Saturday 27 December 2014

Domori Javablond

Without added vanilla nor cocoa butter, we get purity with Domori: just cacao nibs and cane sugar. I am not one for Java/Indonesia cacao, and at this 70% I wasn't sure how I would fare. However, the name Javablond and seeing Criollo suggested a delicate approach 
The blond in the name referred to the lighter coloured Criollo cacao, of which Domori had sourced from east Java. And the chocolate was a very light brown, compared to say Domori's Arriba

The aroma was intensely chocolate, with rubber at the very back. But what was more powerful than rubber was the floral and citrus orange, which was unexpected of Java! 

I couldn't help but compare the aroma to Omnom's Madagascar. The Javablond was more chocolatey, but they really weren't that different. I was very impressed
The taste was more captivating. It opened very chocolatey and then in with a vibrant red fruit. The smokiness of Javanese cacao was only sensed at the very end. There was the occasional distinct touch of hazelnut. The chocolatey taste was so dominant and had a bright acidity to liven it up

The texture was phenomenal: exceptionally smooth. The cacao gave a slight astringent feel 

I really enjoyed this chocolate. It was like a tamed Madagascar 

Sunday 21 December 2014

Zotter Mitzi Blue Marrakech


Oh cardamom, rose and cinnamon, how beautiful you are in a 40% milk chocolate. The aroma was predominately rose with such a delicate cardamom

The taste then favoured cardamom, with the rose ever so soft. It had a smooth texture, and tasted so chocolatey. The almond nougat disc was beautiful, it only tasted of cinnamon. There was a citrusy and floral touch, which would have been the orange blossom

Beautiful flavours. I was overwhelmed. I particularly loved the cinnamon! And I particularly love that Zotter is organic, fairtrade and use raw cane sugar! 

Monday 15 December 2014

Soma Black Science Trinidad 70%

The bean-to-bar scene has pretty much spread like wildfire in the US and Canada. Soma are small batch craft chocolate makers and chocolatiers, based in Toronto. Their Black Science Trinidadian chocolate was made from Trinitario cacao from Sangre Grande in Trinidad, which was to gift "notes of brownie and roasted grains", organic cane sugar and cocoa butter

I was stunned at how smooth the texture was, including in the mouth. The aroma on the surface was grain and metallic- not so tempting, but deeper in was strong-brewed tea leaves, apple, dried tropical fruits (papaya, pineapple)

The taste was really great. It had a fruity acidity amongst the tea leaves, with cacao and bitterness at the back of the tongue. I presume the beans had a reasonably high roast with a toasty flavour like that. Nearing to the end, it was a really intense brownie/hot chocolate taste (not sugar-sweet). I think it's the fruitiness that really finishes the chocolate for you; it leaves you in admiration for craft chocolate. It has a taste of Christmad cake (packed with dried fruit, molasses and spiced)

This is real excellent chocolate, with special notes of blackberry 

Tuesday 9 December 2014

Paul A Young Fine Chocolates Selection

Visiting Paul A Young's Soho store was paramount to me when in London. From the shop, I had an Aztec-style hot chocolate made with quality chocolate and Muscovado sugar and a chosen spice of cardamom. I also bought a bar of his bean-to-bar Madagascar 63%, though I'm kicking myself for not buying a bar of Duffy's chocolate. And of course I couldn't have left without a few of Paul's fresh, handmade chocolates! The question is, would I pay £7 for 4 of his chocolates again? 

Thursday 4 December 2014

Zotter Labooko lactose-free Milk Chocolate

Lactose-free milk chocolate. I love Zotter's Labooko range, with its origins and flavours, but I'll admit that I was somewhat underwhelmed when given these bars, not to sound ungrateful, of course, I just didn't have a lactose intolerance. Little did I know that 'lactose-free' simply meant a sugar removed from the milk: no biggie

The 35% cocoa, cow's milk-milk chocolate smelt like white chocolate; it tasted rich like white chocolate. If it was a white chocolate, it would have been the best white chocolate I had ever had

The taste was rich in cane sugar, vanilla and toffee. I loved it. It had a smooth texture, excellent temper, mould and snap. The only thing I didn't like was fructose-glucose syrup listed on the ingredients, I had never seen this in chocolate before, and there was more of it than there was cocoa mass. But oh god was this chocolate good
The 40% cocoa 'milk' chocolate smelt familiar. Racking my index of smells, eureka!The Raw Chocolate Company's Vanoffee. It was an aroma not too pleasant

