20°N & 20°S

Madécasse ~ Smooth 67%

 

 

 

 

Smooth 67%

Mellow & Subtle Sambirano Valley

 

Type: Semisweet, 67%

Bean Varietal: Probably Trinitario hybrids

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

Sample Size: 2.64oz or 75g

 

Appearance: Monogrammed tablet with cocoa pods, simple square bite size squares, A bit ashy, and broken and nicked up,  soft brown color.

Score: 83

Snap: Fairly decent snap. Firm with a mildly audible snap sound. Crumbly break lines.

Score: 91

Aroma: Wood, soft, sweet, mild pen ink aromas, slightly acidic, soft roasted cocoa, soft floral aroma, peppers and berries almost like a pepper jam.

Score: 94

Taste: Berries right up front, a bit of tar and acidity, mellow sweet sugars, then it opens up into bright cherries and huge cedar wood, a bit drying on the finish and soft a wood and cacao finish.

Score: 95

Texture: Medium melt time and medium hard, a bit chalky, but overall smooth.

Score: 92

Slightly harsh on that appearance, but I can't be soft on them with a broken up bar. I am pushing it a bit however, with this bar, and I want to be completely honest and fully disclose that I have been sitting on this bar for a while. While it has a 6/11 expiration date on it, I have had this bar since last fall. I am not deducting point on it's slightly ashy appearance. Just for being destroyed in it's package.

That aroma has a lot going on. This is supposed to be smooth and mellow, and while it is a softer chocolate, it has a lot of characteristics on the aroma. More fascinating was this aroma of pepper jam. It was slightly acidic on the aroma which I think lends credence to this idea of pepper jam.

 

Image via Formaggio Kitchen

 

Not sure what pepper jam is? Here is one example from Formaggio Kitchen. It's a condiment jam for cheeses and cured meats. Hungry Mother in Cambridge is famous for their small plates of homemade biscuits with ham and pepper jam. It's amazing.

But, there are still the light flowery aromas, bright and full berries, a mild hint of pen ink, soft roasted cacao, and cedar wood. This is quite a complicated aroma for something that is supposed to be soft and mild. One thing to note though, the aromas didn't hang around for long. Some chocolate opens up and gets bolder the more it breathes, this aroma popped out and then checked out, leaving the berries and and pen ink aromas to hang around.

The taste is what I have come to know as very classic Madagascar flavors of bright cherries and big cedar wood. It's a bit inky at first but opens up sweet and mellow. A bit tangy and astringent, but not over the top by any means. It's fully flavored of these deep and complex berries, but it's definitely rounded out and smoothed out. Full flavors, but not kick you in the face with flavor. I like that the berries present themselves, dominate, take over the palate and then slip away as the cedar woods finish up and dry out the palate leaving a nice soft aftertaste without being cloying.

The texture could have been a little bit better than what it was. A bit hard, medium melt time, and a bit chalky. Not too bad though. Still, it was over all smooth, but if this was a tad creamier and a tad softer, this could be brilliant mellow semisweet chocolate. The flavors more than make up for it's texture though. Just a good tasting Madagascar chocolate.

 

Final Score: 91

   score
  B+

Claudio Corallo ~ Gengibre (Ginger)

 

 

Gengibre (Ginger)

 

Type: Flavored, Bittersweet, 75%

Bean Varitetal: Trinitario, Hybrid

Ingredients: Cocoa, sugar, crystallized ginger, cocoa butter.

Sample Size: 50g or 1.76oz

 

Appearance: Two non-monogrammed tablets of chocolate, mildly ashy, couple of surface cracks, bumpy surface from the crystallized ginger, a few white rings around the ginger that wasn't completely submerged in chocolate.

Score: 90

Snap: Fairly decent and firm snap this time around. Light but crisp snapping sound. Asymmetrical but clean break lines.

Score: 92

Aroma: Dominating ginger right out of the gate. But more like a fresh pickled ginger and wasabi. Tar and roasted notes from the cacao, ginger and chocolate give way to some lemony characters, a few blueberry notes.

Score: 94

Taste: Sweet up front, light, clean ginger taste in the beginning, sugary crystallized ginger, slight hints of soap, a weird mix of the cocoa and ginger in the center but the sugary and spicy ginger takes over and completely tones down the big, rustic, and bitter cocoa.

Score: 92

Texture: A little hard at first, then opens up to a little bit of a gritty texture on just the chocolate, medium melt time, and soft chewy crystallized ginger.

Score: 89

 

This is one of those moments where I must be as objective as I can because I am not a fan of ginger. This chocolate surprised me over all though.

