J. Cocoa 40% Caramelised Milk Chocolate Nicalizo

This chocolate won Bronze at the Academy of Chocolate 2018. During the tasting sessions, this milk chocolate was a real standout bar for me: firstly the unique method of delivering milk in chocolate (i.e. caramelised) and secondly the intense cocoa flavours (despite being 40%). Both the milk and cocoa yielded big flavours, but the chocolate maker orchestrated them divinely.

An aroma of fresh italian pizza dough, herby, whole milk, caramel. It has a soft bite. The flavour is very caramelised milk, it's a very rich whole milk taste. Huge hit of wholemeal toast. Overall impression is it's a chocolate with an impactful, deep flavour, with slightly nutty notes, nice acidity and a cooling bitterness. 

Svenningsen The Nordic Chocolatier Grated 100%

Svenningsen is the Nordic chocolatier who uses Friis-Holm's chocolate. Friis Holm is bean to bar chocolate made in Denmark. Award winning. Many, many, many awards. Svenningsen is new on the chocolate scene and already award winning

Ahhhh, Svenningsen's minimalism, typeface, letter-spacing, word-spacing, balance

The Grated 100% chocolate won gold in the Scandinavian rounds of the International Chocolate Awards 2015 as well as silver in the World rounds

This is a dark chocolate ganache consisting solely of Friis-Holm's La Dalia (Lazy Cocoa Growers Blend) and water. La Dalia is Friis-Holm's chocolate that is a blend of Nicaraguan cocoa beans from 10 different cacao farmers in the La Dalia region of Nicaragua, of whom are named "lazy"

The shell of Svenningsen's chocolate is the 70% La Dalia, and the pure water ganache is the 70% with gratings of 100%. A single nib on top. I just love this minimalism 

It's subtly fruity (darker red fruits) and warming. It is rich, and with a smooth buttery texture that melts cooly. The texture contrast of the hard shell and soft ganache is satisfying. There is a suggestion of salt amidst, but Svenningsen says there is none

The Grated 100% is  i n t e n s e  and feels like  l u x u r y

Zotter Labooko Nicaragua 60% milk

So, Zotter's 50% Nicarguan milk chocolate is supposedly the best milk chocolate out there, according to Georg Bernadini. The 50% is something I do not have, but here is the 60% Nicarguan milk chocolate instead! A little richer in cocoa ...

The cacao within is from Don Francisco in Nicargua, there was whole milk, cocoa butter, raw cane sugar, vanilla and salt 

An aroma quite creamy, with cocoa butter, vanilla, white chocolate

The taste was creamy, with bitterness (or more a lack of sweetness), prettiness, Belgian truffles/pralines, chocolate sauce, ice cream, chocolate pudding, vanilla

The finish was bitter, hay, barn and cocoa 

The chocolate had a smooth back, nice sheen, a smooth, buttery melt. It tasted like a blend of milk and dark chocolate. It wasn't wow, but it was not bad

Damson Nicaragua O'Payo 70

This chocolate was one of 15 made. Currently there are a few bars remaining, but not for long. The cacao beans are organic from Nicaragua, hand-sorted, roasted, winnowed, ground, aged and tempered all in London, micro-batch style, by Damson 

The aroma was interestingly potent with a softness amidst. Firstly it's chocolate and pure cocoa nibs (slightly metallic) that hits you, with saline, blackcurrant, citrus and ham. The softness was lime sherbet and Honeysuckle. This was a captivating aroma

Damson chocolate always has a wonderful smooth melt and mouth texture. This O'Payo felt and tasted very creamy. The taste was acidic! Sweet & sour. Then lots of flowers came in, with black currants and balsamic blackberries with lime

Such citrus and lively acidity is what I am fond of when it comes to chocolate. It was an interesting chocolate, and with it being limited edition just makes it that more interesting... and I don't believe any other chocolate makers are using O'Payo as single variety 

Doble & Bignall

The craft chocolate revolution is pretty much alive in the UK. It has excited and entertained myself and many others; it has inspired myself and few others - to do it themselves, from the bean! Doble & Bignall rode the wave (think: 'new wave chocolate' #boom) in the summer of 2013, after listening to a Radio 4 programme on making chocolate from the bean

Doble & Bignall craft their chocolate in micro-batches in Gloucestershire, mixing their beans with cane sugar and cocoa butter

Raven Johe, Nicaragua 72%

This cocoa had grown in the Jinotega region in the northern mountains of Nicaragua. The colour was a brighter, more chocolate brown than the Venezuela. Trying to get the aroma of this chocolate felt like I was behind double-glazed windows. It was always 'chocolate', but I occasionally captured  smoke, spice, leather, nutty, malted milk (Horlicks®); it was sweet and all delicate

Straight on the tongue there was ash and a super juicy acidity (mineral acidity - Jinotega has very rich soils!). There was a berry buzz - so fresh and tangy, greenery and a taste of burnt/blackened toast. This Raven was all 'silent but deadly': quiet aroma, loud taste!

Raven Puerto Cabello, 72% Venezuela

Made from Cabello cocoa beans from the Mantuano region of Venezuela. The aroma was piss, spice, excrement, floral - it actually smelt of a Mr Bean™ rub-and-sniff sticker collection I had years ago

The taste was coffee, coconut water, heavy roast, something fruity and then the bitter coffee finished. My third and final attempt at this chocolate was actually very pleasant (it wasn't distinctly coffee nor coconut like before), though I still wasn't hot on the roast 

Tawny Owl Tierra Oscura, 50% Panama (milk)

An aroma so buttered fruit scone (made with 50/50 flour), quite creamy/milky. The taste was a less satisfying wheat taste, and a sudden tight bitterness (very astringent) but then after awhile dried fruits, some lactic acidity and pure butter came out

Tawny Owl Puerto Cabello, 50% Venezuela (milk)
Made from the same beans as the Venezuelan Raven. The aroma was very creamy, quite like a white chocolate. The taste was delicate, there was a flicker of liquorice and toasted oats and vanilla cheesecake. A very easy to eat chocolate, quite delicious!

Smelling its wrapper after the chocolate had gone, it was so cheesy and kinda like puke, but 12 hours later it was caramelised white chocolate

Out of these 4 chocolates Doble & Bignall craft, my favourites were the Venezuelan milk Puerto Cabello and the Nicaragua 72! This Nicaraguan Raven had that kind of kickin' acidity that I just LOVE in chocolate