Hotel Chocolat Rabot 1745 Peru Pichanaki 100%

http://www.10dollarcoffee.com/

This is the first 100% I've featured on Chocolat Indulgence. This chocolate is 100% Peruvian Pichanaki cacao, grown at high altitude, from an "advanced farmer's cooperative"

A chocolate oh so coconut. The aroma was creamy coconut and vanilla. The flavour was coconut still, with a heavy roast, comings of fruit, and chocolate; all amongst a subtle bitterness. The texture was buttery and melted smoothly. The finish was excellent

I thought I would make a hot chocolate with it, adding muscovado, honey or maple syrup to sweeten. However, surprisingly I found it very easy to eat on its own. Although I once added it to my peanut butter & molasses porridge for breakfast, and what a great idea that was! It was heavenly

Hotel Chocolat Rabot 1745 Saint Lucia 70%

Hotel Chocolat have made this chocolate with cocoa they grow themselves in Saint Lucia, having restored the 250 year old Rabot Estate just over 10 years ago

"Gentleman thief. Opens stealthily with a lock-pick of roasted cocoa before spinning the tumblers with woody roasted notes and nuts. Leaves you a calling card of tannins and tobacco." says Hotel Chocolat in fancy prose, and I'm sold

The aroma was medicinal, roasted and cocoa. The taste was TCP, which was quite nice actually, with foliage and 'chocolate'. Unlike previous Rabot chocolate I've had, the flavour did NOT suggest notes of water, like in the Colombian and Vietnamese  

The texture was grainy with a slow melt. Overall, a likeable chocolate

Hotel Chocolat Rabot 1745 Colombia 75% Aractaca

image from Hotel Chocolat

The cocoa beans in this chocolate are from northern Colombia on the Caribbean coast. Hotel Chocolat give extra details such as the cocoa being a 2013 harvest, having a roast of 25 minutes at 130°C and with a refine and conche of 60 hours. As a high street brand, this is good to read, as even amongst craft chocolate such explicit detail is rare

The aroma was raisin, smoky, cherry, nice. The taste was noticeably acidic, with then tannins, H2O and finally metallic notes. Overall it was pretty sour

I appear to have messed up settings on my camera

In texture was the fine sugar particles. There was no soy/sunflower lecithin, whereas in other Rabot chocolate there often is. I think this is interesting

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 

Hotel Chocolat Tasting Club: Milk & Dark

This review condenses 3 boxes of Hotel Chocolat's Tasting Club into one. Two 'Milk' boxes and one 'Dark'. Below are my thoughts, mainly in note form, of the chocolates I received. There were a few of the same chocolates across two of the boxes (I think 5 in total?) and some chocolates were in two different coatings (I typically favoured the version that was NOT in dark)

tl;dr I would have the Milk selection box over the Dark any day, but wish the Milk had included alcoholic chocolates too! - I have had better quality chocolates, but a fun experience nonetheless. 78 chocolates + 18 batons!

Hotel Chocolat Rabot 1745 Venezuela Chuao 70%

The eponymous cacao of Chuao is amongst the rare. Defined by its geographical location, around 20 tonnes of pure Chuao is annually cropped by the village's cooperative farmers. The beans are then fermented and dried in front of the village church. "Chuao" isn't so much the in-thing like it once was, but it still is one of the purer cocoas you will find

The aroma was quite muffled. There was chilli spice, bark, something sour and acidic (which was gherkin), tobacco and almond. It was like a hybrid between Hotel Chocolat's Java milk and Madécasse's 80%

The taste was savoury-sour, really unusual. It was heavy gherkin then with a sweet juniper (gin). It had an incredibly strong roast, and also malt vinegar with a malted finish

This Chuao was all fermentation and roast, but I was not impressed. When compared to all the raving reviews of Chuao chocolate, I just didn't think Hotel Chocolat had done this Venezuelan cacao justice. However, when I had expressed this opinion, in agreement, I was told that Chuao for a few years now has been "bland" and "uninteresting"

Hotel Chocolat Rabot 1745 Java 74% Milk

Java 74% milk chocolate from Hotel Chocolat's Rabot 1745 range. The cocoa beans were roasted for 39 minutes at 130 C, with a refine & conche time of 42 hours

Due to Java's "almost perpetual" rainfall, it is common for farmers to use wood fired dryers to dry their cocoa. This in turn, unfortunate to me, lends the distinctive smoked flavour that Javanese chocolate is known for

The tasting description was "Old-school glam. Opens like an enriched mousse au chocolat, filling the mouth with a lush smoothness. Notes of malted biscuits and baked banana swish by." Haha, NICE!

The aroma was intensely chocolate, with metal, minerals and cocoa nibs. I understand the "mousse au chocolat". When the nose sat, there came the infamous smoked note. There was a distinct rich caramel and butterscotch, of which I pictured drizzling down the "baked banana" 

The taste was cocoa, noticing the very little sugar (14%) right away, unripe banana, fairly roasted. It was bitter and creamy, with an astringent feel in the finish. There was a bright, fruity sweetness in the middle, and the bitter cocoa restored with a spiced feel too. The texture was very smooth

This 35g chocolate was £3.75, and I really love the rustic look of it and how delicate it felt. Its flavour profile was not one I enjoyed so much, but, if a little sweeter and a little fruitier it would have been definitley more enjoyable than Artisan du Chocolat's 72% dark Java

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!

The Chocolate Tasting Club Classic Selection

Finally, after weeks of waiting, I received my Chocolate Tasting Club selection box. I was torn between choosing the Classic or the Rabot selection (a showcase of nuanced flavours of rare cocoa), but I ambivalently chose the classic

I'll give my tasting notes on each chocolate...