Domori Fondente Dark Chocolate 70% cacao

This bar melts slowly in the mouth, retaining a dense core while melting. The taste is buttery, with a caramel flavor that develops into bitterness in the aftertaste. 7.4

Ingredients: Cocoa mass, cane sugar

domori.com

I bought this bar in early October during our trip to Venice. Note that this is a rare non-single origin bar for ChocoCheck.

Pierre Marcolini Cuba Terruño de Baracoa 78% cacao

This bar is robust and fairly bitter. There is some chalkiness from the bitterness, and the texture has a fine granular nature. The flavors range from burnt sugar to cardboard. 7.0

Price: 10.00 Euro

This is another bar purchased during my visit to the Pierre Marcolini store in Paris.

Le Comptoir de Mathilde Madagascar 80% cacao

This bar has an earthy taste of straw or wood. Quite bitter, as would be expected with 80% cacao. Aftertaste is persistent and dry. 7.3

Price: 5.90 Euro

www.lecomptoirdemathilde.com

This is one more bar from my fall trip to Europe.  This one came from a store in Paris.

Last stop for today’s choco tour, @ComptoirMathild in the Left Bank. pic.twitter.com/4koO9upqo7

— Steve Nahm (@SteveNahm) September 19, 2019

VizioVirtú Dominican Republic 70% cacao

This bar has a quite smooth taste profile. It is reminiscent of cooked pudding, with some caramel notes. The finish is gentle and clean. 8.2

Ingredients: fave di cacao Repubblica domenicana, zucchero, burror di cacao, emulsionante lecitina de SOIA

Translated:

Ingredients: Dominican Republic cocoa beans, sugar, cocoa butter, lecithin emulsifier from SOYA

 

www.viziovirtu.com

This is another bar from the Italy part of our recent Europe trip. VizioVirtú is a nice chocolate boutique in Venice. I posted photos of my visit in this tweet.

CioKarrua Peru San Martin 72% cacao

The bar is granulate, so the texture is crunchy with sugar crystals. It is also sweet for 72% cacao. The only flavor that is noticeable is straw-earthiness. The aftertaste is somewhat bitter, not in a pleasant way. 3.0

Price: 5.40 Euro

www.ciokarrua.it

The bar is one more from my trip to Europe. This was purchased in Italy from a local market. It has the dishonor of having the lowest rating of any bar on Choco Check.

François Pralus Papouasie (Papua New Guinea) 75% cacao

On first taste this bar has a bitter front, but this develops into a roasted profile, with smoke and toast as the prominent notes. The flavor develops further into a butterscotch taste. The finish pulls these flavors together into a long tail off. 7.8

Price: 4.90 Euro

This is another bar purchased on my recent trip to Europe. It was purchased at the Pralus store in Paris, shown in this tweet. I have reviewed many Pralus bars on ChocoCheck, so I needed to look carefully for a bar I had not tasted. This bar was the only one I found that was new to ChocoCheck.

Saveurs & Nature Peru 70% cacao

This bar is fairly bitter, with cocoa as the main flavor. The effect is an earthy dirt taste and a long, difficult aftertaste. 6.6

Ingredients: Cocoa paste*, cane sugar*, cocoa butter*.
* organic

www.saveursetnature.com

This is another bar from my trip to France in September.

Les Chocolats des Français Noir 71% cacao

This bar has a flat chocolate taste with little flavors other than cacao. What flavor there is tends towards the buttery side. The bitterness is quite low, and the aftertaste nearly non-existent. 7.2

Ingredients: Organic dark chocolate: cocoa mass, red cane sugar, cocoa butter.

This bar was purchased in a convenience store in Paris.

The notes on the back of this bar are in French, so a Google Translate version is shown below:

Michel Cluizel Mexico Plantation Mokaya 66% cacao

This bar has a buttery taste, bordering on cream. It is very low in bitterness, with a short, crisp aftertaste to go with it.

Once again, I purchased this bar on my recent Europe trip, and as with the prior Michel Cluizel bar this one also has vanilla in the ingredients, so no rating this time. But a very nice bar!

Heilemann Dark Chocolate 62% cacao

This is a smooth chocolate, with less cacao punch. That is not surprising given the 62% cacao level. The most prominent flavor is caramel. 7.8

Ingredients; cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter, emulsifier: soya lecithin

This is a bar I purchased during my recent Europe trip, picked up in Germany.

