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+

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+

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+

Mast Brothers ~ San Martín 75%

 

 

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

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

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

 

 

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

 

San Martín 75%

 

Type: Bittersweet, 75%

Bean Varietal: Unknown, possibly a new hybrid.

Ingredients: Cacao and cane sugar.

Sample Size: 2.5oz

Batch #: 12031211

 

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

Score: 91

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

Score: 83

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

Score: 94

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

Score: 92

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

Score: 91

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

Final Score: 90.2

  score
B+

Artisan du Chocolat ~ Bali 72%

 

 

 

**Archived notes.

 

I reviewed this bar a while ago. Sometime last year, but I still had the notes and pictures I took so I wanted to make sure this review got posted. It was a pretty interesting bar. A rare and limited edition bar. Strange and crazy banana notes on this bar. It's all about the bananas.

 

Bali, famed Indonesian island and tourist destination for Australians and many Europeans. Perfect tropical and lush jungle conditions for growing chocolate. Trinitario trees, probably brought over around the 1600's or 1700's when chocolate trees were being sent around the world to Africa and Asia.

 

In the Balinese jungle, everything around you is alive and bearing fruits from cacao to papaya, coffee, guava, pepper, banana or native snake fruit. With notes of sweet bananas and spices, the chocolate we make from these exotic beans is smooth, gentle, on the palate, low acidity, but is exhibiting in its flavours the lushness of its birthplace.

 

 

L'Artisan du Chocolat Bali, 72%

 

Type: Bittersweet, 72%

Bean Varietal: Trinitario

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

Sample Size: 45g

Lot #: 00006062

 

Appearance: Dusty and ashy, *but held up remarkably well. Simple, non-monogrammed molding, sill had some shine and a rather unblemished surface.

Score: 91

Snap: Nice firm snap, a little crumbly with the break lines.

Score: 92

Aroma: Big sweet aroma of ripened bananas, spicy, peppery, smoky, almonds, wood, earthy, inky.

Score: 96

Taste: Sweet, cocoa-y like powdered hot chocolate, mellow and mild, lightly bitter, tiny hints of acidity, fruity, peanuts, lingering banana flavors, and coffee grinds. Way later in the finish were mild hints of cinnamon toast.

Score: 92

Texture: A little waxy and a little hard at first, but does give way to a smooth texture and a medium melt time.

Score: 91

 

* I didn't take points away from its appearance. This was a bar I held on to for a while. It wasn't expired or past it's best by date, but I did push it with this bar and it held up remarkably well. It's a pretty basic molding and still had some residual shine and a unblemished surface. That's what I scored it on.

Snap quality was pretty great. Nice and firm and pretty audible. Just a little messy with the crumbles from the break lines.

Aroma was huge. What a fantastic and complex aroma this thing had. Sweet, fruity, and spicy and earthy. So much going on with the nose. Incredibly complex and diverse with it's range.

The flavor was fairly muted I thought. It tasted good and the bananas were insane but a lot of the flavors didn't come out until retro-olfaction. It opens up fairly sweet and with rich cocoa flavors but it was very reminiscent of hot chocolate cocoa powder. Not that that's a bad quality, but that's just what it reminded me of right in the beginning. It was pretty tame all over and had some wood flavors, sweet bananas, almonds, bitterness, and mild hints of char. More bananas at the end make their presence known but the lasting flavor on the palate was coffee grinds. It tasted really good, but it just wasn't as explosive as the aroma was. It wasn't as complex as the nose.

The texture was a little hard at first, not bad though, fairly waxy and chewy, but it does open up to a softer smooth texture with a medium melt.

Best and most curious aroma I have smelled in a while. I wish it's flavor was as dynamic, but it was still good to eat.

 

Final Score: 92.6

  score
  B+

 

L'Amourette ~ Rio Caribe Superior 75%

 

 

Round two with L'Amourette. This time a Rio Caribe bar. Coastal Venezuelan region that has become very popular for all the bean-to-bar or small artisan chocolate makers right now. If looking at a map of the northern Venezuela coastline, Rio Caribe is on that eastern arm that branches out a bit from the mainland.

