Amatller Chocolate 85% cacao Origen Ecuador

About: Amatller is a Catalonian chocolate made in Barcelona since 1797. On their web site you'll find the type of content that chocolate lovers care about, for example,  "how to store chocolate."The chocolate itself is good, though perhaps disappointing in the context of 200+ years of chocolate making from a country that brought chocolate to the west. But it's good chocolate, and way (cripes way) better than some brands with massive distribution and marketing machines.


Flavor: Slightly sour - just slightly. Deep and earthy. Nice profile. But only slightly fruity. It would be nice to compare the Ghana and Equador versions of this 85% bar, but I find them different but hard to differentiate.

Texture: Brittle and a bit crunchy, but with smooth follow-though.

My rating: 8.2 ... better than 8 but not much. Would have again, but there are better options.   

Here,  10 means 'mind shockingly good' and 1 means 'would not bother'.


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Amatller 85% Cacao Origen Ghana

About: Amatller is a Catalonian chocolate made in Barcelona since 1797. On their web site you'll find the type of content that chocolate lovers care about, for example,  "how to store chocolate."The chocolate itself is good, though perhaps disappointing in the context of 200+ years of chocolate making from a country that brought chocolate to the west. But it's good chocolate, and way (cripes way) better than some brands with massive distribution and marketing machines.


Flavor: Slightly sour - just slightly. Deep and earthy. Nice profile. But only slightly fruity. It would be nice to compare the Ghana and Equador versions of this 85% bar, but I find them different but hard to differentiate.

Texture: Brittle and a bit crunchy, but with smooth follow-though.

My rating: 8.2 ... better than 8 but not much. Would have again, but there are better options.   

Here,  10 means 'mind shockingly good' and 1 means 'would not bother'.


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Bissinger's Coffee Toffee 75% Dark Chocolate

About: Here's what I wrote elsewhere on this blog about this chocolate:
"It's still the case that in the US it's possible to engender some cachet by touting European heritage. Bissinger's is not above doing this and proudly proclaim their 17th century French title of "Confiseur Imperial." On their packaging they list "Paris 1600s USA 1845." These declarations compensate for Bissinger's currently somewhat lackluster mid-western orgins. I was right in thinking that some St. Louis manufacturer was not going to make good chocolate. But I was wrong in thinking it couldn't be excellent. It most definitely is excellent."

Here's the thing about this bar. If you're able to not consume it quickly for some reason, then it'll go stale. There's almond toffee bits there that don't like laying around an open package for a long time. I will never explain how I found out about this - it involved lots of other chocolate bars, though. 

The picture on the bar makes it look like there's a lot of toffee, but it's not really like that. It's more like a sprinkling of toffee on the bottom of a regular bar of chocolate.

Flavor: The chocolate is great. You can't really go wrong with coffee flavoring, maybe ever. The toffee is nice. It all becomes a tinybit sweet, especially for a 75% bar.

Texture: Smooth, creamy, excellent texture, with crunchy toffee.

My rating: 9,  on the scale of 1-10, where 10 means 'mind shockingly good' and 1 means 'would not bother'. Give me more!




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Valrhona Le Noir Amer 71% Cacao Dark Bittersweet Chocolate

About: Valrhona is a French made chocolate. You can read about it elsewhere on this blog. Many others rave about Valrhona, and it's probably a reflection on my pedestrian taste and philistine tendencies that make me not as big a fan.


Flavor: I find this bar better than its 85% sibling. It's smooth and has a rich chocolate flavor with fruity notes and no surfeit of acidity.

Texture: Solidly nice and smooth. 


My rating: 9.0  on the scale of 1-10, where 10 means 'mind shockingly good' and 1 means 'would not bother'. Give me more!




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Valrhona Le Noir Extra Amer 85% Cacao

About: Valrhona is a French made chocolate that  is targeted at professional chefs and 'high-brow' consumers. The company, now owned by Bongrain, a French company that is known for making cheese, is serious about chocolate (and, it goes without saying, in Cheese, since it's French and all). They offer culinary classes and lots of chocolate options for baking, as well as a line of dark chocolates. With that pedigree, I had high expectations.


Flavor: It's okay. It's really not bad at all. If you compare this to Godiva, for example, it's really so much better. But... I suppose I am a victim of my own expectations. I've had some mind-blowing French chocolate, but this was not it. The chocolate barely has any aroma, and the flavor is relatively simple and flat. There's nothing wrong with it, but there's nothing too right with it, either. In a word: bland.

Texture: Any 85% cacao bar is going to be a bit hard and brittle, and so is this one, but the texture overall is quite good.


My rating: 8.0  on the scale of 1-10, where 10 means 'mind shockingly good' and 1 means 'would not bother'. Give me more!




