20°N & 20°S

El Rey ~ Gran Saman Chocolate Oscuro 70%

El Rey Gran Saman

Chocolate Oscuro translates simply to dark chocolate. This is a bittersweet chocolate from El Rey at 70% using Carenero Superior beans from Venezuela. El Rey uses 100% single origin Venezuelan beans.

El Rey only uses two kinds of beans. The Carenero Superior or Rio Caribe. Here are some quick blurbs about Carenero Superior form some trusted chocolate sources.

Via The Nibble:

•Trinitario (mostly) •Caramel, citrus, vanilla, berries, honey •Chocolate undertone •Light acidity

Carenero Superior. Mostly Trinitario. Carenero refers to the port from which the cacao was once shipped, and “Superior” is a reference to higher quality beans. Typically, Carenero has a strong underlying chocolaty presence that hides underneath a myriad of flavors, such as spice, caramel, citrus, vanilla, berries, and honey. A light acidity also adds further depth to the profile.

Also via The Nibble:

El Rey’s Carenero Superior line was launched in 1994. Each bar is made exclusively from one type of bean: the highly acclaimed Carenero Superior. Carenero grows in the fertile and humid region of Barlovento, just northeast of Caracas. The well-fermented and better quality beans get deemed “superior”—hence the Carenero Superior designation. The beans are prized for yielding a complexity of spicy and fruity flavors and aromas.

Via Chocolate Alchemy:

Carenero refers to the port from which this cocoa used to ship out of. Superior of course is a reference to the higher than average quality of this Trinatario. It is a solid Trinatario, with a medium break. This has a bit more body to it (compared to Ocumare), a bit more brightness and acidity, but also a deeper chocolate flavor. From the very diverse nature of the region, the preparation is often quite varied, but that also leads to a complexity and flavor profile unique to Carenero Superior. There is a clean earthiness and rum like flavor that I have always enjoyed in this variety.

Simple ingredients on this chocolate using only cocoa butter and cocoa solids with some sugar. I have been really coming to appreciate the more natural bars of chocolate. I still don't think using soy lecithin or vanilla is a deal breaker or bad for chocolate as some over the top purists would say. But straight up chocolate that can stand up on it's own

One thing that is good to know is that the El Rey website gives a detailed list of what is in their chocolates. Every person who sells chocolate, uses chocolate, or makes chocolate in some way should list where the chocolate comes from and what exactly is in it. The more technical the better.

El Rey Technical Data.

This was a tasting box I received from Aroa Fine in Boston who works exclusively with El Rey chocolates.

 

Type: Bittersweet, 70%

Bean Varietal: Trinitario

Ingredients: Cocoa, Cocoa Butter, Sugar.

Sample Size: 27 5g Bite size bits.

Appearance: Deep dark brown color, single bit size pieces with monogrammed molding, shiny, and smooth.

Score: 94

Snap: Yes even these squares gave good snap. Light and crisp yet still fairly firm. 

Score: 92

Aroma: Lightly smokey, subdued red wine aromas, subtle dried fruits and soft roasted cocoa.

Score: 92

Taste: Sweet, fruity, sugary, deep dried fruits, slight tangy notes.

Score: 93

Texture: Soft, smooth, and creamy with a fast melt time.

Score: 96

The aromas give almost no clues to the flavor of this chocolate. It's so subtle and soft you would have no idea how big this chocolate is based on the aroma.

This is very tasty chocolate and it hits all the right marks technically, but overall I find this chocolate okay for eating but probably a better fit for baking with. The recommendations on the website call for mousse, ganache, and fillings. Rich things. That I can see.

The issue with this chocolate is too much sugar. Though it is very bold on the flavors and deeply rich, I feel like it would have been better if it were more raw and less tamed with sugar. 

There is a very interesting fruity/flowery taste the dominates the chocolate and opens up right in the middle of the tasting. It was hard to pin point what it was. It was like flowers mixed with pen ink, and dried fruits mixed with slight hints of medicinal herbs. Think Fernet-Branca on the medicinal herbs. An interesting flavor to say the least.

It finishes fairly clean with with soft hints of roasted cocoa and it drys up pretty quickly. It does have larger cocoa particles that can leave for a slight gritty texture, but still very smooth over all due to the initial creaminess. The larger particles are meant for a more robust flavor. It's certainly a deep flavor, but I feel like this chocolate will be best for baking. Or served to those who love dank, earthy, medicinal, herb flavors like Fernet-Branca.

Final Score: 93.4

score
A-

Mast Brothers ~ Dark Chocolate + Cocoa Nibs

 

Mast Brothers Madagascar Dark Chocolate + Cocoa Nibs

Type: Bittersweet, 72%

Bean Varietal: Unknown

Ingredients: Cocoa, cane sugar, cocoa nibs

Sample Size: 2.5 oz 71g


Appearance: Shiny and smooth top surface with simple non-monogrammed molding. Slight ashy and streaky underside with pretty Madagascar cocoa nibs sprinkled on top.

Score: 91

Snap: Firm snap, with slightly dull snap sound. Clean break lines.

Score: 93

Aroma: Big roasted cocoa, full rich aroma, tar, hints of rubber.

Score: 93

Taste: Sweet upfront, tar, cherries, citrus-y and acidic, tart, nuts and wood flavors from the cocoa nibs.

