Dormouse Peru 80%

Cocoa beans from Piura, Peru of the Gran Nativo Blanco type, are such delicate and fine flavour cocoa beans. The beans, from Cacao Tales, are grown by cooperatives in Northern Peru, and they are the most awarded cacao beans grown in Peru, see here for more details.

Dormouse Chocolates, Manchester's first bean to bar chocolate maker, is a ridiculously skilled chocolate maker. So basically, this bar just suggests a real synergistic experience...

An 80% dark chocolate, made with cocoa beans and muscovado sugar only, meaning no added cocoa butter.

The aroma was caramel, lightly acidic, green apples. The taste had perfect acidity, with notes of lime, wheat, ash, rhubarb, and very caramel-rich from the molasses of the muscovado sugar. The flavour was so smooth, as was the texture, which could be explained by the grind and conche time having been 54 hours, all in a 2l capacity grinder, just some fine details for 'chocolate nerds'

This bar really amazed me. Sometimes 80% can be a little too high for me, but it was such an easy going 80%. So much so that I had the whole bar in just a couple of hours. Each piece literally made me say "wow", which I first noticed I was doing when biking in the sun through London 

Chocolate Tree Peru Chilique 70%

http://www.choctree.co.uk/product/peru-chililique-dark-70/

First tried this chocolate back in October 2016, and it became the ultimate highlight of the Chocolate Show that year, for me. It wasn't exactly ready for sale back then, and was only available to try on request - kinda like on a if you know, you know basis

A year later, and this Chocolate Tree Chililique 70% was again the highlight of the Chocolate Show for me, as well as the Gran Nativo chocolate they crafted (though this one was not for sale, more to showcase the Gran Nativo cacao to chocolate makers)

Aroma was at first not too loud, a little wheat and biscuity, some prunes. I go at it again, and bam! Sour sauce, peppery, herbaceous (oregano, thyme), um... Monster Munch crisps, MSG (monosodium glutamate), woaaaaah

It's a toasted bite, smoked. Then when on the tongue, it's sweet and sour, with the sour balancing with savoury notes. There is a strong acidic kick, like a squeeze of lemon juice. Nearing the finish, it's a smooth chocolate-y flavour that gets attention, a flavour that was probably always there, as the foundation

An avant-garde chocolate I feel. Good stuff

Dandelion Chocolate

Founders with their backgrounds in the dot com bubble of Silicon Valley, now immensely respectable chocolate makers, Dandelion Chocolate is case study material. Chocolate factory & cafe, in San Fransisco and Tokyo, with menus too amazin

When Todd, founder of Dandelion Chocolate, visited Damson chocolate, he left 3 bars ...

Zorzal, Dominican Republic. Smooth in flavour, it was woody, walnut, caramel, brandy, chocolatey 

Camino Verde, Ecuador. Straight away digestive biscuits. It melts into chocolate fudge brownies, taking on my mum's approach to baking: cutting the sugar. It feels as if more sugar would have made the brownie-feel to be more effective, but overall super chocolatey and warm

Ambanja, Madagascar. Raspberry jam, liquorice, wholewheat, it was noticeably thicker in the melt. It was beautiful with its flavour. This one was so good, so, so, so good

Original Beans Esmeraldas Milk 42%

Arriba cocoa beans from the Esmeraldas rainforests in Ecuador, more specifically the Pacific Cloudforest

The flavour was cocoa rich, milky, fudge, delicious. It had a berry brightness to it, and later online I read "red summer fruit", so that was real

The ingredients are good, and always good with Original Beans: direct-trade cacao beans*, cacao butter*, raw cane sugar*, milk*, fleur de sel - *organic

This 42% milk chocolate is a really good, a really, really, really good milk chocolate. I have had 2 bars of it in a week

Mast Brothers Coffee

60% cacao, cane sugar, cocoa butter, buttermilk, coffee beans. The Mast Brothers' website tells me the cacao origin - Tanzania - when the packaging fails to. There is no mention of the coffee, in terms of what coffee it is. Although I don't think it would be Stumptown's coffee, because that would surely get a mention

I picked up this small 28g bar at Mast Brothers in Shoreditch, London. It had actually been made in the Mast Brooklyn factory, "surprise!" What would the locavores do?