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Dagoba 68% cacao Lemon Ginger bar

About: Dagoba Chocolate is marketed, like so many other brands, as a "guy makes chocolate and gets passionate about it and starts a business and ba-boom!" I'm wiping a joyful tear just now as I write about it, but it's a good story and one that makes me want to buy stuff from them. The fact that they sell cocoa powder  and feature recipes on their web site and generally seem like chocolate enthusiasts is a marketing plus. 


Flavor: Both the lemon and the ginger come through nicely, and the chocolate is nicely flavored and pleasant. This is a worth-while, nicely flavored bar. The chocolate flavor comes through with a nice profile - lemon, then ginger, then chocolate, with a long-lasting follow-through.


Texture: It's okay. I like creamy chocolates, and this is on the just-ever-so-slightly brittle side.Also, the pieces of something - perhaps the ginger - are a bit crunchy. That can count as good or as not so good.

My rating: 7.5  on the scale of 1-10, where 10 means 'mind shockingly good' and 1 means 'would not bother'.




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Delicata PUUR Chocolade Zee Zout (Sea Salt) 60%

About: If you go to the Netherlands, which you should. You'll want to go shopping, which you should. You'll find lots of Albert Heijn supermarkets, and you'll get food there, which you should, food being a good thing. Albert Heijn has items that are branded by them, and Delicata is their high-end chocolate line. You can see the little "ah" between the T and A in the picture.  Who knows who makes this chocolate for them. I don't.

One thing to note about this chocolate is that it's for chewing. Let it just melt in your mouth, and you'll end up with salt. 


Flavor: This chocolate is 60% cocao mass, which means there's 40% left over for 1) sugar, and 2) salt. Like many other bars, this chocolate include lecithin and vanilla, as well. The salt comes in little surprising explosions of flavor, though the sugar is a bit heavy - this is  a sweet bar. Perhaps that's necessary to compensate for the salt. The chocolate is good; nothing stellar, but okay.


Texture: Perfectly reasonable; pretty smooth.

My rating: Solid 8.  

Here,  10 means 'mind shockingly good' and 1 means 'would not bother'.


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Hands Off Mine 85% Cocoa "Real Belgian Quality Chocolate"

About: Dutch chocolate. I wonder if it's "Belgian Quality" or "Real Belgian". Seems like the Dutch are pretty convinced that their southern neighbors make better chocolate than they do, even though they had a flourishing chocolate trade themselves. This chocolate comes in sort-of circular thick chunks that make you feel it's made for cooking, not eating. This is annoying, but the quality compensates for some of the nuisance. 


Flavor: Good; this is a nice bar. It is not sour or burnt, the way many other chocolates are (I'm talking to you Godiva). The chocolate flavor is mild - it doesn't fill you with aroma, a complex flavor profile, or much follow through. But... it's chocolate that delivers enough flavor to have again.


Texture: Hard, especially with those thick pices. Could maybe be creamier, but not much with 85% in there. Overall, this is a smooth and very pleasant bar.

My rating: Solid 8.  

Here,  10 means 'mind shockingly good' and 1 means 'would not bother'.


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Trader Joe's The Dark Chocolate Lover's Chocolate Bar 85% Cacao

About: Trader Joe's brand is uneven, mostly good. This chocolate falls flat and contributes to the "uneven" side and not to the "good" side. That said, it's tolerable and interesting.


Flavor: They really upped the vanilla on this bar. When you bite in, you will be overwhelmed with a not-unpleasant mouthful of vanilla flavor. Initially, that's all there is. After a bit, the vanilla dissipates and then there's no flavor, just a sort of waxy amalgam you're masticating in confusion. Just when you're about to give up and wonder if this is just some sort of vanilla flavored wax, the chocolate finally kicks in and it's okay. Overall, the flavor profile is interesting, but not entirely in a chocolaty way. If you want to be nice, you can say that the cocoa isn't overly roasted -- it's not sour or bitter. It's not much of anything, really.  

Texture: Very brittle. No points here.


My rating: 4,  on the scale of 1-10, where 10 means 'mind shockingly good' and 1 means 'would not bother'. Give me more!




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Tony's Chocolonely 70% Puur

About: Popular Dutch chocolate that claims to be of Belgian origin. It comes in course, large, thick pieces, which is a bit annoying. The manufacturer describes it as "A big, chunky, unequally divided chocolate bar from Amsterdam." It's hard to break off, and you sometimes get bigger pieces than you might have wanted.  Frankly, I prefer a thin, delicately made chocolate, probably because I'm thin and very precious. The bulk and thickness of this bar makes it seems a bit like a cooking chocolate, but it's not. It's a solidly good chocolate.