Score: 95

Texture: A little chalky texture on the chocolate, medium melt time, crunchy

Score: 93

This is a very tart and citric bar of chocolate. It starts of sweet and then opens up into classic Madagascar notes of tar and rubber. But then opens up into full bright tart cherries.

I haven't noticed the cherries or fruit characters as much on other Mast Brothers chocolate using Madagascar cocoa. I have been finding them a bit unbalanced with the acid contents. This bar on whole, is largely unbalanced too, but the bright cherries really come through and save it. They are much sweeter and flavorful than they are tart. There is a much better sweet character on this bar as well with sweet sugar notes right up front. The sugar content really helps balance out the tar and rubber flavors.

The cocoa nibs added a lovely woody character and nutty taste as well as a crunchy texture. They added a lot more depth to the flavor of the chocolate.


Final Score: 93

score
A-

Neuhaus ~ São Tomé 74%

If you know Belgian chocolate, then I am quite sure you have heard of Neuhaus. A large bean-to-bar company with wide distribution who are well known for their pralines and truffles.

With history stemming back all the way to 1875, including inventing the praline which in Belgium is a truffle but still called a praline, in 1912 and creating royal collections specially made in 1960 for they have a long standing history and reputation for fine Belgian chocolates. 

In 1912, Jean Neuhaus junior, grandson of the founder, took over the business.  He gave free rein to his creativity and invented the first filled chocolate  bouchée, which he named "praline".

In 1958 and 1960, Belgium celebrated the marriages of King Baudouin and Fabiola and of Prince Albert with Paola.  To commemorate these occasions Neuhaus created 4 royal pralines named Baudouin, Fabiola, Albert and Paola.

A little clarification on Truffles, Pralines, and Bonbon's via The Nibble.

• As mentioned on Page 1, in 1912, Jean Neuhaus created the molded, filled chocolate bonbon and called these filled chocolate shells pralines, the same word used to describe the caramelized almonds that had been made by the French (and known to the Belgians, who speak French) since 1636. The word praline in French refers to the sugar-coated almond. Why did Neuhaus use the same word for his filled bonbons? We don’t know, but it sure has created confusion ever since.

Some chocolatiers

subsequently enrobed their ganache centers (i.e., the original truffles), either by hand dipping (the way all chocolates were coated prior to Neuhaus’ invention) or in hard chocolate shells. In France or America, these enrobed ganaches would be called truffles. In Belgium, they are still called pralines.

Thus, when chocolatiers immigrated to the U.S., they might be selling pralines, truffles, bonbons or assorted chocolates, depending on their nationality. And, although the name of what they sold differed, the product might be the same.

This bar comes from their Origine collection. São Tomé and Principe are islands off the coast of Gabon right near the equator in the Gulf of Guinea. It's a Portuguese-speaking nation with São Tomé being the larger southern island.

[Image via Step Up OLPC]

[Image via Wissenladen.de]

Check out this post about São Tomé and Principe called "Chocolate Island" from Sarahan Vibe. 

[Image via Saharan Vibe]

Type: Bittersweet, 74%

Bean Varietal: Not indicated, possible Forastero.

Ingredients: Cocoa mass, sugar, soya lecithin.

Sample Size: 100g or 3.5oz

Lot #: 09259

Appearance: Square bar with simple "N" monogram, a bit dusty from chocolate particles and a small corner nick that ruins the smooth shiny appearance. Deep dark brown color.

Score: 91

Snap: Deep firm crisp snap, clean but asymmetrical break lines.

Score: 94

Aroma: Big coconut aroma, coffee beans, almonds, wood, small floral hints. Smells like a fresh and natural Almond Joy. Huge coconuts but mixed in with roasted cocoa and coffee beans. Amazing aroma.

Score: 97

Taste: Nutty, wood characters up front, cinnamon, coconuts, almonds, dry,  mildly bitter, no acidity, a little hint of smokiness and a bright green character towards the finish. Slight hints of bananas. Big roasted cocoa finish through retro-olfaction.

Score: 94

Texture: Smooth, creamy, a bit waxy, but still very smooth, medium melt time.

Score: 92

I am sure some of the chocolate purists will turn their noses up to a mass produced Belgian chocolate producer, but this is the second single origin bar from a mass produced company that really hits all the right marks. It's not as raw as a smaller chocolate maker might produce, but that makes it a bit more palatable for the masses. There isn't anything wrong with that, but as I said some chocolate purists might turn their snobby noses up at that notion that chocolate can be flavorful and delicious and not so overly nuanced.

This bar had an amazing aroma of almonds and coconuts, and a big wood taste with ripe green features and spicy notes. It finishes creamy and soft like most Belgian chocolate do. It had a bit of a waxy texture but it only lasted for a second.

This is chocolate you want to start a good tasting with. It's very solid for an beginning taste and then you want to work yourself into more raw and less refined chocolates.

I can see this being a work chocolate. The one you keep in your desk and take small bites off of when you desperately need a chocolate break. It's mild enough for that kind of thing, but complex enough in it's flavors to satisfy a deep craving.

Final Score: 93.6

score
A-

Patric Chocolate ~ Madagascar 75%

Patric Chocolate Sambirano Valley Madagascar 75%

Madagascar cacao sweetened only with pure cane sugar and no other added ingredients. Pure and simple.

[Image via Nasa, and Madagascar VTT Trekking.]