Edwart Chocolatier Peru Apurímac 72% cacao

This bar has a nice pop of flavor, some citrus and some berry. The texture is smooth and buttery, with a nice finish. The aftertaste has minimal bitterness. 9.2

Price: 9.00 Euro

Ingredients: Grués de cacao Apurímac (62.5%), sucre de canne, beurre de cacao, lécithine de soja
Translated: Apurímac cocoa nibs (62.5%), cane sugar, cocoa butter, soy lecithin

www.edwart.fr

This is one more bar from my recent trip to Europe. I visited Edwart's chocolate boutique while in Paris. This Tweet has a photo of the store. This is another bar with a French label, so once more I will post the Google Translate version of the testing notes from the label:

Richart Dominican Republic Santodino 70% cacao

This bar does not have vanilla in its ingredient list, but there is a taste of that bean in the flavor mix. Outside of this there is some creamy and orange blossom notes. 8.5

Richart formerly had a store in San Francisco and I documented their closure in this Chococheck post. It was good to find one of their boutiques during my recent trip to Paris. This Tweet includes a photo of their store.

I usually include the "From the label" comments in a comment to the original post, but as this bar's notes are in French, I will include a Google Translate version here:

Pierre Marcolini Madagascar Ambanja 76% cacao

The texture is fairly chalky, a little granular. There is a subtle fruit taste, cherry or berry. 7.0

Price: 7.00 Euro

Ingredients: Cocoa beans, sugar, cocoa butter, soy lecithin without GMO

I have tasted other Pierre Marcolini bars previously. They were carried by Cocoa Bella, a store which had been located in San Francisco Center, but which is no longer there. My earlier review of a Marcolini bar of Madagascar origin (though a different plantation) resulted in a similar rating: Marcolini Carré2 Chocolat Samburano Madagascar 78% cacao

I purchased this bar and another to be reviewed later during my trip to Paris in September. This Tweet has a photo in front of their Paris store.

Michel Cluizel Brazil Plantation Riachuelo 70% cacao

This bar has a quite smoky taste, with coffee notes. It is also fairly bitter, with a long aftertaste. 7.8

This is the first bar to be reviewed from my trip to Europe. I visited a number of chocolate stores while in Paris, and Michel Cluizel was the first. It was a pleasant store, with a small chocolate wall on display. The other stores I visited are noted in this thread posted on Twitter.

Post note: Just noticed that this bar includes vanilla in its ingredients. I have been avoiding rating bar with vanilla recently, so this is an exception to that rule.

Ingredients: cocoa from the plantation "Riachelo" (Brazil) sugar, cocoa butter, Bourbon vanilla pod.

Dandelion Sierra Leone Gola Rainforest 70% Cacao (Kuramae)

This bar has a roasted profile, with toast and charcoal flavors. There is some granularity to the texture of the bar but it does not intrude on the experience. The bitterness is even throughout, and the aftertaste continues with it. 8.2

This bar uses the cacao beans (including the 2017 harvest) as Dandelion Sierra Leone Gola Rainforest 70% Cacao, but that bar was made in San Francisco, while this bar is manufactured in Dandelion's Japan store in Tokyo. The earlier review is quite different from my review of this bar. I will need to try that bar again (if it is still available) to compare to this newer review.

Dandelion Vietnam Ben Tre 70% cacao

This bar has a primary roasted profile, with charcoal and smoke elements. Beyond this there are some fig and plum notes. The bitterness is prominent, leading to a long aftertaste. 9.0

Belvie Vietnam Ben Tre 70% cacao

This bar has flavors which are a combination of roasted (toasted coconut), buttery (caramel) and earthy (wood). Very well made with a crisp snap and a smooth aftertaste. 9.3

www.belviechocolate.com

This bar is of Vietnam origin, manufactured by a Vietnam maker.