Finally, I got some tablets that came intact. I always get broken tablets from Corallo. These were intact albeit a little ashy and white sugar rings from the crystallized ginger. But still you get a look at their more rustic tablets and more of a feel for the plainness of it all and the raw chocolate tablets. And the snap was nice and firm this time. Usually there is very little snap to speak of. These tablets tend to be fairly soft. This had a nice little snap for being thin tablets.

It smelled like fresh pickled ginger and wasabi and roasted char aromas from the cocoa. It opens up with a sweet taste, and a clean ginger taste, a bit tangy and lemony from the roasted characters of this rich chocolate and the crystallized ginger. I think the ginger dominates the flavor of this bar. The chocolate barely has time to shine. There is a moment when it's boldness comes through. But there is a slight weird interaction in the middle with the ginger and the char characters. Then it had a bit of a soapy taste. This is why I usually don't like ginger. The clean flavors up front were very nice and giving way to that lemony taste with the cocoa, but then it turns into soap and flavors that my palate flat out rejects. But this soapy flavor doesn't last long which is why this chocolate surprised me and ended up being a lot better than I expected. I think the sugars had a lot to do with keeping those off flavors at bay. And that crystallized ginger is very sweet.

I do feel like the ginger was a bit overwhelming over all. But this isn't a bad thing. This is perfect for those who adore all things ginger. However, I wish the chocolate interacted more and gave off more flavors. The sugars only gave way to the chocolates contrasting flavors like tar, and bitter roasted notes. There wasn't a good enough balance in my personal opinion. But like I said, as someone who isn't a lover of ginger, this was actually pretty nice over all.

The texture was a bit of a mixed bag for me. It was loaded with the soft and chewy crystallized ginger bits, but the actual texture of the chocolate was hard, fairly dry, and a bit gritty. If only the chocolates texture was smoother and softer and just just a bit more of an impact on the flavor, this would have had an exceptional score.

 

Final Score: 91.4

   score
  B+

Claudio Corallo ~ Laranja (Orange)

 

 

Laranja (Orange)

Type: Flavored, Bittersweet, 75%

Bean Varietal: Trinitario, Hybrid

Ingredients: Cocoa, sugar, crystallized orange peel, cocoa butter.

Sample Size: 50g or 1.76oz

 

Appearance: Two tablets, one broken, plain non-monogrammed tablets, ashy, bumpy surface from the orange peels, and cracked lines all over the suface, very rustic and simple.

Score: 87

Snap: Mild snap, very thin and a tad chalky.

Score: 83

Aroma: Big char, roasted cacao, toast, huge coffee aroma, pen ink, rubber, buried orange aromas and the faintest hints of blueberries.

Score: 91

Taste: Sweet sugars right up front, char, pen ink, deep fruits, mild orange peels. A nice flavor balance at the end of the tasting through retro-olfaction.

Score: 94

Texture: Dry, chalky, slow to open up, hard but without a decent snap.

Score: 83

 

The score on the appearance is a mixed bag because as I have mentioned in previous Claudio Corallo reviews, I have come to appreciate the simple, rustic, molding of their bars. No pretentious moldings, just simple tablets, packaged and ready to eat. However, I am getting tired of always having broken up tablets from them. And this bar, despite it's simplicity, was totally ashy.

The aroma is what it is. This is Claudio Corallo chocolate through and through. Huge aroma of coffee, char, toast, roasted cacao, but a very slight hint of the orange. It's there but totally buried underneath Corallo's hallmark aromas. It should have more of an orange aroma, and that's why it has the score that it does, but it's also not a bad score based on being in love with this gigantic aroma.

A little sweet at first, then it takes it's time to open up. It's chalky and dry which hides a lot of the true flavors. Pen ink, char, deep complex fruits, and very mild orange peels. I expected more from the orange peels. I expected bigger flavor and more orange oils and a bit of a bitterness from the peels. A bit more sugar from the crystallization. They were very dull.

For me this isn't entirely a bad thing. I am not one to rave about orange peels and chocolate. Even if I am not the worlds biggest fan, I still expected a bit more from the orange. Instead it got completely overtaken by the extreme boldness of Corallo's cocoa.

The lingering aftertaste and retro-olfaction flavors are nice however. More of a combination of the sweet orange and toast flavors give for more of a comforting linger taste. It's a shame this wasn't the case throughout the bar and only reserved for the end flavors.

Overall this wasn't that great. But it's not bad either. I just think it could have been so much more.

 

Final Score: 87.6

    score
     B

 

Zotter ~ Hand-Scooped Cheese-Walnut-Grapes

 

Simple art design for Zotter by Andreas H. Gratze.

