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

The Chocolate Tree 60% Peru Marañón Milk

image from Chocolate Tree

The Chocolate Tree, since my last series of reviews, have changed their packaging. It now seems more reflectant upon the cacao, of which it is, as the tessellations are inspired by the cacao's country of origin, so their Madagascar, Peruvian and Venezuelan bars each have different patterns 

This is a dark milk chocolate, made from Nacional cacao grown in a remote canyon at the foothills of the Andes. I recently had another 60% dark milk, from Seaforth, however this Chocolate Tree bar feels more of a milk chocolate

Opening up the plastic packaging, it became a bag of toffee popcorn. The chocolate itself was more floral and milky, with some metallic blur

The taste, however, did have rich toffee, with then a blunt bitterness on the back of the tongue and again metallic. This chocolate is very enjoyable. It was less sweet than a 70%, I would have liked more sweetness, however the creaminess makes up for that

The Chocolate Tree Peru 80% and 70% Nibs & Salt

This is my final instalment of The Chocolate Tree's bean to bar chocolate bars. I do hope it's not my last taste of The Chocolate Tree though, as I'd love to try more of their artisanal chocolates. The two small batch, made from the bean chocolate bars I have left are made from Peruvian cacao

The 80% was mixed with cane sugar only. It had a delicate aroma, I liked it. It's worth noting that the 84% Ecuador chocolate from The Chocolate Tree was Arriba Nacional cacao too, yet the chocolates compared are so different. That is one of the great things about cocoa: how it varies from terrain to terrain, despite being the same variety. It had a rich chocolate undertone, with a citrus acidity (grapefruit), floral, raisin,  and a little spice

The flavour slowly opened with intense tannins, and eventually surfaced raisin, caramel, and spice. It was somewhat acidic, and had a dry finish with wood and tannin flavours. The caramel was superb 

The 70% Nibs & Salt "is a lighter version of the 80% Peru, but with the addition of the salt and nibs it becomes a completely different beast - and a much more complex one at that" - Chocolatiers 

It had a similar aroma, but with highlight to the salt. The flavour was intensely chocolatey when it was chewed. The nibs added a more distinct acidity, yet thankfully didn't taste metallic. The flavour was very nice, it wasn't salty and rather sweet. I preferred its flavour when chewing, because this way the extra chocolatey flavour [from the nibs] would overpower the salt. There was blackberry, minimal taste of tannins, and it wasn't as dry as the 80%

The Chocolate Tree being small batch craft chocolatiers and having textures this smooth was great. The 80% was smoother than previous bars I've had from The Chocolate Tree, which could be down to the 60 hour conch time, which may or may not be longer than their other bars. I thought the Peruvian cacao from Marañón was excellent!

The Chocolate Tree Ecuador Milk 55% Arriba

This small batch, craft chocolate, like The Chocolate Tree's purer 84%, was made with cacao beans from the El Ensueño farm in Ecuador. The rich aroma was dairy: cheese and creamy, and honey

The taste, concisely, was bitter, honey and cocoa. It was very tannic, particularly the finish, with dairy, wood (sawdust) and almond. The texture was fairly smooth, more so than the 84% due to the added cocoa butter

Bergamot & Raspberry

The aroma was intensely bergamot with just a whisper of raspberry. The flavour was potent bergamot with the former tannin. Concentration was needed to experience the raspberry, I initially didn't get it at all. There was the bitterness of the Arriba cacao and an astringent feel on the tongue

I'm undecided whether I like bergamot. Its bitter, floral and aromatic flavour is an acquired taste. And in this case it, almost violently, dominated the chocolate. Though when it was delicate it was heavenly. The raspberry would surface and the chocolate tasted so poised

There is something so exquisite about craft chocolate. It's like fine literature. Often too coarse to be a poem, but no less delightful than a beautifully written, irresistible novel. The Chocolate Tree's Bergamot bar (only when delicate) was like Nabokov's prose style: rich, beautiful *and* poetic 