San José Ecuador Los Rios 70% cacao

This chocolate has a roasted quality, with smoke and coffee notes. Not too bitter, but bitter enough. The aftertaste puckers the mouth, and stays around just long enough to not outstay its welcome. 7.9

Ingredients: 70% Dark Chocolate (** Cacao liquor, **Cacao butter, Sugar, Emulsifier (Soy lecithin NO GMO)).
**Rainforest Alliance Certified™

www.chocolatesanjose.ec

Argencove Nicaragua Mombacho 70% cacao

This bar has a spicy taste, somewhat like spice cake, with a peppery edge to it. There is also a buttery component, alike toffee. The aftertaste has moderate duration with a slight bitterness. 8.9

Ingredients: cacao, sugar

www.argencove.com

This bar is made of Nicaragua cacao by a manufacturer located in Managua, Nicaragua.

Markham & Fitz Dominican Republic Öko Caribe 70% cacao

This bar starts with an earthy flavor, though not very heavy. Straw and olive are suggested. The bitterness is noticeable but not overwhelming. It carries into the aftertaste. 8.6

markhamandfitz.com

This may be the first chocolate maker reviewed on ChocoCheck from Arkansas. The label reports that they started making chocolate in 2014, and the "strive to make amazing chocolate & celebrate people in the process."

Atypic Solomon Islands 70% cacao

This bar has a nice flavor profile, from spice-cake to fig. Smooth finish, with a citrus aftertaste. 9.3

atypic-chocolate.com

Ingredients: cacao beans, organic cane sugar, cacao butter, sunflower lecithin

This manufacturer is so new that their web page is displaying this message: "Our website is under construction. We're coming soon!" Yikes! But their chocolate is for real, and the mold that they used for this bar has a cacao pod image.

Auro Philippines Saloy 70% cacao

Buttery, rich cacao flavor back by apricot and raisin notes. Very smooth taste from start to finish. 9.0

Just noticed that I reviewed this bar last year, and came up with the exact same rating of 9.0: Auro Philippines Savoy 70% cacao The tasting notes differ by a bit, but the essential profile is the same.

Fossa Phillipines Rehoboth Estate 70% cacao

This chocolate has a buttery, caramel taste to it. The label has tasting notes of "Tawny port, prunes." I can agree with the port reference, but I am not tasting the prunes. Very smooth finish. 9.1

Ingredients: Cacao Beans, Cane Sugar

www.fossachocolate.com

This is the first bar tasted from a Singapore manufacturer, and only the second of Phillipines origin cacao. Well done!

Chocolate Story Peru 70% cacao

This bar has a grainy texture. It is quite bitter, with coffee and molasses flavors. The bitterness continues into the aftertaste. 6.3

Ingredients: cocoa beans from Peru (70%), sugar

www.chocolatestory.eu

I had quite a difference experience with this bar compared to the Tasting Notes on the label: "refreshing floral and fruity notes with a predominance of sweet and sour cherries." Possibly the only part of this description I taste is a faint floral note.

This bar is made in Poland. The company's name is Manufaktura Czekolady, and their website describes the company as "the only place in Poland where chocolate is hand-made directly from freshly-ground cocoa beans."

Georgia Ramon Haiti Pisa Farmers 80% cacao

This bar has an earthy/woody flavor frame, with bitterness appropriate for its 80% cacao. There is a touch of metallic taste in the mix. 8.3

The label reports flavors of "ripe figs, sour cherries and roasted nuts, with floral notes." I cannot say that I tasted any of these flavors in this bar.

Óbolo Perú Pangoa 70% cacao

Nice flavor profile, with a fruity forward taste and a gentle, sweet after taste. The fruit is citrus and berries. 9.2

Ingredients: Organic cacao beans, organic cane sugar

This is the first chocolate from a Chile chocolate maker. This is a well made bar, so they know their craft. From the label: "Óbolo is Chile's premier bean-to-bar chocolate company. Since 2014, we handcraft small batches of award winning chocolate. We are passionate about chocolate and committed to fairness."

Patric Madagascar 67% cocoa

As I often expect from chocolate with an origin of Madagascar, this bar is fruity and bright. There are citrus flavors, but stronger is a sweet cherry aspect. The label reports "Bright Notes or Berries & Citrus." On the back of the package is a reference to "red wine and a hint of almond." From my tasting, I recognize the almond flavor, but the berries and red wine are not as pronounced. 9.3

In 2012 I reviewed the Patric Madagascar 75% cacao. I gave it a fairly low rating, so either my taste has changed, Patric has changed how it is making its bars, or the difference between 75% and 67% cocoa content is significant. I would guess it is a combination of all three.