The taste reminded me of, dare I say, 'cheap' chocolate. Occasionally I came across the finely ground cereal [millet powder] which enhanced the texture. The finish was kinda malty

Zotter calls it a milk chocolate, but it contains no milk ... the ingredients are: cocoa butter, raw cane sugar, millet powder, cocoa mass, salt & vanilla. What makes it a milk chocolate is that the millet within was originally made into 'millet milk', a vegan milk substitute, and then dried into millet powder, just like regular milk is. I did not enjoy this chocolate

If you have a lactose intolerance, and even if you don't, I recommend the 35% milk chocolate bar! And if you're vegan, maybe stick with Zotter's Labooko dark chocolate. A little reminder that Zotter chocolate is made bean to bar, organic and Fairtrade!

Tuesday 2 December 2014

Dark Sugars Chocolate Selection

Dark Sugars was jam packed, even on the Sunday, but that's the charm of Brick Lane. It's a street defined by diverse cultures, street food, antique, arty markets, vintage shops, cafés, cupcakes, bagels; it's no surprise a chocolate shop, as hip as this, would attract a crowd. The atmosphere in the shop was buzzing, with the smell of chocolate and the old school hip hop playing, it felt real cool. But it was difficult to stay focused. I cannot believe I didn't pick up a cherry chocolate or a caramel or the cognac truffle, and did I miss the Infused Havana Tobacco truffle? Hey - there's always next time!
Putting a cocoa dusted truffle in with a bag of white chocolates? School boy error. But I guess it's not about how they look, rather how they taste! It was £7 for 100g, and with 6 chocolates in my bag it came to just £4.90

Friday 28 November 2014

Willie's Cacao Colombian Gold Los Llanos 88

It's Willie's darkest GOLD yet. If you were to buy the Colombian 88%, you'll find that on the packaging, and online too, it will say "redcurrant and spice" notes, however on my packaging it was "soft cherry & plum". I was curious to find out which was more accurate
The single estate, Los Llanos, cacao aroma was cocoa (standard, dutch-processed), coconut, and most definitely plummy. Like dark, verging on overripe plums and their pits fermenting in barrels. Strikingly it became a malt loaf, packed with raisins, lightly spiced and made extra sticky with black tea. The malt loaf was toasted. I suspect Willie went for a medium roast 
The flavour opened with cocoa, which also finished the chocolate, and a soft bitterness. Naturally, as chocolate melts, flavour compounds break down on the tongue and you begin tasting all the different flavours of the chocolate. With this Colombian 88%, cherry quietly surfaced, which brought a sour-cherry feeling on the tongue. The cherry remained mild in taste though, with only the slightest sourness. I discerned the toasty roast, but apart from that ... nothing. I was hoping for more flavours, like the plentiful fruits in aroma. Once, whilst chewing it tasted like a cherry sponge cake

The chocolate didn't take me on a gustatory journey. I will admit that the intense cocoa flavour distracted me slightly, but I still don't think it had a complex flavour. I liked the aroma though, that was nostalgic. Like Willie's Peruvian, it smelt like Polish sweet things - cherry, plum, prune etc.

I like my chocolate to be a little sweeter and fruitier

Wednesday 26 November 2014

Zotter Scotch Whisky & Amaretto-Marzipan

That of Zotter I know and have experienced, I am confident in saying that the chocolate is exceptionally high quality. All ingredients are organic and the chocolate itself, made bean-to-bar, is Fairtrade. With the flavours being so innovative, and the branding especially unique, one could be no less than over the moon to receive a few Zotter chocolate bars, from the man himself, to taste and review!

Zotter currently make just over 100 hand-scooped bars! If I had to pick only a few from the range to try, the Amaretto-Marzipan bar would have certainly been one of them. There are many flavours that will blow your mind, either because they sound so heavenly or just so wild
@ZotterChocolate: At recent tastings people said "you must have a huge development team". They looked stunned when I replied "no, just one man-Josef Zotter" 
The Scotch Whisky bar had a great texture, as I'm sure you can imagine. A thin layer of couverture and then a soft, smooth ganache. Let it melt and oh boy. The taste throughout was whisky, with even the 70% cocoa coating tasting of the spirit. The ganache was ever so creamy and sometimes rather punchy with its flavour, but it didn't give that sensation that whisky does. You know, that throat burning one. Overall, it's an enjoyable flavour pairing, and I guess far more forgiving than pairing chocolate with your whisky drink