Handmade filled or layered chocolate bars with unique flavors from Zotter in Austria. This was given to me by my good friend in London, Angelo Scarnera. I requested some more Zotter products and he found a few of these funky bars to try from some of the local markets around London.

Zotter has a fairly large range of products. All unique and interesting and packaged with awesome artwork. A bean-to-bar producer who works with fair trade and organic ingredients.

 

"Hand-Scooped"

Via Zotter's website:

Zotter was the first chocolate manufacturer who introduced the term “hand-scooped” in order to create a distinguishing feature that would set his chocolate apart from the usual pure chocolates. Scooping is also an appropriate expression for his manufacturing of unique chocolates and the creative combination of ingredients into constantly new varieties.

The manufacture of hand-scooped chocolates can be carried out without the use of any moulds. Using a ladle and a cylinder our BASiC couverture – the final product from the conching plant – is applied manually to a millimetre-thin layer of paper which has been spread over stainless steel tables with a length of 15 m.

This is followed by the first filling layer, e.g. a deeply red raspberry mass and subsequently by the next layer, for example an aromatic coconut mass. It is applied using a spatula and afterwards distributed evenly. Certain chocolate varieties are composed of up to 6 layers, which are all applied manually. However, the heavy pots which contain the fillings are held by a crane. The BASiC couverture comes into play as the final layer.

The giant chocolate bar is cut longitudinally and transversely by means of a machine which only carries out the arrangement of the bars but is moved manually. 1120 chocolate bars are produced on one table. Afterwards the small 70g-bars are dipped into and surrounded by liquid couverture. Their typical wavy surface results from a flow of cold air with which the surplus chocolate is blown off. The transport through a cooling tunnel solidifies the chocolates and lends them a shiny appearance. After having been wrapped into golden paper, the chocolate bars look forward to being surrounded by their enchanting package bands.

 

 

My first experience with Zotter was excellent. I tasted his Labooko bars from Brazil. Two bars of chocolate from two distinctly different regions from one country in one package. Incredible art work as well for a chocolate bar.

Same art designer, simpler design for the Cheese-Walnut-Grapes bar. I kind of like it being simpler. It's an already crazy flavored bar. It doesn't need more bold and wild packaging. At least in my opinion anyway.

Austrian mountain cheese, walnuts, grapes and a touch of balsamic apple vinegar, altogether dipped in fine bitter chocolate.

This bar asks that you open it and let it "breathe" a bit before eating. Like a fine wine. I wonder if they will make a chocolate that is nuanced towards beer palates?

 

 

Cheese-Walnut-Grapes

Fine bitter couverture 60%.

 

Type: Filled, coated in semi-sweet, 60%.

Ingredients: Raw cane sugar, cocoa mass, cocoa butter, walnuts, milk, cheese, fructose-glucose syrup, raisins, full cream milk powder, skimmed milk yogurt, whole cane sugar, apple balsamic vinegar, Grappa, sweet whey powder, skimmed milk powder, lemon concentrate, soy powder, salt, vanilla, Bird's Eye chili, and soy lecithin. 

*Fair trade ingredients and controlled organic cultivation.

Sample Size: 70g or 2.47oz

 

Slight damage to the corner of the bar. Some leaking of the wet ingredients. Minor flaw to the bar. Cool waving pattern on the surface from the chocolate being cooled as it's being coated.

Upon opening it smelled sweet, like grapes, lightly boozy, wet raisins like from a loaf of Challah or raisin bread, and nutty from the walnuts. Once it's "breathed" a bit the aromas intensify mostly the raisins and the boozy esters from the Grappa.

Soft filling in the center, very light chocolate coating. Big roller coaster flavors. Sweet, sugary, cinnamon, big raisins, funky cheese with salty and tangy notes, and chocolate. Walnuts give added lingering flavors and texture.

Very funky and weird, yet very good. You get the sweetness and raisins right away, then it breaks out in the funky cheese, almost like a washed rind or a big blue cheese. Those flavors you think will dominate, but they end up being smoothed out by the sweet chocolate.

The first few bites I didn't notice the Bird's Eye chilies, but as I got closer to the center I could detect small amounts of spicier heat coming through. It's also not as boozy as it's aroma makes you believe. It has a little bit of a milky/ creamy lingering aftertaste with some Grappa and cheesy notes through retro-olfaction. But after all those crazy flavors piled on, I get the lasting bits of chocolate on the front of the palate.

