Marou Dong Nai 72%

Marou make their chocolate with only Vietnamese cocoa beans, cane sugar and cocoa butter, apart from their limited edition bar which had a cashew praline in the middle layer. This Dong Nai 72% was of cacao produced at Marou's own fermentation and drying station in Dong Nai, Marou say that this makes it "a very rare 'pod-to-bar' chocolate"

The aroma straight away had a roasted timbre to it, with grapefruit, clove and little metallic undertones

The taste was very roasted (thoughts of burning toast), bitterness transitioned into a lightness of creamy coconut, hazelnut, chilli, followed by Vietnamese characteristics I lovingly recognised (acidity and spice)

The melt wasn't as silky smooth as Marou often is, it felt more waxy. The butteriness in taste and texture gave a calming feel, however I am more about louder, more expressive chocolate. Overall a good chocolate, not my favourite of Marou's but still good

The Beach Chocolate Factory 70% with Nibs

An unknown chocolate maker to most, including myself, I only happened to stumble across them when on Chocolatiers.co.uk. The Beach Chocolate Factory are the first bean to bar maker in Guanacaste, Costa Rica

The cacao within comes from the Tenorio region of Costa Rica and the chocolate is made with simply cocoa beans and organic sugar (my favourite chocolate recipe). Due to how elusive and secretive this chocolate is, because of the small batches its made in, Chocolatiers call it "a connoisseur's chocolate" - so I had to have it

An aroma of candied orange peel and metallic rawness. A hard snap, smooth melt. The taste was candied orange peel and bittersweet marmalade on burnt toast with a coffee to go

The nibs were very crunchy and packed so much good flavour

I hoped for an authentic chocolate experience and I had not been disappointed. The unique mould makes for a difficult break, but the thickness distinguishes itself from American, British, European etc. craft chocolate, making it that little bit more authentic

It is always a wonderful experience trying chocolate crafted in cacao-growing countries 

Q Chocolate 60% and 65%

Q Chocolate is Brazilian chocolate of the Aquim family, made with cacao from a single Brazilian farm, Fazenda Leolinda. The cacao is said to be "personally selected" by the Aquim family 

I first heard of Q late October, when I met one of the founders, meaning I had to shamefully say that I had never heard of it before 

The 60% had a smoking rubber tyre aroma and taste, with the taste leading to some red berry acidity. The texture was slightly crumbly. Taste-wise I was completely surprised. I didn't so much like the rubber smokiness, but the fruity acidity later was a great counterbalance

^65%

The 65% tasted massively different, it was bubblegum. It reminded me of a Zotter Labooko bar I've had. The snap and bite was brittle and the melt and mouth texture was glossy like bubblegum

Overall, I didn't understand as to why and how these two chocolates were so different, and if there is a logical reason for it I would have loved to have known! (was it intentional? e.g different roasts, conches, then it should be specified on packaging - maybe in the form of flavour profiles)

However, the taste of the 60% had something quite compelling, much like Omnom's Papua New Guinea. At first I don't like it, but with its bright acidity - the contrasting flavours makes me enjoy it

Askinosie Davao 52% Dark Milk Chocolate + Fleur de Sel

I've had the original Davao by Askinosie at a 77%, a good chocolate. This chocolate has the Philippine cacao, milk and salt. The milk within is goats', so I found it unusual that this was not mentioned on the front

  

The aroma was Askinosie, it had that distinct Askinosie feel to it: quite light and sweet. This Askinosie-ness was also in taste

The flavour started as McVitie's digestives, the dark chocolate and caramel ones. Nearing the finish came the salt, and boooooom soft, full fat GOATS CHEESE. Thankfully, the goats milk smoothed over to create a creamier taste ... and the 'Askinosie' flavour was restored

This chocolate reminds me of when I bought goats milk assuming great taste because it was more expensive than cows. It made it taste like I took a generous slice of goats cheese with my morning oats and coffees. Goats cheese can be really good, but as for a milk in chocolate, the acquired taste was lost on me

Ara Chocolat Agua Fria 70%

A cool thing about the French chocolate-maker Ara is that they work in incredibly small batches, meaning that they can afford to have such a diverse range. When meeting Ara (they are a team of two), Sabrina gave me a little tasting of their chocolate range. I most favoured the Nicaragua, of which is only available in their 'limited edition' pack and within that pack comes other bars like India and Colombia

Interested in cacao? If so: Another cool thing is that Ara offer a Criollo Guasare and a Trinitario Guasare, of which had great distinction between them: the Criollo was more complex. Then in addition to this Criollo type of the Guasare, they offer an experience that gives you a 48 hour fermentation and a 72 hour fermentation. The 48h had more of an alcohol and metallic profile, but the 72h was just wonderful

