20°N & 20°S

Marou ~ Dồng Nai 72%

 

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

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

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

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

 

Sam and Vincent. Image via their blog.

 

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

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

 

Image via Vietnam Travels.

 

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

 

 

Dồng Nai 72%

 

Type: Bittersweet, 72%

Bean Varietal: Trinitario

Ingredients: Cocoa, cane sugar, and cocoa butter.

Sample Size: 100g

 

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

Score: 91

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

Score: 92

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

Score: 93

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

Score: 94

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

Score: 92

 

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

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

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

 

Final Score: 92.4

   score
  B+

Patric Chocolate ~ Salty Signature Seventy

 

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

 

Salty Signature Seventy

 

Type: Flavored bittersweet, 70%

Bean Varietal: Blend

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

Sample Size: 65g or 2.3oz

 

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

Score: 87

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

Score: 94

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

Score: 91

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

Score: 95

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

Score: 91

 

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

Don't hate me Alan.

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

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

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

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

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

 

Final Score: 91.6

   score
  B+

Weiss ~ Kacinkoa 85%

 

 

 

French chocolatiers since 1882.

Via the Weiss website and translated from Google:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Eugene Weiss (1858-1939)

 

 

 

Kacinkoa 85%

 

Type: Bittersweet, 85%

Bean Varietal: Blended

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

Sample Size: 100g or 3.5oz

 

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

Score: 87

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

Score: 92

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

Score: 93

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

Score: 92

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

Score: 86

 

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

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

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

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

 

Final Score: 90

   score
    B

Bonnat ~ Madagascar 75%

 

 

 

Madagascar 75%

 

Type: Bittersweet, 75%

Bean Varietal: Unknown, but most likely Trinitario.

Ingredients: Cocoa, cocoa butter, sugar.

Sample Size: 100g

Lot #: A

 

Appearance: Broken bar, scratched, nicked, and scuffed surface, muted shine, rich mahogany color, monogrammed signature Bonnat molding.

Score: 83

Snap: Firm snap, but dull snap sound, a little softer than usual. Clean break lines.

Score: 87

Aroma: Smoky, very jammy, tart, soft and floral.

Score: 94

Taste: Tart and tangy, deeply bitter, very fruity, big wood flavors, tart jam flavor, tar, roasted cacao, mild hints of coffee grinds, deeply hidden pen ink and red wine.

Score: 93

Texture: Silky and chalky at the same time. A little out of synch with the balance. It has extraordinary melt time and is creamy, but not smooth. It's fairly chalky. Not what I am used to Bonnat texture.

Score: 89

 

Here is the direct opposite of the Ceylan bar I reviewed before this. This had a nice aroma, and a much fuller and brighter taste than the Ceylan, but texturally it was odd. Unbalanced and chalky with a fast melt time. I was torn about what to score it. The flavors are all about jam. Big fruity jam on the aroma and flavor. It's tart and full bodied with big wood flavors. It's quite big on the flavor. The aroma was still fairly soft, but more distinctive.

I am miffed about why the snap was weak too. It wasn't pathetic, but again, it wasn't the quality I am used to with Bonnat. Such a mixed bag for this bar of chocolate. Full flavor, nice aroma, lame snap and texture. This will be good to chop up and bake something with so not all is lost.

 

Final Score: 89.2

 

   score
    B

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+

Galler ~ Éclats de Cacao 70%

 

 

Éclats de Cacao 70% (Cocoa Nibs)

 

Type: Filled, bittersweet 70%

Bean Varietal: Unknown

Ingredients: Cocoa paste, sugar, cocoa butter, soya lecithin, natural vanilla aroma, and cocoa nibs.

Sample Size: 80g or 2.8oz

Lot# L1531108

 

Appearance:Smooth textured surface from molding, thin tablet with long tablet squares, monogrammed molding, bubbly texture on the back surface from nibs.

Score: 91

Snap: Nice clean and firm snap, good snap sound, clean break lines.

Score: 92

Aroma: Very light aroma, soft almonds, smoky, oak wood, vanilla, and a little spicy.

Score: 92

Taste: Slightly sharp and acidic at first, cocoa-y, vanilla, sweet, subdued fruits, biscuit flavors, nutty nibs, smoky hints, lingering strawberry hints.

Score: 89

Texture: A little hard and waxy at first but smooth once it opens up, medium melt-time, crispy nibs, but overly milled and too small.

Score: 88

 

**Archived Notes

This bar was okay. I think the flavors were a little stronger on this bar than the regular 70% due to the nibs, but the aroma was much softer. I liked the cocoa nibs in it, but they shouldn't have been broken down or chopped as much. While they were crispy and good, they were too small for good texture.

