Thursday 24 April 2014

Rococo Chocolate

The artsy yet simplistic design of Rococo's packaging is admirable. Each of these three bars are labelled organic and artisan, and are made from fine cocoa beans (including some sourced from Rococo's farm, Grococo, in North Grenada) with a little extra added cocoa butter

The whole experience of Rococo was mesmerising. From the beautiful and authentic print designs on the paper packaging, which on the inside had faint illustrations, to the chocolate bars themselves. And spoiler alert: words can not describe the mouthfeel of the dark chocolate and the aroma of the white!

The design upon the chocolate looked very similar to the Duke of Delhi chocolate bar range which I liked as it gave the chocolate character, BUUUUT I think Rococo wore it best!

Basil & Persian Lime Dark Chocolate
65% cocoa solids
A medium brown colour with reddish tint. Its thin form, soft touch, delicate hold and glossy finish gave a satisfying clean snap. The lime and basil were competing in aroma, with lime seeming to be the foundation of the chocolate with the herby aroma being the stronger overtone, however it took a few moments to actually get the sense of it actually being basil. A soft bite lead to an incredibly smooth, soft texture

In taste the basil mastered the lime. But the lime pieces gave a zesty burst when bitten and also had a soft gritty-like feel

This chocolate remained calm at all times. The most impressive texture and melt I've experienced (yet), and I wonder if that was down to a long conching time or a high percentage of cocoa butter, but either way it was exceptional. The long-length finish was a soft basil

Sea Salt Milk Chocolate
Rococo have used their house blend 37% milk chocolate and infused it with Halen Mon Anglesey sea salt. After one bite, you realise why this chocolate was awarded an Academy of Chocolate Gold Award. It also is known to be a favourite of Sophie Dahls!

The light brown colour, with its glossy finish and creamy, vanilla aroma gave the impression of a rich and warm experience. And it was. The salt enhanced the sweetness of the caramel tasting milk chocolate. It always amazes me how salt does that. The only bad thing I have to say about this chocolate was that I could taste the paper packaging at times, but apart from that all was good. It seems as if Rococo are persistent with their smooth textures... could the white chocolate complete the trinity?

Cardamom White Chocolate
Well, it certainly looked good. The aromatic cardamom made itself present as soon as the paper was opened, and I loved how I could subtly smell the vanilla white chocolate coming through. I've had cardamom and dark/milk chocolate before, but after trying this I think white chocolate works so much better

Sugar is sensed in the aftertaste but thankfully the cardamom distracts away from that. The two distinct contrasting flavours (the strong fragrant cardamom and creamy vanilla chocolate) really complement each other, and for a white chocolate this bar was ever so sophisticated

Each chocolate bar was excellent. The flavour pairings were perfect. And out of the three, for taste I'd recommend the Cardamom White Chocolate, it was perfectly balanced and for the texture it would have to be the Basil & Persian Lime Dark Chocolate. £4.50 for 70g is far more expensive than your average chocolate bar, but with Rococo you are paying for quality

1 comment:

  1. The cardamom one sounds lovely! Infact all Roccoco bars are lovely, let's be honest. I loved the Basil & Lime one too even though I thought basil was an odd flavour for a chocolate bar. Have you tried the Raspberry fizz?

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