Dick Taylor 72% Black Fig

image: Caputo's Deli

Dick Taylor, handcrafted in Northern California, bought in UK up-market supermarket M&S, wow! That is a great moment for craft chocolate. Selected Marks & Spencer stores currently stock Dick Taylor's Belize and Black Fig bars. Belize I've had, so Black Fig I had to buy. I am fond of Dick Taylor craft chocolate, mostly because of their Belize bar...

The ingredients: organic cacao from Madagascar, organic cane sugar, black mission figs. The chocolate itself is just 2 ingredients. The figs get sprinkled on the back, although less do than I expected (from having seen pictures)

It was pretty vinegar in flavour, though the subtle fig was a nice touch. This chocolate probably tastes like Chocolate Noise's fig and balsamic vinegar truffles, if I ever had one. It lacked the fruity quality of Madagascan cacao, harnessing predominantly the acidity of it. It had a smooth melt, despite no added cocoa butter. Admittedly, I think anything I have said or could say about this particular bar is unreliable, as it just didn't seem like Dick Taylor's approach, nor did it match what other people have found the chocolate to be, i.e. great. (batch no. 16195, if you're interested)

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

Dick Taylor 74% Dominican, Finca Elvesia

Despite the Dominican Republic being the most visited destination in the Caribbean, having recently discovered my predilection for its cocoa, going there and doing what the DR people do seems (arbitrarily) a must!

Just organic cacao (from Elvesia plantation) and organic cane sugar. Dick Taylor, finally. Winners of 5 Academy of Chocolate awards this year, one for their packaging but none for this Dominican bar, their chocolate, in all its beauty, has interested me for a long while now. So finally, I have a bar!

The aroma was chocolate ice cream, fruity (red), tobacco, vanilla, earthy. It was possible to find distinct cherry and acidity

The taste started as tea, with tannins and fairly bitter. [melodramatic pause] Fruits and sweetness builds up. This was a slow emergence; you know, if it were a piece of drama - brilliant, but as a piece of chocolate - it was 'bitter' for too long. The fruits (cherry) reached an epic climax and it's this bright acidity, which then dissolves, leaving a coffee and tea leaf (bitter, tannic) finish

Overall this Dominican was fruity, roasted and grassy. It was pretty fun that Oreo™ was in the aroma and taste. From the DR to California to the 57g bar in my hands, this cost £7.95 (Cocoa Runners) and apart from the bitter aspect, which dominated the length, I thoroughly enjoyed its bright cherry profile (lovely acidity) and actually the chocolate confection (i.e ice cream, biscuit) too was enjoyable