The standard 70g Coffee bar would have been made in London, but not the 28g miniatures; the same applies to all within the Mast range

Really great chocolate. Fine flavour cacao with coffee will always get me. The texture was really smooth, the flavour was open, deep. Just really sound chocolate

I would love to do a side by side comparison of this coffee chocolate. Few pieces Shoreditch-made, few Brooklyn-made and LA too

Dormouse 60% Brasil with Smoked Sea Salt Milk Chocolate

"60% Brazilian milk chocolate with smoked sea salt" said the Dormouse girls. 

I was elated. 

The dark-milk chocolate was crafted from Brazilian cocoa beans from Fazenda Sempre Firme, muscovado sugar, whole milk, and cocoa butter. Muscovado sugar is a Dormouse trait, as well as their distinctive bar moulds! The cacao is from Akesson's plantation in Brazil

The packaging, from presentation to unwrapping it, gave a feel of artisan and craftsman. It was nice, and felt very close to home

The aroma was pickled and herby (notes of dill), with luscious cream, toffee, dark caramel and cherry

The taste was the salt, creaminess, cocoa, muscovado caramel, wheat, cherry. It was so smooth in texture, with a nicely paced melt. The near finish was tannins of black tea leaves, and black tea itself. The salt was just brilliant 

The Dormouse girls demonstrate the excellence of women in chocolate. This 60% dark milk was very emotive, and I was in awe. It made me look through poetry, writings, pieces of music, just to find something fitting. I like when chocolate does that

Georgia Ramon milk chocolate Kaffee & Kakao Nibs 55%

A high cocoa milk chocolate with Ethiopian coffee (roasted by Caffé a Casa in Vienna) and cocoa nibs

The back packaging, of all Georgia Ramon bars, gives the grind and conch time in hours. This coffee milk chocolate had been grinding for 24 hours and conched for 4. The all organic ingredients were: cocoa butter, cocoa liquor, whole milk, raw cane sugar, "Bench Maji" coffee beans. The cacao origin was the Dominican Republic

It was beautiful. A rich chocolate coffee. I almost want to say 'mocha', but I feel that down plays it. I absolutely loved it. Maybe my favourite pairing, coffee and chocolate that is

The nibs added crunch to the smooth chocolate. The snap was crisp and clean, the finish was clean. The bar mould of Georgia Ramon chocolate is excellent; sometimes I have big pieces, sometimes small - very fun. Overall, just a really impressive chocolate. More please ... 

Hoja Verde 66%

My second look at Hoja Verde's organic chocolate. My first post was on their Quinoa bar, and I enjoy the Ecuadorian chocolate a lot, so now I go to their 66%. I bought this bar because during three rounds of sampling Hoja Verde it was my favourite

The cacao is grown in the forests of Esmeraldas, Ecuador. In addition there is cane sugar, cocoa butter and non-GMO soy lecithin

The aroma had soy sauce, wasabi, this was a sushi affair, smokiness. All very subtle, simultaneously creating a very attractive aroma. The mouth texture was smooth and buttery. The taste was light cocoa, with the herby flavour of wasabi, the glutinous rice and soy sauce together making it that sushi experience. But overall this chocolate had a warming chocolate flavour and great acidity

An impressive chocolate. Hoja Verde is good. I look forward to my dark-milk chocolate bar of theirs ... 

Damson Brazil 70% Fazenda Camboa

For Damson, this chocolate is currently limited edition, but, thinking from their perspective, it is too good not to make more! The cocoa beans are from the Fazenda Camboa farm in Bahia (Eastern Brazil). I was given this bar by Damson due to the ill-tempering, however, apart from a little surface scuff, the temper seems up to Damson-standard

Forest, prune, rich acidity nose, with depths of earth and coffee. It had a wildness to it ...

