www.hotelchocolat.com
This is the first of the bars I purchased to my trip to London and Ireland in April. This was certainly a great first bar to taste! Hotel Chocolat was located in London, and I picked up one bar at their kiosk in Paddington Station, and the other in Soho.
The packaging has a lot of information. The beans were harvested in 2012, roasted for 40 minutes at 257 degrees F. and refined and conched for 72 hours. Inside the package is information about the company's traditions and policies for cocoa procurement. There is also a note on the Chuao beans, which says that they are "still pretty amazing" despite the hype that surrounds it. Finally, there's a "Tastometer" that shows a range of flavors to expect from different Hotel Chocolat single-origin bars.
3 comments:
I've got this chocolate in my collection! Cant wait to try :)
From the label:
"Prima Donna with talent. She's good and she knows it -- an interplay of cream and caramel with malt and raisins, roast nuts and plenty of elegant poise.
"Short story: With only a small annual tonnage produced, fought over by rival chocolatiers, the name Chuao has attracted a certain cachet and a ramping of cocoa prices."
"More about the cocoa of Chuao, Venezuela
"A bit of hype surrounds Chuao beans but they are still pretty amazing despite that. Important too to be sure that they really are from Chuao, as the high price of the beans has led to some outlying areas attaching themselves to the Chuao appellation!
"Only about 20 tonnes annually are cropped from the 125 members of Emressa Campesina Chuao (the village cooperative), fermented centrally using the wooden box method and dried in front of the village church. We buy about 5% of what's available. Accessible only by boat, from the north coast of Venezuela, west of Caracas."
I've got this bar in my collection, cannot wait to try. The cream, caramel, malt and raisins notes are what I adore in real chocolate.
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