20°N & 20°S

The RuPaul Chocolate Bar

 

 

 Sweet Hollywood, a candy store in Los Angeles, has designed a chocolate candy bar in honor of the fabulous RuPaul. A portion of the proceeds of this bar go to the Jeff Griffith Youth Center for homeless LGBTQ youth. A fantastic cause that helps offer support, feed, shower, and helps employ LGBTQ youth in need of help.

 

 

Now, I am glad to help pitch in for these kinds of causes, but I am not going to lie, I bought this bar for the packaging. I don't even care what it's made of. I started seeing this pop up on twitter and bought it immediately. I love RuPaul and everything he represents. He is an icon. But admit it, look at how fierce this package is. I love Drag Culture and I couldn't be more thrilled to have my hobby life intersect with the fabulous life.

So, what does it taste like?

It's a peanut butter bar in milk chocolate and has sea salt. It has a very soft milk chocolate shell and a gooey peanut butter filling.

I can't seem to find the full list of ingredients for this bar, but the bar was made in The Chocolate Lab for Sweet Hollywood. They do a series of customizable bars, as well as an LA series of neighborhood bars dedicated to the iconic neighborhoods of of Los Angeles. I have a few of those that will be coming up for review too. But I don't know how natural the bar is or all th ingredients in it. This bar has been labeled fair trade, and is with 33% cacao content for the milk chocolate.

 

On the surface, it's a light mahogany color, it's outer milk chocolate shell is so soft there are cracks on the surface and some noticeable air bubbles. And at least we know it's a handmade product because the finger prints on the surface are not mine!

It's aroma is a rich milky butter smell of milk chocolate, and deep roasted peanuts. Great aroma. It just smells like candy, smells like Halloween.

It's very sweet and although the aroma suggests it might have a full roasted peanut butter flavor, it's not very nutty. The saltiness is only there for a second and then the milk chocolate sweetness over takes it. It's very sweet. There is salt in this bar but some bites are more sweeter and some are more salty than others. It's still pretty good though. The peanut butter is a blend and not a full peanut butter center. It's more of a gooey peanut flavored paste. But the best part is the milky characteristics of typical milk chocolate (the lingering milk after taste) don't weigh heavy on the mouth which makes it more enjoyable than most. It tastes like peanut butter bon bon's in a bar form.

All in all it's not bad but it's not high quality either. But that's not really the point. A novelty candy shop making novelty chocolate bars is fun and it serves a purpose of charity. I would eat this again and again. I would buy more to support, but I wouldn't compare it to anything artisan.

 

Too Haute Cowgirls ~ Chili con Chocolate

 

Handmade gourmet popcorn from Colorado. YEEEE HAWWWW!

 

I spied this product at Marczyk's here in Denver. I was on a mission of cheese and ended up with more chocolate bars for the library and this little product up by the register daring you to buy it. 

Too Haute Cowgirls is the brainchild of Deanna Liebl and Amy Tarrant. Via their website:

Once thought of as recession proof, the wedding industry even took a hit when the economy softened in 2008, so discovered pastry chef, Deanna Liebl, wedding cake designer extraordinaire near Aspen, Colorado. With a less-hectic wedding season in 2009, New York Culinary Institute of America-trained Liebl had more time to experiment with new products for her brides. She called on Amy Tarrant, pastry graduate of the Culinary School of the Rockies and fellow unrepentant popcorn addict, to help create a selection of unique chocolate covered popcorn flavors to offer as wedding favors.

 

And the description on the back of their packaging.

This perfect popcorn confection starts with Too Haute Cowgirls’ own special caramel corn drenched in rich dark chocolate, tossed with toasted pecans, and dusted with their own special blend of chili seasoning. Y’all better step back cuz this might hurtcha!

Montezuma drank 50 cups of chocolate per day. It was thick, dyed red and flavored with chili peppers. The first commercial chili powder was created in 1892 by a German immigrant in Texas who gave our cowgirls their first taste of the fiery red seasoning which he called “Tampico Dust”. Chili was made popular by the “Chili Queens” of the Alamo City. In Texas, prisons are ranked by the quality of their chili and even Jesse James refused to rob a bank in McKinney, Texas because that was where his favorite chili parlor was.

 

 

Chili Con Chocolate is Too Haute Cowgirls signature caramel popcorn recipe drenched in chocolate with toasted pecans and a special chili powder blend. Right out of the bag, the popcorn smells savory and salty. It's all chili powder. There is no listing of what spiced they used but I am guessing maybe a little hint of cumin, chili powder, and a smidgen of cayenne for a bit of heat.

 

 

The popcorn doesn't look as shiny as the photos on their website. But that doesn't really matter when you taste it. It's pretty much like crack. It's ridiculously good and highly addictive. It's balanced with a very good heat level. I am a wuss about all things spicy, but this has a nice slow building heat and it's delicious. It tastes sweet and salty, savory with the chili spices, and chocolaty. But also buttery from the underlying caramel coating. At first the taste is all buttery toffee and chili spices, but eating more of it it blends in all flavors meant to be there. It's an all of the above kind of flavor range. The only thing missing from my bag were the toasted pecans. In the images on the website it looks like it's balanced with the popped corn and pecans. I didn't get any. That's a real bummer. But honestly the popcorn on it's own is so damn good, I hardly noticed until I started researching Too Haute Cowgirls.

