20°N & 20°S

Galler ~ Heritage Noir 70%

 

 

Galler fine Belgian chocolate. Like a breath of fresh air in Brussels. La Grand Place is loaded with bad tourist chocolate and kitschy shops. Galler is a small gem among the waxy, milky, tourist chocolate pandered in in every shop other. Belgium is so proud of their chocolate status, but they ought to be ashamed of themselves for what they pander to tourists. Then again if I lived there, I wouldn't want every single tourist flooding my favorite places either. Thankfully there is Galler. There is a Tasse and a Valrhona (French) available too.

Beautiful and simple packaging and colorful at the same time. Nice neat shop, very pristine albeit a tiny shop.

 

 

About Jean Galler via their website:

Jean Galler was born into a luxury dessert environment. He liked working in the family con¬fectioner’s shop founded by his grandfather in 1930 and he has kept this passion since then.
At 16 years old, inspired by chocolate, he experiments this living material that fascinates him. To develop his knowledge and discover new savours, he studied in Basel (Switzerland), then with Gaston Lenôtre in Paris.
At 21 years old, he launched his own enterprise. 30 years later, the foundations of the company remain the same :
passion for chocolate ;
pride in perfection;
constant creativity.

Today, the team of more than 100 employees design, produce and market pralines, ice-creams, chocolate pâtisseries, filled chocolate bars, as well as chocolate tablets, Cat’s tongues (cartoon cats moulded from chocolate), spreads, bite-sized chocolates,…

After having built up its reputation in its region, Galler is now found throughout the Belgian market in more than 2,000 sales outlets. Galler owns currently a network of stores in Belgium, France, Luxemburg, Japan, the Lebanon, the United States, United Arab Emirates, England...

Frequently our company has been honoured with official recognitions. The most prestigious is undeniably the appointment as « Belgian Royal Warrant Holder », awarded in 1994. In 2002, Galler receives the « Innovation Prize » for the concept of “CHOCOLAT-THE©” at the Fran¬chise Fair of Brussels.

Also, be sure to click on their website link to view videos about their philosophies, and chocolate making, and family history. I liked the video called "Our Know How." Corny Euro music though. And not the first Euro chocolate maker to have that.

Heritage is part of the classic collection from Galler. According to their packaging, "Created in 1993, this was the first chocolate with 70% cocoa on the market. This trail-blazer has lost none of the flavor to which it owes it's success."

 

Heritage Noir 70%

 

Type: Bittersweet, 70%

Bean Varietal: Unknown, blended cacaos

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

Sample Size: 100g or 3.5oz

Lot #: L1611008

 

Appearance: Thick-squared, monogrammed tablet, slight beginnings of bloom, lightly ashy and dusty in the molding lines, smooth unblemished surface, deep dark chocolate brown color.

Score: 89

Snap: Fairly weak snap. The mold lines were thin so it gave way to a light crisp snap despite how thick the squares are. Clean break lines.

Score: 87

Aroma: Lovely soft roasted cacao, lightly smoky, marshmallows, and butter. Very soft and subtle.

Score: 93

Taste: Lightly sweet up front, good balance of sweet and bitter, nutty, buttery, lightly fruity, toasted, marshmallows,

Score: 95

Texture: Hard, slightly waxy up front, then opens up to a creamier texture. Medium melt time, smooth texture.

Score: 87

 

This is a very "up and down" bar of chocolate for me. Very smooth and unblemished surface yet slight bloom, big thick squares and a puny snap, soft aroma but fully flavor, sweet but bitter, hard and waxy then a creamy, smooth texture, and lastly a sweet fruity character with buttery marshmallow tastes. Up and down, up and down.

This chocolate doesn't expire until Dec. '11, but slight dusty sugar bloom was beginning to present itself on an otherwise unblemished surface. Nice and neat molding. Large squares on this tablet.

The aroma was very soft and subtle. Marhsmallows, butter, soft roasted cacao and smoky characters. This tells me it's a South American blend of some kind, but I don't know what this particular blend is.

