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!