Artisan du Chocolat - Date Milk

The tasting notes reflect my personal opinion.

Name

Date Milk
Main ingredients are dried date (date, maize starch, emulsifier: sunflower lecithin), cocoa butter, dried whole milk, cocoa beans, emulsifier: soya lecithin.
Cocoa content: minimum 44% cocoa, 21% milk, no vanilla

Manufacturer

Artisan du Chocolat, 89 Lower Sloane Street, London, SW1 8DA, United Kingdom

Packaging

The 45g chocolate bar is sealed in transparent plastic wrap and packed in card board.

Look

The chocolate is light brown with white shimmer at its edges.

Sound

The chocolate initially feels softly as if won't break at all. But it does so with a snappy sound.

Smell

The smell is sugary and milky. There are light notes of cocoa.

Mouthfeel

The chocolate feels soft in the mouth. It has a somewhat sticky surface when melting. It melts into a fine liquid.

Taste

The chocolate has a very creamy flavour with some darker notes of fermented milk. As chocolate melts, it develops the flavour of caramelised fruit sugar with a tiny hint of bitterness. This makes the cream really heavy and dominating a slowly emerging flowery fruitnote and hints of cocoa.

Aftertaste

The aftertaste is mainly an intense creaminess with some dark fruity and caramel notes.

Summary

This is a really creamy milk chocolate with caramel, fruit and some flowery notes.

Verdict

This milk chocolate has very rich cream flavours and it also develops complex flavours of caramel, fruit and hints of flower. It melts nicely without getting too sticky. 5 Stars.

Dates

Lot number: 27469, best before 08/2018, tasted 22&28/04&05&06/05/2018

Neuhaus - Mint from Morocco

The tasting notes reflect my personal opinion.

Name

Dark Chocolate - Mint from Morocco
Main ingredients are cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter, dehydrated milk, soy lecithin, natural mint oil 0.1%, natural vanilla flavouring.
Cocoa content: minimum 52% cocoa

Manufacturer

Neuhaus NV, Postweg 2, 1602 Vlezenbeek, Belgium

Packaging

The 100g chocolate bar is wrapped in aluminium foil and a card board sleeve.

Look

The chocolate is dark brown with a hint of red and a white shimmer at the edges.

Sound

The cold chocolate breaks with a snap sound. But at room temperature, the chocolate feels soft-ish and breaks with a thud sound.

Smell

The chocolate has very intense mint aroma with a subtle framing of cocoa aromas. Notes of sugar are noticeable.

Mouthfeel

The chocolate melts quickly into very fine liquid. Its surface softens while it is melting without getting sticky.

Taste

The flavour is very strongly dominated by the spearmint. The chocolate flavour adds a tiny little warming note and a nutty flavour to the other wise quite cooling mint flavours.

Aftertaste

The aftertaste is mainly mint flavour on the tongue and the gums. There is some reminiscence of cocoa, especially at the rear of the tongue behind and below the mint flavours.

Summary

The flavour is strongly dominated by the mint oils in the product. The chocolate only adds its mouthfeel.

Verdict

The flavour are similar to the spicy and edgy mint flavour of chewing gum. The mint overpowers the cocoa's warmer nutty notes and reduces the chocolate to its soft melting properties. Nevertheless, the product is well conched and melts nicely in the mouth. It should also be noted that this is dark chocolate that is made with milk powder. 2 Stars.

Dates

Lot number: L33597, best before 28/02/2018, tasted 14&21/01&10/02/2018

Alnatura - Limone Mohn (Lime & poppy seed)

The tasting notes reflect my personal opinion.

Name

Limone Mohn (White chocolate with poppy seeds and lime oil)
Main ingredients are raw cane sugar, cocoa butter, whole milk powder, poppy seeds, 1% lime oil and vanilla extract.
Cocoa content: minimum 30% cocoa

Manufacturer

Alnatura GmbH, Darmstädter Str. 63, 64404 Bickenbach, Germany

Packaging

The 50g chocolate bar is wrapped in aluminium foil and a paper sleeve.

Look

The chocolate is light yellow coloured with black spots from the poppy seeds.

Sound

The chocolate breaks with light 'thud' sound.

Smell

There are fresh lime and notes of milk aromas.

Mouthfeel

The chocolate melts slowly and smoothly into slightly sticky liquid.

Taste

The chocolate has an initial taste of sour taste of lime and quickly releases a milky sweetness that balances the lime. The chocolate releases more milky, creamy and sweet flavours over time. Some occasional lime flavours spot up after melting the chocolate.

Aftertaste

The aftertaste is dominated by milky, creamy flavours and sweetness. There are hints of lime flavours that appear from the rear of the mouth.

Summary

This is a milky and creamy white chocolate with fresh lime flavours and a balanced sweetness.

Verdict

This white chocolate comes with milk and cream flavours combined with fresh lime notes. However, it does not provide a chocolate flavour or feeling, it tends to become sticky in the mouth and it is difficult to appreciate the poppy seeds. 2 Stars.