The company was founded by a guy that had himself arrested for buying knwon-brand chocolate (at a supermarket) made by child slave labor. He wasn't convicted, so he started this company with the goal of changing the world. So.. it's a good cause. Still, when I read, on their website, that "Right now, slaves are working on cocoa farms in West Africa. Many of them are children. Tony’s Chocolonely exists to...." a part of me wanted to continue with "take advantage of that" just for the shock value - not because I'm a bad, bad man. But it continues with  "change that." Whew.

Kidding aside, the company seems to want to make a difference and goes above and beyond to make sure farmers are well compensated beyond just the poverty line for their chocolate. Check out their website. 


Flavor: Full flavored and very appointing, if that's the opposite of disappointing.  You'll also not be disappointed with this chocolate, and if you have it right before or after some fancy bars (I don't want to name names, but.. some of the fancy looking 70%-ish bars on this blog), you'll see that it's really better than most chocolate you'll find "out there."


Texture: This is a nice, smooth bar.

My rating: Solid 8.5.  Much better than many boutique 70% bars.

Here,  10 means 'mind shockingly good' and 1 means 'would not bother'.


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Delicata PUUR Chocolate Sinaas Appel 70% Cacao (Orange)

About: Delicata is the upscale brand for the Dutch Albert Heijn supermarket chain. There isn't much information about it, but... the packaging is stylish.


Flavor:Pretty good with real orange peel bits in the chocolate.The orange flavor is full,  and it's recognizably orange - not just some interesting flavor. The chocolate flavor is full, though not out of this world.


Texture: Perfectly reasonable, on the brittle side.You get chewy bits of orange peel here, so it's not the completely smooth experience of a chocolate with just "orange flavoring."

My rating: Solid 8.  

Here,  10 means 'mind shockingly good' and 1 means 'would not bother'.


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Trader Joe's Organic 72% Caco Belgian Dark Chocolate Bar

About: This is a another fine Trader Joe's Chocolate. Who knows where they get their stuff. They don't make it. They buy it in bulk from some manufacturer somewhere, and maybe they even have people that can tell the difference between okay chocolate and crappy chocolate (and then select the okay variety).


Flavor: Like the 72% regular Trader Joe's branded chocolate, this is a great go-to chocolate with good, rich flavor. Definitely would eat again. 


Texture: Perhaps a tinsy-winsy bit crunchier than necessary. But overall, creamy and smooth.

My rating: Solid 8.5.  

Here,  10 means 'mind shockingly good' and 1 means 'would not bother'.


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Trader Joes 72% Caco Dark Swiss Chocolate

About: This is a another fine Trader Joe's Chocolate. Who knows where they get their stuff. They don't make it. They buy it in bulk from some manufacturer somewhere, and maybe they even have people that can tell the difference between okay chocolate and crappy chocolate (and then select the okay variety).


Flavor: Like the 72% regular Trader Joe's branded chocolate, this is a great go-to chocolate with good, rich flavor. Definitely would eat again. 


Texture: Perhaps a tinsy-winsy bit crunchier than necessary. But overall, creamy and smooth.

My rating: Solid 8.5.  

Here,  10 means 'mind shockingly good' and 1 means 'would not bother'.


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Chocolate Amatller 70% Cacao Origen Ecuador

About: Amatller is a Catalonian chocolate made in Barcelona since 1797. On their web site you'll find the type of content that chocolate lovers care about, for example,  "how to store chocolate."I want to like them for their heritage, their turn-of-the-last-century style, and because the Spanish are chocolate underdogs. But perhaps, at the end of the day, there's a reason for their underdogness.


Flavor: Pretty good. The chocolate has a long flavor profile that comes in quickly and lasts a satisfyingly long time. It's much better after the initial bite, with deep earthy flavors that last and last.


Texture: The texture is a bit on the brittle and waxy side. Just a bit. When eating this chocolate, after the initial crunch, which is a tad crunchy, you'll get a sort of ball of chocolate that wants to stick together like peanut butter. Could be creamier.

My rating: Solid 8.0. 

Here,  10 means 'mind shockingly good' and 1 means 'would not bother'.


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Godiva Chocolatier Extra Dark Santo Domingo Chocolate 85% Cacao

 
























About: I don't like Godiva chocolate. It's always been my impression that they were trying to leverage their Belgian-ness into market success with sub-par chocolate. The company owns many shops and a pretty massive distribution network that tries to look high-end. They seem to also be trying to (use law suits to) corner the market on the use of the Godiva name, which is based on a legend involving taxation, a young woman, a horse, and nudity. Godiva chocolates should probably should just say neigh and walk away from that potential fiasco.