The taste was dark and dark chocolate, then opened a sweetness and came in mango and an apple's juiciness and lots of acidity

Oh man. From the unroasted bean, gifting me with Marmite brownie, to the actual chocolate, this Brazilian has utterly delighted me! 

Seaforth Cow's Milk 60% Cacao

Seaforth is an interesting British chocolate maker. The cocoa beans they use to make chocolate are shipped from the Caribbean (the Dominican Republic and Grenada) on a brigantine, meaning no engine, solely the wind brings them ashore 

The aroma was lime, so beautiful. It smelt like Grenadian cacao. The taste started with bitterness and tannins, but the lime and acidity came in quickly, with panforte (particularly almond & hazelnut) and creaminess. The panforte and dairy with such powerful acidity at first was somewhat unsettling... but this was a really good chocolate

Overall, it's fruity, creamy and just amazing. I cannot quite remember what Seaforth's dark chocolate tasted like (I tried them at the London Chocolate Show), however I know I fell heavily more towards this dark milk chocolate

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 

Rózsavölgyi Carenero 73%

The best about Budapest (and Hungary) is Rózsavölgyi. My sin, my soul. 

The aroma wow oh wow. Wheaty, salty, soda bread, rosemary. The taste didn't wow-oh-wow quite like the aroma, but it still was ever so nice. It was wheaty, very chocolate-smooth, rosemary and red peppercorns (that distinct spice to it). In my first tasting I had icing sugar (which is a defect to me), in later tastings I got sweet orange zest (not sharp) and once slightly burning car tyre, this smokiness was mesmerising

Carenero, a Venezuela strain of cacao, named after the port from where it once shipped from, is known as a "tropical fruit basket" with spice and earth grounding it. However, Rózsavölgyi are fond of the 'green' and more subtle earthy notes in chocolate, so they work hard with their cocoa beans to achieve this; their effort shows

I love Rózsavölgyi, that is all

Pump Street Bakery Grenada 70%

This Grenadian chocolate gets its 'exclusivity' from Pump Street being the sole producer of single estate chocolate from Crayfish Bay estate's cocoa beans

The pouring of the tempered chocolate gets some attention with this particular bar of batch no. 5105, as the back had a border, i.e. it was not flat. The colour, the feel and overall look was very nice, the sheen was like "polished mahogany". I like the seal-bag packaging, as it saves the chocolate's volatile aromas and flavours

The aroma was floral tea leaves, chocolate, smokiness, bamboo (grassy) and blackberry

The taste is one that impresses. In the mix was tea leaves, lots of sweetness, butter, blackberry, nut/wood and acidity. A wave of chocolate then rides the palate, succumbing to wheat. The texture was smooth and buttery

This chocolate has recently won few awards, including gold in the 2015 International Chocolate Awards for 'micro batch'. And overall, an impressive bar - £6.95 seems respectable 

Rózsavölgyi Csokoládé Bonbons

This was the one place I had to visit when in Budapest. And really "it was love at first sight, at last sight, at ever and ever sight." I felt jittery when I finally found the shop. There was a CHUAO cocoa bag in the window and inside it smelt wonderful. The smell wasn't of what is associated with chocolate. I cannot even describe it, but, it was real chocolate. Oh my ... fine cocoa!

I chose 6 bonbons and they were put into a paper cone. I then walked 2 miles, in the hot sun, back to the apartment, praying that they wouldn't melt in my backpack! - A few days later I went back and bought 3 of them again (as I wasn't confident in my first tasting notes on them) and then the Lemon Oil Caramel too

Cacaosuyo Piura Select

Cacaosuyo are Peruvian, distinctly not bean to bar but, tree to bar makers. They do not buy beans but select the trees where their cocoa fruit will be harvested, which confirms traceability and cacao type. They then supervise the harvest and when ready Cacaosuyo begin the fermentation process. This particular bar was made from organic white cacao beans from the Piura region of Peru. The 70g bar was £6.95 from Cocoa Runners. Cacaosuyo suggested I should come and visit them, why thank you