Images of the Sambirano river delta from space. And images of the valley and cocoa drying from the Sakalava Village. These images are unrelated to Patric Chocolate, but this is what the region looks like.

 



Type: Bittersweet, 75%

Bean Varietal: Hybrid

Ingredients: Cocoa beans and pure cane sugar.

Lot #: 101833

Appearance: Smooth, shiny, simple monogrammed molding. Very deep brown color.

Score: 95

Snap: Good firm, deep snap. Asymmetrical break lines, but clean.

Score: 94

Aroma: Roasted cocoa, cedar wood. bright and citric, but a lot more subdued than the other Madagascar bars from Patric. Very mild overall.

Score: 93

Taste: Tart, notes of dried tart cherries at the beginning, very citrus forward, acidic, once it's opened up a bit big cedar wood, vodka notes, roasted cocoa, tiny hints or tar and rubber but very slight. Dry, bitter retro-olfaction finish.

Score: 91

Texture: Smooth, soft and creamy, medium melt time.

Score: 94

This wasn't my favorite from Patric Chocolate, but still a fantastic chocolate over all. I personally found it to be too tart and acidic over all but still this bar had some fantastic notes like tart cherries right up front, and awesome cedar wood flavors. I have really come to appreciate and love the woody characters. I am still in total awe as to what is in the terroir that has the ability to give cocoa beans vodka notes.

It is incredibly smooth without using cocoa butter. It has a fantastic creamy texture once it's opened up and melts beautifully. Alan McClure is a master at taming raw cocoa with little or no additives.

Final Score: 93.4

score
A-

L.A. Burdick ~ Venezuela 72%

Since there is virtually no information about this chocolate provided on their website and I have already written a little bit about Burdick's before, I will skip right to the technical marks.

It gets very frustrating not having specific information about these bars. A lot of chocolate websites are like this. I realize most people do not require the kind of information I am seeking for reviewing purposes, but chocolate is becoming a bigger hobby for more and more people. Knowing where the beans come from and the ingredients is at least the very basic information that could be provided.

There is  mention of them working with Grenada cacao and The Grenada Chocolate Co. This is fantastic news, as Grenada could use all the help they can get after Hurricane Emily came through and made a huge mess of the chocolate production. Also Grenada beans from what little I have experienced from the region is fantastic and very flavorful.

Why Grenada?

Grenada, a lush mountainous realm covered with fragrant spice trees and tropical flowers, is known as the “Spice Isle,” redolent in the scents of nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, and vanilla. We would like it to be known as the “Cocoa Isle” as well – part of a “Golden Triangle” of cocoa production along with Trinidad and Venezuela.   Additionally, the island has thousands of independant farmers with intimate knowledge of the cocoa production process.

They use fertilizers and pesticides sparingly, if at all. Grenada, cocoa trees mostly grow in their natural, optimal state scattered amidst the fruit- and nut-bearing trees of the tropical forest. These are other reasons Burdick Chocolate has been so keen on making Granada cocoa a benchmark flavor in its bonbon assortment.

In visits over the past four years, we’ve established relationships with numerous small farmers and with the island’s cocoa growers association. We received our first shipment of cocoa from Grenada last year and now have a secure source of high-quality beans to work with, as well as for the consumer to enjoy. We then shipped the beans to a small, independently owned manufacturer in Switzerland, to have them processed into couverture from our recipes. Apart from adding to the evolving flavor of Burdick Chocolate, we'll be supporting sustainable agriculture and - in our own way - striving to make the world a better and tastier place.

But what region are the Venezuelan and Madagascar beans coming from? Who are they sourcing from?

L.A. Burdick's Venezuelan 72%


Type: Bittersweet, 72%

Bean Varietal: Unknown

Ingredients: Unknown

Sample Size: 3.5oz or 100g



Appearance: Smooth, simple, non-monogrammed molding, shiny, but a little matted from plastic.

Score: 92

Snap: Good, crisp snap. Clean break lines.

Score: 94

Aroma: Rich roasted cocoa, deep wood notes, a little peppery, ashy, musty, and deep berry notes.

Score: 95

Taste: A little inky and bitter, then sweet,a little waxy at first before opening up into rich roasted cocoa, berries, cedar wood, virtually no acidity or astringency.

Score: 94

Texture: Very smooth, a little creamy, medium melt time.

Score: 93

This is very good chocolate, very smooth. It takes a second to open up, but once it does it's fantastic. It has some big cedar notes which seemed to dominate the flavor. Sweet berries and rich roasted cocoa balance out the deep wood taste. Simple and fantastic.

Very smooth texture, very little acidic bitterness. Slightly creamy once it opens up and begins to melt.

It makes it much more of a shame that little information is provided about their chocolate bars. What region do these beans come from in Venezuela? Who are they sourcing their beans from? I am still learning about single origins. And while I can recognize some classic hallmarks, I am a long way from identifying specific regions.

Still, go to their shop or visit them online, order some of their unbelievably good truffles and order one of these bars. They are fantastic quality and no one seems to be talking about them except for me. See my side bar for the other reviews. They deserve some credit here. And they should be doing more to highlight that they have these fantastic bars.



Final Score: 93.6

score
A-

Amano ~ Montanya Limited Edition 70%

Amano Artisan Chocolate

Artwork by Cary Henrie. Image via Amano.

