Alter Eco Dark BLACKOUT Organic 85% cocoa

About: As you can see, there's a picture of a chocolate farmer on the box. I tend to be cynical about that, though that's really cruel and shortsighted of me. Still, it makes me feel that they're pushing emotional buttons to get me to buy their chocolate. Push my taste buds, buds.

Alter Eco is a France-based food manufacturer with (currently) product lines for chocolate, rice, sugar and quinoa. They are focused on just, sustainable production. Their chocolate, bless their heart, is all dark - though it gets as low as 60% cocoa. They have various flavored chocolates, with about 10 varieties.

The wedsite shows the two founders, Edouard and Mathieu, and I want to like them. I want to like their marketing I want to like their values. But I also want to like their chocolate, and so far, the last part can be summarized as: "not so much."

Flavor: The vanilla is a bit strong and covers some of the subtle chocolate notes. The chocolate itself is slightly sour - just slightly - and not too rich and not too flavorful. It's chocolate - you're not in some sort of hellish flavor void, but you can do much better.

Texture: Crunchy. Enough said.

My rating:  Just a 4.

Rating Value	Meaning
1	Really bad chocolate. There's something just really really wrong here in almost every imaginable respect.
2	A bar with this rating has at least two drawbacks.
3	A bar where something is starting to get seriously wrong.... for example, really weak flavor with an otherwise acceptable texture.
4	This bar is below average, but just slightly. Mostly it's not worth eating again. Something isn't quite up to par, for example a poor texture but fine flavor.
5	This is an average good bar that's worth eating. There's nothing really wrong with it, but also nothing particularly spectacular. Or, perhaps it has a good characteristic that's evenly counter-weighted by something weak.
6	A solidly good bar with one characteristic that's above par, for example a great texture.
7	An solidly good chocolate that has two above par characteristics, but nothing mind-blowing. Good, above average flavor, but nothing to die for.
8	An excellent bar with no weaknesses and at least one characteristic that's super.
9	An awesome bar to die for with amazing texture and flavor.
10	You have been touched by God.

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