Dates

Lot number: L36244, best before 08/2017, tasted 10&14&20/05/2017

Feodora - Sahne-Mocca-Chocolade (Superior ceamy mocca chocolate)

The tasting notes reflect my personal opinion.

Name

Sahne-Mocca-Chocolade (Superior ceamy mocca chocolate)
Main ingredients are sugar, cream powder (26%), cocoa beans, cocoa butter, coffee (2.2%) and emulsifier rape lecithins.
Cocoa content: minimum 32% cocoa, no vanilla

Manufacturer

Feodora Chocolade GmbH & Co. KG, 28199 Bremen, Germany

Packaging

The 100g chocolate bar is sealed in aluminium foil and a paper wrap.

Look

The chocolate is light  to middle brown.

Sound

The chocolate breaks with a thuddy sound and the breaks have an uneven surface shimmering in very light brown.

Smell

The chocolate smells of cream and hints of sweetened roasted coffee.

Mouthfeel

The chocolate melts evenly into a fine liquid. However, it can be become a sticky liquid when melting all the way.

Taste

The chocolate has flavours of coffee, cream and sweetness.

Aftertaste

The aftertaste is mainly of sweetness, cream and some coffee flavours.

Summary

This is a creamy chocolate with coffee flavours. The sweetness is present but not excessive.

Verdict

The chocolate has some cream and mocca/coffee flavours with a strong but not excessive sweetness. It initially melts finely but may become sticky. There are no or very little cocoa flavours. 2 Stars.

Dates

Lot number: 367412, best before 15/03/2017, tasted 05&12/03/2017

Artisan du Chocolat - Black Cardamom Dark Chocolate

The tasting notes reflect my personal opinion.

Name

Black Cardamom Dark Chocolate
Main ingredients are cocoa beans, cane sugar, cocoa butter, black cardamom, green cardamom, emulsifier soya lecithin and vanilla extract.
Cocoa content: minimum 70% cocoa

Manufacturer

Artisan du Chocolat, 89 Lower Sloane Street, London, SW1 8DA, United Kingdom

Packaging

The 45g chocolate bar is sealed in transparent plastic wrap and packed in card board.

Look

The chocolate is very dark brown. After breaking the chocolate, the edges have a distinct red hue.

Sound

The chocolate breaks with a very clear snap sound.

Smell

There are intense cocoa aromas as well as some vanilla and fragrant citric green cardamom aromas.

Mouthfeel

The chocolate develops a surprisingly soft surface and melts quickly into a very fine and smooth liquid.

Taste

The chocolate initially unfolds a cocoa flavour. As soon as it melts, the cardamom adds a fresh, green lemony note that evolves into the warm and more spicy cardamom flavour. The spicy cardamom and cocoa  combine into an intense warming cocoa-chocolate flavour.

Aftertaste

The aftertaste is characterised by both the cocoa and the cardamom. There is a tendency for the spicy cardamom to be more present on the tongue whereas the cocoa and spice is more present in the rear of the palate.

Summary

This is a cardamom flavoured dark chocolate with an intense cocoa, spice and light citrus flavours. It melts very smoothly and evenly.

Verdict

This chocolate has a very smooth structure and melts very finely. It comes with a rich and warming combination of cardamom and cocoa. It also has some lighter citrus flavours from the green cardamom. The spice can be quite intense on the tongue but this really combines into a very rich cocoa-chocolate experience. 5 Stars.

Dates

Lot number: 22121, best before 03/2017, tasted 04&05/03/2017

Newtree - Lavande

The tasting notes reflect my personal opinion.

Name

Newtree - Lavende (Organic milk chocolate with natural lavender flavour and Fairtrade ingredients)
Main ingredients are cane sugar, cocoa butter, skimmed milk powder, cocoa mass, natural lavender flavouring, soya lecithin, natural vanilla flavouring.
Cocoa content: minimum 40% cocoa

Manufacturer

NEWTREE S.A., Boulevard du Souverain/Vorstlaan 207/3. 1160 Bruxelles/Brussel, Belgium

Packaging

The 80g chocolate bar is sealed in shiny plastic wrap and put in a cardboard envelope.

Look

The chocolate is light brown with light hints of red. The edges tend to have a white shimmer.

Sound

The chocolate breaks with a snap sound.

Smell

The smells has intense lavender and sugar aromas.

Mouthfeel

The surface of the chocolate feels textured when melting. It passes through a short stage of stickiness before melting into a very fine and smooth liquid.

Taste

The chocolate unfolds a lavender flavour as it starts to melt. This combines with a mild sweetness, milky flavours and hints of cocoa.

Aftertaste

The lavender flavours disappear quickly but the sweetness and milk flavours remain present.

Summary

This is a flavoured milk chocolate with lavender flavours a mild sweetness.

Verdict

The chocolate melts into a fine liquid but has a textured surface. The lavender flavour is very noticeable and not pungent or artificial. However, there are only little notes of cocoa that are overwhelmed by sweetness. 2 Stars.

Dates

Lot number: L30ABF2, best before 01/02/2017, tasted 22&23/01&11/02/2017