The label sports a Bronze award from the 2019 International Chocolate Awards, World. This is quite appropriate for this well made, flavorful bar. I have had experience with "stone ground" bars in the past and I do not prefer the rough texture of those bars, so I was initially put off by the name of this bar's maker, "Stonegrindz." However Jack at Chocolate Covered assured me that this was not a stone ground bar, and indeed it is not.
This is a robust, bold flavored bar, with a big earthy and roasted taste profile. The roasted aspect tends towards charcoal and the earthiness borders on dirt. Bitterness is high and the aftertaste is long. The texture of the bar is slightly grainy as it melts. 7.2
The label includes a note which explains that the grainy texture is due to a hot roast used to make this chocolate.
The bar also has a nice mold design.
This bar makes a strong entrance, with bracing cacao flavor, edging towards nuttiness. The aftertaste is lightly bitter and lingering. 9.0
This is the first bar from Cacaosuyo I have tasted. The wrapping is nicely done, with notes about the Incas and the importance of cacao to them.
Fresco's product strategy makes it easy to compare recipe variations across different cacao origins. Chococheck has recently checked out several of these mixes with Fresco Dominican Republic Öko Caribe Recipes 212 and 224 and Fresco Guatemala Polochic Valley Recipes 250, 251 and 252. The subject of this post is a comparison of the same origin and the same recipe across different harvests of cacao. The 2017 bar was reviewed as part of the first review mentioned above. Now it can be compared to the 2019 harvest.
2017 Harvest
In my prior review I wrote: "This bar has a sharper edge, with a bitter taste at the front. The flavor leans to the earthy side of the palette due to a toasty note, but there is also an element of fig in the mix." While the flavor comments match my current experience of the bar, I do not notice the sharp, bitter taste on initial tasting. The experience is smoother and the aftertaste is cleaner. 8.5
2019 Harvest
I notice a spicier note on initial tasting of the 2019 bar. It is slightly peppery, not at all dominant but enough to be interesting. The fig flavor is present, but fainter. I am not noticing the toasty nature as strongly. The bitterness is moderate and the aftertaste matches this. 8.2
This bar has a fruity first impression. The fruitiness has some raspberry and strawberry taste. The bar's texture is smooth and the finish is clean. 9.3
This completes my tastings of a trio of single-origin bars from Potomac Chocolate. The packaging has come a long way from when I reviewed bars made as a result of a successful Kickstarter campaign to purchase a tempering device. The chocolate molds have also advanced. Previously the mold was a simple block with horizontal cuts to assist in snapping off a piece. The improved mold builds on the design of the label with the fish school theme.
This bar has a smooth entrance, quite gentle for 75% cacao. The flavors are buttery with a creamy taste. The background note echos of plum. The aftertaste is short and sweet. 9.1
This bar has a very robust cacao flavor and is quite bitter for a 70% bar. The front taste is roasted, with a charcoal tinge in the mix. A lesser taste is an earthy, woody note. The aftertaste is lengthy with a tapering echo of bitterness. 7.8
I tasted an earlier Peru bar from a different plantation from Potomac: Potomac San Martin Peru 70% cacao. I noted in that review that the bar tasted more bitter than I have come to expect from a 70% cacao bar, just as I noted for this bar. From my experience with the Fresco bar I would conclude that this bitter profile comes from a "Light" roasting level which I suspect is being used for these bars. The Fresco description of Light roasting is "just enough to soften the cacao's raw, acidic edge." This lines up with my experience with the bars.
This is the third harvest of this cacao from Dandelion that I have tasted. Previous reviews are:
As would be expected, this bar has a similar taste profile as the other harvests. There is a raspberry flavor note with a lemony finish. This bar is consistently at the top of my taste ratings, and I will bump the rating for this edition. 9.5
The label notes vary from prior editions: "For this bar she [Julia, listed on the label as "Roast profile by Julia"] brought out notes of raspberry cheesecake and lemon zest."
This post compares two recipes of the Ghana 68% cacao.
"We slow drum roast cocoa beans for each chocolate batch to develop unique chocolate flavors. LIGHT - just enough to soften the cocoa's raw acidic edge. MEDIUM - cocoa flavors develop to be balanced and flavorful."
The third roasting option is "DARK" which is not used for these two bars.
"Heat, motion, aeration & time produce chocolate's final flavor; this is conching. Adjusting these variables can produce dramatically different flavors. SUBTLE - softens primitive edge while retaining aggressive flavor notes. MEDIUM - balance between aggressive and subdued, mellow."