The aroma was acidy, black tea, green/earthy, a real dark depth to it, blackberry, prune and mango. At first I didn't pick up on the acid, but really it was so conspicuous. My God, it smells like chocolate in a wild, mineral-rich-soiled forest 

The taste was bitter, with then slowly a sweetness pouring in amongst 'cocoa' and earthen flavours. It then opened up tangy citrus notes and all those found in the aroma (listed above) and eventually came a chocolate flavour too. It was very chocolatey, contrary to what C-Spot suggested (a low CQ: chocolate quotient) 

SECOND BAR (6-7.12.2015) the taste was so fudge-y and liquorice WOW WOW WOW. The texture was softer

The texture was suede verging on sandy, far far from what other chocolate makers aspire to. Cacaosuyo do not add cocoa butter

At first I was not impressed, but it really grew on me. It felt like old-school chocolate. For example, if it were a blind tasting, I'd have thought this was the epitome of micro-batch craft chocolate. It reminded me of my own bean to bar chocolate, in that it had this 'down to earth' vibe, with its brazen texture and temper and its "no chill" flavour, of which is very acidic (a trait I love), thus separating itself from the silky smooth and more perfected flavour that chocolate makers who make 'bean to bar' tend to achieve. This is of course all down to the chocolate maker's preference; I am in no way degrading this approach of 'perfection'! Whatever it takes to make great chocolate - I'm in. The juxtaposition was to understand how 'old-school' this Piura Select really was...

I enjoyed this bar and so did many others, I was even told it was "one of the best bean to bar chocolates in the world"

Fresco 219 Papua New Guinea 69%

Cacao beans from a single estate plantation in the Markham River Valley, fermented for 5 days, dried for up to 3 days, shipped to Fresco in Washington, lightly roasted and medium conched, with then cane sugar and cocoa butter thrown into the mix - this bar is recipe no. 219, the first of 4 that Fresco have for the same Papua New Guinea beans

The aroma hit before I intended on testing it. Smoke. There was berry and citrus fruits, it was spiced, dairy and with a woody background

The taste started cocoa with the smoke coming straight after, then opens to a lime'd flavour [but] a lemon acidic kick. It was spiced and oak smoked, with a dash of vinegar. It was not bitter and the texture was smooth

Great chocolate, very sour. For most, I imagine, this 45g bar (£6.95 from Cocoa Runners) would be most appropriate as a 'tasting' chocolate, but I liked it! It has a more summer-feel to it than a winter one. It's fresh and lively, and if it had that caramel note that Willie's' Indonesia had.... "oh yeeah!" -Duffman 

Michel Cluizel Los Anconès 67%

Serenity can be difficult to find. It is fascinating how being in that state, free of stress and anxiety, everything can feel so surreal. You're the stillness amidst chaos

I have an intense interest and enjoyment for chocolate. I love it, but rarely do I come across something that just gets me. To this Los Anconès, it was a cry of: you're kidding me

The aroma was lychee, apricot, honey, a sense of tropical fruits, sweet black olive. There was something sophisticated about this one; it was the vanilla, leather, spice and touch of smoke. The use of "Bourbon" vanilla with single plantation (not just origin!) cacao seems degrading, I believe it to be, but here it smoothed and balanced the flavour

The taste was sweet, a tropical 'fruit salad' (mango etc. cubed) with lots of cherries, and blackcurrant squash. The Rizek family's Los Anconès plantation cacao is a myriad of fruit. Nearing the finish, a toasted flavour passes over to then let the fruit and chocolatey flavours linger 

I'll admit that sometimes it was too buttery in taste and sometimes in texture, but oh wow - how delicate, yet powerful, it was 

So yes, serenity, it can be difficult to find, but honestly, not for me. I seek it whenever I want. And it just so happens I always achieve such a state before, during and after I have chocolate 