 

 

Image via Too Haute Cowgirls

 

Bottom line is, you need to buy this product stat. They offer cowboy cowgirl inspired gift sets on their website. They also offer a variety of different kinds of popcorn including a bacon one. Yes, a bacon one. And they also make brittles. I will say it's not that cheap at suggested retail price of $9.95 for a 5.5 ounce bag of it. But it is a handmade product locally made and it is as addictive as crack/cocaine, so I will probably end up selling the cat to buy more of it.

The Chocolate Tree, Scotland

 

 

In the name of all things generous, the fine folks at The Chocolate Tree in Edinburgh, Scotland are right up there. In announcing the end of my writing hiatus, The Chocolate Tree reached out to me about sampling their products. They managed to ship me some products all the way from Scotland to Denver, Colorado. I am floored anytime this happens. Not only am I grateful but I truly thank them for sending products all the way out here. Thank you, Ali! Thank you forever.

The Chocolate Tree are small-batch Bean-to-Bar chocolate makers, Alastair Gower and Friederike Matthis, in Edinburgh, Scotland. They specialize in organic bars and handmade bean-to-bar chocolate bars. As well as hot chocolates, spreads, truffles, and macaroons. They also retail Marou Chocolate. Fantastic Vietnam bean-to-bar artisanal chocolate. I personally love Marou and love their packaging. Good company to keep.

The package that arrived to me contained 3 products. Two bean-to-bar chocolate bars and an organic signature bar.

 

Via their website:

We are proud to be one of the first UK chocolatiers to not only produce fine chocolate work, but also make chocolate from bean. We work directly with growers of cacao to encourage growing of heirloom cacao which will sustain biodiversity and fine flavour chocolate into the future, as well as providing the growers with the best possible deal; cutting out the middle men.

In December 2009 we opened a classical yet contemporary chocolaterie at 123 Bruntsfield Place, in the boutique shopping district and much loved residential area of Edinburgh. We aim to provide a unique and comfortable atmosphere for you to explore the delights of fine flavour chocolate.

Organic farming on small plantations is in fact the best way to grow the cacao plants. The pesticide free farming allows midges to thrive and fertilize the cacao flowers, thus helping the plants to create the cacao beans from which the chocolate is made. Not only is this organic technique the best way to farm cacao, it is the only good use for a midge we have ever heard of!

 

Read about their trip to Peru sourcing cacao. Trip To Peru 2013

And here is a good interview with Ali Gower for Ragged Online. This deals with fair trade, organic and coops. It's long but well worth listening to.

 

Nibs & Salt Peru 70%

 

Type: Filled and flavored dark.

Bean Varietal: Nacional

Ingredients: Cacao beans, cane sugar, nacional nibs, sea salt.

Sample Size: 90g

60 hour Conch.

 

Appearance: Two textured bars with raised tiles and signature patterned molding. A few surface nicks, but nothing major, smooth surface, muted matte surface not ultra shiny, a lighter brown color, and larger nibs leaving a larger raised surface on the backside.

Score: 89

Snap: Clean crisp snap, light snapping sound, slightly crumbly in it's break.

Score: 90

Aroma: Roasted cacao, citrus, inky, dried wood.

Score: 92

Taste: Bold, bitter, inky, fairly tangy, slightly acidic, berries, roasted nibs, good balance of sugars, then a later salt hit in the taste.

Score: 94

Texture: Good crunchy nibs, smooth creamy chocolate texture, medium-fast melt time.

Score: 94

 

Just a couple of surface marks, I judged it accordingly but it must be noted that this chocolate traveled all the way from Scotland to Denver. I don't expect perfect condition considering any number of factors that may have contributed to surface issues. Really it's a small detail but one that must be counted.

I like the molding and raised tiles. It' gives a nice unique look. And it's signature is cacao leaves and flowers. It's snap was good because of the thickness of the bar but a little crumbly. That could be because it's filled. But big lovely pieces of nibs. I really hate it when bars give very fine chopped up nibs. I like bigger pieces for a fuller crunch and better nib flavor.

It's aroma is very straight forward. Sometimes you get lots of descriptors on chocolate and sometimes it's fairly basic. But that doesn't mean it isn't good. It's a nice strong aroma of wood and citrus and big inky notes. Simple but good.

The flavor bounces all over the place but in a good way. Each taste presents itself individually and then lets the other tastes come through. It opens up very bold and bitter. Nice for 70%. And then it's sharp and tangy and very fruity with good berry flavors. Then the crunchy roasted nibs come out with full roasted and dried woody flavors. Then it's finished with the salt. Really good bar. It's the full real flavor of the Peruvian cacao and then playful with nibs and salt. Nothing is really dominating except it's natural flavor. Even though it's technically a flavored bar because of it's salt, the salt is not on the main stage. Very good balance. Great flavors.

A few minor surface issues gives it this score, but I say ignore the technical part of the score and go for how it tastes which is great.