Same texture as the regular 70% but with the added bonus of the nibs, but again I wished they were bigger nibs. It was a litle sharp in the flavor at first but then really mellows out. It has a nice cocoa-y flavor up front, some subdued fruits, a little biscuit-y, and some nice nutty flavors with the nibs and a lingering strawberry flavor.

Decent bar of chocolate, but nothing to really write home about.

 

Final Score: 90.4

 

   score
  B+

Galler ~ Noir Intense 70%

 

 

** Archived notes.

 

Chocolate I picked up in Bruges while traveling on the Bon Beer Amsterdam/Belgium Beer Boat cruise. I gave Galler a second chance after having a not-so-pleasant visit in their Brussels shop in Central Place in 2010. The customer service in the Bruges shop was phenomenal. Knowledgeable staff, generous with samples, and recommended their dark bars for review. I was so happy to leave their shop with redeemed feelings.

I don't know where the origin of this chocolate comes from but it reminds me of something from Africa. Ghana or Ivory Coast. I don't know for sure but I am guessing that might be where this cacao is from. It's very frustrating with so little information given. There is a lot of detail crammed on the the back of the bar about ingredients and nutrition content in multiple languages, but zero information about the beans. And nothing on the website either.

 

 

Noir Intense 70%

 

Type: Bittersweet, 70%

Bean Varietal: Unknown

Ingredients: Cocoa paste, sugar, cocoa butter, soya lecithin, natural vanilla aroma.

Sample Size: 80g or 2.8oz

Lot #: L2661111

 

Appearance: Long and wide tablet, long rectangle tablets,  deep dark color, monogrammed molding, matted surface from signature molding, odd circular pattern on top surface, very shiny bar on the back side.

Score: 90

Snap: Good firm snap, crisp snapping sound, a little crumbly on the break lines, but very decent snap for a thin-ish bar.

Score: 92

Aroma: Very potent aroma. Heavy vanilla, smoke, peanuts, and almonds.

Score: 94

Taste: Rich, bitter, cocoa powder, very bitter, low acids, buttery, peanuts, char, toast.

Score: 83

Texture: A little hard and waxy, but is relatively smooth, has a drying quality to it, medium melt-time.

Score: 87

 

Odd bar of chocolate. The aroma was very strong and fragrant, but the flavor doesn't quite match it's aroma. The flavor is completely dominated by bitters. It completely coats and dominates the palate. It's starts off with a good balance of sugars and cocoa-y powder flavors, and then the bitter over takes the palate. The only thing really coming through is some peanuts on the finish and roasted cacao flavors like char and toast.

It wasn't a bad bar of chocolate, it was just deceptive and misleading with it's dominate aroma. I wanted the vanilla and sugars to come out more, but the bitters really overtake everything. I think this could have been more more then it was. A better balance of the sweet and floral notes and the rich nutty flavors with the bitters.

What is vanilla aroma anyway? In terms of an ingredient for chocolate.

Final Score: 89.2

 

   score
    B

Durand ~ Madagascar Criollo 70%

 

 

One of the first fine French chocolatiers I got to work with or sell while working at Formaggio Kitchen. The bars weren't there yet when I was working there, or they just started coming in when I left. This was many years ago though. They had wonderful cocoa powders and truffles. Good for picking up a sweet treat or a present while getting your other provisions from the store. I sold A LOT of it.

I've used their cocoa powder in previous beer dinners. Cocoa rubbed Venison with a Madeira cocoa glaze and blue cheese foam paired with Berkshire Brewing Co. Coffeehouse Porter. As well as a cocoa-cinnamon vinaigrette for a winter citrus salad of arugula and Charolais goat cheese paired with Dogfish Head's Raison D'Etra. Worked like a charm thanks to Steve Brand from Upstairs On The Square.

 

Via FK:

This little patisserie and tea salon started making chocolates infused with herbs and spices during Christmas time in 1987 in response to customer demand. Now they are considered one of the top chocolatiers in France. The Maitre Chocolatier Mme Brigitte Roussel was introduced to us by Raphael whose artisinal jams we import and which have quite a following in the US. With 30 different flavors, each of the handmade chocolates are numbered and the boxes of 16 chocolates come with a guide of the flavors that correspond to each Numero. All of the chocolates are made from dark chocolate of 64% cacao content which is paired beautifully with exotic spices, flowers and teas. We find that these chocolates are always a great source of entertainment and pleasure at the end of a meal.