Pacari 70% Piura Quemazón

Pacari are 100% organic, single-origin, bean-to-bar chocolate makers in Ecuador. The Piura Quemazón is Pacari's first chocolate made from cacao sourced from outside of Ecuador. This 50g bar was made from Nacional (Arriba) beans from the Peruvian region of Piura (north-west Peru), cane sugar, cocoa butter and sunflower lecithin

high sunlight exposure

I have had chocolate made from cacao from La Quemazón before, though it was specifically said to be the Porcelana bean. But checking the light, milk chocolate colour of this chocolate and its aroma ... it seems the geographical location of La Quemazón is vastly influential, as this Nacional and that Porcelana I once had are very similar

The aroma was green, very fresh, citrus, a little sherbet, leather, yellow plum and a faint catch of chocolate. The taste was initially cocoa, with then: greenery, tannin, toffee (yum) and toastiness, then slowly came out vinegar and lots of acidity! It was very creamy and so was the texture. There was dill and gherkin too, it reminded me of Madécasse's 80% (Madagascar). In the distant finish was a very fresh, lively coffee

Piura has wowed me yet again! Pacari's Piura Quemazón was super enjoyable. Although it is definitely the northernly-west Peruvian cacao I enjoy, as Pacari had executed it so well (roast, texture - these guys know how to work good beans) I would love to try more from them

Willie's Cacao Indonesian Gold Java 69

From my few trips to the far eastern-hemisphere at Java (vicariously through chocolate) I have learnt many things about the island, such as it being formed mostly as a result of volcanic eruptions and more importantly the characteristics of its cocoa! Its characteristics include a nice acidity but predominantly it is smoke and rubber, which are NOT flavours I am fond of. However, as Domori had aggrandised Javanese cocoa for me with their JavaBlond, it was not impossible that Willie's Cacao couldn't do the same, with cacao from Surabaya

The aroma was smoke and ham, not nice. Hammy flavour in cacao correlates with drying the beans over wood fires, ("regions that harvest a lot of cacao during the rainy seasons must use artificial drying methods to decrease moisture" = Java!). There was a little plum and citrus, VERY chocolatey. Looking beyond the rubber and smoke was such sweetness: a sweet fermentation, BBQ ribs, vinegar, but earth and bark too

In the mouth this chocolate was incredibly smooth. With my first bar (experienced during the day) I noticed smoke and rubber, then actual caramel and THEN this unbelievable acidity! Oh wow. And then with my second bar (experienced at night), vinegar just poured out. It was so acidic, there was chocolate at the back with that not-so-nice rubber, and there too was caramel, but not as authentic as before, maybe because I had picked up on a salty touch. The smokey note this time was seriously desirable

*update* - a touch of horse hay in the taste

There was a puckering feel in the finish, with flavours of cacao, the vinegar lingering and minerals (I thought sand). The finish was slightly anti-climatic, but only because you are left wanting more. God this chocolate is good

Initially I did not enjoy this Java but when I got in to it, I really got into it. I was completely in awe of this Indonesian, in particular during my second experience. I think night time, darkness, no distractions, is the optimum time to have real chocolate

*update 9.5.15* this chocolate is incredibly roasted

Paul A Young 64% Whole Bean Madagascar

Paul A Young and his team had made Europe's first whole bean chocolate bars, using a blend of beans direct from Menakao in Madagascar. Along with this 64%, a 73% was made too; both were small batch

The whole beans were granite ground with Billington's Organic Unrefined Demerara sugar! 

The results were said to be "intoxicating, soft-fruited" chocolate bars with a "distinct acidity" which, to me, sounded perfect. The chocolate was also to have a nutty, toasted flavour (which were the characteristics of the outer shell of the beans)

The aroma was red. An abundance of fruits, a little peppery

The initial taste was nutmeg. It was slow to melt, tasting like a rounded red wine, so I chewed and then bolder fruits were unleashed. An intense burst of acidity nearing the finish. Incredible. It was very sweet

The melting texture was coarse, and to chew reminded me of an Aero chocolate bar, but firmer. It was gritty with the tiny pieces of the shell, but that made it a unique and very fun experience

The finish was toasty and quite chocolatey, with remnants of the bean's shell being left to chew

This chocolate was very interesting, particularly the texture, but I just LOVED the flavour. The acidity was phenomenal. Madagascan cacao, because of its bright acidity, makes me feel great!