I have seen notes about cocoa beans from the Ocumare region of Venezuela, but have yet to experience these beans until now. They come from northern Venezuela in the mountain region.

This bar was sent to me from the Amano team. It was the last one I had to review in a set of 3 that they sent to me. With it was the Dos Rios, and the Guayas. The Dos Rios is to date the only bar of chocolate that has received a 100% score for the aroma. No other bar has yet to receive a 100% in any category.

[Images via travelmarcelo.com, Tourismodeplaya.com, and Jaime Perez via fotopaisis.com]




Flavor profiles and general descriptions via The Nibble:

•Criollo & Trinitario •Sharp •Spicy, peaches, red fruits •Dairy

Ocumare 61. Originally from the Ocumare de la Costa valley; Criollo and Trinitario hybridized blend. This cacao is gentle and light, but it still possesses a slight acidic punch. Flavors can vary, but most often, it yields earthy spiciness, peaches, red fruits and fresh dairy.

•Criollo & Trinitario •Darker, robust •Cashews, peanuts •Spice, pepper

Ocumare 67. Originally from the Ocumare de la Costa valley, a Criollo and Trinitario hybridized blend. Interesting flavors of cashews, peanuts, spice, pepper, and sometimes dairy. The tone is a little darker than Ocumare 61 and it does not possess 61’s sharpness. It is more robust than 61 in overall character, with a heavier body.

Via Amano:

Product Details:

It is rare that cocoa is grown in the mountains, most all cocoa is grown in secluded valley's or in flat areas. This chocolate is made from cocoa beans that break this mold. The cocoa beans for Montanya come from deep with in the mountains of Venezuela. The only way to reach these secluded farms is either to hike or by horseback. Similarly, the cocoa beans are brought out by horseback after the farmers have carefully harvested, fermented, and dried the beans to bring out their most beautiful flavor. These rare cocoa beans produce a chocolate like no other with a complex deep and rich flavor that is sure to make chocolate lovers swoon.

This chocolate is being released as a “Limited Edition” due to the rarity of the cocoa beans we use to produce it.

The Chocolate Maker's Notes:

When I discovered the cocoa beans that are being produced by a small group of farms deep in the mountains of Northern Venezuela, I was enchanted. The more I learned about these farms, the deeper my appreciation for them became.

There are few places in the world where cocoa is grown in the mountains and this is one of them. The heritage of the cocoa comes through Ocumare. In the 1940's, graftings were taken from Ocumare and brought to these remote farms. Since that time, much Trinitario (a variety of cocoa bean that has its roots in Trinidad) has been brought to Ocumare. It is very possible, these remote farms hold purer Ocumare than Ocumare itself does today.

In our small factory, just south of Salt Lake City, I tested a small batch of these beans and their flavor was incredible. From them, I made a small batch of chocolate. The instant I tasted them, I was in love with the deep complexity of flavor produced by these beans. This experience was shared by each person I shared them with. It was not long before I had brought these rare beans to our factory to turn them into chocolate.

There will be those who debate how much of Montanya's flavor comes from the cocoa bean's roots in the mountains of Venezuela. While altitude the soil and growing conditions unique to the mountains surely have a significant impact on the flavor of the finished chocolate. How much the altitude affects the flavor, it is impossible to say, there simply are too few places in the world where cocoa is grown in the mountains to make this kind of judgment. In the end, it simply does not matter. The flavor is enchantingly complex and it will create a passionate lover of this beautiful chocolate out of each person who tries it.

Art Pollard
Founder, Head Chocolate Maker

 

Montanya 70%


Type: Bittersweet, 70%

Bean Varietal: Hybrid, Trinitario

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

Lot #: 3/4/69 or 314169

Sample Size: 2oz or 56g



Appearance: Simple square shaped bite size bits with monogrammed molding, deep brown color, muted and ashy (maybe the start of sugar bloom), and bit banged up.

Score: 83

Snap: Great snap. Crisp, loud, and firm. Clean break lines.

Score: 95

Aroma: Soft, sweet, pretty and perfume-y, deep berries, a tiny bit inky and slight hints of rubber, and sweet vanilla.

Score: 94

Taste: Intense flavor, very bitter and very sweet, deep roasted cocoa, big apricot notes, fruity with red wine grapes, slight hints of ink and tar.

Score: 96

Texture: Smooth, and soft, quick melt time.

Score: 94

One day I will get an Amano bar that is shiny and beautiful. I desperately want to give their bars good marks for appearance, but for all the bars I have tried from them, they all have this beat up look to them. This one also had what looks to be the start of some sugar bloom happening to it. I think that coupled with some banged up edges made for an ashy, tarnished appearance. It makes me kind of angry because this chocolate was fantastic. It deserves all the right marks. But I can't seem to get a decent appearance on these bars.

The aroma is completely disarming compared the bold and intense flavor. It's very delicate, sweet, soft, and perfume-y on the nose, and then you taste it and it's intensely bitter and yet very sweet to balance it. Bold fruit flavors, and hints of tar and ink. Very sexy and intriguing chocolate, it's stunningly good.

Very bold and fantastic chocolate. I am disappointed to give it a lower score. It deserves much higher, but I can't give it what it deserves based on the appearance.