A good balance of bitter and sweet with the sugars. It tasted like butter, toasted characters, and marshmallows, with a soft underlying fruity character. The texture was the weird part. Hard and waxy at first, and then it finally softens and opens up into a creamy and smooth texture. Again, with that up and down quality.

I really enjoyed the up and down qualities on the taste. It really did taste great. But all the other ups and downs give this a very low scoring B+. A B+ none the less. It's taste saves this. But I am not going to lie, I expected more.

 

Final Score: 90.2

   score
  B+

Slitti ~ Super Novanta Amazzonia 90%

 

 

 

Slitti Super Novanta Cioccolato Fondente Extra 90%. Super Ninety, extra bitter dark chocolate.

Slitti are a family of coffee roasters stemming back from 1969, who added the addition of chocolate making in 1988 by Andrea Slitti, son of Luciano. Luciano ventured out to make and roast his own coffee to serve superior coffee instead of the coffee he was serving, which he thought was swill.

Following his fathers footsteps and building upon his own creativity, Andrea ventured off into chocolate. A jump that didn't take much pushing since they pursue cacao beans from the same regions they source for coffee.

More about Andrea here, plus accolades and awards.

This was picked up for me by Angelo Scarnera on a trip to Italy. Tuscan chocolate! I can barely contain myself. My love for Italian chocolate knows no bounds and Angelo knows it. I have a special place in my heart after trying Venchi's 85% Cuor di Cacao. It's a big chocolate that you wouldn't know just how big it is based on how well they smoothed out the edges of of this chocolate. No sharp acidity. Lot's of bold flavors and less sugars, but unlike any other big chocolate I had tasted before. That was my introduction into fine chocolate and was the standard I held for a long time against other chocolates. Not wanting some big, robust, acid bomb chocolate that jabs you in the neck when you eat it. Once I knew it was possible to tame chocolate this way, I had to learn more.

I am hoping this big 90% bar will yield similar results. I have such a sensitive palate towards bitters. It's surprising being that I am also a major hop head in the beers I like. Double IPA's bring them on. Women tend to have a higher sensitivity to acidity and bitters. This was from research I have previously done on super tasters, women, and beer. Beer is the best example I can give here, if a beer is 60 IBU's (International Bittering Units) a woman's palate can taste it as high as 65% and in more extreme cases 70% due to a sensitivity to acids and bitters. So, like the beer it's interesting when you find women that like their coffee extra bitter, or their chocolate extra robust. This is not the case for every woman or every person. Taste is 100% subject and there can be many factors that effect a persons individual palate.

Now, we'll just have to see if the review for this bar matches what I was hoping for.

 

 

Amazzonia 90%

 

Type: Bittersweet, 90%

Ingredients: cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter, and natural vanilla.

Bean Varietal: Unknown, probably Criollo and Trinitario blends.

Sample Size: 100g or 3.5 oz

Lot #: 1623

 

Appearance: Smooth shiny surface, large-squared tablet, simple molding, a few matted marks on the surface from plastic wrapping, very dark and deep rich brown color.

Score: 92

Snap: Firm crisp snap, light cracking sound, clean break lines.

Score: 93

Aroma: Very light aroma. Soft roasted cacao, light hints of coffee, almonds, wood, a very subdued layer of berries, and small hints of cinnamon.

Score: 93

Taste: Bold, deeply bitter, no acidity, surprisingly fruity, coffee notes, excellent wood flavors and leathery notes, very complex.

Score: 95

Texture: Dry and hard, slow melt time. It does eventually open up to a softer and creamier texture, but still very dry on the palate. 

Score: 87

 

Despite it's texture this was most excellent. It renews my faith in Italian chocolate makers. The texture is rather dry and chalky up front. It does eventually soften up but is still very dry. It's the only qualm I have with higher cocoa percentage bars. That is if they're balanced right, it's the only beef I have with them.

