and wholesomeness: carefully fermented ground criollo and trinitario beans from chosen regions, pure cocoa butter and cane sugar. We mix, conche and refine each batch in our production in Kent. We make our own chocolate with love, devotion and the sole intent to bring you great chocolate
• Weight (e) 45g
• Shelf life 3 months
• Cocoa beans, cane sugar, cocoa butter, soya lecithin
• Contains soya. May contain traces of nuts, sesame, milk and gluten.

 

 

 

I have to preface this review with the unusual circumstances this bar found itself in. I reviewed this last year, or took pictures and notes on it and put the notes away until now. This bar has a dusty, dry sugar bloom appearance because I found this bar hiding in a drawer. While it was far from expired or past it's prime, the storage conditions were not exactly optimal. Having said that, this bar has held up remarkably well. Just some light dusting but a really great surface despite that. And being stored in plastic, it retained and held on to an insanely good aroma. But for the sake of fairness to anyone reading this, I must note at all times when the mistake was mine. The mistake here was not knowing a few bars got left in a drawer and I won't be deducting points on the appearance for that.

 

Vietnam 72%

 

Type: Bittersweet, 72%

Bean Varietal: Criollo and Trinitario blend.

Ingredients: Cocoa beans, cane sugar, cocoa butter, and soy lecithin. 

Sample size: 45g or 1.59oz

 

Appearance: Deep dark brown color, simple and light non-monogrammed molding, slight surface particles, relatively smooth surface, sugar bloom. 

Score: 91

Snap: Light but very firm snap, crisp snapping sound, moderately clean break lines. 

Score: 91

Aroma: Big full aroma of coconuts, roasted cacao, coffee, very creamy and nutty, and very slight hints of cinnamon.

Score: 95

Taste: Sweet, lightly tangy and acidic, small hints of cinnamon, cereal grains, raisins, slight hints of strawberries, pepper on the finish.

Score: 94

Texture: Smooth, creamy, medium melt-time, slightly drying finish.

Score: 92

 

Really nice bar of chocolate. Very fun and interesting. Aside from the bloom, the bar of chocolate was in really great shape. The aroma was amazing. Not overly complicated just straight forward and full. Good snap quality too for a relatively light or thin bar of chocolate on the molding. 

The taste was layered and deep. it was sweet with some slight hints of cinnamon and depp raisins with a light strawberry taste. I loved the cereal grains in the middle of the taste, and the finish was just as the package describes with a long finish of pepper. There was also a slight soapy perfume taste in the finish but very faint. Nice and complicated. 

So, even though I inadvertently ruined it's appearance, this bar held up so well. I enjoyed it's complexities in its flavors but bluntness in it's aroma. This would be a fun bar of chocolate to take to some friends and sit around and talk about it. Chocolate geek chocolate. The kind that sit there with a pad and pen and write notes while they preform retro-olfaction and nod their heads at one and other and furrow their eyebrows in silent agreement as if they figured out some long lost secret. 

 

Final Score: 92.6

  score
B+

 

The Grenada Chocolate Co. ~ Nib-A-Licious 60%

 

 

 

**Archived Notes

 

The Grenada Chocolate Co.

The Grenada Chocolate Company Ltd. was founded in 1999 with the idea of creating an Organic Cocoa Farmers' and Chocolate-Makers' Cooperative. We produce high quality Organic dark chocolate in Grenada with our world famous cocoa beans. Our factory is nestled in lush cocoa groves in Grenada's pristine rainforest.

Our award-winning organic dark chocolate has the wonderful complex flavor of Grenada's fine-flavored organic cocoa beans, processed carefully in small batches. Producing chocolate right where the cocoa grows allows us to do our own fermenting which gives us a real advantage in creating the finest, most complex taste from the beans.  We use our own extracted cocoa butter in our chocolate also from Grenada's fine-flavored cocoa. This brings in a luxurious extra richness and chocolaty flavor.  Our chocolate has a truly deep and rich flavor.

We now have over 150 acres of organic cocoa farms in our cooperative and operate our own cocoa fermentry, located one mile from our little factory. This assures that we perform every activity involved in the production of our chocolate, from the planting and growing of the cocoa trees to the fermenting of the fresh cocoa beans to the processing of our fine dark chocolate. We grow our cocoa totally naturally without the use of any chemical pesticides, herbicides or fertilizers and have been Certified Organic.

Our sugar is a fine organic raw sugar produced and milled by an organic growers' cooperative in Paraguy.

Whole organic vanilla beans grown biodynamically in Costa Rica provide our "dash" of vanilla.

Organic soy lecithin is used as emulsifier in extremely small amounts.