The Chocolate Tree Ecuador 84%

84% Ecuadorian cocoa beans and the rest cane sugar. Without any extra cocoa butter, it simply meant the cocoa was purely Ecuadorian! I loved this, though it did suggest a slight hinderance of a potentially smoother texture

The Chocolate Tree, for their Ecuadorian bars, have sourced fine cacao from their partner Golden Bean. This single estate Sabor Arriba is rare and real. It's far from the imitating CCN-51 (a strain designed for yield opposed to flavour) of which often masquerades itself as "Arriba/Nacional" on single origin Ecuadorian chocolate - so don't be fooled. But like I said, this chocolate is truly Arriba. The Chocolate Tree work directly with organic farmers, paying them considerably higher than the going rate for cocoa, this encourages the growers to care for their heirloom cacao as well as sustaining biodiversity and fine flavour chocolate

A bold aroma. It initially had that alcoholic/urine tone, which I refined such description to Narcissus "paperwhite" flower. A flower with a concentrated aroma. The chocolate was heavy with prune and red wine, hints of date syrup, grape and earth. There was a delicate buzz of citrus orange which brought honey to the nose too

The snap gave a little *click* sound. The taste opened with cocoa, and then the prune/red wine/earthy notes from aroma could be tasted along with wood. I loved when a fruitiness/acidity could be tasted and felt on the tongue, though rare, it really refreshed the cocoa 'bitterness'. A deep roast was tasted too

The texture wasn't completely smooth, but considering there was no extra butter it was well refined and tempered. The long finish was cork, tannin, astringent, mildly sour with fragrant raisin being the very last note

I appreciate this fine chocolate for the extremely high quality it is. It had the characterises of true Nacional (Arriba) bean. Although there were a number of fruity notes, I personally would not consider it to be fruity. It was some great chocolate, but the flavour just wasn't the flavour I desire when it comes to cocoa. I had a preference for The Chocolate Tree's Madagascan bar

£5.95 for 90g can be purchased here 

The Chocolate Tree Madagascar 72%

The Chocolate Tree, artisan Scottish craft chocolate makers, specialise in many things, but what I'm most interested in is their forte in bean to bar chocolate and hand crafted chocolates. I have six 45g single origin bean to bar chocolate bars, all cacao being organically farmed: Madagascar 72%, Peru 70% Nibs & Salt, Peru 80%, Ecuador 84%, Ecuador Milk 55% and Ecuador Milk 55% Bergamot & Raspberry

All of The Chocolate Tree bars came wrapped in gold foil paper and a thick floral paper sleeve. The sharp imprint of flowers and leaves upon the chocolate create an intricate and delicate finish design, bringing real opulence to it and unlike any I've seen before

Starting with the only Madagascan bar. This is a blend of Madagascan Criollo and Trinitario beans with cane sugar

A bold, deep red fruit aroma, with a tight smoked touch. Noting a blackcurrant tartness and toasted body: cool, malt roast. The bar was a dark shade of brown, with a slight lack of sheen. The snap was soft

The Madagascan started bitter with a depth of earth, then the fruity element came through almost right away.  An astringent feel on the tongue was balanced then surpassed by the acidity. The sugars within tasted of an incredible quality, along with those cacao beans of course, very rich sweetness. The tannin returned and finished the chocolate, leaving a slight wooded taint

Now to their Artisan Chocolates: made from fresh cream, ethically sourced ingredients and no added preservatives. I adore handmade chocolates

The Coconut

This one was made with Ecuadorian milk chocolate. Creamy. I suspected white chocolate was in the cream filling, but don't take my word for it. Either way, it was just wonderful and very rich. I really couldn't fault it even if I tried

The Rosemary & Salt 

This chocolate was made with the Peruvian 80%. The subtle rosemary and crackles of salt were a celebration on the tongue, just wonderful. The salt lifted up the sweetness so delicately. Rosemary is such an aromatic, graceful herb and this chocolate really did it justice