It's like a little European picnic rolled into one bar. Cheese, raisins, walnuts, hints of Grappa, spices, and chocolate. All you need is a bottle of wine or a good Belgian beer, a little bit of bread and this would be a complete picnic meal ready for the park. Although it is very unusual for a bar of chocolate, I an very impressed with this funky little thing.

 

    score
     A

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+

Mast Brothers ~ Dark Chocolate + Cocoa Nibs (Revisited)

 

This is an evolution of taste and review skills. The whole point of this blog is to watch me grow into tasting chocolate. Learning and understand chocolate better.

This is my first go at Mast Brothers. Dark Chocolate + Cocoa Nibs

I have to be honest, looking back I feel like the score I initially gave it was a little too high. That appearance is very streaky and I scored too high. And to be honest I was too generous with the taste score. It wasn't bad chocolate by any means. It still deserves a good score. Maybe in the B-range not the A-range. I still feel like the Mast Brothers have a long way to go with Madagascar beans. They excel with South American and primarily Venezuelan beans. However, I predict they will have one of the top Madagascar profiles in the U.S. And after tasting this bar again they have already improved greatly. They just need to keep working at it and keep tweaking it. Tone down it's rough sharp acidic edges and allow some softness to come through. Soften the sharpness so it's not a distraction to the amazing flavors Madagascar beans produce.

 

 

Dark Chocolate + Cocoa Nibs

 

Type: Filled Bittersweet, 72%

Bean Varietal: Unknown

Ingredients: Cocoa, organic cane sugar, cocoa nibs.

Sample Size: 2.5oz or 71g

 

Appearance: Smooth simple molding, a few nicks on the molded surface side, gorgeous smooth surface on the flip side peppered with wonderful contrasting cocoa nibs. The nibs make it pop. Darker chocolate color as well. Deeper shade of brown.

Score: 92

Snap: Crisp but thin snap. Clean break lines.

Score: 90

Aroma: First thing it smelled like coffee, char, and roasted peanuts, roasted cocoa and a tart aroma.

Score: 93

Taste: Acidic, tart, tangy, fruity, cherries, char, pepper, peanuts, cedar wood finish with lingering coffee notes and very slight medicinal notes on the aftertaste.

Score: 94

Texture: Slightly waxy right up front then opens up smooth, crunchy, not gritty.

Score: 90

 

I think this review more accurately depicts this bar of chocolate. This tastes better to me now but the technical marks more accurately reflect this bar in my honest opinion. I have been learning how to taste better the more chocolate I have and the more I review. That is the point of my blog. Learing and growing with chocolate.

It's becoming more balanced with the Madagascar cocoa. It's still a big tart and astringent, but it's a lot more mellow than it used to be. There is more balance with the flavor of the nibs and the conched chocolate. I got a few hints on cherries from the nibs as well this time. More nutty flavors as well and less dominating wood flavors.

I love how they balanced the texture. The crunchy cocoa nibs are just that crunchy and a bit soft but not gritty. The initial texture however, was a bit waxy this time. But it opened up creamy and had a fast melt time. This is chocolate you are allowed to chew up and not just let rest on your tongue.

Much better bar and I think much more accurate scoring. As accurate as you can get for a highly subjective tasting blog anyway.

 

Final Score: 91.8

   score
  B+

 

Chocolat Bonnat ~ Trinité 75%

 

 

 

Long standing traditional French chocolatier continuing today with single-origin bars. Beans hand selected and sourced from plantations around the world by Stéphan Bonnat. They are selected and then shipped to Voiron where they are roasted and made into chocolate bars.

 

Via their website:

Bonnat is story of a family’s long love affair with chocolate. It is a story which began back in 1884 when Félix Bonnat established his premises at number 8, cours Sénozan in Voiron (Isère region).

All Bonnat’s customers in France and those making their way home for Christmas by boat from the French colonies looked forward to tasting the Voiron “Pavés” (Praline Chunks) and other Bonnat specialities.

As time went by Félix Bonnat’s two sons, Armand and Gaston, began to help him more and more with the production and running of the family business.

And in 1956 Raymond Bonnat finally took over the firm. After studying business, he toured France, studied at the School of Chocolatiers in Basel, completed the COBA School and finally did a tour of Switzerland. He got married in 1959 and his wife Nicole, the daughter of well-known hoteliers in the region, helped him to run the business. Two of their four children, Cécile and Stéphane from the fourth generation, perpetuate the high quality tradition which has always formed the basis of the family business.

Our shop in Voiron is a place of pilgrimage for unconditional Bonnat lovers where they are greeted by Nicole Bonnat and her daughter Cécile.