 

Final Score: 91.8

score
B+

 

 

Bergamot & Raspberry Ecuador 55%

 

Type: Flavored Milk

Bean Varietal: Arriba Nacional

Ingredients: Cacao beans, cane sugar, milk powder, cacao butter, bergamot and raspberry oils.

Sample Size: 90g

 

Appearance: Same patterned molding and raised tiles, muted matte surface, lighter brown color in a darker chestnut color, no real major surface nicks or matted marks, slight damage with a broken piece, but surface appearance still intact.

Score: 91

Snap: Good hard snap, nice snapping sound, and clean break lines.

Score: 94

Aroma: A full savory aroma. Tart, buttery milk notes, black pepper, orange-y bergamot notes, and a subdued raspberry aroma.

Score: 93

Taste: Spicy, peppery and orange bergamot right up front, creamy buttery flavor, the raspberry is not very apparent. Dominating bergamot. Lingering cacao flavors with milky finish.

Score: 90

Texture: Smooth, creamy, medium-fast melt time.

Score: 94

Again with the traveling, I am not taking major points off here for a slightly broken bar. Just one piece broke and it's really no big deal considering how far it came. I have been known in the past to be tough about this sort of thing but the surface of this bar held up better than the unbroken Nib & Salt bar. I think that's more important. It is an issue if you get it broken from the store. But in this case, I am not reviewing that aspect harshly.

Great snap. Very full and strong with a nice popping sound and no crumbles.

Interesting aroma. You expect a bigger Earl Grey tea smell but it's toned down and not too big. Neither is the raspberry. There is a tartness on the aroma but the raspberries are subdued. It's interesting because it's a savory kind of smell. It has orange notes and bergamot but also a buttery milky aroma.

The bergamot dominates the flavor of this bar. It's primarily a milky, buttery, creamy bar with orange and peppery bergamot flavors. The raspberry is completely lost. There are some remnants of it's presence in the finish but it's muddled with the milky after taste. It leaves a milky aftertaste similar to eating white chocolate. The cacao flavors are present at the finish. Slightly rich and bitter and also savory on the flavor as well as the aroma. It does have those drying qualities that Arriba Nacional beans tend to have but it's not as noticeable with the lingering milky finish.

The texture is fantastic. Soft, good melt time and smooth and creamy.

It's very good if you like spicy bergamot. It's very strong and flavorful chocolate. But my biggest issue with it is the milky aftertaste. It's a little cloying at the end. But it is a higher percentage milk chocolate with makes it richer than a typical 45%.

 

Final Score: 92.4

score
B+

 

 

 

The Chieftain

 

Type: Flavored bar 55%

Bean Varietal: Unknown, blend

Ingredients: Dark chocolate (sugar, cocoa mass, cocoa butter, vanilla powder), Pinhead oats, Haggis Spice (sea salt, coriander seed, mace, thyme).

Sample Size: 100g

 

Appearance: Smooth shiny surface with some plastic matted marks on the top surface, Deep dark brown color, standard small tabs tablet,

Score: 87

Snap: Good firm snap. Nice thickness on the bar and a good crisp snapping sound. Clean break lines.

Score: 94

Aroma: Huge spicy aroma. All mace. A little savory and herbal with thyme, oranges, black pepper aroma.

Score: 93

Taste: Big spicy taste, mace and herbal flavors. The thyme is bigger on the flavor and gives fairly big green  herbal taste, a little like pine tree sap, peppery, oranges, and red fruits from the cacao, cereal grains from the oats. Very slight spicy heat kick as well. Fruity lingering aftertaste of big rich raisins. Small pops of salt intermingled.

Score: 95

Texture: Medium hard with a slower melt time. Not as creamy as the others, but still smooth with a little crunch from the oats.

Score: 91

This bar is super fun. Love the tartan plaid wrapper and the very idea of a signature Scottish bar of chocolate with Haggis spice. While Haggis may not sound/be very appealing to the masses, the spices and aroma of this bar are awesome.

A matted surface. This is the only negative side effect from plastic packaging. I prefer plastic to hold the aromas and flavors on the bar longer. But it can lead to this kind of surface appearance. This could be from the traveling too. You never know what kind of temperature issues may affect the contents of a package in shipping. But you can see the integrity because it's still fairly shiny.

Nice thick bar with a standard mold. Clean but very film snap.

The aroma is huge. It's all mace which has a clove like aroma, oranges, black pepper, slightly herbal with the thyme. I didn't know what classic Haggis spice was, but this blend here makes for a good rich aroma on chocolate. I like it. It is really strong though. I could leave this bar out like a reed diffuser for the house.

It's pretty funky chocolate. I liked this a lot. It's interesting, it's different, and it actually works really well with the oats. It probably could have used more oats mixed in it. It has an awesome fruity aftertaste mingled with mace and spices. Not being that familiar with Haggis, I don't know how true to form it is in terms of taste, but what I get out of it is a huge holiday bar. This is something you want to pass around with friends and family.