OK. I digress, back to this Venezuelan Agua Fria. I bought this bar because Ara Chocolat are the only makers using these beans outside of Venezuela

The aroma was cherry swirled vanilla ice cream, slightly metallic and coffee

The taste was blackcurrant, toasted, hazelnut, very sautéed-mushroom, acidity came up quickly and then red fruits brightened up the overall flavour. Quite impressively, this flavour journey was consistent with every bite. The finish was tannic and with an astringent drying in the mouth. The melt of this chocolate was noticeably smoother than their other chocolates - I questioned Sabrina about this, however the grind time of this was similar to that of the others

Admittedly, when I bought this chocolate, compared to the others I had tried, it wasn't my favourite; it was bought more for the fact that nobody else makes chocolate with these beans as a single origin. However, Ara Chocolat is a wonderful chocolate maker - and I highly recommend their Nicaragua and Criollos (the Guasare and the Porcelana)

Hotel Chocolat Rabot 1745 Vietnam 80%

This chocolate from Hotel Chocolat is a Vietnamese blend, with cacao from "Mekong Delta and Dong Nah" [sic] - It is Dong Nai, or Đồng Nai. I have Marou's 72% Dong Nai, which will be interesting to see how these two differ and resemble

The aroma was tobacco, sour cherry, leather. The taste begun toasty and cocoa, cue sour cherries in club soda (carbonated water). The finish was marmite

Texture wise, to my surprise, there was a notably short grind. This made the chocolate, along with the Rabot bark-like mould, feel very rustic 

This was not a bitter chocolate, because of that carbon dioxide (sour) and sweet acidity. The carbonated water taste was strange, but really quite fascinating

For an 80%, this chocolate was so easy to eat - which made me respect Hotel Chocolat, as they have evidently taken care over wonderful Vietnamese cocoa beans 

Damson 45% Buffalo Milk Chocolate

Interestingly, this chocolate was not made with the intention of creating an actual Damson bar. However, it was just TOO good not to. I tried it for the first time during its grinding process at Damson's launch party, and my enthusiastic expression of approval and inability to stop going back for more meant Damson was on to a winner!

The aroma was gherkin, Italian herbs - those unusual notes of Damson's buffalo milk chocolate again, but also with a warming creamy cocoa 

The taste started cocoa, with then gherkin rounding to buffalo milk (just think really good mozzarella!) with flowers, toffee and fudge! And dam-son, it was so creamy, the texture so creamy too

Laverstoke Farm's buffalo milk is so delicious, and this chocolate is so delicious. It reminds me of chocolate cake batter, and you know that's irresistible 

Black Gold Madagascan 72% dark & 55% milk

Black Gold craft chocolate. I feel privileged to be the first to write up on this chocolate - both these bars were "Batch 001"

This black and gold packaging seems to get a lot of attention: it must be the minimalism and handcraft aesthetic that does it

72% Dark
The aroma was smoky, earthen, coffee, the tiniest suggestion of acidity (red fruits and balsamic). It didn't seem so Madagascan, and as a casual chocolate maker myself, I was slightly envious about this, as my Madagascan chocolate is always crazy acidic. However, this chocolate may be very long aged and I think the beans were more towards a higher roasting temperature or time

The taste started and stayed roasted, with then the accompaniment of the anticipated Madagascan acidity: fruity! Amongst this was icing sugar, which unfortunately made it taste paper tainted. However, I found myself really admiring this chocolate's acidity, as from the experience of the aroma, I didn't expect such fruitiness

55% Milk

The aroma was very mellow, having smokiness and subtle dairy. The taste was that of the 70%, however up came such lovely creaminess! There was a toastiness within that reminded me of Casa Luker (Colombian) cacao liquor 

The texture was brittle. But that taste! The taste meant that this chocolate did not last long. I loved it!

Overall, as I've had Black Gold from its genesis - if you like -, I look forward to seeing how his (Brynny's) chocolate develops; only good things can come from this pastry chef

Blanxart 77% Perú

White Criollo from Piura. Chocolate made from these beans have never disappointed me, and I have had several different bars! For this 77%, the cacao beans have been cultivated in plantations in the area of Quemazon and Chulucanas - and these are two names I like a lot

The aroma was vanilla, sweet 'n sour, bamboo leaves, pineapple. Snapping the chocolate, it looked smooth and 'well made', as there were no air bubbles. The taste started bitter then sour acidity, cherry blossom, toasted. The chocolate had a bitterness throughout

The texture was surprisingly grainy, I was literally crunching sugar. From previous experience with Blanxart, I do not remember their chocolate being this grainy

This was a difficult bar to finish. It wasn't bad chocolate, just not a chocolate for me. As 77% is a fairly high percentage, there was too much of a roasted profile dominating the ratio to sweetness