Given that many tourists pass through Voiron on their way to the mountains, many of our foreign customers often stop off en route to see us. Our products are sold in Paris and in sixty other departments of France thanks to our network of sales representatives. Bonnat was dispatching its products out to the French colonies as early as 1919 – Africa, Indo-china, Asia. Because our business has always taken us to far away countries, having an affinity with and understanding the diverse mentalities of different continents is something which comes naturally. And of course our travels have also given us a real taste for the high seas.

In France, as abroad, our priority is to preserve the chocolate- making traditions which have made the Bonnat name so famous. We believe that, :

"What is good to the taste
is great for the soul"

 

 

 

This bar is part of the Grand Cru single-origin collection from Bonnat. Trinité also known as Trinity or Trinidad in the Caribbean. This is the origin in which these cacao beans come from for this bar.

 

 

Trinté 75%

 

Type: Bittersweet, 75%

Bean Varietal: Trinitario.

Ingredients: Cocoa, cocoa butter, sugar.

Sample Size: 100g or 3.5g

Lot: A

 

 

Appearance: Smooth, simple molding with smaller squares, monogrammed, and ashy in patches all over the bar.

Score: 83

Snap: Great firm snap, nice crack when it snapped and clean break lines.

Score: 94

Aroma: Beautiful rustic aroma. Earthy, musty and dirty, tree bark, a little nutty, deep roasted cocoa, sweet, spicy, and a little hint of cinnamon.

Score: 95

Taste: Deep cocoa, bitter, earthy and musty, opens up with a little bit of sweetness, woody, mild medicinal hints,

Score: 93

Texture: Very smooth and silky, smoothest texture I have tasted in a while, but not overly soft, medium melt time.

Score: 95

 

This is rustic, earthy, down and dirty chocolate. I loved it. Tasted like tree bark and wood. It smelled nutty and had a musty kind of aroma and taste to it. That may not sound too desirable but believe me this is nice earthy chocolate. It's aroma matched it's taste nearly point for point aside from the small hints of cinnamon I detected on the aroma. It was no where to be found on the taste.

The texture was unbelievable. So silky and smooth. I don't think I have tasted a bar of chocolate with this kind of silky quality to it before. And it wasn't overly soft either. It didn't melt away too fast. You can sit back and enjoy it for a minute.

Nothing but praise for this bar. Just some minor surface issues, but otherwise a very good bar of chocolate. I am actually looking forward to melting this down for hot chocolate as well. Lately I have been into making my own at home with left over sample bits of chocolate and even blending samples together. I can imagine this rustic, woody-tasting chocolate with a kick of cayenne and cinnamon.

 

Final Score: 92

   score
  B+

 

Mast Brothers + Stumptown Coffee

 

 

Once again my partners in craft. American Craft Chocolate makers The Mast Brothers. This time they have paired up with Stumptown Coffee. Stumptown is out of Portland, Oregon with branches out in Seattle and now in New York. They make some of the best coffee in the nation. You might see Wil Wheaton tweet about this place a time or two. Sixpoint Craft Ales, another New York connection and fellow partner in the craft world, also uses Stumptown in some of their beer offerings. Locals supporting locals.

 

Madagascar base peppered with coffee beans on top. The beans are direct trade from Africa, part of the Kayanza Province in Burundi. The coffee beans are then roasted in Red Hook, Brooklyn. Madagascar beans are organically farmed in Madagascar and then roasted, cracked, winnowed and stone-ground, and aged in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

 

 

 

Mast Brothers Dark Chocolate + Stumptown Coffee

Type: Bittersweet, 72%

Bean Varietal: Unknown but probably Trinitario.

Ingredients: Cacao 72%, organic cane sugar, coffee beans.

Sample Size: 2.5oz or 70g

 

 

Appearance: Amazing contrast between the brown on brown colors of the chocolate and coffee beans. The chocolate was a lighter brown and a bit ashy. But the coffee beans were bright and popped against the background of the bar. The actual molded surface was ashy as well but smooth.

Score: 91

Snap: Decent and firm snap. Clean, but asymmetrical break lines.

Score: 92

Aroma: All coffee. Not freshly brewed coffee, but rich cracked beans. A bit like used coffee grinds. The roasted cocoa enhances the coffee aroma.

Score: 91

Taste: Coffee right up front, but then the tangy sharpness of the madagascar cocoa takes over. Sharp at first and a little bit acidic. But then it's followed by rich fruitiness and roasted wood flavors on the cocoa. Classic Madagascar flavors. It finishes with the crunchy coffee bits leaving a coffee and fruity taste. Very well balanced on the finish. The coffee is also not bitter and not acidic. Just lovely and roasted.