As spicy as this chocolate is, it's still pretty balanced. You get a little bit of everything coming out. It's rich and deep for only a 55% too. But lower percentages and more sugars lend to a bigger fruity taste in chocolate. The lingering raisins and rich cacao flavors sort of halt a cloying aftereffect from something this heavily spiced. It's really wonderfully balanced and big at the same time.

It's score is another victim of technicalities. While important as a whole, I say ignore them and definitely try this bar. I loved it. It has so much going on and it was truly unique and fun. Plus you get to tell people you are eating Haggis chocolate. This is probably one of the most fun bars I have had in a while. I am so into the plain dark origin bars that I forget how fun and interesting good spice blends can be in chocolate when done properly.

 

Final Score: 92

score
B+

 

Thank you again, Ali. I appreciate the shipping and the skill shown in these bars. Deeply impressed with the Chieftain. The richness in the Nibs and Salt bar were great too. Keep up the good work and thanks for sharing your chocolate passion with me.

Surprises by William Curley

 

 

My yearly delivery of William Curley has arrived thanks to my mate Angelo, and this time I called ahead to see if Mr. Curley could put something together that I have never had before. Outside of having their fine pastries in their shop, I have had a good round of delicious treats from them over the years. This time he sent over some new treats.

On top of 3 boxes of truffles plus some other gems, there were two unlabeled boxes. I opened them to find candy bars! 3 treats from his Nostalgia line. A version of a Mounds Bar, A Snickers Bar, and a Jaffa Cake. Excited be thy name. All awesome and all things I like!

 

Nostaligia Coconut Bar: White chocolate and toasted coconut ganache coated in Toscano 70% dark chocolate.

A sophisticated version of a Mounds Bar. Amedei Toscano 70% dark chocolate shell with white chocolate and coconut center.

I am in love with coconut. I grew up on Mounds and Almond Joy's. They are still a favorite. But this was super rich and decadent with real dark chocolate. All coconut center. Meaning it does have white chocolate in it, but it's good and meaty with the coconut too. An Almond Joy is for a Halloween basket, this Nostalgia Bar is for a coconut lover you truly care about. It's ridiculously good. It defines rich from the dark chocolate and the insanely good coconut center.

 

Nostalgia Jaffa Cakes: Our version of a Jaffa Cake. Genoise sponge topped with homemade seville orange marmalade and chocolate ganache, coated in Toscano 70% dark chocolate.

Now, I never grew up with Jaffa Cakes. We had similar things in the US in terms of jelly rolls and things like that. But I like all the things in it. Sponge cake with jam dipped in Amedei chocolate. I am totally down with this. Also, this just looks 1000x better than the store bought ones.

Tangy and bright marmalade, bitter and perfect with the Amedei Toscano 70% shell. Soft spongy cake. It's a good balance of a lot of elements here. The tangy oranges, the bitter chocolate, sweet sugars in the marmalade and cake. I liked it.

 

 

Nostalgia Peanut Nougat Bar: Peanut and chocolate nougat topped with a salted peanut caramel and coated in Toscano 70% dark chocolate.

This would be a supped up version of a Snickers bar. Even better with it being dipped again in Amedei Tsocano 70% and with a salted caramel inside. Snickers is one of my all time favorite candy bars. It's right up there with Kit Kat bars. Previously I have tried Liddabit's version of a snickers. Handmade candy bars from Brooklyn. They set a very high bar, but didn't load it up with enough peanuts. This bar has plenty of peanuts.

It's a little sugary, but the nougat was soft and packed with lots of peanuts. The salty caramel gets a bit lost, but it is in there and there is a slight peak of it when you bite down into the bar. You get more of the buttery flavor than the salt. Again it is very sweet but I'd take this any day over a snickers.

 

Why do you do this to me William Curley?!?!?!?! Why do you make everything so awesome?

Ritual Chocolate ~ Costa Rica 75%

 

 

After spending a lovely afternoon back in October with Robbie Stout of Ritual Chocolate, and Steve DeVries, they sent me home with some goodies to review.

While I was there, I toured their factory, saw the vintage equipment they use, and really marveled at the super small operations churning some of my favorite chocolate. Newish producers on the scene, the are already winning awards and I have listed them in a recent interview as a up and coming name to look out for. I believe in them even more after I met Robbie and Anna in person. Super laid back, down to Earth, hard working, and they are not doing this for the money.

I still have dreams about their Ecuador beans being grinded. We were handed spoonfuls of cacao "butter" right out of the rollers and it was like pure floral jasmine chocolate butter. I wanted to take a bath in. I begged and pleaded for a jar of it.

Instead they kindly and most generously sent me on my way with some bars as a parting gift. And Steve sent me off with some 85% chocolate buttons for the red eye plane ride home. I selfishly saved them and melted them down for hot chocolate when I got home. It was amazing.

 

 

Costa Rica 75% 2009 Harvest

 

Type: Bittersweet, 75%

Bean Varietal: Forestaro, hybrid.

Ingredients: Cacao and cane sugar.

Sample size: 1.5oz or 42.5g

Batch #: 19

 

Appearance: Simple flat tablet with wide, long tablets. Non-monogrammed, amber medium-brown color, subdued surface.

Score: 89

Snap: Nice clean and crisp snap with a decent snapping sound.