Final Score: 92.4

score
B+

Rococo ~ Valrhona Grand Cru No. 1 Manjari 64%

Rococo Chocolates, London

This is the chocolate shop that when asked by my friend Angelo, who collected all the British chocolate for me, "what do you want from them?" I had to say "anything you can get your hands on." They have so many offerings that I said "you pick something cool, ask the people working there what they recommend, and something dark." Otherwise, I would have asked for one of everything. This was one of the bars I ended up with. A couverture bar using Valrhona's Manjari Madagascar cacao.

This is exactly the kind of thing I like. So many different options to keep coming back too. A chocolate shop that gets into all the holidays and offers gift ideas for her, for him, families, children, and corporate. They also offer classes on chocolate making and offering chocolate parties for kids as well as kids chocolate classes. Just look around their website. They have a lot going on.

About Rococo:

             [Image of Chantal Coady via Rococo Chocolate Blog]

Rococo was founded in March 1983 by Chantal Coady.

Coady graduated in Textile Design (Camberwell School of Art & Crafts) in 1981, and went on to complete an MSC Small Business Course. Armed with a little knowledge, a dangerous passion for chocolate and a belief that there was room for a radically different approach to chocolate, she decided to open a shop in the King's Road (Chelsea, London). 26 years later, the author of three books about chocolate, Coady still pushes forward to boundaries of chocolate retailing with 3 shops in London - the flagship store is at Motcomb St, in the heart of Belgravia.

This makes sense when you research the word Rococo. On the surface it seems like a very fitting chocolate name, but with her background in textile design, Rococo is an 18th century style of French art and interior design. This is the influence behind their fabulous packaging. Oh yes and they have aprons, coffee mugs, and stationary with these fantastic patterns.  

[The full view of the wrapper.]

They also sell and work with the Grenada Chocolate Co. This is probably where the first bar I reviewed from the GCC came from.

This story began in Spring 2002, when we first tasted some chocolate from the Grenada Chocolate Company. We fell in love with it, and in 2004 we visited the island of Grenada to make a chocolate documentary with film maker Eti Peleg. During this visit we met Mott, Edmond and Doug who founded the Grenada Chocolate Company in 1999, and with whom we formed strong friendships, forged over countless cups of Grenadian cocoa tea and chocolate bars. Later that year, Grenada was hit by Hurricane Ivan; when Hurricane Emily came less than a year later, more damage was sustained at the northern tip where the GCC are based. All the cocoa on the island was devastated, and it would be 5 years before the next really good harvest. In aid of the Grenada Relief Fund, ‘Hearts and Hands’, Rococo produced a special edition ‘Hurricane Emily Bar’. This was made from the chocolate that had been in the conch when the storm hit, combined with Rococo’s own organic chocolate.

In 2007, a small cocoa farm came up for sale, close to the Belmont Estate, offering the perfect opportunity for a joint venture between Rococo and the Grenada Chocolate Company to produce fairly traded "ethical" chocolate. This plot of land, which we call GROCOCO, is now the ‘home farm’ which supplies 100% of its harvest of fine flavoured organic Trinitario cocoa beans to the GCC where they are made into fine chocolate. It was also one of the founding farms that make up The Grenada Organic Cocoa Farmers' Cooperative.

Seven years after our first taste of Grenada chocolate, we will be mixing Grococo beans with the Rococo Organic House Blend. From now on, all Rococo’s organic products will include Grococo beans in the recipe.

This bar being reviewed now is made with chocolate from Valrhona. Grand Cru Manjari 64%. Madagascar beans with all the classic hallmarks of bright berry notes, acidic, and citrus notes.

One thing I am curious about is the label saying "Pure Criollo." Valrhona indicates that this chocolate is made from Trinitario beans. Trinitario is a blend of Forastero and Criollo beans. Madagascar does grow Criollo beans, but without genetic testing to find out how blended it is, it's hard to say how pure the Criollo is. Criollo beans are rare and highly susceptible to disease. Hybrids and blends are now the dominant varietal being labeled as Criollo. So, it makes me wonder how they can label this bar as pure Criollo since it's a couverture chocolate from Valrhona.

Check the original Valrhona Manjari 64% review for comparison.

Rococo ~ Valrhona Grand Cru No.1 Manjari 64%

Type: Bittersweet, 64%

Bean Varietal: The label says "Pure Criollo", but Valrhona uses Trinitario for the Manjari.

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

Sample Size: 85g or 3oz

Appearance: A bit streaky and matted in the appearance. Monogrammed, original molding in the Rococo style, deep brown color. Thick bar of chocolate.

Score: 89

Snap: The lines from the molding were not deep and this bar was very thick, so it made it hard to snap. Clean, but erratic break lines, deep, loud snap.

Score: 93

Aroma: A bit softer and sweeter than Valrhona's Manjari bar. Roasted cocoa, deep red berries, sweet, acidic, more of a vanilla presence, and slightly inky.

Score: 94

Taste: Sweet, softer red berries, a bit more tart than the Valrhona bar, more subdued wood flavors that take their time to open up. It finishes a lot like the Valrhona Manjari bar, but over all is a lot softer and sweeter. More smooth around the edges. Big raisin finish through retro-olfaction.

Score: 95

Texture: Smooth, soft and creamy with medium melt time.

Score: 94

Madagascar chocolate British style. Very much like the original from Valrhona, but softer and subdued on the aroma and flavors. A bit sweeter, which is what I am coming to recognize as a hallmark of British chocolate. They like it sweet.