 

I was going to write this long post about branding and the word Criollo, but I think I have a lot more reading to do about varietals and criollo especially, before I broach the subject again about how hybrids, buzz words, and a general lack of understanding about Criollo has swept through the population and made it easy for people simply brand their bars as such. I will just have to give them the benefit of the doubt and spare my readers a long diatribe that even I don't fully understand yet.

There are Madagascar Criollo plantations and this would be one of those bars with beans sourced from it, but I don't know enough about it or the hybrids from Madagascar to intelligently discuss it right now.

 

Madagascar Criollo 70%

 

Type: Bittersweet, 70%

Bean Varietal: Criollo

Ingredients: Cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter, non GMO soya lecithin.

Sample Size: 100g

 

Appearance: Deep dark brown color, simple and typical tablet molding, non-monogrammed molding, a little surface matting from the plastic on the packaege and some minor chocolate particles but an otherwise unblemished surface.

Score: 90

Snap: Excellent snap. Very firm, deep snap with a loud crisp sound. Slightly crumbly break lines.

Score: 94

Aroma: Very soft aroma. Soft wood, almonds, a little spicy, and lightly smoky.

Score: 84

Taste: Roasted cacao, cocoa-y, wood, almonds, sweet, no acidity or astringency, deep plums, oak, and red wine, musty, lingering biscuit flavors and lingering raisins and wine, clean finish.

Score: 94

Texture: Smooth and creamy texture, very silky quality, medium melt-time.

Score: 94

 

I am confused about how this was packaged. A big tablet of chocolate not wrapped in any foil or plastic, and then put in a cardboard box with a cellophane window. I can tell that a lot of the integrity was evaporated on this bar. The aroma is very weak. Understandably, bars are meant to be consumed in a relatively quick manner once packaged and bought, but still. This should have been more properly wrapped up.

Flavor wise, it's quite sophisticated. Lightly sweet and properly balanced, no acidity or astringency to be found, the bitters balance nicely with the sugars, there is a lovely hot cocoa flavor right up front with some wood and almond flavors and then it opens up. Some wonderfully deep plums, musty wine barrels, and deep red wine flavors. There is a lovely floral taste the sort of surrounds the whole thing.

The snap is excellent, perfect molding and ounces for that. The texture sort of tricked me at first. At first I thought it was a little hard and waxy, but it's actually quite nice. Very silky, smooth, and creamy once it opens up. My apartment may have been a little too cold upon first opening.

I think I went into this not wanting to like it because of the criollo controversy, but I don't really have a bad word to say about it except I am perplexed by it's packaging. Needs to wrapped up more.

 

Final Score: 91.2

   score
  B+

 

Xocolatl de David + Cochon 555

 

 

It happened one drunken night at The Hawthorne in Kenmore sq. I demanded to my husband that we go out to Island Creek Oyster Bar for some amazing seafood and oysters. It's one of my favorite restaurants. The customer service cannot be beat there. While waiting for a table, we slipped over to Hawthorne's for a pregame drink before dinner. Our table was called in 5 minutes so we vowed to come back.

When we came back, it was quite packed but we were able to get arm chars in the back room with a private bar. We shared the area with some cool people whom I later found out were the owners of the Cochon 555, Brady Lowe and his awesome girlfriend Heather Craig. Cochon 555 is a traveling circus of pork gluttony and bourbon debauchery. I kid. They are a traveling festival working with premier chefs in various cities around the U.S., hosting competitions and food challenges revolving around pork and educating the public about heritage breed pigs and small local pork farmers. 5 chefs, 5 pigs, and 5 wine makers. We'd love to see 5 beer makers too. One day.....

They liked that we were from BeerAdvocate and that we like a good drink or cocktail aside from beer. Brady introduced Todd to the world of Mezcal and I introduced him to the world of Vieux Carre's. It was then that he asked Todd if he would like to be a judge for the event held in Boston. This was on a Friday night and the event was on Sunday. Score!!! The Boston event featured Tim Cushman of O Ya, Jamie Bissonnette of Toro and Coppa, Barry Maiden of Hungry Mother, Barbra Lynch of Menton, and Nookie Postal from Fenway Park.

 

Table toppers and O Ya's menu printed on pork skin.

 

Bourbon, pork, bourbon, pork, wine, pork, lard ice cream, bourbon, and then these chocolate bars handed to me at the post party event.

 

 

Whipped lard truffle with Valrhona Milk Chocolate from O Ya.