Score: 93

Aroma: Medium roasted cacao aroma, wood and berries, and little musty with some citrus notes.

Score: 92

Taste: Cocoa-y, very bitter, woody, tart and slightly acidic, softer brown sugar notes and molasses, soft hidden floral notes, fruity berries.

Score: 91

Texture: Smooth, creamy, medium melt-time, a slightly silky texture once it opens up.

Score: 92

 

First thing I want to mention is the appearance. While visiting, they showed me their molds and how they remove the bars. Something about these molds always leaves a sort of thumb print if you will, on the top surface. You can see it in the first picture. Knowing that makes it very superficial in my scoring since they know it's an issue and are actively working to change that. It's not too shiny but then again I have held on to this bar since October. The real points for the appearance is the richness of the amber, medium-dark color on the bar.

This bar really did have a funky earthy quality to it on the aroma. It had a musty moldy tinge to it on top of bright berries and full wood notes. I know that doesn't particularly sound very appealing and the bar is not moldy. It's cool in my opinion because it lends a good balanced earthy note on top of sweet fruity citrus and berries. It makes it weird and interesting. I dig it.

Ritual uses cane sugars, and on the first bar I reviewed from them, all I could taste was big molasses flavors. Black strap molasses. I detected that a little bit on this bar but definitely not in the same capacity. It's a mild flavor hidden underneath the cacao this time and not as up front.

It's fairly bitter chocolate, slightly tangy with some citrus notes and berries. The berries are fruity and definitely present, but not dominating or overwhelming. There is a good balance of fruits and sugars, wood and earthy notes. The sugars were well balanced and not overdone with the molasses taste as mentioned above. But I will say the bitterness is a bit much. It takes over more than it should. I found a nice floral hint in the middle of this tasting and I think it would have been more dominate or more noticeable without the excessive bitterness. Clean finish despite the lingering bitters. 

Nice and bold chocolate. Big and robust, good balanced sugars and fruits. Too much bitterness for me personally in then end, but still very worthy chocolate. I think Ritual are very talented people and are the up and comers to keep watching. If you are ever in the Denver area, please contact them and visit their factory. You will learn a lot from them and be amazed at some vintage equipment and just how small their production really is. Anna is an absolute joy, and Robbie is very generous and thorough in explaining his process and passion. 

 

Final Score: 91.4

   score
  B+

Olive & Sinclair ~ 67% Cacao

 

 

Two very different products reviewed from Olive & Sinclair, the Brittles and the Buttermilk White Chocolate. Now back to our regularly scheduled program with some regular dark chocolate.

Tennessee chocolate artisans with a bittersweet chocolate bar on that line of semisweet and bittersweet. Stone ground chocolate using Ghana beans and brown sugar instead of cane sugar.

 

 

67% Cacao

 

Type: Bittersweet, 67%

Bean Varitetal: Unknown

Ingredients: Cacao beans, brown sugar, cocoa butter.

Sample Size: 2.75oz

Batch #: 120912

 

Appearance: Wide square bar, with large, monogrammed tablets, deep dark brown color, sloppy backside with fill lines and slightly ashy, broken from shipping, some matted and scuff marks on the surface.

Score: 84

Snap: Decent snap with clean break lines, crisp snap sound.

Score: 91

Aroma: Nice full fudgy aroma. Brownies, sweet brown sugar, dry wood, and almonds.

Score: 94

Taste: Cocoa powder, very bitter up front, sweet sugars, brownie batter, almonds, rich full flavors.

Score: 91

Texture: Slightly hard, medium melt-time, but smooth texture. Fairly smooth and creamy texture once opened up.

Score: 91

 

The appearance on this bar is interesting. I like the shape and molding of the bar. The tablets although wide, are not too thick to bite into. Great thickness. I always love monogrammed moldings too. But it arrived broken, and it had some matting on the surface. Not too bad but enough to impact it's score. The back of the bar you could see fill lines. Mixed bag on the appearance.

Good snap. A little weak at the molded lines, but snapping a tablet in the center provided a nice snap with clean break lines.

The aroma was straight forward and very indicative of Ghana beans. All fudgy brownies. You could smell the sweet brown sugars too and a little bit of dried wood and almonds. Lovely aroma and simple.

The taste is as straight forward as the aroma. Fudgy brownies, cocoa powders, almonds, sweet brown sugars. But the bitterness is interesting. As sweet as it is, it opens with a bitter kick up front and then hangs on and lingers throughout the taste giving good depth to the sweet brown sugars. It's very bitter for a 67%. Not acidic or tart, just deeply bitter. That bitterness also allows an interesting clean taste on the very, very end of the finish. Like a slight hint of a perfume-y laundry soap. Very faint though.

The texture is a little hard with a medium melt-time, but not gritty. A little drying but overall creamy  once it opens up. Nice texture for a stone ground. You listening Taza? The things you can acheive when you are not riding on mistakes as historical representations.

I liked this bar. I wish it was on my regular store shelves. That brownie taste is so classic of Ghana and it's really wonderful and rich. I would bake all the time with this kind of chocolate. I am going to have to order a bunch of 67%'s and bake a Mississippi Mud cake with it. I will post the results of that if I do order more. Winter is coming though, chocolate cake season is upon us.