I try not to take too many points away for plastic matting marks unless it's really bad. These were a little bit bad and make the shiny bar look a bit ashy, but it wasn't ashy. I should be more critical of that, but I like chocolate kept in plastic. It retains it's freshness longer. And a few superficial marks like that shouldn't be a big detraction. Especially not when the bar is in pristine condition. This bar had no nicks, no ashy qualities, no tempering issues. Just some minor plastic issues.

The flavors are deep complex. Very bold, biter and rich cacao, huge fruity, berry flavors coupled with big roasted cacao flavors, wood, and leather. This is definitely Venezuelan cacao, and definitely not coastal. I wish I knew where in the Venezuelan Amazon they were sourcing their beans from. As small as Venezuela is, they have the most distinctive regions for cacao growing. It's amazing that the more I taste chocolate the more adept I am becoming at identifying regions. I am not that good yet, but it's coming along.

I am most impressed by the taming of the acidity. It's just what I wanted from this bar. All bold and rich complexities of the chocolate, bitterness included, but no offensive acidity that interferes. All raw flavor.

Hardcore beer drinkers will no doubt love something like this. They tend to lean more towards the less sweet and more robust and raw flavored chocolates. While this chocolate is still a bit too big for me to regularly eat, I will most definitely bake with this and it will be wonderful. I can only imagine now how fruity and deeply rich the cake will be. Surely, it will be a cake as the next thing I bake.

 

Final Score: 92

   score
  B+

Mitzi Blue ~ With Love

 

 

Mitzi Blue "With Love," given to me by Angelo Scarnera, from London as part of our ritual trading of chocolate for beer. In Austria this is called "Mit Liebe." I kind of wish some of the products meant for UK markets or US markets kept the German words. At least in this case anyway. Mit Liebe just sounds better.

A bean-to-bar line from Josef Zotter based around a love affair with a car. The Story of Mitzi Blue from inside of the package. Click to enlarge.

 

 

With Love:

A chocolate as beautiful as love. In love? Beloved? Liked? Out of love? In love again? Enchanted and thrilled? As beautiful as love is the unbelievably fine taste of the wonderful Mitzi Blue® With Love, a chocolate able to express in a very romantic way the unique feeling of loving somebody. But love is not only written on the package, this chocolate is made with love. This variety is made with love for lovers, and that is why it looks different. Enchantingly light-coloured, finely conched and – to everybody’s surprise – covered with flowers. Seduction at the highest taste levels, something that may be given with love at any time.

 

With Love is white chocolate with 31% cocoa butter content. It's covered in flower petals of blue corn flowers, red roses, and yellow marigolds. It's very pretty and certainly special enough to hand over to someone you love.

 

Dear Angelo,

I heart you too, homie. Friends fo lyfe yo!

Mit Liebe, Candice

 

 

 

Mit Liebe

 

Type: White chocolate, 31% cocoa butter

Ingredients: Raw cane sugar, cocoa butter, full cream powder, sweet whey powder, whole cane sugar, mixed flowers (roses, corn flowers, and marigolds) vanilla, salt, soy lecithin. (Almonds??)

**Fair trade and organic ingredients.

Sample Size: 50g or 1.76oz

 

Appearance: Circle tablet, shiny back surface covered in pretty flower petals. The front is a simple monogrammed design. Gorgeous almond color. Soft and muted and not yellowish-white.

Score: 95

Snap: Low thud sound, slightly firm snap quality.

Score: 89*

Aroma: Delicate cinnamon toast and cream. Very simple and not much else happening.

Score: 93

Taste: Cinnamon, cream, buttery, slight nutty characters, a bit of a perfume-y character from the petals, but it's softly folded into the flavors of cinnamon and nuts. Distinctive rose flavor though. A blended cinnamon and milky aftertaste.

Score: 94

Texture: Super soft and creamy texture, the petals on the surface are dry, but soften really quickly, fast melt time.

Score: 94

 

*The score on the Snap is adjusted a bit for white chocolate. I factor in cocoa butter content and how thick the bar is. This had a relatively good snap to it, it just had no sound. Which is why is scored a bit lower than what it should have been based on it's feel.