Score: 95

Texture: Creamy and crunchy. It's obviously supposed to be crunchy but the chocolate texture was smooth and creamy and the coffee beans were excellent and crunchy but not gritty.

Score: 91

 

The appearance score should have been a bit lower, but that gorgeous contrast of lighter chocolate and coffee beans saved the day. It was ashy. It's tough when reviewing the Mast Brothers. They shine when their bars are super fresh. With in a couple of weeks. After that they are very sensitive products. It only really effects the appearance in small ways. Maybe some ashy surfaces and maybe some streaking.

The taste on this bar is fantastic. The big bold complexities of Madagascar cocoa is exactly what was needed to balance and play off of the coffee beans. The cocoa added a big spike of acidity and bitterness, but quickly smoothed out with fruits, and roasted wood flavors. This toned down what might have been a double whammy of bitterness from the coffee beans and allowed a lovely rich roasted flavor off the beans. Very well balanced on the finish but the opening was huge for various flavors.

And the texture was great too. Crunchy and creamy at the same time. Not gritty.

I loved this. It's gorgeous to look at and tastes awesome. There is a lot going on with the flavor of this bar. I think this is one of their best flavored bars yet. That's a pretty big statement. If you have ever tried their Salt and Pepper bar then you will know that that bar was tough to beat.

Be advised though, to expect a big caffeine kick. Chocolate naturally contains it and more than most people are aware of. And of course the coffee beans. You will be jacked so I advise eating it little bits at a time. Unless you are at work and really need to woken up, then you can eat this whole thing.

 

Final Score: 92.4

   score
  B+

Rogue Chocolatier ~ Piura 75%

 

 

Very small batch, Limited Edition bar from Rogue. This is beyond Single Origin. This is a single plantation bar with a very limited quantity of only four bags of cocoa beans.

 

Colin Gasko explains it best in his words from his packaging and website.

For a year we have been working to bring in this very special cacao from an isolated population of trees in Northern Peru. We have finally managed to bring in a “nano-lot” of only four bags of cacao from Juan Tirado’s 7.5 acre organic cacao farm in Morropon Province in Piura, Peru. This is the smallest micro-lot ever made into a bar. All four bags of this storied “white-bean” cacao come from a single fermentation and drying cycle, giving us the rare opportunity to create a chocolate that will give new meaning to the term “single origin.” More importantly, Juan’s farm produces the finest cacao that we have tasted. This is a result of genetics, but also of excellent post-harvest handling, leading to a distinct floral aroma with an extremely mild, buttery flavor of nuts, cocoa, and raspberries. Each of the fewer than 4,000 bars produced is wrapped in a beautiful limited edition letterpress printed packaging.

 

The Piura Region of Peru is located in the northern region of Peru. The Morropon Province is located in the center of this region.

Via Wikipedia and the image:

This province is located in the center of the Piura Region, being a land of contrast and climatic fusion. It is dotted by tropical forests of the dry-equatorial style in its flat areas were the carob tree predominates. In high areas of an elevation 1,500 to 2,000 metres (4,900–6,600 ft) the landscape changes to smooth high jungle and a lack of varied hilly valleys.

 

 

 

Click to enlarge images.

 

 

 

Piura 75%

Type: Bittersweet, 75%

Varietal: Unknown. I will have to ask Colin if he is aware of what the bean varietal is on this bar of chocolate. Peru has all the classic bean varietals plus hybrids and even some unknown or new varietals. Peru a chocolate geeks paradise for discoveries.

Ingredients: Cocoa beans and cane sugar.

Sample Size: 2.12oz or 60g

Bag #: 2

Batch #: 2

Date: 07/05/2010

 

Appearance: Smooth, sleek, un-molded bar. Thin and shiny, completely unblemished... on one side, the other side matted heavily from plastic wrapper.

Score: 85

Snap: Light crisp sound, asymmetrical break lines due to no molding lines. But still firm for a thinner bar of chocolate.

Score: 87

Aroma: Tangy aroma, floral, raspberries, tobacco, slightly nutty aroma, and dry.

Score: 92

Taste: Tangy, lightly acidic, astringent, big wood, big raspberries, inky, a bit of toasted malts. An interesting burst of sugar right after the initial taste, but it is quickly overtaken by astringency.

Score: 91

Texture: Smooth and creamy with a slightly drying finish, medium fast melt time.

Score: 98

The appearance score was tough to give. On one side it was pure perfection for an un-molded bar of chocolate. Completely unblemished except for my finger prints when pulling it out of it's wrapper. On the other side it's the prime example of the some of the unwanted effects from wrapping your chocolate in plastic. However, the plastic allows for the aroma to stay intact and allows for a much longer shelf life. I will always be in favor of this no mater what happens to the appearance.