The Amaretto-Marzipan had a 60% dark milk chocolate coating. "La Dolce Vita". The coarse textured marzipan was soaked in amaretto and laid upon an almond nougat layer. I had expectations of this chocolate being magical. I liked it, but found myself only really enjoying it at its finish. As at first, the plethora of almond (marzipan, liqueur, nougat (flavoured with almond oil)) seemed almost superfluous. But a few more bites in and the chocolate harmonised with the almond; a delicate and sophisticated flavour had been born. Though still not quite bedazzling, and with its less indulgent mouthfeel, it grew on me, and what I liked most was its bittersweet flavours and how it evoked a taste from my childhood

Thursday 20 November 2014

Omnom Madagascar 66% & Dark Nibs + Raspberries

I first came across Omnom Chocolate when The Dieline wrote up on them at the start of the year. The first thing you notice about Omnom is their distinctive packaging, which means their mission has been a success: "Packaging is the first visual and last physical contact a brand has with a customer and I wanted it to be a lasting one." The cool illustrations were inspired by living and traveling in Iceland

Omnom are an Icelandic bean to bar company, handcrafting their chocolate bars from premium sourced beans, raw cane sugar and cacao butter. The bars had a delicate body, excellent snap and sheen, and a smooth texture

The 66% had a metallic aroma. Apart from that it was quite closed, with subdued wood, and minuscule fruity and floral notes 

The flavour opened with a metallic taste, the same metallic acidity that was in the aroma. The melt was rather smooth. A while in and red fruits started to surface, finally! Then, all of a sudden, sour acidity, like a gun shot, shot through the taste buds. Incredible. This is the Madagascan cocoa I know and love. It became so tangy, and just so wild! 

The envelope design is a "secret chest of happiness", it can be closed to protect the chocolate and also serves as a tray to share and enjoy the chocolate on

The Dark Nibs + Raspberries bar is part of their 2014 festive collection, along with a Milk + Cookies bar (almond spiced cookies, sounds pretty wicked). It's the Madagascar 66% sprinkled with dried raspberries and Madagascan nibs. There is an E number in there (acting as a thickener), make of that as you wish

The texture was cool. The aroma was raspberry with that recognisable metal but also quite chocolatey

The chewy raspberries added such a buzzing tartness to the already sour chocolate! The nibs tasted too metallic (boy is Madagascan cocoa acidic), but the raspberries were great. Such a buzzing chocolate. It was like raspberry jam on chocolate, now just need some homemade nutbutter!

The 66% alone surprised me. After its aroma and first 5 seconds or so in the mouth, one would have never expected such a sourness and fruity acidity to come from, what seemed like, nowhere

Monday 10 November 2014

The Chocolate Tree Peru 80% and 70% Nibs & Salt

This is my final instalment of The Chocolate Tree's bean to bar chocolate bars. I do hope it's not my last taste of The Chocolate Tree though, as I'd love to try more of their artisanal chocolates. The two small batch, made from the bean chocolate bars I have left are made from Peruvian cacao

The 80% was mixed with cane sugar only. It had a delicate aroma, I liked it. It's worth noting that the 84% Ecuador chocolate from The Chocolate Tree was Arriba Nacional cacao too, yet the chocolates compared are so different. That is one of the great things about cocoa: how it varies from terrain to terrain, despite being the same variety. It had a rich chocolate undertone, with a citrus acidity (grapefruit), floral, raisin,  and a little spice

The flavour slowly opened with intense tannins, and eventually surfaced raisin, caramel, and spice. It was somewhat acidic, and had a dry finish with wood and tannin flavours. The caramel was superb 

The 70% Nibs & Salt "is a lighter version of the 80% Peru, but with the addition of the salt and nibs it becomes a completely different beast - and a much more complex one at that" - Chocolatiers 

It had a similar aroma, but with highlight to the salt. The flavour was intensely chocolatey when it was chewed. The nibs added a more distinct acidity, yet thankfully didn't taste metallic. The flavour was very nice, it wasn't salty and rather sweet. I preferred its flavour when chewing, because this way the extra chocolatey flavour [from the nibs] would overpower the salt. There was blackberry, minimal taste of tannins, and it wasn't as dry as the 80%

The Chocolate Tree being small batch craft chocolatiers and having textures this smooth was great. The 80% was smoother than previous bars I've had from The Chocolate Tree, which could be down to the 60 hour conch time, which may or may not be longer than their other bars. I thought the Peruvian cacao from Marañón was excellent!

