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.

Óbolo Peru Pangoa 70% cacao

This bars has a smooth start and finish. Flavors tend towards toffee and rum raisin. The aftertaste has a slow burn of bitterness that tapers off quickly. 9.0

Ingredients: Cacao beans*, cane sugar*
*Certified organic 

obolochocolate.cl

I previously reviewed this same bar from Óbolo: Óbolo Perú Pangoa 70% cacao  In that review I noted citrus and berry notes, which I did not taste with this bar. However it is clear that the packaging has been upgraded.

Cru Guatemala El Peten 72% cacao

This bar is quite bitter and has a roasted, smoky flavor profile. The taste edges to a buttery texture with a toffee aspect. The aftertaste is lengthy and bitter. 7.6

Ingredients: cacao beans, organic unrefined cane sugar

cruchocolate.com

Taitau Ghanna 52% cacao

 With fairly low cacao content (and thus fairly high sugar content), this bar leans towards the sweet side with quite low bitterness. There is a malt taste which is prominent with a hint of caramel. The aftertaste is almost absent. 7.0

 Ingredients: sugar, cacaom mass (made from premium quality GHANIAN cocoa beans), cocoa butter, emulsifer - rapeseed lecithin

taitau.lt

This bar is manufactured in Lithuania, so it did travel a good way to arrive at the store where I purchased it. However, the bar had a quite noticeable oxidation issue along one side, as is clear from the photo (the left side). For review I tasted the unaffected side of the bar, but it could also have been affected by the storage conditions which led to the damage. I also purchased the bar in May, but the best by date was February (manufactured August 2020).

Guido Gobino Madagascar Sambirano 72% cacao

There is a taste of apricot to from this bar, though the cacao has a robust character, tasting of burnt sugar. The texture is slightly rough and the aftertaste is moderate. 8.6

This is one of the larger bars I've tasted in a while at 110 grams (3.9 oz.). It may also be the first bar crafted in Italy that I've reviewed since my trip to Venice in 2019.  Inside the label can be found a spiderweb chart which shows the degree of certain characteristics the maker notes for the bar. I generally agree with the assessment, though I would nudge the roasted metric a bar higher.

Ingredients:  cocao mass from Madagascar, sugar, cocoa butter

guidogobino.it