We are one of the only small-scale chocolate-makers producing fine chocolate where the cocoa grows.   Because small batch chocolate-making is very rare, we had to create our own processing methods, desigining our own machines and refurbishing antique equipment to meet the requirements of our unique situation. Most of our machines are based in design on those of the early 1900's, a time when quality had precedence over quantity in chocolate-making. Because we care about our environment, we use solar-electric energy to power our machines.

The original impetus and principle of our cooperative company is to revolutionize the cocoa-chocolate system that typically keeps cocoa production separate from chocolate-making and therefore takes advantage of cocoa farmers.We believe that the cocoa farmers should benefit as much as the chocolate-makers. 

 

Nib-A-Licious 60%

 

Type: Filled Semisweet

Bean Varietal: Trinitario

Ingredients: Cocoa beans, cane sugar, cocoa butter, cocoa nibs, soy lecithin, vanilla beans. All Organic.

Sample Size: 85g or 3oz

 

Appearance: Nice shiny surface, deep dark chocolate color, pretty cocoa nibs sprinkled on top and through out the bar, signature molding with air bubbles on the top of the molded surface.

Score: 92

Snap: Good, deep firm snap, light crisp snapping sound, clean break lines. 

Score: 93

Aroma: All tar and rubber. very robust and charred smelling. Big pen ink aroma right out of the package, smoky, tobacco, and a little funky. 

Score: 78

Taste: Sweet and sugary, very slightly astringent, berries, inky, tar, hints of melon, wood, complex fruits.

Score: 90

Texture: Good cripsy and crunchy nibs. Not ovelry dried and not soft and limp. Perfectly crunchy, Smooth creamy chocolate texture with a medium melt-time. 

Score: 95

 

I didn't get a picture of the top surface of this bar. I thought I had but it was only the underside with the nibs. It had a nice glossy finish on the bar but there were a lot of air bubbles on the top surface of the molded side. The nibs were not just sprinkled on top, they were mixed through out. So the top surface does appear skimpy on the nibs, but it wasn't. It was better the top wasn't fully coated so you can see the nice shiny surface. 

This was very different from the first bar of Grenada I had. I remember that bar being super bright, and green tasting like fresh cut or new wood. But this bar was charred to hell on it's aroma. It was all tar and rubber. I didn't find that pleasing at all. But it's taste was complex and fun. This was due to a lot of sugars helping tone down that roasted char taste. There was an awesome fruity character underneath the sugars and pen ink flavors. I had a hard time telling exactly what it was though. It wasn't the sweet berries originally detected but something deeper. The cocoa nibs were awesome. Nice and crunchy and a good dried wood flavor. That added some depth to this chocolate. 

I am on the fence about this bar. I hated the aroma, but I liked the way it tasted. It's pretty funky chocolate with the huge tar and burnt characters, but those sugars really help keep this in check. 

This is one of those moments where I am saying that even though I didn't like the aroma and it's not scoring as high as some would like or expect, I think this is still good chocolate. This is for funk lovers. I mention this all the time about chocolate and remind people that certain funky beers don't always have the most pleasant sounding descriptors. But once you understand those beers there becomes a developed palate and love for the not so pleasant. What I am basically saying is that this wasn't my favorite but it's still pretty worthy and I think there is a niche out there for people who like these funky things. 

 

Final Score: 89.6

 

   score
  B

 

Ritual Chocolate ~ Costa Rica 75%

 

 

Cool Colorado chocolate makers from Boulder who share a connection with me via beer. Colorado happens to be one of the best states for awesome craft beer. So they know all the same people I do and share a love for local producers. Now to get the beer to recognize a local chocolate producer and life is all good for the folks of Boulder, Colorado. Not to mention that one of their names is Robbie Stout. How can that not be beer and chocolate destiny? 

I want to thank Anna and Robbie for sending me this chocolate to sample. I am always grateful when someone finds my blog or my taste worthy of sending samples for review. Most kind and most generous. 

About:

Ritual Chocolate is a Colorado-based chocolate manufacturing company that is developing a line of direct-trade, organic, dark chocolate bars. Through our specialized approach to roasting, milling and aging, we are able to preserve the flavors that are unique to our single estate cacao beans. We are involved with the entire chocolate making process, from the bean to the bar, because we want to ensure that our values for the highest achievable quality are present every step of the way, including the traceability of ingredients, sustainable living for the cacao farmers, and inspiring our customers to explore the world of chocolate.

 

According to the enclosed note, their process is a bit different in that they are experimenting with new techniques and that they process their chocolate in four separate grinding machines. A nib grinder, granite melanger, 3-roll mill, and a longitudinal conch. Techniques they learned from their pal, chocolate legend, Steve DeVries. 

Read about their techniques here. 

 

As the label indicates, this is batch 8 of vintage 2009 trinitario beans from Guapiles, Costa Rica. Complete with a born on date of Nov. 3, 2011. 