Saturday 8 November 2014

Åkesson's 75% Trinitario & "Wild" Voarsiperifery Pepper


Cocoa and pepper both grow in Åkesson's Ambolikapiky plantation, which is located in the Sambirano Valley, Madagascar. The voatsiperifery pepper was said to be the finest and rarest of all pepper, and have a profile of earth, wood and flower

Despite this chocolate having won gold in the International Chocolate Awards and in the Academy of Chocolate awards, I don't think I was as excited to try as if it had been the Madagascan chocolate alone (without the pepper). The cocoa was said to have a fruity-sweet tartness and a flavour that evoked citrus and red berries which, to me, is a cocoa to die for. I felt that the pepper would distract ...
The aroma was black pepper. The taste was black pepper. A soft bitter cocoa came through once the pepper had marked its territory. I was surprised when I had eventually found a fruitiness in the aroma (of which was very pleasant) and also gherkin, as the pepper was most potent. The taste gifted, after long delay, an acidity and fruitiness too, which made the chocolate become far more impressive. The finish was peppery and lasted a very long while
The texture was smooth with little crackles of pepper darted around. The chocolate was made from organic cacao, organic cane sugar, organic cacao butter, emulsifier, and then 2% pepper

This spiced chocolate was warming, certainly preferable to chilli in chocolate, and one that I'd recommend. Although, I do think I'd have rather had the single plantation 75% Trinitario chocolate alone

Thursday 6 November 2014

Thorntons Continental

Just recently I received a bundle of Thank You boxes from Lindt and now Thorntons have given me some chocolates. It's so lovely because I find utter ecstasy in a box of chocolates. They're something I rarely buy myself, and even though these chocolates are not handmade, nor fresh and widely available, I was still excited

Thorntons are celebrating 60 years of their sumptuous Continental collection, and what better way to celebrate than eating their European inspired chocolates and writing about it?

Monday 3 November 2014

Hotel Chocolat Supermilk

Has Hotel Chocolat, ultimately, revolutionised milk chocolate? With their tremendous acclaim, they have the power to do so. It's evident that the UK are now, more than ever, wanting high quality, luxurious chocolate, and Hotel Chocolat, I believe, is the go-to. For a well known and established brand to offer a dark milk chocolate has now set standards - and soon to change the ideology - for milk chocolate, hopefully

The Supermilk is 65% cocoa, 20% sugar and 14% whole milk, with "all the pleasure of milk chocolate and all the power of dark"

The smell was rich cocoa, with coconut and vanilla, reminiscent of a standard dark chocolate (i.e. not "flavour beans") with a milk creaminess. The taste initially lacked sweetness, with a soft, far from harsh bitterness. The melting texture was soft, clean and smooth. As the Supermilk had an earthiness and metallic taste (opposed to the 'chocolate' flavour I was expecting), I wasn't swept off my feet. But it had a nice acidity, though of which I hoped would surface red fruits - it didn't

When chewing, it tasted like the richest chocolate brownie. And when the Supermilk was chewed, that's when the sugar came through and that's when I adored the flavour - such richness with a touch of sweetness. There was a touch of spice in there too!

If the Supermilk was more chocolatey, had a subtle caramelised flavour and didn't have that metal taste, it would have been out of this world! But I think naturally my theobromine and sugar veins needed a fruity cacao body and a little more sweetness. By my third tasting, I really loved it though and thought I'd definitely have it again. My ideal Supermilk would be 70% cocoa (pref. bursting a fruitiness, maybe Madagascan), 15% whole milk and 15% Demerara sugar for a rich, deep flavoured, rustic crunch!

Thursday 30 October 2014

Artisan du Chocolat Java 72%

Java is one of the largest islands of Indonesia and it's landscaped by a chain of volcanic mountains. Artisan du Chocolat's Java dark chocolate was of a lighter shade of brown with a slight reddish tint when compared to their Colombian bar

The acrid, harsh aroma was seriously smokey, with ash, charred wood, burning rubber and peat coming to mind. I would have thought the beans had been dried and roasted over a fire with poor ventilation, but Javanese cocoa is naturally known to have a bold, smoked, leather flavour profile. I guess the volcanic soils of Java has so much influence over its cocoa beans. To breathe in the aroma of this chocolate was like inhaling the smoke from a blown out candle, it irritated the throat and was seemingly dangerous 