 

Final Score: 90.2

   score
  B+

Patric Chocolate ~ PBJ OMG

 

 

**Archived notes

 

Back to what works. This bar was reviews a month or two ago, but I have the taste in my mind right now remembering how good this bar is. I was supposed to have reviewed this last year, but I let it slip and then it just got too late to post it. So, I ordered a fresh round of Patric and decided to start over again.

The notes are not that much different from last year to this year. This year's batch was a little less jammy than the year before. Patric Chocolate is one of my all time favorite American bean-to-bar producers. He is finally having a lot of fun and coming up with insanely good new creations. Most recently reviewed was the amazing Salty Signature Seventy. And now my second time around with the PBJ OMJ.

While I think the name of this bar is corny, it is anything but in it's taste. Alan McClure blended peanut butter in just the right amount with jammy Madagascar dark chocolate to give a roasted peanut butter and defaulted jam flavor from the natural berry/fruity flavors on the chocolate. It's a brilliant idea and it's executed so well. Patric's Madagascar was some of my first introductions to Madagascar cacao and I have rarely run into anyone with the same level of quality and flavors.

 

 

PBJ OMG (Seasonal)

 

Type: Flavored dark chocolate

Bean Varietal: Unknown

Ingredients: Cacao, cane sugar, natural peanut butter (roasted peanuts, salt), cocoa butter, sea salt.

Sample Size: 2.3 oz or 65g

 

Appearance: Rich beautiful orange-ish brown color, monogrammed molding with no tab squares, matted textured surface from molding, but shiny and smooth surface. (Minor scratch on the surface came from me.)

Score: 95

Snap: Very soft snap, a little rubbery but still had a slight snapping sound and clean break lines.

Score: 83

Aroma: Nice full but simple aroma of roasted peanuts and jammy fruits. Sweet and rich cacao too.

Score: 94

Taste: Rich roasted peanuts right up front, a little bitter from the dark chocolate, good balance of sugars, fruity notes but more buttery and savory, a little tangy, faint hints of coffee, and Madagascar woody finish.

Score: 92

Texture: Super soft and creamy. Medium-fast melt-time, smooth texture.

Score: 93

 

I have to say, I am not a fan of the new molding from Patric. Well, not so new anymore, but I don't like the splatter paint design at all. His molding before was so much more sophisticated. Putting that aside, look at how gorgeous the color of this bar is. It's a great color, no surface blemishes, and a great shine despite a textured surface. It's a beauty of a bar.

The peanut butter has the same taste as the year before. Adds a nice richness and even some slight coffee notes with the roasted peanuts and bitterness of the cacao. It's a little less fruity than the previous year. But not by much. It's less tangy but more savory and buttery this year. Still has nice fruits that give off the intended effect of peanut butter and jelly. Leaves a classic Madagascar wood flavor on the finish from retro-olfaction.

The texture was fantastic and smooth, the aroma was to die for, and it tasted fantastic. Just a little weak snap was the only thing really wrong with the bar. It bent quite a bit before it snapped. But it still gave way to a slightly decent snap sound despite how soft it is.

Excellent flavored chocolate. A great blend of peanut butter without making it PEANUT BUTTER. It's such a dominating flavor. While, this bar is definite on it's roasted peanut taste, it doesn't take away from the gorgeous Madagascar cacao. I love that about this bar. It's a great blend that really shines on both elements.

 

Final Score: 91.4

   score
  B+

Olive & Sinclair ~ Buttermilk White Chocolate 45%

 

 

 

The bar that got me in trouble with my ordering. It all started with a simple tweet from Olive & Sinclair announcing they released these Buttermilk White Chocolate bars. I love all things buttermilk being a good southern woman at my core (when it comes to food only). I logged on to order this bar, and ended up with 5 bars of chocolate and two kinds of cacao nib brittle.

This is my first experience with Olive & Sinclair and I was quite happy with the Brittles being tastes first. I am actually a believer in white chocolate. I haven't always loved the commercial crap that is usually sold and used for baking. It's generally too sweet, and too artificial tasting. But having experienced craft white chocolates, I am sold on how good they can actually be. I am also a believer that white chocolate is in fact chocolate. Or at the very least a crucial part of the cacao bean and in some cases makes up more of the bean. So many hardcore reviewers and so-called experts will disagree vehemently that it is not chocolate because it does not contain cacao liquor. Without getting too technical, in my point of view, a cacao bean is made of roughly 55% cocoa butters or fats according to Beckett's The Science Of Chocolate Second Edition. It's the seed's food supply. The bean and winnowed down nib is made up of more fat that ends up pressed away. Low and high quality fats are pressed from nibs and separated. They go hand in hand. I am sure many actual experts will disagree and argue until they are blue in the face, but cacao cannot be without it's main food supply which is the fats that are pressed away for cacao liquors and pastes.

Where people draw the line is with the content of white chocolate is that it's made of up the pressed cacao fats, milk powders, vanilla, and sugar without having any cacao liquor or paste put into it. But again with the nibs and seeds being made up predominately of fats and cacao butters, I am inclined to consider white chocolate real chocolate. I welcome comments and debates about this subject.