 

Via their website:

The luxuriant, fruit filled aroma with a hint of citrus is released when the silk-like texture melts before your tongue.

The taste is balanced—an intricate agreement between cacao butter and beans, made from hand selected

Rio Caribe Superior beans imported from Venezuela— hand crafted, giving individualism
to each bar.

Delicately roasted beans, 36-hour conching process.

 

Fair trade, Kosher, and vegan product.

 

No fooling around, let's get right into this.

Click images to enlarge.

 

 

Chocolat Noir 75%

 

Type: Bittersweet, 75%

Bean Varietal: Unknown, probably Trinitario.

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

 

Appearance: A rich mahogany color, nice and shiny and glossy, custom signature monogrammed molding, large square tabs, and it has chocolate particle dusting on it but much finer than the other bar I reviewed from them. Again, I think that was due to shipping.

Score: 92

Snap: Same issue with the other bar so I am literally cutting and pasting the exact same description and score.

"Very weak snap due to thin molding lines and overly large tabs. It's a light crisp snap from the molding lines, but a deep hard snap when breaking the fat tabs in half with moderately clean break lines."

Score: 86

Aroma: Big tar aromas, smoky, burnt, wood, nutty, acidic, mildly medicinal, and soft floral overtones.

Score: 92

Taste: Fruity, sweet, tangy, but still mild on astringency, herbal, tar, inky, complex bitters, buttery, slight hints of coconut, roasted cacao, earthy, peanuts, lingering bitter palate.

Score: 94

Texture: Smooth texture, medium melt time, this bar is much more creamy than silky and smooth like the other bar, but still very nice. 

Score: 94

 

Rio Caribe hasn't been one of my favorite regions. It gets high marks for it's deep complexities, and technical scores. But having said that, this was better than what I am used to. More depth of flavor than the typically over charred characters from the roasting on these beans. As mentioned in the previous review from L'Amourette, I heard that a lot of the beans that are sourced from Rio Caribe are roasted in the same facilities. This is why that overly charred taste on a wide range of brands using these beans. I haven't confirmed that, but it does make sense. However, there are certain hallmarks that I tend to find on a lot of coastal region beans from Venezuela, especially Rio Caribe. The deep earthy and medicinal flavors, tar and pen ink, and a deep bitterness.

I gave this bar high marks on it's taste because it was layered with lot's of complexities. One didn't interfere with one and other they just stripped away like peeling paint to revel the flavor underneath it. This bar had many different things going on, coconuts, peanuts, earthy, musty, dirty, tar, charred toast, butter, and fruit characters. The only thing I didn't really like was how bitter it was and how long it holds on after the chocolate has long melted away. It was fairly tangy on the first taste, but not sharp with acidity. Just deep bitters that over take the palate in the end.

I liked this much more for being less charred and more layed with flavors even if it's not my favorite region or favorite flavors. The coconut was faint and interesting as was the peanut character. But the medicinal flavors are not something I look forward to. Some people really dig funky flavors. Like sour heads who love Guezue and Lambics from Belgium. Which is why I always called Rio Caribe, a beer lovers chocolate. This is nerd chocolate, geek chocolate, thinking chocolate. This bar just happens to be more layered than usual and not dominated by the charred characters.

Texture was great, snap was weak with overly large tabs, but a full aroma and big full taste. Another winner I'd say.

 

Price point highlight: $4.80 a bar from their website.

 

Final Score: 91.6

   score
  B+

 

L'Amourette ~ Carenero Superior 75%

 

I am not going to lie, my life is pretty good. You can't deny that fact when someone emails you and asks to send you their bars of chocolate to review. I don't care who you are or what the circumstances are, you have to admit that that makes life pretty sweet.