Initially the taste didn't offer much else than what the aroma did. It wasn't as pungent, but it still was overwhelmingly smokey. In regards to smoke in chocolate, subdued tobacco hints are rather nice, but this bar wasn't tobacco, it was the smoke from burning wood and car tires. There was also a hammy flavour, which I did not like. The middle-end taste surfaced a beautiful olive oil and a fruity, citrus acidity with some hints of blackberry. Strong bitter cocoa notes and an astringent feel followed, and then the unpleasant smoke returned for the finish

The added cocoa butter and soya lecithin made for a buttery smooth texture. The snap sounded great, showing the chocolate's excellent tempering

I found Artisan du Chocolat to have a distinctive style, as there were hints similar to the Colombian, like a sherbet aroma, as well the luxurious texture. I think I would have been better off trying their Java milk chocolate instead. I doubt such intense flavour could be that affected by milk solids. I imagine the Java milk bar to be actually rather tasty

Saturday 25 October 2014

Mast Brothers 73% Dominican Republic


'Brooklyn based Mast Brothers' is, by far, the coolest wording attached to a chocolate maker, or any business for that matter. The cacao in this chocolate was organically farmed, grown under the canopy of banana and citrus trees

The packaging was charming. The colours, patterns, the front sticker stuck on unevenly, the sticker on the back mentioning "craft chocolate", just charming. Using a knife, I ripped open the paper wrapping. A sweet smell touched my nose, though my eyes were dissatisfied at the sight of bloom

Imagine a bowl of exotic fruits, each sliced in half, their juicy insides catching the sunlight, and then chocolate melting upon it all. That was the aroma. But predominately it gave way to more raisin, prune and sour cherry, red wine, molasses, toast, strawberry, and once a rich creamy cheese. It was immensely balanced  

The flavour was tannin, red wine, spice, raisin, unripe banana, and bitter. It was classic and not too complex
The texture wasn't smooth and was fairly dry. Explanations for this would be that there was no added cocoa butter, and the conching/refining process not being as experienced as, for example, Domori, due to Mast Brothers being small batch, craft chocolatiers. The snapping and chewing felt brittle, but the brittleness was, I think, worsened as it had bloomed. The chocolate was slow to initiate melt and therefore took a while to experience the flavours

Mast Brothers' Dominican Republic was favourably fruity. There were several aspects I didn't like too much, such as the tannin and astringency, and the dry, slow melting texture. But, as a bean-to-bar, craft, single origin, purer chocolate, it was pretty wicked, and at its climax it had the most beautiful, developed, red flavour

Tuesday 21 October 2014

Zotter Labooko Belize Special 72%

This chocolate consisted of Belize cocoa mass, raw cane sugar, cocoa butter and salt, and had been conched for 18 hours. The Belize cocoa mass is the most expensive cocoa Zotter sources, therefore giving reason to the "special" in its name

The aroma was oak, whisky, raisin, floral, and had an acidity that I often call 'urine' which quite suggests the cocoa's fermentation

Belize Special's taste opened with whisky and olive oil, with an almond perking up occasionally. When I've had whisky, I've always loved the sensation but despised its oaky taste. And this chocolate was like a whisky on the rocks, after the rocks had melted. I could taste a toasty roast, and it also reminded me of cherry brandy chocolates. When chewing, it tasted like Italian amaretti biscuits (in particular those cakey ones wrapped in the white paper: Amaretti Autentici). The aroma at times also reminded me of Italian seasoning mix (parsley, truffle, porcini mushroom, garlic etc.). I think the flavour of this chocolate was very sophisticated

It had a reasonably smooth texture. I think this chocolate is for those with a maturer palate. I didn't love it, but it grew on me

Sunday 19 October 2014

Askinosie 72% Tenende, Tanzania

This chocolate was handcrafted with 69% cocoa liquor and 3% cocoa butter (pressed in the Askinosie factory) from Trinitario beans directly sourced from farmers in Tenende, plus 28% organic cane sugar

This Tenende bar had won 2011 Academy of Chocolate silver award 'Best Bean to Bar' and gold 'Best Packaging'

The 'Choc-o-Lot #' was 060315, which lead me to find the beans' log. For example, these beans were roasted on the 6th of March; the liquor, sugar, and butter were mixed on 7th of April; and this chocolate was packaged by hand on the 3rd of June!