Back to Olive & Sinclair. This is a white chocolate bar done with buttermilk powder, salt, and black peppercorns. This is not the Buttermilk White with Salt and Pepper bar though. I am noticing they hallmark some of their products with hints of salt and pepper. It does say they used "Unfiltered" cacao butter. I am wondering if that just means it hasn't been deodorized. Cocoa butter is aromatic and pungent and is often deodorized so that it can be added to chocolate bars without effecting the taste.

 

 

Buttermilk White Chocolate 45%

Type: White chocolate, 45%

Bean Varietal: Unknown

Ingredients: Cane sugar, organic unfiltered cacao butter, buttermilk powder, milk powder, kosher salt, black peppercorns.

Sample Size: 2.75 oz

Batch #: 041313

 

Appearance: Arrived broken, Creamy white color with black flecks of pepper, short and wide bar with large tabs, custom monogrammed molding, smooth surface with muted shine, slight particles on surface.

Score: 84

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

Score: 91

Aroma: Big aroma of dry roasted cacao, nutty, wood, and cream, slightly peppery.

Score: 94

Taste: Creamy, lightly salty, very peppery, a little funky, tangy buttermilk flavors, slight lingering nutty flavors but mostly lingering pepper and milk on the palate.

Score: 76

Texture: Smooth surface, medium melt-time, gritty texture, a little chewy and gummy.

Score: 73

 

I like the molding on this bar. The tabs are wide, but not too thick to bite into. I am disappointed that it came broken though. All the bars were broken in the same place. But the color is good and the molding is great. Simple and monogrammed. Nothing too fancy.

I love love love the aroma on this bar. It's simple yet super full and wonderful. I love the huge dru roasted nutty aromas, and big wood aromas mixed with cream. There is really nothing more to the aroma than that except a little bit of pepper. I personally love this aroma. It's not what I expected at all for this bar. I expected sweet vanilla aromas and cream.

The taste is interesting. I wasn't entirely sold on it. The buttermilk makes it tangy and creamy, adds a little funk to this bar. But it's overwhelmed by the black pepper. The salt adds a nice contrast up front to the sugars, but then the tangy buttermilk and pepper take over and it's unbalanced. The tang and pepper detracts from the creamy quality of the white chocolate. I also think there are undertones of that nutty quality that wants to come out more but is overtaken by the dominating pepper. It's not supposed to be a salt and pepper bar either. Unless I got one mislabeled.

Not all is lost with the taste though. This needs to be cut up and baked into macadamia nut cookies. Buttery cookies with buttery nuts, and tangy, spicy white chocolate to add a different direction.

I had much higher hopes for this bar. I think it would be great without the black pepper. It's just too much and destroyed everything about this bar. The salt was fine even with the tangy buttermilk, it added a balance without interferring too much with the flavors. But overall, the taste just didn't work out.

It seemed like such a good idea at the time.....

 

Final Score: 83.6

   score
  C+

Mast Brothers ~ Brooklyn Blend 73%

 

 

 

Mast Brothers Brooklyn Blend 73%

Lovely packaging. Meat-packing paper that looks like a southern quilt of patch work of their other wrappers. They really do pick the best papers for their packaging.

No listing on what beans were used for this blend. I should be able to guess by the taste, but I am rather miffed that their minimalist website has zero information about their products. Don't get me wrong, I love the Mast Brothers. I just wish basic information was provided. It's a blended bar so how about telling me which blends instead of this generic description on the back.

 

We have brought all of our favorite beans from around the world to create our first house blend. A balanced chocolate with hints of red wine, tobacco, and plum.

 

Are they suggesting they used every bean in rotation for their origin bars, or just their favorites? Maybe I am being too technical here, but it does help knowing some of the origins so you can understand certain flavor profiles and why certain flavors may or may not have worked. And don't tell me it's an industry secret either. That would be lame. Perhaps, the patch work paper is telling me which beans are in it?

 

Brooklyn Blend, 73%

 

Type: Blended bittersweet, 73%

Bean Varietal: Unknown, blend

Ingredients: Cacao and cane sugar.

Sample Size: 2.5oz

 

Appearance: Nice shiny surface, non-monogrammed molding, slightly ashy on the back with some minor particle matter on the back, but very minimal. Great shape.

Score: 93

Snap: Medium snap quality, a slight dull thud sound mixed with a mildly crisp snapping sound, crumbly break lines.

Score: 90

Aroma: Very subtle aroma. A little inky, some mild charred notes, a little tart, and soft smoke.

Score: 87

Taste: Sweet, astringent, tangy, slightly sour, fruity, cherries, citrus, wood, ink, tar, earthy, buttery biscuit finish.

Score: 92

Texture: Gritty, medium melt-time, drying and cloying on the palate.

Score: 83

 

Much better appearance and flavor than the previous reviewed Moho River. Shiny surface, and no streaking on the backside. Just a tiny bit of particles.