The other conching techniques are "NONE" and "LONG."
This bar has a sharper edge, with a bitter taste at the front. The flavor leans to the earthy side of the palette due to a toasty note, but there is also an element of fig in the mix. The aftertaste is long as a result of the bitter taste. 7.9
The descriptions above for moving from light roast and subtle conche to medium roast and medium conche imply a softer taste for the resulting chocolate. This comes through clearly with Recipe 224. The front taste is softer, but still has a strong cacao note. The flavor palette moves to buttery with a butterscotch note. The secondary flavor is reminiscent of olive. The aftertaste is strong but softer, with a less bitter tail. 8.6
This bar has a very fruity profile, with raspberry and concord flavors. It is also very smooth with a clean aftertaste. 9.0
The previous bar from Madagascar is 74% cacao bar which was produced with light roast and medium conche. This bar from Peru is 70% cacao produced with medium roast and long conche. I like this Peru bar considerably better -- but it it not clear whether it is the cacao percentage, the roast or the conche which has produced that result. The remaining bars from Fresco may help clarify these differences.
The back of the label suggests this bar's flavors include "brownie batter and caramel," stamped on the bar apparently after manufacture. The front label reports "brownie batter, apricot." Indeed, there is a buttery caramel flavor, but I am missing the brownie batter taste. Instead I notice some earthy elements, with a mushroom element. This bar is fairly gentle on the bitterness side, with a relatively short aftertaste. 8.0
This bar has full body and presence. It has a touch of spice cake as well as toast in its flavor palate. The aftertaste is lengthy, with a bitter tinge. 7.8
This bar has a basic cocoa flavor, with a fairly high bitter bite. The tang echos of charcoal or burnt sugar. 7.0
This bar has a fruity profile, on the plum and fig side of the pallet. It has fairly low bitterness, leading to a short aftertaste experience. 9.0
This bar opens with a fruit-forward taste, citrus and berries. Bitterness is quite low, so the flavors have time to develop. As the fruit flavors fade, a caramel profile emerges, which lasts into the aftertaste. 9.1
This bar has a roasted profile, reminiscent of cooked pudding. There is also a smooth, buttery butterscotch taste. It has fairly low bitterness, but the aftertaste has a persistence that stays with you. 8.7
I am tasting the Dandelion Belize 85% at the same time I have tasted the Belize 70%. Certainly the 85% cacao bar is richer and more bitter then the 70%. This, of course, is why one buys the 85% bar over to 70%. So this bar delivers the punch. There is a similar roasted taste profile, with some charcoal and coffee components.
I previously reviewed Dandelion's Maya Mountain chocolate in this post: Dandelion Belize Maya Mountain 70% cacao. That bar was made from the 2014 harvest of that plantation, whereas the present bar is from the 2017 harvest.
This bar has a bitter edge to it, which smoky roasted taste. Yet there is a buttery aspect, with a taste of toffee in the mix. Aftertaste is lengthy due to the bitter bite. 7.3
As this chocolate dissolves, a taste of toffee is prominent. Some cherry flavors arise in the aftertaste, which is moderately bitter. 9.1
This bar has a rich chocolate flavor with a charcoal edge. Caramel has a strong presence in the flavor profile. While there is some bitterness on the front, the aftertaste is smooth and mild. 7.8
This bar has earthy and roasted components. There is a sharp tobacco tinge, accompanied by a coffee touch. These give the bar some bitterness, but the resolution in the aftertaste is moderate. 8.3
This bar has a crisp snap and a crunchy chew. The taste is sweet, with caramel flavor with a touch of fig. The aftertaste is short and on the sweet side. 8.2
This bar is quite bitter, as would be expected from an 88% cacao chocolate. It has a roasted profile, edging on charcoal. The aftertaste is persistent and continues as bitter. 8.4
This bar is made with extra-virgin olive oil, and would not be a candidate for review on ChocoCheck. However we recently (early March) visited Thomas Keller's The French Laundry, so this bar caught my eye at the store. 
This bar has a buttery profile, with a hazelnut taste. It has a very nice cacao flavor, and the aftertaste is mellow. The label mentions several flavors: plum, walnut, citrus and vanilla. I could see the vanilla aspect from the buttery profile, but the plum, walnut and citrus flavors escape me. 8.9
This bar has a buttery texture, with a spicy flavor thread which has a nutmeg element. The aftertaste is clean and tapers quickly. 8.9
