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.