It's aroma was quite tangy and floral. Normally I don't like to be influenced by what the package descriptions say you should smell or taste on a bar, but sometimes it's just unavoidable and completely not up for debate. The aroma and taste are there through and through. It smelled like big bright raspberries and tasted like it too.

As I mentioned it's highly fruity with raspberries and it's very tangy A little too tangy for my liking, but it had what is becoming a classic Rogue hallmark of cedar woods. I got a lot of raspberries and wood and it didn't allow for some of it's subtleties to come through. A little bit with some toasted malt flavors. The astringency leaves a slightly bitter lingering taste on the palate, but not offensively. Also some lingering coffee notes.

I am in love with the texture. It is a little bit drying on the finish, but the creaminess of it and how it softly melts away is truly amazing. I didn't get a nutty buttery taste on this chocolate like the package suggests, I did get a lovely buttery soft texture.

 

Final Score: 90.6

   score
  B+

Taza Chocolate ~ 70% Dark

 

 

Oh Taza! What am I to do with you? You are my favorite company of all for chocolate ethics, and detailed information. As I have written about you before, I think you set the standards for what all chocolate companies should be like. But why oh why do your products suck so badly? I take that back. They don't suck that badly or else you wouldn't be that popular, but you have ruined the landscape for what people know to be good chocolate. Your novelty act, and flooding of the market has made it impossible to have rational discussions about what good chocolate is. Your local philosophy has struck a nerve with the purists in this town who buy your chocolate like trendy zombies who seem desperate to be in the loop of what is fashionable in the local/organic scenery. They recite your walking tour talking points as if they fully understand the process and willfully except a mediocre product as if they were given pure Porcelana beans.

You could be so much more than you are. You could be so much better. This stone ground idea should have been a small concept in your arsenal of artisanal chocolate bars. You could be making much more refined bars and really putting out stellar products that make the whole world sit up and take notice. It's not easy being a true bean-to-bar producer and being as dedicated as you are. You have high quality beans that are being wasted, in my god's honest opinion, on these rough, sandpaper, less than enjoyable textured, over-aromatic chocolate bars. You have destroyed what is pretty about chocolate.

I know you think this is beautiful and these products are exactly what you hoped for based on your process. And you have your army behind you to defend you and keep buying your products. But it won't work with me. Not because I am defiant and bullheaded, but because I have never jumped on this bandwagon. It wasn't good the first time I tried it and it still isn't good.

I know, a lot of people will vehemently disagree with this post, but they don't get to taste what I taste. They don't know what I know is out there. Yes, yes, taste is subjective, but you are getting away with it because of the fact that good chocolate hasn't permeated the landscape... yet.

All the power to you as you continue your dominance as one of the few actual bean-to-bar producers in this country. Your success is ultimately good for chocolate no mater what I think. But you and I know the truth. You could be so much better.

*People need to know that as harsh as this is, it's not exactly easy to write. Those who know me, know I have never been a big fan of this chocolate, but I do respect greatly the people behind this company. They are very generous and fun people to hang around as they love beer and are a constant supporter of BeerAdvocate. Their commitment isn't what is in question with me. It's why aren't they better than this? It's been a long time coming however, for me to fully express my dissatisfaction with Taza. And as I go further and further into my own explorations and journeys with chocolate, I grow further and further apart from them.

 

 

Taza 70% Dominican Republic

 

Type: Bittersweet

Bean Varital: Mostly Trinitario with some Criollo.

Ingredients: Cocoa beans, cane sugar, cocoa butter, whole vanilla beans.

Sample Size: 3oz or 85g

Batch #: 369

 

Via their batch number identifcation on their website:

 

Batch #369 - 70% Dark Bar - Taza Chocolate

Batch Information
Variety: 70% Stone Ground Dark Bar
Made On: September 9 2010
Ingredients: Organic roasted cacao, cane sugar, cocoa butter, vanilla bean.
Last Made: August 6 2010

Cacao Origin:
Country of Origin: Dominican Republic
Provincia: María Trinidad Sánchez
Municipality: El Factor (El Pozo)
Area: Reserva Científica Loma Guacanejo
Fermentery Location: Lat. 19.293363, Long. -69.904128
Varietal: Mostly Trinitario; Some Criollo.