I had hopes that perhaps this high-cocoa content chocolate would be better than my random encounters with Godiva boxed chocolates I've been offered while visiting aged relatives who thought they were getting the good stuff. But no.


Flavor: The flavor is acidic and sour. The bar is the right level of sweetness for my taste, but .. did I say sour? The aftertaste is acerbic, too. There isn't much of a flavor profile here, and while it's okay - I wouldn't spit it out, I also wouldn't bother with it again.You can wait a long time for the flavor to change from "waxy" to "still waxy" to "oh.. yeah.. chocolate" to "oh sour"...

Texture: Well, it's not crunchy brittle, but it's not particularly anything. Sort of middle of the road okay.

My rating: 5.0,  on the scale of 1-10, where 10 means 'mind shockingly good' and 1 means 'would not bother'. The texture is auspicious, and the flavor is good, but not stellar.




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Vanini Dark Chocolate 86% Cocoa

About: Vanini is a family-owned Italian chocolate that is sourced from Peru. They have modern factories, with pictures on their web site. As someone that believe modern technology can make everything better than old, hand-made approaches, I approve. They manufacture a bunch of different dark chocolates, but this is the deepest and darkest. Does their Peruvian cocoa taste different? mmmm.. not so sure.



Flavor: Their cocoa tastes well roasted, but not overly burned. The level of sweetness is pleasant. The eating experience starts with sweetness, then the cocoa flavor comes in, followed by an acidic phase and long residual notes. And while that all sounds good, the flavor is not all that varied. I've had 'broader' experiences, if that makes sense.

Texture: Oooh... for an 86% bar, this is nice and creamy. Nice job.

My rating: 8.0,  on the scale of 1-10, where 10 means 'mind shockingly good' and 1 means 'would not bother'. The texture is auspicious, and the flavor is good, but not stellar.




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Côte d'Or 70% Noir Intense Bengial Dark Chocolate Confection

About: Everybody talks about it. Everybody. "Belgian Chocolate." It's slightly less exciting to think of this as chocolate owned by $30B Mondelez International corporation and formerly Kraft General Foods. Some of the chocolate is now manufactured in Poland. Still, this is a popular brand in Belgium, and it does have the familiar origin story: "Guy likes chocolate; guy starts business making chocolate; guy succeeds and sells company to conglomerate." The violin music swells. Sniff.

"Côte d'Or" was a reference to Ghana, where the chocolate was originally sourced. Now it comes from South America. Deepest, darkest Africa seems more mysterious than South America, but I don't know that the chocolate is better.


Flavor: Burned. Fortunately, it's not overly sweet for a 70% bar, so that's pleasant. And it's definitely a full flavored chocolate, but it's acidic and well... well roasted... tasting.  The flavor profile is full, so that you experience a nice evolutionof burned, ooh-not that burned, earthy, acidic. None of these are nice words, but overall the flavor is good, and I'd have this again for sure.

Texture: Solidly okay. Not super creamy, where you might get excited, but not crunchy and brittle where you'd run for safety.

My rating: 8.0,  on the scale of 1-10, where 10 means 'mind shockingly good' and 1 means 'would not bother'. Would eat again happily.




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Dagoba 59% Caco Organic Chocolate: Laveder Blueberry

About: Dagoba Chocolate is marketed, like so many other brands, as a "guy makes chocolate and gets passionate about it and starts a business and baboom!" I'm wiping a joyful tear just now as I write about it, but it's a good story and one that makes me want to buy stuff from them. The fact that they sell cocoa powder  and feature recipes on their web site and generally seem like chocolate enthusiasts is a marketing plus. 


Flavor: Well... it's 59%, so it's run sweet. But there are textures here from the blueberries, and a nice full flavor profile and a pleasant experience. I think I'd rather go for something darker, but I can't complain.

Texture: It's okay. I like creamy chocolates, and this is on the just-ever-so-slightly brittle side.

My rating: 7.5  on the scale of 1-10, where 10 means 'mind shockingly good' and 1 means 'would not bother'.




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Albert Heijn Biologische Extra Pure Chocolade 71% cacao

About: This is the Dutch Albert Heijn cheap store brand chocolate, which I expected to be sort of mediocre but which turned out to actually unexpectedly good. On eating, any low expectations are dispelled. This is good stuff. 


Flavor: Full flavored chocolate that's really pleasing.


Texture: Heavenly smooth. No really. This is creamy and delicious and so smooth. I suspect this chocolate has a lot of cocoa butter and maybe less cocoa powder. Just a guess. Who cares. I really enjoyed it.

My rating: Solid 9.  

Here,  10 means 'mind shockingly good' and 1 means 'would not bother'.


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