 

Jamie Bissonette easily took winner of this event, he is currently hot right now with his impressive James Beard nominations and Chopped victory. He is like Hansel, so hot right now. I personally loved it all but found Hungry Mother to be the best display of the pork but I wasn't judging. The idea of the event is showcasing heritage breed pigs, and  head to tail challenges. HM's offerings were not about pizazz but very much about the true flavors of the pork. But in a subjective world and being pitted against some insane culinary heavy weights in this town, it wasn't an easy challenge. Jamie dropped the bomb using Asian street food with pork after recently having been on a trip to Asia and it pretty much slayed everyone.

 

 

Hungry Mother plating up for the onslaught of hungry pork lovers. HM's Lard Ice Cream Sundae with smoked chocolate sauce, crispy pork rind, and charred sorghum marshmallow.

 

So, after all that eating and drinking (Todd judging and my eating the offerings with the farmers of the beloved pigs we noshed on all day), we still had a post party to attend. This is where Heather handed me a shit ton of bars. She said, "Here! I know you like chocolate. Take it." You don't have to twist my arm. And I haven't had anything from Xocolatl before. Score! It's also chocolate with pork in it. Well, one has caviar, but it's a creative play on words. Ham and Eggs.

 

Xocolatl de David is the brain child of David Briggs, formally the sous chef of Park Kitchen in Portland, Oregon. David has previous judged Cochon 555 and created these bars for the event. And is one of the sponsors of the event. He also has a wonderful collection of pig-infused products.

 

Country Ham

 

Type: Filled, bittersweet, 72%

Bean Varietal: Nacional

Ingredients: Cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter, vanilla, Benton's County Ham, fleur de sel.

Sample Size: 2.2oz or 62g

 

Appearance: Flat, no pattern, non-monogrammed simple molding, streaking on the back with matting on the front side. Deep dark brown color, a little dry looking, shiny on the top surface despite matting (my camera didn't conveying that), and lumpy with ham bits.

Score: 79

Snap: Firm snap, decent crisp sound, clean break lines.

Score: 91

Aroma: Dried wood, savory, ham, salt cure, dried peanuts.

Score: 92

Taste: Sweet and salty, a little smoky, salty cured ham, tangy acids, robust wood flavors, fruits.

Score: 95

Texture: Very smooth and silky chocolate texture, fast melt-time, crispy bits of ham.

Score: 95

 

Aside from a boring looking mold and streaky appearance, this bar is anything but that. It has a very straight forward aroma and flavor. Sweet and salty, a pot heads heads dream of a chocolate bar. Sweet up front with sugars in the chocolate, and then salt from the cured ham and fleur de sel. Ecuador cacao with hints of peanuts on the aroma, but hard to notice on the flavor. Some fruits in there too but they are caught in the middle. It's really between two flavors, salty ham and bold wood-flavored cacao. Most nuances present themselves, but really get trounced by the salt. But when the focus is the ham, it balances with the bold cacao very well. There isn't much to dissect with this bar except it tastes awesome. It's part of that every growing throw-bacon/ham/pork-into-everything trend and I do not mind it one bit. This is a perfect creation for something like Cochon 555.

What I really like is how smooth and silky the texture of the chocolate is. Having recently debated the merits and flaws of what is considered to be waxy chocolate, this might fall into that line for some people, the way some have described waxy as super soft and chewy. I don't know if that's a bad thing. And I get a different impression of what I think waxy is like. Think hard surf wax versus soft hair wax. To me waxy is the hard surf wax. Other factors contribute to a hard texture, but there is a definite chew that makes it waxy. This is why chocolate makers are skeptical of soy lecithin and how much cocoa butter to use. To me this was soft and delectable with it's fast melt-time from the cocoa butter. I don't find it waxy at all no matter which side you tend to fall on. I find it quite nice and a good contrast to the crispy, salty ham.

Best of all, they didn't go skimpy with the ham. You hear that Vosges? You can actually put pieces of ham and bacon in your products and still get good results. Stop being cheap and charging a mint for a product with little or no meat in it!

 

Final Score: 90.4

   score
  B+

 

 

Eggs (Black River Caviar)

 

Type: Filled Bittersweet, 68%

Bean Varietal: Unknown, probably a wild hybrid.

Ingredients: Cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter, Black River Caviar, sea salt.

Sample Size: 2.2oz or 62g

 

Appearance: Flat, no pattern, non-monogrammed simple molding, streaking and a little ashy on the back side with air bubbles, shiny (camera didn't really convey that) but matted markings on the top surface, deep dark brown color.

Score: 79

Snap: Good firm snap, small snap sound, a little crumbly on the break lines.

