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

Michel Cluizel Mokaya 66%

This was the first chocolate bar I bought when in France. It is Michel Cluizel's Mokaya, made with cocoa beans from the Chiapas region in Mexico, cane sugar, cocoa butter and Bourbon vanilla pod

How I chose this bar amongst the many other Cluziel bars in the small chocolatier was that I was looking for the description 'fruité'. Whilst waiting for the espressos to be made, and nibbling on their Provencal confectionery served on a silver tray, the women opened up Cluizel's Maralumi (Papua New Guinea) for me to taste. Though it was good, I decided on MeHicoooo!

The mould is beautiful. The aroma had sweet liquorice and a powerful roast over a leathery body, with dried fruits and a smokiness at the very back

The taste was leather still, and especially creamy. Straight away you could taste its roasted flavour. There came the acidity and fruitiness, and then the occasional green feel - banana, earth, moss; once floral -rose (Turkish delight). The Mokaya was very sweet. The structure of flavour was consistent. Nearing the finish was a rather pronounced cherry/raspberry note, which was the best thing about this chocolate

The texture was buttery, and because of how this chocolate tasted, it made me think there was a fair bit of cocoa butter added. There also was a slight astringent feel in the finish

This Mokaya chocolate is good, it was like raspberry jam on nearly burnt toast, but it lacked a depth. The creaminess and roasted flavours dominated, but it was a very mellow chocolate

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!

The Cocoabean Company

A box of 6 different handmade chocolates from The Cocoabean Company, a family run chocolate factory in Scotland. The founder was said to have started the company with her "passion for chocolate and a background in new product development", which is encouraging and really quite inspiring to me

Winter Park Chocolate

I was bought these handmade Winter Park chocolates all the way from Florida, and absolutely stunned at that. They came without a menu, so it was going to be a matter of "what flavour can I taste?" and then the more important "do I like it?" (I later found out they do have a Chocolate Guide)

They were fresh chocolates, with a 'best before' of 3-4 weeks