Very pretty bar of chocolate. The color of the white chocolate was a beautiful almond color and not a weird neon white color you sometimes see with white chocolate. Simple molding with beautifully accented flowers all over the back surface.

I was slightly confused by the almonds in the ingredients. It says it contains almonds online, but not on the package. It does have a slight nutty character. It confuses me if I am really tasting almonds or just a natural flavor profile from the cocoa butter and ingredients.

The aroma and taste were fabulous. I am not one who is generally sold on white chocolate, but I don't turn my nose up at it and I will always try it. It smelled and tasted like cinnamon and cream. Awesomely buttery and sweet. It had a little bit of a flowery taste with distinctive rose flavors. It was also a bit nutty with a texture to die for. So creamy and soft. The petals were a bit dry on the palate at first, but it's a small detail considering how soft the white chocolate was.

There was a slight milky after taste that I didn't care for, but It took a few tastes of the bar for that to be present. It's a classic flavor of white chocolate I have come to not like. But again the rest of this bar tasted so good, I was willing to over look the aftertaste this time. It wasn't anything like the Hand-Scooped Black Cherries with Vanilla bar. Plus the cinnamon lingers a bit so it's a milky cinnamon flavor. There were some cloying spice notes towards the end. But again, a minor detail like the milky after taste that wasn't enough to interfere or ruin this fantastic bar of white chocolate.

I recommend this bar for the non-believers of white chocolate. Originally I was going to write that this is a good bar to give to your lover, unless they are a chocolate snob. But I think this will be good enough for the snobs after all.

Final Score: 93

    score
    A-

Zotter ~ Hand-Scooped Black Cherries with Vanilla

 

 

Zotter "Hand-Scooped" Black Cherries with Vanilla. Artwork by Andreas H. Gratze.

 

Black Cherries with Vanilla

Fine Bitter Couverture 60%

A fine dark chocolate that has the air of a chartbreaker. A black-cherry fruit puree and its layer of vanilla-almond nougat are determined to make it to the top.

 

Type: Filled bar, Semisweet 60%

Infredients: Raw cane sugar, almonds, cocoa butter, cocoa mass, fructose-glucose syrup, dried sweet cherries, full cream milk powder, cherry brandy, sweet whey powder, whole cane sugar, vanilla, salt, soy lecithin.

**Fair trade and organic ingredients.

Sample Size: 70g or 2.47oz

 

Major bloom on this bar. I like these Hand-scooped bars, but the chocolate coatings are very temperamental and finicky. This bar was the most bloomed out the three I have tried so far. And they are not past expiration or close to it. I can go as far as to say there may have been a big shift in temperature from transport or where they were bought in London. But I doubt that's the case. I think these bars are just delicate and temperamental.

Smells like cherries and a bit sweet like the kirsch brandy. Just a tad hint of that boozy character, but sweet overall with cherries, sugar, and vanilla.

Very sweet taste. Rich, sweet and slightly tart cherries, sweet vanilla filling, and semisweet chocolate rounding out the flavor. It's nice that the chocolate is at least present for this bar. On the other bars it was there but the fillings in the bar over took the chocolate. Then again, the chocolate is supposed to be an accent and not the main focus. But nice that you can taste it. 

There is a bit if a funky taste on the finish though that I do not like. I am left with a funky milk taste and milk breath. Something is artificial about it. The entire bar tasted good up until the finish. It's a leftover by-product of either too much milk powder in this bar or too much sugar and milk combined. It kind of ruins it for me.

I feel like this could have scored higher despite the bloom and overly sweet content of this bar because it tasted good, but it's the aftertaste that I can't get behind. The cherries were good, the vanilla was strong but good, the chocolate taste on the end was nice, but that finish kills it. It's not often I give something a score like this.

 

   score
 D+

Fleur De Sel Caramel Brownies

 

 

 

Chewy caramel mou salt caramel brownies using French fleur de sel butter "Paris Caramels" and TCHO Baking Drops. Yes, these were every bit as delicious as they sound.