The aroma was luscious. The chocolate had a fruitiness (strawberry, raspberry) over a leathery body. There was a marshmallow (that suggested African Forestaro), earth, acidity ('raw' nibs), rubber, and it was lightly floral. The raspberry made me dig out my Original Beans Porcelana to compare and I came to the conclusion that overall they smelt exceedingly similar, but the Porcelana was more chocolatey

The taste was very tannic and rubber. Then came blueberry, and then raspberry! The raspberry, like with the Porcelana, came in very soft hits. It was quite sour and acidic, somewhat bitter, and the finish lingered a tobacco. The texture was reasonably smooth, more dusty than expected 
It was acidic with the desirable fruitiness but the metallic taste suggested maybe overly acidic cacao. Apart from the metal, I really liked this chocolate. The sudden touches of raspberry, strawberry and blueberry were so "BEAUTIFUL" (as I wrote in my chocolate journal)

Wednesday 15 October 2014

The Chocolate Tree Ecuador Milk 55% Arriba

This small batch, craft chocolate, like The Chocolate Tree's purer 84%, was made with cacao beans from the El Ensueño farm in Ecuador. The rich aroma was dairy: cheese and creamy, and honey

The taste, concisely, was bitter, honey and cocoa. It was very tannic, particularly the finish, with dairy, wood (sawdust) and almond. The texture was fairly smooth, more so than the 84% due to the added cocoa butter

Bergamot & Raspberry
The aroma was intensely bergamot with just a whisper of raspberry. The flavour was potent bergamot with the former tannin. Concentration was needed to experience the raspberry, I initially didn't get it at all. There was the bitterness of the Arriba cacao and an astringent feel on the tongue

I'm undecided whether I like bergamot. Its bitter, floral and aromatic flavour is an acquired taste. And in this case it, almost violently, dominated the chocolate. Though when it was delicate it was heavenly. The raspberry would surface and the chocolate tasted so poised

There is something so exquisite about craft chocolate. It's like fine literature. Often too coarse to be a poem, but no less delightful than a beautifully written, irresistible novel. The Chocolate Tree's Bergamot bar (only when delicate) was like Nabokov's prose style: rich, beautiful *and* poetic 

Monday 13 October 2014

Domori Arriba Ecuador 70%


^Photograph from Domori^
The Arriba Nacional cocoa was grown in the area of Salinas de Guaranda, Ecuador. Domori say it's extremely fresh, delicate and mellow with notes of hazelnuts, bananas and citrus fruits

The cocoa nib/metallic aroma was so heavy, I did not like it. There was earth, vanilla, and coconut too, and an unusual sweet and sour sauce. Deep in the aroma I did find nice chocolate hints and blackberry though. Whilst experiencing the aroma I thought: how could this chocolate possibly be "delicate", "mellow" and "fresh"?

The chocolate touched the tongue and it turned to silk. It was so remarkably smooth that it made me question the absence of extra cocoa butter. The ingredients were simply: cocoa nibs and cane sugar

The taste did so happen to be mellow. There was hazelnut, followed by a subtle citrus, and I most definitely tasted banana, which was ever so creamy. There was a taste of almond too (which I first recognised as marzipan). The chocolate wasn't bitter considering the rich cocoa flavour. There were mild vanilla, metallic and coffee notes

I know that Arriba cacao isn't my preferred chocolate, but this really wasn't too bad. It was just too nutty and not fruity enough for my palate. I do have more Domori chocolate to taste and, like always, I'm hopeful it'll be chocolate to lust after

Tuesday 7 October 2014

Rózsavölgyi Csokoládé Madagascar 72%

Rózsavölgyi Csokoládé are chocolatiers and bean-to-bar makers based in Budapest. Their Madagascar 72% chocolate tablet was of organic Trinitario cocoa beans (from the Sambirano Valley (Åkesson's planation)), organic cane sugar and cocoa butter

Unwrapping the chocolate was unlike any other. The process was like a ritual, performed with delicacy, admiration and not to be rushed. Pull up the sticker, unfold and open up the thickish wrapping-paper, pull up the next sticker, unfold and open up the tissue paper wrapping to finally unveil the beautiful tile of chocolate (the moulding inspired to look like traditional fireplace tiles)

The aroma was grass, wood, malt, roast (smokey) and a slight fruitness. The taste burst a sourness, acidity and oak wood. It was sweet and malty with little-to-no bitterness. There was a floral wave, a peachy note and a touch of spice. The finish was predominantly malt. This chocolate had a soft flavour and with the buttery smooth texture it was scrumptious

I liked this chocolate. It's nice to know I have another ornate tile (I received one from Chocablog and one from my Cocoa Runners box)