This had the same bright berries, but softer wood notes. The wood did open up big, but it sure took it's time to present itself. Loved the raisin finish. I had a hard time picking up dried fruits on the Valrhona bar, because the berries and wood were apparent. This had a nice lingering raisin finish.

Final Score: 93

score
A

Valrhona ~ Grand Cru Manjari 64%

[Image via coffeeandtea]

This is the first time I have used an image other than my own to headline a chocolate review. My little camera had a hard time getting the right angles without a glare. Shiny packages, what can I say?

Here are a few shots I tried taking. Clearly I need some photography lessons.







Valrhona has a very long and extensive history in the chocolate world. Recognized through out the world as one of the greatest bean-to bar producers of chocolate.

Via the website:

Valrhona Today

Founded in 1922 by a pâtissier from the Rhone Valley - a registered trademark since 1947 - has become a world leader in Le Grand Chocolat. Understanding Valrhona's success story means identifying its vocation to provide support for and assist renowned confectioners and pâtissiers, its ambition to innovate with great restaurant chefs and its passionate quest for excellence. An undeniable inspiration in the world of gastronomy, Valrhona is present in 60 countries and serves around 20,000 clients.

As a chocolate manufacturer, Valrhona offers these internationally recognized professionals a range of couvertures and service products. For chocolate lovers, Valrhona's branded products come in a range of bars, gift boxes and ballotins, available from gourmet food stores, airport boutiques and major department store concessions.

From culinary destinations like Los Angeles to Tokyo and from Madrid to Singapore, Valrhona products are used by the world’s great pastry chefs and served in the most prestigious restaurants and hotels.

Through its wonderful creations, exacting standards and depth knowledge, Valrhona has carved out a long history of taste that totally justifies this recognition from professionals and gourmets alike: the history of Exceptional Taste. And as part of our continuing quest for excellence, professionals from all around the world attend Valrhona's exclusive Ecole du Grand Chocolat. This center for learning and sharing has been welcoming students in Tain l'Hermitage since 1988 and in Tokyo since 2007.

 
Valrhona pursues its passion and expertise for fine and rare cocoas around the world by:

• Developing cultivation methods through long term partnerships with planters that are based on mutual trust and respect
• Selecting the very best plantations and varietals to create the finest profiles in taste, color, aroma and feel.
• Combining fine cocoas of different varietals and sources to create powerfully aromatic blends.

By applying their perfect sensorial analysis knowledge, Valrhona's experts blend the finest, rarest cocoas from different varieties and different origins, creating chocolates of the most authentic compositions, unveiling elaborate and unique flavours.

This perfect expertise of taste is perpetuated throughout the manufacturing process, where each step has been researched to develop the supreme aromatic qualities of each chocolate:

    

• Roasting, adapted to the size and the origin of the cocoa beans,
• Grinding, offering small-sized particles, providing incomparably fine texture,
• Long conching developing intense aromas.

Cultivating taste is one of Valrhona’s fundamental values and the company’s sensorial analysis laboratory is a trendsetter in the industry.

Over 160 people make up a series of focused tasting panels that meet daily at Valrhona’s headquarters to rigorously sample raw materials, products in development and finished chocolates. As a result, the taste of Valrhona chocolate is recognized by professionals and gourmets alike as full-bodied and complex - in a word, exceptional.

This original, unrivalled approach ensures that Valrhona preserves its distinctiveness and perpetuates its taste of uniqueness.

At least 3 of the chocolates I have reviewed so far, one of them to be posted after this review, use Valrhona cocoa as their choice for couverture chocolate. Paul A. Young, Demarquette, and Rococo Chocolates. Many more fine chocolatiers and fine chefs all work with Valrhona chocolate. Their reputation is impeccable.

One of my new favorite restaurants here in Cambridge called Craigie On Main, uses Valrhona for a lovely hot chocolate soup at the end of their meals. It's hot, spicy, and super rich. It's the exact right thing to end every meal with.

The cocoa used for this bar comes from the Sambirano Valley in Madagascar. Their packaging notes this:

The rich soils of the Sambirano River valley encourage the release of acidic notes of red berries and dried fruit. These aromas are unique to the Trinitario, a tree not commonly found on the northern side of Madagascar.

Grand Cru Manjari 64%


Type: Bittersweet, 64%

Bean Varietal: Trinitario

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

Sample Size: 70g. 2.46oz


Appearance: Square bar with asymmetrical molding lines. Smooth, shiny, but had some chocolate bits and chocolate dust at the end of the bar slightly diminishing the appearance of the bar.

Score: 92

Snap: Good, crisp snap sound, clean but asymmetrical break lines as intended by the molding.

Score: 94

Aroma: Robust roasted cocoa and big wood and peanut aromas upon first opening, bright red berries, acidic as indicated on the package, very fragrant and robust.

*Still very aromatic an hour and a half after opening.

Score: 96

Taste: Berries right up front, sweet, acidic and tart but not overly acidic with that jab-you-in-the-neck quality, big wood taste, extremely floral and bright with berries.

Score: 97

Texture: Very smooth and soft, with a quick melt time.

Score: 94

This is fantastic chocolate. Extremely good quality Madagascar beans. Huge aroma, and big, bright taste, and a soft, smooth texture. This whole thing was enjoyable from start to finish.