 

I have had these caramels sitting in my pantry ready to be eaten, but I didn't want to eat them selfishly all by myself. I wanted to bake with them. I thought about melting them down for a salt caramel glaze on cinnamon rolls, or cup cake filling. I had a lot of options until I started thinking about Paul A. Young's salt caramel brownie. I have never had it before, but it just sounded AH-Mazing.

I followed the Brown Eyed Baker's recipe for Salted Caramel Brownies, but I tweaked my own caramel sauce. I also didn't mess around with the chocolate. I just used TCHO baking chips which had a big nutty flavor despite their description of intense chocolate flavors and fruity flavors.

 

 

Salted Caramel Brownies

Yield: 16 brownies

Prep Time: 15 minutes | Bake Time: 35 to 40 minutes

5 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into quarters
3 tablespoons cocoa powder
3 eggs
1¼ cups granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
Salted Caramel Sauce (click Brown Eyed Baker link above for their Caramel recipe)
Fine sea salt

1. Adjust an oven rack to the lower-middle position and heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray an 8-inch square baking pan with nonstick cooking spray. Line the pan with overlapping pieces of foil and spray the foil.

2. In a medium heatproof bowl set over a pan of almost-simmering water, melt the chocolates and butter, stirring occasionally until smooth. (Or, melt in the microwave on 50% power for 30-second increments, stirring after each, until melted and smooth.) Whisk in the cocoa until smooth. Set aside to cool.

 

3. Whisk together the eggs, sugar, vanilla, and salt in a medium bowl until combined, about 15 seconds. Whisk the warm chocolate mixture into the egg mixture; then stir in the flour until just combined. Pour about half of the brownie mixture into the prepared pan and spread into the corners. Spoon 9 dollops of Salted Caramel Sauce on top of the brownie batter. Top with the remaining brownie mixture, spread into the corners and level the surface with a spatula. Again, spoon 9 dollops of the Salted Caramel Sauce on top of the brownie batter. With a dull butter knife, gently run it through the batter to swirl the batter just a bit (don’t do it too much or it will all mix together). Sprinkle a bit of sea salt on top.

 

 

4. Bake until slightly puffed and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a small amount of sticky crumbs, 35 to 40 minutes. Cool on a wire rack to room temperature, about 2 hours. Remove the brownies from the pan using the foil handles and transfer to a cutting board. Cut into squares. Brownies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature.

(Brownie recipe adapted from Baking Illustrated)

 

 

For my caramel, I melted down 36 caramels or 2 packs of 18 piece Paris Caramels with some heavy cream, about 3 tbls worth. Melted over a double boiler until blended and smooth. Then I followed the directions above for puting the caramel in between the batter and on top.

I also had some extra baking drops that dropped on top of the caramel in the center of the brownie mix. I put the chocolate drops on top of the brownie mix on the top layer and covered with caramel.

The caramel is perfectly fine to bake and won't become overly hard once cooled. It leaves a chewy caramel mou and not a soft and super runny caramel. It leaves much more stable brownies. Monitor your baking time. I found I needed longer than the recipe called for by about 15 minutes or so.

 

Blurry but fun up close of the caramel. Why oh why do I always use my iphone and not my $700 Nikon? The pictures may not have done these brownies much justice, but trust me when I say, they were incredible.

 

Three Origin Chocolate Pudding

 

 

If you are a chocolate advocate like me, when you get a hankering for something chocolate it can't just be plain old chocolate. So, when I got a craving for chocolate pudding, one so strong I could have taken someone's arm off for it, I decided to make some real pudding. Real chocolate that is. I gathered up some scraps of previously reviewed chocolate and melted it down.

Please excuse my iPhone pics. I didn't initially intend on blogging about this pudding, but after some choc-gasmic reflecting, I thought I should share it anyway.

I followed a simple recipe from Smitten Kitchen. I melted down Pralus Cuba 75%, Rogue Piura 75%, Mast Brothers Dominican Republic 81%.