Score: 89

Aroma: Briney sea water, ocean, floral jasmine, roasted cacao, lightly smoky.

Score: 94

Taste: Sweet sugars, roasted cacao, then salt, and very briney, metallic-y caviar taste, jasmine, berries, pen ink, and wood, some smoked characters hidden in there too. Like smoked salmon.

Score: 92

Texture: Creamy, silky texture, fast melt-time, crunchy caviar and large salt crystals.

Score: 95

 

This one is a bit of a mixed bag for me. If you love caviar, then you will love this bar. For me it was a good balance of a more neutral chocolate origin and salty, briney, fish tastes. I didn't think it was perfect but that's also because I am not very big on caviar. But as for the balance, the caviar did not over take this despite the nose. It didn't over power it and the chocolate flavors definitely made an appearance.

It opens up sweet and soft, it hits you with sugars up front and then there is course salt, sea water brininess, and a metallic fishy caviar taste. It doesn't last long, but it is definitely noticeable. It's a big pop. Then the chocolate lets off some very nice jasmine flavors, almost as if it's trying to clean up the brine, and some fruity berries, and a little smoke which gives off an almost smoked salmon effect. But no lingering fish tastes.

The texture was once again a creamy and fast melt-time, but not like the Country Ham. This bar was much more firm but still maintained the same integrity of a silky smooth texture. I like what they are doing with these textures.

I think this is pretty cool for chocolate. It's definitely a novelty and the balance was right with this Bolivian cacao versus briny caviar. A different take on sweet and salty. Just a little odd match up with jasmine, berries, and sugars, and salty, briney, caviar.

 

Final Score: 89.8

 

   score
    B

 

 

 

Ibérico de Bellota

 

Type: Flavored bittersweet, 68%

Bean Varietal: Unknown, probably some wild hybrid.

Ingredients: Cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter, Ibérico de Bellota (pork) lard, fleur de sel.

Sample Size: 2.2 oz or 62g

 

Appearance: Same streaky back surface with the plain and flat non-monogrammed molding, shiny surface, but matting on the front, very soft to touch. melting in my fingers with nano-seconds of touching. Softer brown color.

Score: 79

Snap: Very dull, very soft, very light popping sound almost inaudible, and it bends before it snaps. Having said all that, it still managed to produce a fairly decent snap giving the make up of this bar.

Score: 79

Aroma: Roasted nuts, salty, mild pen ink, buttery, berries, smoke.

Score: 93

Taste: Sweet sugars, peppery, savory, a light oily pork taste, salt, pepperoncini, wood, fruity, nutty.

Score: 94

Texture: Silky smooth, creamy, fast melt-time.

Score: 96

 

Basically this is a lard chocolate bar. The lardo adds almost no flavor to this chocolate sans some savory and very transparent oily pork flavors. It's so subtle you almost don't know it's there. It sits on top of every taste point like an oil slick on water, reminding you it's there but not really interfering with the chocolate. There is some salt mixed in and you then taste the lard more, but it's almost like it subdues the chocolate flavors. Where as sugars tend to enhance fruity flavors on chocolate, the salt in this case is holding it down a bit. It is a more mild and subtler chocolate, but this makes it seem almost like it's an overly delicate porcelana bean.

It's very sweet and sugary right up front, then there is a bit of black pepper flavors, nutty, fruity and woody and then this oily taste followed by some tangy pepperoncini tastes. You'd hardly notice the lardo at all without the salt to remind you it's there.

It's very interesting. I don't know why but I was expecting bigger PORK flavor with this Spanish ham lardo. It mostly adds to the insanely good and silky smooth creamy texture. There is a hint or a trace of the lardo here and there but ultimately it's just traces on a subdued bar of chocolate. It tames it and then sort of haunts it like a ghost. Not to be convoluted here, but it's very odd and interesting.

I like it very much. It has salt, peanuts, pepperoncini, black pepper, fruits, and pork flavors. Very dynamic for one bar, yet still soft and still fairly delicate. It deserves a much higher score. The appearance was weak though and the snap was well, it was bad. I had a hard time deciding what to do with the snap score. In the end I judged it for what it was like the other bars. Even though this bar is double-edged with soft cocoa butters and lard, it had a better than expected snap too. I thought it would be a lot softer considering it begins melting the second your skin touches it.

 

Final Score: 88.2

 

   score
    B

 

Just for the sake of argument, my digital camera was not showing the shine on these bars, but I was able to get a good shot with my iPhone so you could see what I mean. There is a great reflection of my lamp in the shine.

 

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+