Dandelion Chocolate and Umami Mart Sake

On July 25th San Francisco chocolate maker Dandelion Chocolate teamed up with Oakland's Umami Mart to have a chocolate and sake tasting. This is the first time I have heard of a chocolate-sake tasting. Wine and chocolate, of course (goes great with Port). Chocolate and whiskey, sure (a peaty Scotch will give dark chocolate a go). Sake and chocolate would be new for me.

The event was more class than tasting, though there was plenty of tasting. The hosts were Umami Mart's founders, Yoko Kumano and Kayoko Akabori. Joining them were Christine from Dandelion. After introductions, which included some notes on the background of both Dandelion and Umami Mart, we were told how sake is made, the different manufacturing styles used to make sake, and of course details on cacao and chocolate making.

Cacao bean with mucilage

Cacao pod

Christine began her talk by showing us a cacao pod. It had been cut open in a wedge, showing the cacao beans within. Each bean was enclosed in a pulpy material, which I later learned is called mucilage. She pulled the beans out of the pod and gave one to each of us to taste. This was another first for me. I popped it whole into my mouth. The pulp had a neutral taste, and the bean at the center was slightly bitter, but mostly bland. Christine said that she thinks the taste and texture was akin to lima beans.

We would be tasting four sakes with four bars from Dandelion. The photo below shows the pairings. I have included links to earlier ChocoCheck reviews of the Dandelion bars.

• ENTER:Sake Gold was paired with the Guatemala Cahabón 70%
• Den Nama Batch 7 was paired with Belize Maya Mountain 70%
• True Vision Yamahai was paired with Sierra Leone Gola Rainforest 70%
• Hisui Red was paired with Ecuador Camino Verde 85%

Note that the Sierra Leone bar was made at Dandelion's Japan facility. I had previously tasted all of these bars, however they were  for different harvests, except for the Sierra Leone bar, which I had tasted the San Francisco-made bar.

The pairings were intended to balance the flavors of the sake and the chocolate. I would say they were successful in this.  Each pairing was served separately, giving us time to savor the flavors. We were served about an ounce and a half of sake and a single piece of the corresponding chocolate bar. I would suggest serving two pieces would have given us more room to allow the sake and chocolate to pair up.

Christine suggested that we taste the sake, then the chocolate, then the sake again. This worked well, allowing the sake to stake its taste profile on the foundation of the chocolate. Two of the sakes were a surprise for me. The Den Nama sake was unpasteurized, which was possible because it was made locally. Unpasteurized sakes do not travel well, so it is rare to find a Japanese-made unpasteurized sake. The taste of this sake seemed more open than the others.

The Red Sake was also a surprise. It was made with red rice, from which the color came. It stood up well to the rich 85% cacao bar. This sake was served at room temperature, which allowed its flavors to open up. The tasting note on the sheet we were given reported: vine, prune, vermouth. I certainly tasted the prune and vermouth, but I haven't tasted enough vines to be able to confirm that.

By this time in the tasting the sake (and perhaps the chocolate) was having its effect, and the class became more of a social event. Umami Mart's bar is open on weekends, so ad hoc tastings can be had then, but you will need to bring your own chocolate.

Thanks to Yoko, Kayoko and Christine for a fun and informative evening!

Chocolate Tree Belize Maya Mountain 75% cacao

The bar has a bracing cacao flavor, which is buttery with caramel flavor. The aftertaste is smooth, with a short duration. 9.2

www.choctree.co.uk

This product is packaged as two bars, each with a  different mold. Of the two, I found the monkey pattern the most creative.Their website, which I had not previously listed on the other Chocolate Tree bars I reviewed (the Chocolate Tree Peru 69% cacao and the historic review of Cranberry 55% cacao), has photos from the company's trip to Belize for sourcing the beans used in this bar:

https://www.choctree.co.uk/belize-maya-mountain-cacao-2018/

Fu Wan Taiwan #1 70% cacao

This bar has a buttery flavor with a toffee or malt taste. There is a bitter edge underlying the taste, which leads to a toasty finish. Otherwise the aftertaste is fairly smooth. 9.1

Ingredients: Cacao Bean, Sugar, Cacao Butter

www.fuwanshop.com

This is another Choco Check first -- a Taiwan origin and manufactured chocolate. The website reports that a 62% cacao version of this Taiwan #1 chocolate won the Best in Competition Overall Winner as well as 5 Gold Medals in the 2017 ICA Asia-Pacific Competition.