 

Silky Chocolate Pudding
Adapted from John Scharffenberger, via Wednesday Chef

Serves 6

1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 cups whole milk
6 ounces 62% semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped (I used good quality semisweet chocolate chips; use 70% bittersweet if you want more of a dark chocolate kick)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

 

1. Combine the cornstarch, sugar and salt in the top of a double boiler. Slowly whisk in the milk, scraping the bottom and sides with a heatproof spatula to incorporate the dry ingredients. Place over gently simmering water and stir occasionally, scraping the bottom and sides. Use a whisk as necessary should lumps begin to form. After 15 to 20 minutes, when the mixture begins to thicken and coats the back of the spoon, add the chocolate. Continue stirring for about 2 to 4 minutes, or until the pudding is smooth and thickened. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla.

 

2. Strain through a fine-mesh strainer (or skip this step if you’re a slacker like me who is absolutely certain that there is nary a lump her puddin’) into a serving bowl or into a large measuring cup with a spout and pour into individual serving dishes.

3. If you like pudding skin, pull plastic wrap over the top of the serving dish(es) before refrigerating. If you dislike pudding skin, place plastic wrap on top of the pudding and smooth it gently against the surface before refrigerating. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes and up to 3 days (ahem, good luck with that).

I spent 3 glorious days eating this miracle of chocolate. They were the best days of my life.

Zotter ~ Hand -Scooped Scotch Whisky

 

 

Zotter "Hand-Scooped" Scotch Whisky with Highland Harvest Organic Scotch. Artwork by Andreas H. Gratze.

 

 

Scotch Whisky

Nobel bitter couverture 70%

The 'smoky flavour' of whisky and the dry acidulous flavour of dark chocolate blend together for that perfect combination.

 

Type: Filled bar, bittersweet, 70%

Ingredients: Cocoa mass, raw cane sugar, cocoa butter, whisky (6%), milk, fructose-glucose syrup, full cream milk powder, whole cane sugar, salt, vanilla.

**Fair Trade and organic ingredients.

Sample Size: 2.47oz or 70g

Highland Harvest Organic Scotch Whisky

 

Nice shiny surface with the blow dried chocolate waves on the surface. A few marks on the surface but probably from the packaging rubbing against the chocolate ripples. Still shiny though and in great shape.

Smells boozy and chocolate-y. A lot like the Grape (Grappa), Cheese and Walnut bar. Smells more like the sweet richness of the chocolate than it does of peaty scotch.

From the Caskstore page about the Whisky:

Deep golden amber color. Buttery caramelized nuts, anise, vanilla frosting, and dried fruit aromas. A soft silky entry leads to a dryish medium body of honeyed nut toast, caramel, honey, and spice flavors with wet grain and delicate mineral fade. A smooth, delicately flavorful, and evenly meshed blend.

Rich bittersweet chocolate and full scotch flavors without being overbearing. Has a bit of scotch esters and some slight peat characters, the buttery quality described on the page about the whisky comes through in a great way and interacts nicely with the sweet chocolate. Definite vanilla, cream, and honey from the scotch. There is a really nice flowery overtone to the bar as well which is either coming from the chocolate, or the scotch's honey notes, or a combination of the two. Either way, its really nice. And a nice nutty character just before the finish. Lot's of flavor profiles going on.

For someone who isn't a big scotch fan, this was very enjoyable. It is was it says it is too, unlike the Bacon Bits bar. Just a creamy center of chocolate and scotch covered in dark chocolate. A nice balance of esters, sugars, butter, and cream. And all organic ingredients including the whisky which falls inline with Zotter's principles perfectly.

 

   score
   A-

Zotter ~ Hand-Scooped Bacon Bits

 

 

Zotter "Hand-Scooped" Bacon Bits bar. Artwork by Andreas H. Gratze.

 

 

 

Bacon Bits

Noble bitter couverture 70%

Contest of nutty flavours. Cracklings roasted in a crispy fashion and then caramelised develop nutty flavours. Hazelnut nougat competes for this nutty taste. Refined with cinnamon and coated in noble bitter chocolate.