 

 

 

 

Costa Rica, 75% Batch 8

 

Type: Bittersweet, 75%

Bean Varietal: Trinitario

Ingredients: Cacao beans and cane sugar.

Sample Size: 2oz or 57g

 

Appearance: Nice rich mahogany color, shiny, simple non-monogrammed molding, wide-spread surface matting. 

Score: 87

Snap: Nice firm snap, light snapping sound, clean break lines.

Score: 92

Aroma: Intense blackstrap molasses, very savory aroma with licorice, berries, and tar. Dissipates very quickly though but the molasses hangs on. 

Score: 93

Taste: Robust flavors of molasses, deep roasted cacao, char, acidic, bitter, bold berries, very deep wood flavors, lingering bitterness coupled with floral flavors similar to fresh clean laundry or dryer sheets. 

Score: 92

Texture: Very smooth and creamy, medium-fast melt time.

Score: 93

 

Aside from some surface matting, the color of this chocolate was nice and rich and shiny. Simple molding but nice and firm for good snap quality.

The aroma and flavors are nice and complicated. It's very robust and assertive chocolate. It's all about the blackstrap molasses. From the huge savory aroma to the flavor. It is flavor is deeply complicated once you get through some acidity and bitterness. I feel like it's a bit imbalanced with the bitterness and acidity, but the flavors are so big and complex and the sugar is perfectly balanced, that it helps add good depth. Deep berries and an awesome woody flavor, roasted cacao flavors and char. It's sweet, bitter, savory, fruity, and mildly floral. 

This is very complicated chocolate. I liked it very much. I think there needs to be some tweaks to the acidity and charred bitterness flavors, but luckily the flavors are so big that you don't solely focus on that. 

I feel like a nice mild milk stout or an oatmeal stout that isn't too bitter or hoppy would go well with this chocolate. The milky qualities would help tone down those charred flavors without over powering the chocolate. The chocolate will dominate, but it will play together nicely. But maybe a nice huge roasted Yeti from Great Divide just might do the trick with a little roasted char taste on roasted char to cancel each other out. I had to throw in some beer suggestions here just because it's Colorado chocolate and they are surrounded by good beer everywhere.

 

Final Score: 91.4

 

  score
 B+

 

Zotter ~ Labooko Ecuador 70% & Nicaragua 80%

 

 

**Archived notes

 

Art by Andreas H. Gratze.

Lobooko Duo Ecuador 70% and Nicaragua 80%. Dueling bars from different regions of Central and South America and slightly different cacao percentages.

 

 

The description for the Ecuador bar was only in German. So, with a little help from Google, I have a rough translation of the package descriptions. 

 

Ecuador, das Kernland der Inkas, birgt noch heute große Schätze. Die Provinz El Oro- das Gold liegt im Südwesten des Landes an Pazifikküste und an der Grenze zu Peru. Hier kultivert die Kooperative Urocal den Cacao Nacional. Dieser landestypische Kakao verströmt schon beim Rösten einen unverwechselbaren Geruch und taucht unsere ganze Manufaktur in eine unglaubliche Schokoladenduftwolke ein.

Dunkle Schokolade mit 70% kakaobestandteil bietet für meine Begriffe den höchsten Schokoladengenuss. Das ist genau die richtige Menge Zucker für die feinen Kakaoaromen. Diese Süße beflügelt ohne dominant zu sein. 

Beim Walzen wird der Zucker mit dem Kakao verbunden. Dieser wird ihr Aroma also, im wahrsten Sinne des Wortes, aufgedrückt. Und zum Abschluss folgt die Meiserschaft der Schokoladenproduktion, das Conchieren. 

 

Ecuador, the heartland of the Incas, to this day a great treasure. The province of El Oro gold lies in the southwest of the country's Pacific coast and along the border with Peru. Here, the cooperative Urocal the Cacao Nacional kultivert. This typical cocoa during roasting exudes a distinctive scent and immersed in our entire manufacturing an

incredible chocolate fragrance cloud.

Dark chocolate with 70% cocoa solids offers the highest terms of my chocolate. This is exactly the right amount of sugar for the fine cocoa flavors. This sweetness inspires without being dominant.

When rolling the sugar is associated with the cocoa. This is their flavor, then, be suppressed in the truest sense of the word. And the conclusion follows Meiser the shaft of the chocolate production, the conching.

 

    

 

 

Ecuador 70%

 

Type: Bittersweet, 70%

Varietal: Nacional

Ingredients: Cocoa Mass, raw can sugar, cocoa butter, salt. 

Sample Size: 35g 

 

Appearance: Medium dark brown color, signature Labooko molding with wavy air dry patten on top. A bit of scuffed surface from rubbing. Either from the bars the way they are packaged and rubbing together or from storage or transport from London to Boston.