The aroma and texture were the weakest things about this bar. It's really so subtle and soft. Not a lot of dynamic there on the aroma. The texture was overly drying, cloying, and gritty. It started off smooth due to the molding and I hoped it stayed that way, but it really opened up gritty. Not a fan of stone grinding. I should say stone grinding that doesn't finish the job. I have had bars from Mast that are texturally fantastic. But sometimes you get a miss. This is a miss.

The flavor is strong. Big and fruity. There is definitely Madagascar in this bar with th bright citrus and acidic notes and cherries in the fruits. There is also some ink and big wood flavors. I think the earthiness is either from the Dominican Republic beans or something coastal in Northern Venezuela. Something that has those funky ink, char, and tar flavors. Those flavors are present too. But the fruits win on this bar. And the lingering buttery biscuit notes. It's just unbalanced with the acidity and astringency.

The flavors listed on the bar were once again not what I tasted. I didn't get plums, or tobacco. Red wine maybe with it's fruitness, drying texture, and acidity. But that wasn't really it. No influencing either with just reading and suggesting the words. That can happen which is another reason why I don't like flavors listed on bars.

I have had this bar fresh from the source and sat at the Radegast German Beer Hall next door and enjoyed it with some Munich Dunkels with it. I have done the same with their Occumare too. It's a wonderful experience. But better to eat it right there on the spot. When the chocolate is a mere hours old, not old enough have fully breathed yet, and the beers are cold, malty, and biscuit-y to help tone down that astringency.

I am beginning to worry about the Mast Brothers and their consistency issues. There seems to be a hallmark with acidity and astringent bars. It's not a good hallmark to have. I fear they are creating way too many new products, new bars from new origins without addressing these technical marks. You can get far on the fact that most people don't understand where it's a technical flaw or a desired effect like the smoke in the Papua New Guinea. But it's not going to last for long with other bean-to-bar producers who are effectively producing flawless chocolate. I praise and commend the Mast Brothers. I admire them greatly and was one of their original fans and enamored with their products. But as my palate has grown and expanded, so have my eyes or my palate rather, been opened to the undeniable flaws all over their products. I need them to slow down and tweak, tweak, tweak their recipes and start refining their ways. They could be the American masters if they focused a little bit more on their classics, even this house blend. Less grittiness, less acidity, less astringency. More rich flavors, more true flavors of the cacao that's not being trounced by the aforementioned issues.

 

Final Score: 89

   score
    B

Mast Brothers ~ Moho River 70%

 

 

 

Mast Brothers Moho River 70% from Belize. Tropical lush area right in central America. Perfect conditions for cacao growing. Historically some of the original landscapes for the Mayan civilization and their history with cacao.

 

[Image via Adventure Smith Explorations]

 

The Moho River is located at the southern tip of the country by Punta Gorda. The packaging mentions the beans being sourced from a cooperative, I am assuming the Toledo Cacao Growers Association. This is also set up with tours and adventure traveling to Belize with The Cotton Lodge.

This is a good article for some information about The Cotton Lodge via Sacred Earth Travel.

 

Moho River 70%

 

Type: Bittersweet, 70%

Bean Varietal: Unknown

Ingredients: Cacao, cane sugar.

Sample Size: 2.5oz

Lot # 22111111

 

Appearance: Simple non-monogrammed molding, muted ashy brown color, streaking on the back of the bar, light and superficial scuffing on the front side of the bar, shiny molded surface.

Score: 89

Snap: Light to medium snap, mildly firm, slight crisp sound, and clean break lines.

Score: 90

Aroma: Funky! Big bold and bright cherries, wood, tart, a little inky, char, medicinal like Robitussin cough syrup. Once it breathed a bit, it became more raisin-y.

Score: 89

Taste: Bitter, medicinal, cough syrup, cherries, ink, char, acidic, tangy, big wood flavors, earthy, and some biscuit-y flavors.

Score: 86

Texture: Smooth, medium melt-time, a little dry and chalky at the end, but over all creamy and smooth.

Score: 92

 

If you like funk, you will like this bar. This is very reminiscent of Rio Caribe beans only this is much more fruity and bright versus the overly charred characteristics of Rio Caribe. I was hoping the cough syrup aroma wouldn't be significant on the flavor, but unfortunately it was all over the flavor. Big bold cherries, bright acidity, some wood and char flavors, but an undeniable medicinal quality that made it like cough syrup with the cherries. It's not bad chocolate, it's just not the kind of flavors I enjoy.

The aroma was very strong with the same characteristics of the flavor. Once it breathed a bit there was a nice raisin aroma, but not on the flavor. The package says it has notes of raisins, plums, and sarsaparilla. I didn't get any of that but the raisins on the aroma. This is why I don't like flavor notes on packages. Sometimes it's there in bold ways like Amano's Dos Rios. Can't deny that bergamot. But often times, if chocolate breathes or ages, those flavors change in big ways. Not to mention taste being subjective. I don't know what to say about this chocolate, but it's very funky. The flavors are a bit all over the place. It's bitter and acidic, fruity and medicinal, and a little earthy and biscuit-y on the second and third tastes. It's interesting in that regards, but not my favorite flavor profiles. I was really hoping for that sarsaparilla flavor too. That would have been great.

 

Final Score: 89.2

   score
    B