 

Type: Filled candy bar, nougat, Noble bitter couverture, 70%

Ingredients: Raw cane sugar, cocoa mass, cocoa butter, hazelnuts (16%), bacon crackling (7%), full cream milk powder, skimmed milk powder, butter, whole cane sugar, salt, cinnamon, vanilla.

*Fair trade and certified organic ingredients.

Sample Size: 2.47oz or 70g

 

Ashy and bloom-y chocolate coating. Rippled wavy surface pattern from the chocolate being blown and cooled.

Smells like cinnamon and walnuts even though it's ingredients contain hazelnuts. No smokey or bacon aroma. Cinnamon dominates everything even the chocolate.

Hazelnut and cinnamon taste, very sweet, slightly salty with small bits of crispy bacon crackles, soft chocolate coating, soft nougat-like center, and crunchy, sweet, caramelized bacon.

The namesake simply doesn't hold up. It's called Bacon Bits, and while it does have it in there, it's very disappointing with the amount. I expected it to be more loaded with bacon. It's basically just a cinnamon-y gianduja bar with scant amounts of bacon crunchies in it. This cinnamon and hazelnut also dominate the flavor of the chocolate.

I think this bar tastes very good. It's actually really good and it's texture is very nice and creamy with the crunchy caramalized bacon for added texture contrast. But I wanted more bacon. The bacon is also candy-like. Barely any smokey flavor to it at all. But there is a little bit of a salt kick which helps balance out the sweet bar, but not enough though.

I don't know exactly how to grade this bar. For taste it would get a strong B+ or even an A-. But technically since it's called Bacon Bits it should be more bacon-y and that's what you should be left with when eating this bar. But you don't get left with bacon. And while it tastes great, it should be called something like "Cinnamon Gianduja," to more accurately name this bar.

 

   score
  C+

 

Santander ~ Dark Chocolate 70%

 

 

 

Santander Dark Chocolate 70%

 

Type: Bittersweet, 70%

Bean Varietal: Trinitario, Criollo blend

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

Sample Size: 2.46oz or 70g

 

Appearance: Large square monogrammed tablet, deep dark brown color, muted, slightly ashy, a few minor and superficial surface marks.

Score: 89

Snap: Firm, crisp snap, nice audible snap sound, clean break lines.

Score: 93

Aroma: Opens up with soft almonds and wood, the same coffee notes as the 65%, then opens up to big peanuts again, sweet honey. All the same characteristics on the aroma of the 65% but softer and more muted. I don't detect the same floweriness or the spicy qualities I detected on the 65%. I tend to find stronger cocoa percentages can be softer on the aroma.

Score: 91

Taste: Peanuts and peanut butter, coffee, sweet sugars up front, then a little astringent when it opens up. Not much else is going on.

Score: 92

Texture: A little hard, mildly chalky, medium melt time.

Score: 91

 

See the review for the Dark Chocolate 65% here.

The aroma had all the same characteristics of of the 65% only muted a bit. But the flavor was a bust. It tasted good, but due to the dominating peanuts and peanut butter tastes, coupled with coffee, it drowned out every other subtlety that might have been present. While I liked the taste, it felt more like I was eating a peanut butter cup in dark chocolate than it felt like eating a nice single origin chocolate. While the 65% had too much sugar, this has too much peanut flavor.

I asked before in the other review of Santander, how much is natural and how much is infused from other flavors around their factory with coffee/chocolate products around? The coffee was much more pronounced in the 65% while this one is all peanuts.

I apologize if this review seems lacking, it just ended up being a lot of the same from the 65%. Just softer and more nutty. I didn't want to make this a verbatim review of the other one. But I put the link for the other review because it does contain more details and will explain a lot of what I meant with this review.