Score: 91

Snap: Medium-firm snap, light snapping sound, clean break lines. 

Score: 90

Aroma: Soft roasted cacao, almonds, oak wood, fruits, sweet and candy-like. Almost reminds me of Wrigley's Juicy Fruit gum. 

Score: 96

Taste: Sweet but deeply bitter, subdued flavors, lightly roasted cacao, oak wood, raisins, plums, very subtle hints of buttered toast and possibly some tiny hints of cinnamon, earthy, traces of black pepper. Smoky lingering aftertaste.  

Score: 93

Texture: Chewy, with a medium melt time. Medium-soft texture with a slightly creamy melt. 

Score: 91

 

This is all about the aroma. A strange candy-like aroma that smelled similar to Juicy Fruit gum. It was kind of crazy, I had to keep my nose on this thing just to be sure I was actually smelling Juicy Fruit on the aroma. It also had big oak wood on the aroma and almonds. To me the aroma was the best thing about this bar. 

Although there were some hints of rich flavors in this bar, I felt like it was very subdued on the flavor overall. This seems to be a symptom of Nacional beans. A drying effect on the palate similar to the difference in rye's versus bourbons. Similar flavors, but one is more dry and less cloying. That would be the Nacional beans in this case. But for chocolate, the drying effect is not something I care for as much. It feel like it holds back the natural flavors being drawn out. I can't be sure if this is a real phenomenon, but it's something I have noticed more than once on Nacional beans from more than one chocolate maker. 

Because of this perceived drying effect, the sugars are much more apparent as well as the bitterness from the cacao. No acidity or astringency, but a bitter "ear wax-like" taste was left covering my palate and making it hard to notice the flavors of the chocolate. This bitterness is natural in a lot of chocolates, but I don't think it would as noticeable in other bean varietals. Unless it's technique flaws, but I doubt that's the case here. 

Good snap quality and only slight surface issues with the appearance. An interesting chewey quality to the texture with a medium melt time. Creamy texture and chewy at the same time like fudge or caramel once it gets opened up a bit on the palate. 

I have a feeling that this is one of those bars that most people in general will like more than I personally do. I don't think it's bad chocolate at all, I just think Nacional beans are not my favorite. I have been saying that in other reviews, but I am a little more convinced after this bar. It's hard to write a review like this. It's personal preferences and I am trying to be as technical as I know how to be as far the review goes. And it's pretty good technically. But then trying to express my personal dislike for bars that could be holding back the true flavor potential. I need more time and understanding of Nacional beans, but now, the aroma was the best part of this bar.  

 

Final Score: 92.2

  score
B+

 

 

 

Nicaragua 80%

 

Type: Bittersweet, 80%

Bean Varietal: Unknown

Ingredients: Cocoa mass, cocoa butter, raw cane sugar, salt.

Sample Size: 35g

 

Appearance: Deep ashy brown color, monogrammed with signature air-dried ripples on top, slightly damaged surface from rubbing and sugar bloom. 

Score: 82

Snap: Nice firm and crispy snap. Clean break lines. 

Score: 92

Aroma: Char, Pepto Bismol, menthol, medicinal, earthy, buried fruits and berries. 

Score: 91

Taste: Deeply bitter, slightly astringent and tangy, sweet sugars, wood, buttered toast, char, bitter pen ink, deep berries, black pepper.

Score: 94

Texture: Slightly hard, medium-long melt time, 

Score: 89

 

I didn't take too much out of the score for the rubbing appearance. I have had Labooko bars before that were just fine so I don't know if the rubbing happened from transport. I did take points off for bloom. One bloomed and the other didn't so I don't think it was due to improper storage. I generally make notes about that if I think me or my apartment was the culprit. 

This is see-saw chocolate. Up and down up and down. It opens deeply bitter and it coats the whole palate, then the sugars come through and sort of wipe out the bitterness leaving tangy astringent notes. The bitterness brings out a charred flavor and a pen ink flavor, but the sugars let the berry flavors sand out. Stuck in the middle is a buttered toast flavor and wood flavor. 

This was fairly bitter for me. Deep lingering bitterness on the finish too. It grabs a hold of the palate and refuses to let go. It's fairly cloying that way. The sugars help let some of the other natural flavors come out, but the bitterness and astringency come back and retake over the palate. 

This is beer geek chocolate. Beer nerds who love sours and the funky flavors that they produce will like something like this. It's not as funky as Rio Carribe chocolate, but it's in that same vein of descriptors that may not sound very appealing, but really are if you like things funky and deeply complicated. 

I scored it pretty high on it's taste because these flavors were complicated and very present or apparent. Even though it's not my favorite kind of chocolate or flavors, it's something that I can see the value of and see where people would find this appealing.

 

Final Score: 89.6

  score
 B