Tuesday 26 April 2016

Dick Taylor Belize 72%

Dick Taylor have been crafting chocolate in the land of milk of honey since 2010. This chocolate was made with cacao from Toledo in Belize and cane sugar. Just two ingredients; this purity is typical of American craft chocolate, and I particularly like it
The chocolate had a great temper with a smooth back

It had an aroma of grape, raisin, prune, oak barrels. In the taste was toastiness, dried grape, oak, sunflower oil, balsamic and bamboo leaves. It had this liveliness yet softness about it. The melt was slow and broke up in the mouth, a limitation of purity (i.e no added cocoa butter to smoothen and quicken the melt)

There was a refreshing acidity, which made it mouth watering on the tongue. There was something minted about it, almost like a tainted minty flavour, but unlike most 'tainted' notes this mint was fine

A really lovely chocolate, I even wish  I had savoured it, but like most bars, it only lasted a few hours

Monday 25 April 2016

Georgia Ramon Carolina Reaper 70%

This is an evil chocolate. I cannot keep that conclusion until the end. There are few warnings on the back packaging, "for true gourmet masochists", "no right to exist" etc. 

This bean to bar 70% dark chocolate is a blend of cacao from Dominican Republic and Ghana

I like how Georgia Ramon chocolate gives the grinding time (in this case 24 hours) and conching time (of 8 hours) because of the all important distinguish of grinding and conching

Amongst the organic cacao and raw cane sugar there is 0.3% Carolina Chili, and pain. The Carolina Reaper is the hottest chili in the world
Apart from that chili, it's really awesome chocolate. The taste OF THE CHOCOLATE is incredible, it's very chocolate, toasty, complex. But then there's the chili that blows the head away, eyes on the verge of tears, clearing of the sinuses

A very special chocolate 

Saturday 23 April 2016

Blanxart Milk Chocolate with Caramelised Seeds

Blanxart, the Barcelona chocolate maker, is no stranger to me. This packaging, however, is. The plastic wrapping allows the display of the chocolate, which is very pretty, although it does prove to be difficult to 'use' (to open and to get the chocolate out). High aesthetic value, low ergonomic value ... something like that

The chocolate felt almost greasy to touch. The mouth texture was gummy. The aniseed and sesame were excellent flavours when they would sing through, they were very distinct and concentrated 

I feel this chocolate should take on Hotel Chocolat's mantra of "more cocoa, less sugar". There should have been more of a chocolate flavour, it lacked cocoa notes and was just so sweet. A richer chocolate (i.e more cocoa mass) would have really complemented the caramelised seeds

The caramelised seeds were excellent, the chocolate itself unfortunately let them down. Like a pizza that has bomb toppings, but an abominable base ... something like that

Tuesday 12 April 2016

Georgia Ramon Philippinen 80%

I met Georg Bernadini when judging at the Academy of Chocolate. Throughout the 2 days he gave me his chocolate to try and handed me four bars. A very friendly guy, who is serious about chocolate

Firstly the Philppinen chocolate. It was made with Filipino cacao, raw cane sugar, and cocoa butter. I like how it is made clear that the 80% cocoa solids is NOT 100% Filipino, instead maybe 94% of the 80% is [from the Philippines]
The aroma was fruity, chilli, hummus, wood, olives

There was bitterness in taste to begin, it was like sucking on cocoa powder (texture too). It calmed down and opened to soft flavours of hummus and baba ganoush, chilli spice, mushroom. Squidgy foods align well with the creamy-ish melt. There was an acidity of fruity flavours which COULD be found. The flavour returned to cocoa, finishing with toastiness

Monday 11 April 2016

Ara Chocolat India 70% Limited Edition

Ara Chocolat make their chocolate in France. Ara is just two people, Andres and Sabrina. They are a couple passionate about making great chocolate, for us and for the environment

Their India 70% chocolate is limited edition, made from Trinitario beans

An aroma smoked and green leaves of the black cherry tree (Prunus Serotina). It was smooth and so very autumn. The taste was nutty, French unsalted butter and toasted. The chocolate had a long finish of cocoa