Ritual Mexico Soconusco 75% cacao

Fairly bitter profile with a bit of a "pucker" effect. The bar has caramel flavor with an earthy aspect. Nice finish. 7.8

Dick Taylor Northerner Blend 73% cacao

The flavors I am tasting from this bar remind me of blackberry with an astringent aspect. There is a fair amount of bitterness, though the aftertaste is relatively mild. 8.5

The tasting notes on this bar state: "Dried Apricot / Honey / Cocoa". Okay, I would say most chocolate bars would taste like cocoa, but as for the dried apricot flavor I can see that from some of the astringent taste I noticed.

The label also notes that the bar is a blend of Madagascar and Brazil cacao. It is named after the SS Northerner, a side-wheeled steam ship which struck a reef off of Humboldt County, just south of Eureka, CA, where Dick Taylor Craft Chocolate is located.

Dick Taylor Brazil Fazenda Camboa 75% cacao

This bar has a rich cacao taste, with notes of molasses and fig. Bitterness is mild, and the aftertaste has a quick ending. 8.9

The label's tasting notes are: "Honeysuckle / Fresh Grape / Walnut". I am not tasting the first two items, though the walnut is one note on which I can concur.

Ingredients: Cacao*, Cane sugar*  (*organic)

Dick Taylor Solomon Islands Paspaskato 72% cacao

This bar has a warm, homey feel to it. The label suggests "almond butter" as a tasting note, and that might be what leads me to that feeling. The label also suggest cherry, which I did not notice and dried apricots, which I can see, though it is subtle. The aftertaste is fairly long lasting, and the bitterness is as expected for a 72% bar. 8.4




This is a small bar, only one ounce. The note inside the packaging recounts the trip the owners took to Solomon Islands to advise the local farmers on cacao production, and one farmer who produced the cacao which was used for this bar. His cacao won a Solomon Islands cacao contest, and Dick Taylor purchased a small amount to use for this "exclusive release."


I bought this bar at the Dick Taylor headquarters in Eureka. The store displays their own chocolates for purchase, plus a number of other craft chocolate makers.

The window towards the back of the store looks into their chocolate making room. During our visit we found some chocolate being tempered which we were told was their Belize chocolate.

I took advantage of the opportunity to purchase several bars plus a Dick Taylor Chocolate T-shirt. Most of these will be reviewed in ChocoCheck.