Zotter Chili Bird's Eye

My brother bought and sent me this chocolate bar from his trip to Austria. I had heard of Zotter before, and seen a lot about their Labooko (single origin) bars but never thought I'd actually get my hands on some of their chocolate

Zotter being voted "Most Creative Chocolate Company" last year, I really could not wait to try some

This Chilli Bird's Eye bar is part of Zotter's 'hand-scooped' range, which entails of the bar being handcrafted with the very best natural ingredients. Zotter are a bean-to-bar company where everything is done under one roof. I thought the paper packaging was artistic, with the red and black contrast and 'Z O T T E R' in metallic gold font. Then the gold foil wrapped around the chocolate made it look even fancier 

The aroma of this chocolate had fairly spicy notes coming through the darkness of the 70% cocoa

Although the slab of chocolate looked slightly unimaginative, you really can not complain when you put it into context. The idea of a ganache-like filling being encased in dark couverture chocolate bar intrigued me. I started off by just trying the chocolate coating alone and straight away I sensed the chilli spices. Slightly surprising as the chocolate contained no chilli and the filling stated to only consist of a mere 0.1%

Taking a very soft bite it was rather hot on the tastebuds. It wasn't subtle like most other chilli flavoured chocolates. This was the real deal. Chewing this chocolate, sure it's spicy but if you want to fully experience the fieriness of the chilli it's a must to leave it to melt! This way, you can be truly overwhelmed by the fieriness. There was a little alcohol (sugar cane brandy/refined grape marc spirit) in this chocolate which was noticeable but pleasantly subdued. There were hints of a sweetness which gently laced the dominating chilli; this could have been the cinnamon

A long lasting finish of spice lingers on the tongue 

For most people I really do believe that this chocolate would be far too spicy, but the kick and heat rush that this bar provides is something worth experiencing at least once. The feel of this chocolate in the mouth wasn't as significant as the flavour, that's why I haven't really mentioned of the texture. It would have been nice if the filling was slightly smoother. But overall a really interesting chocolate bar, which you can purchase online here

Looking through some of the Hand-Scooped collection, some of the other flavours are so unique I just want to try them all! But if you want spice and what could be considered as the ultimate aphrodisiac... this bar could be perfect for you

Josef Zotter recommends that to be a true chocolate connoisseur you should not munch the chocolate, but savour it by letting it rest on your tongue to allow it to melt in your mouth. The aesthetics of Zotter's packaging design reflect upon their flavour pairings in their chocolate; unique and artistic (if you check out their range you'll know exactly what I mean)