This chocolate comes from L'Amourette Chocolatlier in San Francisco. Andre V, a French chocolatier who worked in the research and development side of chocolate for over ten years. I don't know much else about him or his company, other than what's described on his website, but I am honored he sought me out to review his products. No word on weather he is a bean-to-bar company, but the products are handmade, kosher, vegan, and the beans are fairly traded.

 

 

Carenero is another coastal town in northern Venezuela, but more in the center of the coast closer to Caracas. 

For centuries, the Carenero bean has been known for its complex, intricate flavor. In fact, due to this quality, it most often serves as a supplement to a vintage of other beans; it is often added to deepen and smooth the flavor of chocolate. We would like to bring you a bar that is made purely from Carenero— after tasting it once, you will never forget your journey to the place east of Caracas.

 

Click images to enlarge.

 

Carenero Superior 75%

 

Type: Bittersweet, 75%

Bean Varietal: Unknown

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

Sample Size: 100g or 3.5oz

 

Appearance: Deep dark brown color and very shiny and glossy, custom signature monogrammed molding, large square tabs. A bit of some chocolate particles all over the surface.

Score: 91

Snap: Very weak snap due to thin molding lines and overly large tabs. It's a light crisp snap from the molding lines, but a deep hard snap when breaking the fat tabs in half with moderately clean break lines.

Score: 86

Aroma: Big strong aroma of wood, pen ink, berries, very sweet aroma, sugary, roasted cacao, slight hints of coffee and smoke.

Score: 91

Taste: Rich roasted cacao, very deep and complex, wood, berries, woody tequila notes, toasted biscuit flavors, no sharp astringency, good balance of sweetness from sugars and deeply bitter cacao.

Score: 94

Texture: Very silky and smooth texture, medium melt-time at first, but then opens up very creamy and soft and gives way to a medium fast melt time.

Score: 96

 

Really nice chocolate. Finally something from coastal Venezuela that isn't a charred mess. I am not quite a big fan of some of the over-roasted beans coming from coastal regions all across Northern Venezuela. I once heard the reason for this is that a lot of the farms use the same roasters, but I haven't researched enough of that to comfortably talk about that. But to me, it's become a hallmark that I can instantly recognize. This tastes like Venezuelan chocolate, but without all the interference.

Just some slight chocolate particles on the surface of the bar which probably came from transport. The molding was custom, and even though I didn't like the molding lines, it had a wonderfully deep color and very shiny surface.

It's no secret after some other reviews of late that I don't like large square tabs with weak mold lines. It gives way to a weak snap which doesn't do the chocolate justice, and the tabs are usually too hard to bite into. That was the case with this bar. But snapping the large tab did give a nice firm and quality snap, but I graded it on the mold lines.

The aroma was a nice strong aroma, but I found it to be pretty common. Lot's of similar descriptors. That doesn't mean it wasn't enjoyable by any means. It just means for me in particular it was fine but nothing really spectacular. I know that sounds pretty snobbish and I assure you it is a good aroma. But with the way this tasted and those cool notes coming off the flavor, I wished more of that was on the aroma.

The taste was extremely balanced. No sharp astringency, not overly sweet and sugary. Big bold wood flavors, berries, pen ink and then an very awesome hint of aged tequila on wood barrels. It's not a dominate flavor, but definitely cool. I do wish they could extract more of that flavor. I can't tell you how happy I am to have picked up on that. This puts this chocolate in a different realm for me. Not just because of that flavor hint, but mostly because of how extraordinarily balanced it is.

I don't think I can say this is by far the best chocolate I have ever had, but I can say this is very solid and very good chocolate. It's not overly complicated, it's just good eating chocolate with some really great flavors. Nice cocoa-y flavors, interesting tequila flavors, big wood and fruit balance as well as a deep bitterness that is balanced by a good ratio of sugar.

Something worth mentioning, this bar is only be sold for $5.00 on their website. I don't know what it retails for, but that is a great price. Keep that in mind when you see it retailed. Make sure the stores are not gouging.

Excellent introduction to L'Amourette.

 

Final Score: 91.6

   score
  B+