 

Growers & Farm:
Cooperative: Red de Comercializacion Loma Guacanejo
Grower: Hilario Rosario
Farm: El Higuero

 

Additional Ingredients:
Pure Cane Sugar - Jalles Machado
Origin: Sertãozinho (São Paulo), Brazil
Whole Biodynamic Vanilla Bean - Villa Vanilla
Origin: Villanueva (Puntarenas), Costa Rica
Organic Cocoa Butter, Natural
Origin: La Red Guacanejo, Dominican Republic

Roast Profile:
Lot Received On: May 21 2010
Lot #: LR19
Bean Bill: Single Origin Hispaniola Cacao
Roast Date: September 1 2010
Roaster Model: Barth Scirocco 200
Max Temp: 237° F
Roasted For: 48 minutes

Production Info:
Grind Date: September 2 2010
Made By: Mike Schechter , Kellie Silsby, & Greg Lashoto
Total # of Bars Made: 3,482 Bars
Wrapped On: September 6 2010

 

 

Appearance: Simple lined molding with a little thicker squares than a standard chocolate bar molding. Slightly shiny, but over all dull and lackluster.

Score: 90

Snap: Firm snap, loud with clean break lines. It should be noted that the way their molding is leading to fatter squares or chocolate and thicker lines to break in the molding give way to a much firmer snap. But still strong and clean.

Score: 92

Aroma: Huge aroma of pen ink, berries, roasted cocoa, with a big stinky perfume-y floral nose dominating and overwhelming. I could smell this across the room.

Score: 65

Taste:  Sweet for one second then it opens up to a huge bitter, acidic taste, huge floral taste and berries and sugar interacting with acidic, sour notes. Too much competition for the attention on your palate. Sour, bitter, acidic after taste with zero hint of flowers or berries that were so vivid in the center of this chocolate opening.

Score: 35

Texture: Waxy, sandpaper, gritty, but an overall a fast melt time.

Score: 45

 

Okay, I am really not trying to be over dramatic here but this was awful chocolate. Just gross to eat. I struggled to get through this review. I ate one piece and really didn't want to have to eat another one.

The aroma was way too big. From afar you can really smell the flowery perfume of this chocolate with lovely berries, and roasted cocoa. But that's from across the room. Up close, it stank like sitting next to someone on a bus who happened to drown themselves in perfume.

The taste has way too much going on and leaves you with no time to appreciate or fully understand it's complexities. There is a sweet sugary taste with the berries, wood flavors, and floral notes, but they  are in a fierce battle for dominance on your tongue with acid, bitterness, and astringency. And the sour notes win leaving a foul aftertaste that lingers for a while.

As if it couldn't get any worse, that goddamn sandpaper texture destroys your tongue leaving it raw and sensitive while it's being pummeled by the hugely unbalanced flavor profile. To add insult to your injured tongue, you have every asshole who just found Taza or just left one of their tours saying "Oh no but I like that texture. It's supposed to be gritty, That's what they said anyway. It's fun saying the word gritty... Lalalalala." They are regurgitating what they heard on the tour or what they learned in passing. "It's supposed to be gritty." I am sorry but I don't like having my tongue destroyed. I was supposed to review more chocolate after this but ended up having to call it a night so my scratched up tongue could recover.

This is what they want from chocolate? This technique of stone grinding that is supposed to be what all chocolate tasted like before a godsend by the name of Lindt came along and invented conching? I understand that leaving larger granules allows for bigger bolder tastes and more raw chocolate tastes. But this was the reason chocolate became more refined. Chocolate on it's own is very bitter and hard to understand right away and by conching it and grinding it to finer molecules you are releasing some of the acidity that happens during fermentation of the beans. You are blending and balancing the flavors and subtleties in such a way that you can identify them more easily, and get more of an understanding of the chocolate you just consumed.

This chocolate is like having a wrestling match in your mouth. It's unbalanced and it's chaotic to the palate. All the pretty things about this chocolate are slammed in your face and then disappear by acidity and astringency. It's quite frankly too big.

If you don't believe me or think I am being over dramatic, take any fine chocolate at 70%, break off a square and let it sit on your tongue and melt away. Analyze it and really understand it's flavors. Then take a piece of Taza 70% and do the same. You will never look at Taza the same again. And I can promise that no matter how different palates can be.

As I said before, Taza should have made the stone grinding a novelty and a small part of their overall collection. They should use this chocolate to teach classes with about the transformations from raw and unrefined chocolate to the gorgeous bars out there now. This being the raw and unrefined bars. And they should really focus on making refined bars that can compete on a world level. I have no doubt that they are more than capable of that. But sadly these products are not doing Dominican Republic beans any justice. Maybe monetarily wise, but I guess bullshit walks and money talks.

 

Final Score: 65.4

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