Chocolate Makers Dominican Republic 75% & 40%

These Tres Hombres bars get their name from the sailing ship the Dominican Republic cacao within is transported on. Chocolate Makers is a Dutch bean to bar chocolate maker

40% milk

The aroma was green and wheat. First thing I found in taste was that the paper affected it. The chocolate was wholewheat crackers, red berry, with the salt sweetening up the flavour tremendously; the chocolate became very acidic. The finish was a bakery's brown paper bag

75%

Now this aroma was more earthen and leather; the taste still lingered with paper, however the earthiness, leather and a deep roast dominated. The nibs, of which added great dimension, didn't seem like they were the same as the chocolate, as they were very bright and fruity! Occasionally the chocolate along with the nibs possessed a banana skin taste

Paper wrapping often has a detrimental effect on chocolate. The Chocolate Tree have recently gotten rid of their paper wrapping due to this problem

Mast Brothers Olive Oil Chocolate

Dark chocolate and cold pressed olive oil. If you're in the craft chocolate circle, you'll either be shocked that Mast Brothers have ditched single origin from their range, or you just won't care (in pretence)

To the nose: woody, smoky, slow to get the olive oil, but olive oil was most definitely there, red fruits surface. The bite was soft, reminiscent of gianduja, the melt was smooth and cool. An olive oil flavour poured out, with peppery and very acidic chocolate

The goodness hits just before the chocolate is gone! But that goodness was awesome. The finish was a little bitter and astringent, so it was a shame that the chocolate ends poorly, but I really liked when the cacao shone through: cacao = fruity, jammy. Mast Brothers work with blended chocolate now, but I *think* this has definitley got Madagascar in it

Blanxart Dominican Republic 72

The aroma was vanilla, leather, cocoa, slightly smoked, roasted. For a Dominican Republic bar it's not something I quite expected, as I've known its cacao to be so fruity. HOWEVER, Hispaniola cacao was once known to be more earthy and robust with tobacco etc.! 

The flavour was as I can only describe as Bruce Bogtrotter's chocolate cake (from Roald Dahl's 'Matilda'). The taste came in layers: a fine cocoa dusting, followed by an intensely rich, dark chocolate creamy ganache, then finally a slightly sweeter moist sponge. Surprisingly the chocolate yielded a clean finish

I know many who are in love with this bar, and it's extremely popular at Cocoa Runners ...

It is interesting how such a pure chocolate flavour comes from this Dominican cacao, especially with such specifics of being grown in "Medina, Provincia de San Cristobal"

There are times when small-scale chocolate makers working with fine cacao wish for solely a *chocolate* flavour, not "raspberry, peaches and leather" - in this case the Chocolate Alchemist will advise you to blend your cocoa beans, as a *chocolate* flavour is not one single molecule, but an amalgamation of many!

However, this 72% Blaxart is not a blend... So, if you're working with one origin and just want that chocolate flavour, could you simply find cacao beans with a *chocolate* flavour? It's possible. But you'd be better off higher-roasting to eliminate those fancy nuanced tasting notes (e.g raspberry, pineapple, hazelnut), aerate to further diminish those nuances and add vanilla. It seems likely that this is how Blanxart achieved such chocolatiness

Overall, this chocolate gifts a warm, rich experience 

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

Olive & Sinclair 67% Cacao Nib

Handcrafted in Tennessee, Olive and Sinclair is a chocolate maker I visually recognised but hadn't seen nor heard much about, especially compared to other American craft chocolate makers

Buttery and subtle gherkin aroma, lead into a light gherkin, buttery taste. Pretty nice, a smooth flavour. The nibs had a metallic nibby taste and added crunch against the smooth textured chocolate. Then began to pour in a pure dark chocolate taste

This Southern artisan chocolate was enjoyable, it was nothing inspiring just an easy, smooth chocolate. Ghanaian cacao beans, brown sugar and cocoa butter. The use of brown sugar stands out