Immediately when I tasted this chocolate, the red berry notes were very apparent and it was sweet. This probably should be a semisweet chocolate based on it's cocoa content, but it's so big and robust like a bittersweet.

Berries, wood, citric acid that wasn't too sharp or astringent, and a lovely floral character towards the finish of the bar. Over all this was incredibly enjoyable.


Final Score: 94.6

score
A-

Taza Chocolate ~ Dominican Republic - 60%

Taza Chocolate

The premier bean-to-bar chocolate maker hailing from my very own neck of the woods. Sort of. I am in Cambridge, Ma. and they are in Somerville, Ma. Let's just call it my backyard.

What can't Taza be listed under? They are bean-to-bar, organic, 100% stone ground, small batch, direct-trade, artisan chocolate producers. These are all the things I love about Taza.

I say love however, with one thing in mind. Those who know me and my love for chocolate know that I am not particularly in love with their chocolate. It's a love/hate sort of relationship. I love their company, their positive attitudes, their ethics involved with chocolate making, and the fact that they are always down to come to our (BeerAdvocate.com) beer festivals and throw down chocolate for a room full of 1000 plus people any time we ask them to be apart of our festivals.

I will get the haterade part a bit later because most of what I will be talking about is involved with taste and the actual review of their chocolate.

First thing to talk about is their amazing Batch code search feature on their website. On each bar of chocolate, there is a Batch number on the backside of the bar. You go to their website and type that number in, and every single bit of information about the bar is provided.

Every single chocolate company out there should adopt this model and do the same for their products. I can't tell you how basic and boring half of the reviews I do on this site are because there is little or no information about the product in my hand. It's aggravating as someone such as myself who is a novice to chocolate and actually wants to learn something about chocolate. I get roadblocks with no information provided.

Here is all of the information about this bar of chocolate.

Batch #237 - 60% Dark Bar - Taza Chocolate

Batch Information
Variety: 60% Stone Ground Dark Bar
Made On: October 26 2009
Ingredients: Organic roasted cacao, cane sugar, cocoa butter, vanilla bean.
Last Made: October 7 2009

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

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

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

Roast Profile:
Lot Received On: July 7 2009
Lot #: LR17
Bean Bill: Single Origin Hispaniola Cacao
Roast Date: October 26 2009
Roaster Model: Barth Scirocco 200
Max Temp: 238° F
Roasted For: 45 minutes

Production Info:
Grind Date: October 26 2009
Made By: Mike Schechter & Kellie Silsby
Total # of Bars Made: 1,473 Bars
Wrapped On: October 28 2009

   A member farmer of Cooperativo La Red Guacanejo


The best detailed information about a chocolate bar ever!!

What makes Taza unique?

Taza is a small bean-to-bar chocolate maker, and the only producer in the US of 100% stone ground, organic chocolate. We roast, winnow, grind, temper, and mold our chocolate in house and by hand. We use exclusively organic and sustainable ingredients to craft our chocolate.

Taza’s cacao comes from a small cooperative in the Dominican Republic with a hearty and diverse tree stock called La Red Guacanejo. Our sugar is sourced from an innovative company in Brazil called the Green Cane Project. Aside from making remarkable organic cane sugar, they process the spent cane fiber to power their factory and the nearby town. We use true cinnamon (not cascia) and whole vanilla pods, both organic and biodynamically grown, from a tiny plantation in Costa Rica called Villa Vanilla. The same care and attention to detail goes into the procurement of all our ingredients.

Direct relationships with our growers bring us the highest quality ingredients while ensuring fair wages and work practices on the farm.

Our chocolate making process is unique. Taza chocolate is stone ground and minimally processed, and we do not conch. We use authentic Oaxacan stone mills instead of steel refiners to grind our cacao. Due to the imperfect surface of a granite millstone, unrefined cacao particles and sugar granules remain in the finished chocolate.  These pop with explosive flavor on the palette, lending our bars their distinctive granular texture.

Basically, this is what all chocolate would have tasted like before the invention of the conching machines by Lindt in 1879 that further refined chocolate. This means it will have a higher acidic content and a very gritty texture, but a bolder more raw cocoa flavor.

This is one of the reasons I am not a big fan of their chocolate though. Romantically speaking, this is beautiful old school chocolate. Actual old-world-style chocolate. However, the conching process helps tones down the level of acidity through aeration. Without finer conching, you get jab-you-in-the-neck sharpness from the cocoa.

Furthermore, their talking points are getting ahead of them. Whenever someone asks me whether or not I like Taza chocolate, no matter what I say the first thing they ask me is if it has to do with the texture of the chocolate. It's always the same question, always. I don't even know if they know why they are asking that question either. They have either toured the factory or met a rep. at a tasting and this is the one talking point they have walked away with.

I don't mind a gritty texture on a chocolate bar. I eat cocoa nibs, and beans by themselves all the time. This grittiness is a bit different though. It's like sand paper and it's not pleasing when you are trying to let it melt slowly on the tongue to taste it. This chocolate is too unrefined for me. I don't want to be jabbed in the neck with acid or astringency. Also when you taste this chocolate side by side to a more refined chocolate, Taza chocolates just don't taste very good after that.

I find that this process is original and interesting, but for me there are too many distractions involved with simply trying to taste the product. It would be better if I could compare it to other stone ground products, but I haven't come across to many of those. I believe the Mast Brothers do a stone ground technique as well, It mentions it on the back of their Dominican Republic 81% bar, but I don't think it's quite as unrefined as Taza which is sort of their intentions.

