Camille Bloch - Mousse Chocolat

The tasting notes reflect my personal opinion.

Name

Swiss milk chocolate with chocolate mousse filling
Main ingredients are sugar, whole milk powder, cocoa butter, cocoa powder (12%), vegetable fat (palm, sunflower, cocos, palmisti, illipe), cocoa mass, skimmed milk powder, hazelnuts, soya lecithin, vanilla extract.
Cocoa content: minimum 12% cocoa

Manufacturer

Chocolats Camille Bloch SA, CH-2608 Courtelary, Switzerland

Packaging

The 100g chocolate bar is sealed in aluminum foil and wrapped in a cardboard box.

Look

The chocolate is light to middle brown. Its edges appear lighter. The filling is coloured in a slightly darker middle brown than the chocolate.

Sound

The chocolate breaks with a 'thud' sound.

Smell

The chocolate has a very light milky smell.

Mouthfeel

On its own, the chocolate melts quickly and becomes sticky during the process. But it eventually melts into a very fine liquid. The filling has a surprisingly solid initial mouthfeel and becomes more sticky and softer over time. Combined with chocolate, the filling seems much softer after biting through the chocolate. However, the stickiness of each part is strongly emphasised.

Taste

The chocolate has an initially milky and sugary taste that quickly evolves into caramelised sugar and milky caramel. The initial taste of the filling is comparably blunt but it quickly releases sugar, caramel and increasingly intense hazelnut flavours. Eating both combined (as intended) reduces the flavour to an initial milky sweetness. The filling melts and disappears faster than the chocolate coating. It only leaves a hint of hazelnuts whereas the milky caramel of the chocolate remains prominent.

Aftertaste

The aftertaste of the chocolate is mainly a lingering sweetness with notes of caramel. The filling leaves roasted hazelnut flavours. Eating both components combined, the main aftertaste is milky sweetness with caramel.

Summary

This is a sweet, milky chocolate with a hazelnut filling. Its main flavours are milk and sugar. There are traces of hazelnuts.

Verdict

The chocolate has a strong sweetness but it provides some caramel and milk flavours. However, its consistency is sticky. The stickiness is even more pronounced with the cream filling. Despite its name, the product has some hazelnut flavours. However, the main characteristics are sweetness and a very sticky mouthfeel. 1 Star.

Dates

Lot number: L6180, best before 05/2017, tasted 02/04&07/05/2017

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

Valrhona - Noir Araguani

The tasting notes reflect my personal opinion.

Name

Valrhona - Noir Araguani (dark chocolat)
Main ingredients are cocoa beans, brown sugar, cocoa butter, soya lecithin, vanilla.
Cocoa content: minimum 72% cocoa

Manufacturer

Valrhona, 26600 Tain L'Hermitage, France

Packaging

The 70g chocolate bar is sealed in aluminium foil and wrapped in a cardboard envelope.

Look

The chocolate is very dark brown. Its edges have a red hint in sunlight.

Sound

The chocolate breaks with a clear snap sound.

Smell

The smells is of cocoa, a very light bitterness and sugar.

Mouthfeel

The chocolate has a very smooth surface and melts slowly and evenly into a very fine and smooth liquid.

Taste

The initial flavour is a light sweetness but cocoa flavours evolve quickly. The cocoa has a dark hint of roast and a bitterness as in coffee and bark. But the cocoa is framed by a surprisingly intense sweetness.

Aftertaste

The aftertaste is mainly sweetness at the front of the mouth and some notes of cocoa and bitterness towards the rear and sides of the mouth.

Summary

This is dark chocolate with a very smooth texture that melts evenly into a fine liquid. The cocoa has some notes of bitterness and is framed by sugary sweetness.

Verdict

The chocolate has a very smooth structure. But its flavours are dominated by sweetness that almost hides the interesting richness of the cocoa. 4 Stars.

Dates

Lot number: LP7515281, best before 02/2017, tasted 22&23/01&12/02/2017

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

Schönenberger - Extra fine dark chocolate

The tasting notes reflect my personal opinion.

Name

Schönenberger - Extra fine dark chocolate (Extra fine bio organic swiss dark chocolate)
Main ingredients are cane sugar, cocoa solids, cocoa butter and vanilla.
Cocoa content: minimum 54% cocoa solids

Manufacturer

Chocolat Schönenberger AG, Täschmattstrasse 10, CH-6015 Luzern, Switzerland

Packaging

The two 50g chocolate bars are wrapped in aluminium laminated paper and a cardboard envelope.

Look

The chocolate has a middle dark-ish brown colour with red hues at the edges.

Sound

The chocolate breaks with a very clear snap sound.

Smell

The smell is mainly a light sweetness with hints of vanilla and tiny hints of cocoa.

Mouthfeel

The thin chocolate slices melt evenly into very smooth and fine liquid.

Taste

The initial flavour is a very light sweetness that is similar to powdered sugar. As the chocolate melts, the sweetness intensifies with vanilla and metal notes. A cocoa note with hints of coffee flavours evolves. However, the sweetness is very intense and overpowers the cocoa.

Aftertaste

The aftertaste is mainly characterised by the sweetness and hints of cocoa that evolve around the rear of the mouth.

Summary

This is a very smooth, thinly sliced chocolate with intense sweetness, cocoa and coffee notes.

Verdict

This chocolate is extraordinarily smooth with no detectable imperfections and a very silk surface. The flavours are dominated by the sweetness. This overpowers a possibly nice complexity of cocoa flavours. 3 Stars.

Dates

Lot number: 16818815E, best before 30/01/2017, tasted 22&23/01&05/02/2017

Wohlfahrt - 2081

The tasting notes reflect my personal opinion.

Name

Wohlfahrt - 2081 (dark whole milk chocolate)
Main ingredients are cacao mass, raw cane sugar, cacao butter and whole milk powder.
Cocoa content: minimum 81% cocoa solids, no vanilla

Manufacturer

Wohlfarth Schokolade, Choriner Straße 37, 10435 Prenzlauer Berg, Berlin, Germany

Packaging

The 45g chocolate bar is wrapped and sealed in transparent plastic wrap.

Look

The chocolate is very shiny, dark brown with hints of red.

Sound

The chocolate breaks with a clear snap sound.

Smell

The smells of cacao and milk with clearly distinguishable sugar note.

Mouthfeel

The chocolate has a smooth surface but when melting it feels as if there was a fine texture on its surface. It melts quickly into a very fine liquid.

Taste

The initial flavour is a very mild sweetness. After starting to melt, the chocolate unfolds a more darker cacao flavour with a distinct bitterness of roasted coffee. The rich, bitter cacao notes are nicely supported by a mild, almost sublime sweetness and hints of milk that pop up every now and then.

Aftertaste

The aftertaste is mainly a mild bitterness of cacao, roast and coffee flavours.

Summary

This chocolate tastes more like a dark chocolate than a milk chocolate. Its bitterness has some coffee notes and it has a mild bitterness that combines nicely with the sweetness.

Verdict

This chocolate has an interesting and rich complexity providing changes as it melts. 5 Stars.

Dates

Best before 12/2016, tasted 05&26/11/2016