This is a bar I purchased at San Francisco's premier chocolate shop, Chocolate Covered. Their price was $13 for a 46g bar.

Godiva Dark 85% cacao

The bar is as bitter as the 85% cacao contained in the bar would expect to demonstrate. The flavors are roasted with a tinge of coffee flavor. The aftertaste is lengthy, which is no surprise of course. 7.4

Ingredients: Unsweetened chocolate, sugar, cocoa butter, butter oil (milk), emulsifier (soy lecithin).

This is the third mass-produced chocolate bar tasted recently (counting the two Ritter Sport bars). The ingredients list on this bar is lengthy, more so than the Ritter bars.

Ritter Sport Peru Intense 74% cacao

This bar starts on the bitter side. Its flavor has a roasted profile with smoke and charcoal. There's a suggestion of vanilla in the aftertaste, which is less bitter overall. 7.8

These Ritter Sport bars are fairly thick, which packs the chocolate into a smaller box. Tasting the bar in the traditional way, allowing it to melt in the mouth, requires more time to let the bar dissolve. 

Ritter Sport Nicaragua Dark 61% cacao

Smooth taste profile. Flavor is buttery, on the side of toffee and caramel. Aftertaste is light and short. 8.2

Prior Ritter Sport bars reviewed on ChocoCheck did not provide the origin of the cacao, but this bar does list Nicaragua as the source of the "cocoa mass." Prior reviews: Ritter Sport Ecuador Fine Extra Dark 71% Cacao and Ritter Sport Fine Extra Dark 73% cocoa.

Ingredients: chocolate liquor, sugar, cacao butter

Lolli & Pops Brazil Fazenda Camboa 70% cacao

Fairly bitter front experience, with strong earthy flavors backing it.As expected, the aftertaste is long lasting. 7.7

Castronova Columbia Sierra Nevada 72% cacao

The front door experience of this bar is a jab of bitterness. Once inside, subtle sweetness asserts born of a faint honey flavor. Aftertaste is chewy as a result of the bitter lead. 8.2

Ingredients: cocoa beans, organic cane sugar, organic cocoa butter

Pump Street Grenada Crayfish Bay Organic Estate 70% cacao

This bar is fruity with a molasses sweetness. The label suggests a blackberry flavor; I taste this faintly. It also suggest floral notes, but this I notice even less. The finish is on the bitter side, which extends the aftertaste. 8.0

Hogarth Domincan Republic Conacado 75% cacao

When I opened this bar I noticed some oxidation on the surface and immediately looked for the "Best By" date on the label. I was surprised to see December 2018 as the date. Therefore it would be off-base to review this bar until I find one within its Best By date range. The bar I tasted was fairly bitter, but had faint notes of the citrus notes mentioned on the label.

The label notes state: "Tangy citrus notes provide bitter fruitiness over a dark toffee finish." I am going to have to up my review game to this level.

Fresco Guatemala Polochic Valley 70% cacao

Very nicely made bar, with a thin profile which allows the bar to melt quickly and release its flavors. Those are largely earthy, with a seasoning of pepper and cardamom. 9.3

Fresco prints its roast and conche profile on its bars, and this one is Dark Road and Long Conche. On the label, this is explained as: Dark Roast: "full bodied, bold, intense, new flavor notes can develop while others may be subdued." Long Conche: "flavor peaks and valleys softened to a melodic harmony." Conching is described as: "Heat, motion, aeration & time produce chocolate's final flavor this is conching. Adjusting variables can produce dramatically different flavors."

Gotham Bolivia Wild 68% cacao

This bar has a fruity burst on tasting, with a berry component, and some honey notes. It is fairly bitter and the aftertaste is lengthy. 8.1

Ingredients: Cacao mass, Sugar, Cacao butter

gothamchocolates.nyc

My one complaint about this bar is that they place the label with details on the origin and taste of the chocolate straddling the seam of the wrapper, such that to open the bar is to destroy the label. Unfortunate, but I took a snapshot before opening the bar.