On their website you can learn more about their harvesting, fermentation, do virtual tours of their factory and learn about chocolate and health as well as follow their blog.

Our Process

Read about the history of Alex Whitmore and Larry Slotnick, the founders of Taza.

Taza: About Us









Disclaimer: I am sort of pushing it with the bar of chocolate I am about to review. Chocolate has a very long shelf life. Usually up to a year for some chocolates. This chocolate I am tasting was sent to my husband as a Christmas present from Taza. It's not old in terms of chocolate and its long shelf life, but it's certainly not the freshest daisy in the patch either.


Taza 60% Dark


Type: Semisweet, 60%

Bean Varietal: Trinitario, with some Criollo

Ingredients: Cocoa beans, cane sugar, cocoa butter, whole vanilla beans. All ingredients certified organic.

Sample Size: 85g or 3oz



Appearance: Smooth, not shiny, muted, soft brown color, simple lined molding, a few air bubbles on the surface.

Score: 92

Snap: Great deep and hearty snap, with loud audible, crisp snap sound. Clean break lines.

Score: 96

Aroma: Big bright berries up front, a bit of smokiness and roasted cocoa, very spicy nose, but a dreadful pen ink aroma dominates. Mixed with the berries, it makes it a bit unpleasant. There is an underlying floral aroma that would be beautiful with the big red berry aroma, but the pen ink smell is weird and dominating.

Score: 88

Taste: Sweet, big bold berries, acidic, astringent, too sugary and sweet at the finish.

Score: 85

Texture: Rough and gritty like sand paper, medium melt time.

Score: 72

Despite the pen ink on the aroma, there were huge aromas of berries and hints of floral aromas and smokiness just wanting to be more apparent. But sadly that pen ink was too dominating over all. I found it weird.

The texture was too gritty for me. When you let the chocolate melt on the tongue, the gritty texture is like sand paper and rubs the tongue raw making it too distracting to try and taste individual notes in the chocolate.

They are right when they say that less refining brings out much bolder flavors in the chocolate. It is a lot more flavorful than any other 60% bar I have ever had. Huge berry notes dominate this bar, but the rough sugar granules make this bar too sweet, and once again too distracting.

The only thing good about this chocolate was it's simple molding and appearance and its snap quality.

It's a great pity to me to have to write so harshly about what would seem to be a great company. Their ethics are remarkable, and their willingness to share all information about their products is something all chocolate companies should be like. But their quest to be original and authentic has left a mediocre product in my honest opinion.

But my opinions are only that. Just one persons opinions. Their products are in every single store or market you can find around here and they are expanding their facilities. They are showing no signs of slowing down anytime soon.

Somerville chocolate company has recipe for success.


Final Score: 86.6

score
B-

EDIT: I want to add that after this very robust chocolate sat out for more than 3 hours, the nose did tone down a lot. It's much more fragrant and pleasant. It becomes a bit perfume-y rather than inky. Still has a bit of an astringent aroma, but much nicer over all. However, I am leaving the aroma score as is because who has time to leave chocolate out for 3 hours just to soften the harshness?

Mast Brothers ~ Dominican Republic 81%

Mast Brothers

Dark chocolate 81%, from the Dominican Republic.

Via The New Yorker 2008

Johnny Cash, “Cash”
Single-Origin Dominican Republic
Try the man in black (one of my heroes) with a dark single-origin chocolate from the Dominican Republic. This cacao is particularly delicious in its pure form, unadulterated by additional ingredients. After you unwrap one of these rustic bars and open up this indispensable autobiography, you may catch the scent of rum and tobacco—from the chocolate and the pages.

Type: Bittersweet, 81%

Bean Varietal: Trinitario, maybe some Criollo present.

Ingredients: Cocoa, cane sugar.

Sample Size: 2.5oz or 71g



Appearance: A little nicked up, but smooth, shiny, deep dark brown color, simple molding.

Score: 93

Snap: Deep, hearty snap. Clean break lines.

Score: 96

Aroma: Rich roasted cocoa, medicinal, slightly minty, tobacco, mild hints of nuts.

Score: 93

Taste: Sweetness and berries on the first taste, very bitter up front, a little astringent, big woody cedar notes, vodka, and cherries on the finish. A little drying and palate killing with the robust and intense cocoa percentage.

Score: 95

Texture: Smooth, medium melt time, hard at first, but then opens up and becomes creamy.

Score: 94

Nice and robust cocoa. Straight forward bittersweet cocoa, but with some interesting aromas and individual notes on the taste.

Smelled like Rio Caribe cocoa from Venezuela. Had the medicinal and minty tobacco characters with tar to follow it up. Then it tasted it like Madagascar cocoa beans with classic vodka notes and big cedar wood notes. It had a lovely sweet berry taste to start then it opened up into huge bitterness Roasted cocoa, cedar wood, and finished with cherries.

This was exciting chocolate for me because it reminded me of Amedei 9 chocolate bar. For that bar, they used beans from 9 different plantations from around the world. You could actually taste or identify certain markers from the different regions. It was a fantastic palate experience. This is kind of like that where there are aromas and tastes from various regions but this was a single origin bar. It's pretty amazing to have all of those individual notes on this one bar.


Final Score: 94.2

score
A-