Standout Madagascar Sambirano 70% cacao

The origin for the cacao from this bar is quite familiar, and I would expect its flavors to be fruit-forward, with an edgy towards citrus. There is some of this, but the initial taste is all about the fudgy chocolate experience. The fruit aspect develops from this towards berry, along with a taste of honey. The aftertaste is clean and brief. 9.2

Ingredients: Cacao beans*, Cane sugar*
*Organic

standoutchocolate.com

Standout Chocolate is located in Sweden, near Gothenburg. The back of the label lists four awards they have received: 2020 Silver European International Chocolate Awards, 2021 Bronze Academy of Chocolate, Great Taste 2021 and Great Taste 2020 Small Artisan Producer of the Year. While it is not clear whether this specific bar was a part of these awards, the producers know their stuff in making chocolate.

Seahorse Peru Ucayali River 70% cacao

This bar starts with a rich, fudgy chocolate taste, devolving into a burnt, roasted effect. Below this is a faint citrus note struggling to rise to the surface, adding a nice flavor mix to the bar. The aftertaste is driven by the roasted note, though the duration is moderate. 8.7

Karuna Tanzania Kokoa Kamili 70% cacao

This bar has a lot of flavor themes running through the taste.  There is a fruity aspect, which has plum as the theme, there is a buttery aspect, with caramel as the theme, and finally there is a roasted aspect, with a hint of charcoal. The latter element contributes to a bitter edge in the finish, resulting in a lengthy aftertaste. 7.9

Ingredients: Cocoa beans*, raw cane sugar*, cocoa butter*
*certified organic

www.karunachocolate.it

One of the benefits of tasting craft chocolate from around the world is learning of the people and geographies where the cacao originates and where the cacao is manufactured into chocolate. I am quite familiar with the Kokoa Kamili plantation where this bar's cacao originates (from other bars tasted for ChocoCheck), however I was not as familiar with the Italian province of South Tyrol, where Karuna Chocolate is located. This area borders on Austria, and has a German-speaking majority according to Wikipedia. The company's website is worth a visit to meet the makers and see the other Karuna products they make.