Final Score: 91.2

   score
 B+

L.A. Burdick ~ Dominican 72-74%

 

 

I had always maintained that L.A. Burdick makes exceptionally amazing chocolate bars. I knew that they weren't a bean-to-bar company and that they used Swiss chocolate making techniques and Swiss couverture chocolate as they like to boast on their Facebook page and website. But it wasn't until recently I found out that they sourced their beans from Felchlin and Valrhona. They also source from Venezuela, and more recently Grenada.

Mostly known for having the best cup of hot chocolate in all of New England, their truffles happen to be some of my favorite from the area as well. It wasn't until I started writing this blog, that I got into their bars. Again, it's couverture chocolate, but for cases like this it's how they blend their chocolate and how they tweak the finished product that counts. They continue to be top notch to me.

The only thing frustrating is not knowing exactly where they source their beans from for the bars. They mention Europe for blocks and liquors, but South America for the bars. They are not a bean-to-bar so I don't know if they are doing direct sourcing now or brokering the beans. They are working with Grenada for sourcing directly with farmers, but there is little information about the rest of the South American beans. Their website has little information about the bars.

Designed for true "Chocophiles", Burdick single source bars allow a sampling of six distinctive regional beans. From the fruity acidic notes of Madagascar Beans, to the earthy flavors of the Dominican and the nutty, deep, and spicy tastes of Grenada, Burdick single source bars provide a world tour of regional chocolate tastes; i.e., "terroir" amplified. The single source offerings reflect our recent discoveries. Try all 6 bars with our complete set, a "Burdick Choice" 3-pack, or buy each single source bar individually.

 

I have one pet peeve about chocolate, and that's not having a more detailed website for information about your products. It might not have always mattered as much as to where companies source their ingredients from, but these days it is important. Fair trading, locally sourced ingredients, child labor issues, and ethical corporate or business practices are extremely important. With just about everyone having access to the web and being more interested in where their food comes from, there should be no reason for sparse information. Also, after recently having a poor customer service issue with Burdick's, I really do not want to call them and speak to them directly about their chocolate details. While that's just me and my own issues with them, it's still a pain in the ass regardless of my own experiences with their company.

Having a website that offers details about chocolate such as how to store it, what kinds of varietals are out there, ect., to having piss poor information about the bars and chocolate being used itself, is rather lame.

 

Dominican Single Source 72-74%

 

Type: Bittersweet,  between 72-74%

Bean Varietal: Trinitario

Ingredients: Cocoa beans, sugar, and cocoa butter.

Sample Size: 100g or 3.5oz

 

Appearance: Simple, non-monogrammed small square molded tablet, shiny, smooth, barely a blemish, deep rich brown color.

Score: 94

Snap: Firm snap, clean break lines, dull thud snapping sound.

Score: 90

Aroma: Wood notes, tobacco, almonds, vanilla, mild cinnamon notes, and lightly smoky.

Score: 93

Taste: Sweet, sugar, acidic, tobacco, rich, bold wood, small hints of tar and pen ink, earthy, unripened bananas and cream, mild cinnamon and toast on the finish.

Score: 95

Texture: Smooth, creamy, medium melt time.

Score: 93

Simple molding, pristine condition, a couple of nicks here and there but in fantastic shape. A medium snap of firmness and dull snapping sound. Still, it was firm and had clean break lines.

The aroma was fairly simple. Big wood, roasted cacao, tobacco, and some slight cinnamon characters. It was pretty straight forward and not overly complicated. 

I tried not to let the packaging influence my palate or tastes when reviewing but it did have the notes it mentioned on it's package. "Notes of tea, banana, roasted cocoa, and high acidity." It was sweet upfront with sugar, then it opens with big wood and earthy flavors. Slight hints of tar and pen ink. I tasted more tobacco leaves than tea leaves. There is a banana flavor but it's like green, unripened bananas and cream. And a little bit of buttered cinnamon toast on the finish.

Very bold chocolate, but fairly straight forward on it's taste and aroma. Just nice and rich. This would be great for baking and drinking too. You could make the most decadent chocolate cake with a bar or two of this chocolate.

 

Final Score: 93

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