Perugina Dark Chocolate 51% cacao

A good, but simple, dark chocolate. Cocoa flavor dominates, with a slightly bitter aftertaste. 6.8

Vanini 86% cacao

This bar is very bitter, with a long lasting aftertaste that makes the mouth pucker. Behind the bitter facade is a clean dark chocolate, with few side flavors. A colleague thought she tasted cherries and tannins. 6.7

http://www.vaninicioccolato.it

Schoggi Grand Cru 65% cacao

Pleasant. Sweet (for a dark chocolate). Pure, clean note, no side flavors other than vanilla. 7.7

This bar's ingredients are listed as: Cacao, cocoa butter, sugar, vanilla, lecithin. I should pay closer attention to this list.  When the list is longer than "cacao, cocoa butter, sugar" you may get characteristics of significant note in the taste of the bar.  This bar adds in vanilla, and there is a vanilla flavor noticeable. But is it really needed here? Lecithin's Wikipedia entry lists these reasons for why it might be used: "In confectionery, it reduces viscosity, replaces more expensive ingredients, controls sugar crystallization and the flow properties of chocolate, helps in the homogeneous mixing of ingredients, improves shelf life for some products, and can be used as a coating." Replaces more expensive ingredients? I don't like the sound of that.

This bar comes from a confectionery with stores in the city. They mostly sell truffles and such, and this visit was the first time I noticed a pure chocolate bar on their shelf. It's a good chocolate, but I wonder what it would taste like without he vanilla and the lecithin.

schoggi.us

Benoit Nihant Cuba Baracoa 74% cacao

Very low bitterness. The aftertaste fades almost as fast as it starts. There is a distinct cinnamon flavor noticeable, giving a spicy edge to the bar. 8.5

One has to ask: if I cannot get Cuban cigars here in the states, why can I get Cuban chocolate? I assume it is because the beans were exported to Belgium for Benoit Nihant to manufacture, and for trade purposes this is actually a Belgian bar.

Southbend Chocolate Company Dark Chocolate

Strong caramel flavors backed by cocoa. Not very bitter. 6.9

The label does not indicate a cocoa content percentage, but lists its ingredients as "Semi-Sweet Chocolate." Then in parenthesis describes Semi-Sweet Chocolate as "Sugar, Chocolate Processed with Alkali, Cocoa Butter, Milkfat, Soy Letchin, Vanillin - an Artificial Flavor, Natural Flavors." So it is clear that the cocoa percentage is likely less than 50%, as the order that ingredients are listed (Sugar is first) is by largest amount. Milkfat? Well, I would only expect that in milk chocolate. Vanillin? Artificial anything is not what I am looking for in my chocolate. "Processed with Alkali"? I don't like the sound of that!

The bar tastes fine for what it seeks to achieve, but I deducted points for the artificial flavoring.

My friend Jim brought this bar back from his trip to Indiana.  Thanks, Jim!

www.sbchocolate.com

Benoit Nihant Venezeula Chuao 74% cacao

Robust cocoa flavor. Faint spiciness, with a cinnamon hint. Warm and memorable aftertaste. 8.1

I tasted this bar while watching Chocolat. So very appropriate!

Dandelion Domincan Republic San Francisco de Macoris 70% cacao

This bar is earthy and bitter. The taste experience is bracing, not mellow. There is some nutmeg flavor to go along with the earthiness. The bitterness leads into the aftertaste, which a long lasting. 7.6