Pâtisserie Chocolaterie Pralus - 100% Criollo

The tasting notes reflect my personal opinion.

Name

100% Criollo
Main ingredients are cocoa beans from Madagascar, pure cocoa butter, soy lecithin.
Cocoa content: 100% cocoa

Manufacturer

Pâtisserie Chocolaterie Pralus S.A.S., 34 Rue General Giraud, 42300 Roanne, France

Packaging

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

Look

The chocolate is very dark brown. Its surface is very shiny and its edges have light red hue.

Sound

The chocolate breaks with a very clear snap sound.

Smell

The smell is light after opening the package and slowly makes it to the nose. The chocolate has clear cocoa aromas with hints of dark roast.

Mouthfeel

The chocolate feels almost buttery at the fingers and in the mouth. But it is solid and melts into a very fine liquid. The melting edges are even with only little softness before turning into a liquid.

Taste

The initial flavour is cocoa but this is quickly replaced by sourness and astringency. Fruity, almost sweet flavours of sour cherry, red berries and fig unfold. Slowly, bitter and intense cocoa flavours with hints of coffee-ish flavours unfold.

Aftertaste

After the last bit of chocolate is gone, a sensation of astringency lingers on the middle centre of the tongue. A mild bitterness emerges at the gums and the astringency fades out slowly. This is replaced by flavours of cocoa and roasted nuts.

Summary

This is a complex dark chocolate with intense cocoa flavours, astringency and very fruity notes. The fruity flavours give the chocolate light almost sweet edge.

Verdict

The chocolate is a very well conched chocolate with intense and complex flavours that unfold step by step. It emphasises the red berry notes of the pure cocoa. 5 Stars.

Dates

Best before 11/10/2019, tasted 10&11/03&10/04/2018

Pâtisserie Chocolaterie Pralus - Tobago Estate Chocolate W.I., Roxborough

The tasting notes reflect my personal opinion.

Name

Tobago Estate Chocolate W.I., Roxborough
Main ingredients are cocoa, sugar, pure cocoa butter, soy lecithin.
Cocoa content: minimum 70% cocoa

Manufacturer

Pâtisserie Chocolaterie Pralus S.A.S., 34 Rue General Giraud, 42300 Roanne, France

Packaging

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

Look

The chocolate is very dark brown with a distinct red shimmer on all surfaces.

Sound

The chocolate breaks with a very clear snap sound.

Smell

There are a lot of cocoa aromas with notes of agave and cream, as well as hints of nuts.

Mouthfeel

The chocolate initially feels very hard and solid. It melts slowly into a very fine liquid. While melting the body remains solid with clear edges between solid and liquid chocolate.

Taste

The chocolate starts with brief sweet note and a lasting more astringent coffee flavour. Dark roasted nuts and intense dark cocoa flavours develop. Lighter, more acidic flavours evolve after some time and leave hint of some sour fruity notes. The sweetness is noticeable more as a sensation than a flavour and counters the sour notes.

Aftertaste

The aftertaste is mainly cocoa flavour in the middle of the mouth, with some sourness at the sides and roasted nut flavours at the rear of the mouth

Summary

This is a dark chocolate with rich and intense flavours of dark roasted nuts, coffee as well as fruity and sour notes.

Verdict

This is a very well made chocolate with very good melt. It preserves the flavours of its original cocoa and show-cases them. 5 Stars.

Dates

Best before 23/07/2018, tasted 14/01&18/02&10/03/2018

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

Valrhona - Gran Couva Trinidad Noir 64%

The tasting notes reflect my personal opinion.

Name

Chocolate de Domaine Gran Couva, Trinidad - 64%
Main ingredients are cocoa beans, sugar, cocoa butter, soya lecithin, vanilla extract.
Cocoa content: minimum 64% cocoa

Manufacturer

Valrhona, 26600 Tain L'Hermintage, France

Packaging

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

Look

The chocolate is very dark brown and appears almost black with a light red hue. The edges of the broken chocolate pieces have red and white hues.

Sound

The chocolate breaks with a clear snap sound.

Smell

The chocolate has aromas of ripe melon and guava and molasses. The intense cocoa aromas add a dark-ish twist to the smell.

Mouthfeel

The chocolate melts into a very fine liquid. During process, its surface and edges remain almost perfectly solid and even.

Taste

The initial flavour is a light sweetness. Fruity flavours of guava and melon unfold quickly towards middle and front of the tongue. Light spices such as clove, cardamom, Moroccan mint and tonka combine with the cocoa flavour at the middle and rear of the tongue.

Aftertaste

The aftertaste alight cocoa taste at the rear of the mouth with a very little astringency and bitterness.

Summary

This is a dark chocolate with very light and complex flavours of fruit and spices.

Verdict

Astringency, bitterness and sourness are (almost) completely absent in this dark chocolate. Instead it shows the very fruity and spicy notes of the cocoa. The dancing complexity of its flavour is exceptional. 5 Stars.

Dates

Lot number: LP7516239, best before 01/2018, tasted 24/09&21/10/&12/11/2017&07/01/2018

Rózsavölgyi Csokoládé - Trincheras 95%

The tasting notes reflect my personal opinion.

Name

Trincheras 95%
Main ingredients are Trincheras cocoa beans, cocoa butter, cane sugar. No vanilla.
Cocoa content: minimum 95% cocoa

Manufacturer

Rózsavölgyi Csokoládé Kft., Ringló út. 33, 1221 Budapest Budafok, Hungary

Packaging

The 25g chocolate bar is wrapped in quite strong parchment paper and little card board box.

Look

The chocolate is very dark red-brown with a lighter red-brown hue at the edges.

Sound

The chocolate breaks with a clear and edgy snap sound.

Smell

The chocolate has a rich and warm cocoa smell with hints of hazel and grass. As chocolate warms in the hand, some darker notes of oak unfold. The grass aromas slowly develop into a more flowery note of dried fruit.

Mouthfeel

The thin chocolate bar melts quickly into a very fine liquid. The solid part becomes softer.

Taste

The chocolate unfolds a dark-ish and intense cocoa flavour. Its astringency and bitterness are mild and almost tickle the tongue. Flavours of smoke and roast build up. The last bit ends in an almost fruity sweet kick of dried fruit.

Aftertaste

The aftertaste is cocoa flavour with notes of roasted nuts and wood. It lingers at the front of the mouth and on the tongue. After a few minutes, the aftertaste moves slowly towards the rear of the mouth, has few more fruity hints and slowly fades out.

Summary

This is a very dark chocolate with intense cocoa flavours, notes of wood, smoked and roasted nuts and a noticeable but mild astringency and bitterness. It ends in a little kick of dried fruit. Small pieces of chocolate are very intense already.

Verdict

This is a very well made chocolate with intense and complex flavours that unfold over time and remain present for several minutes even with tiny pieces of chocolate. The cocoa has an interesting astringency and bitterness. 5 Stars.

Dates

Lot number: T4229, best before 30/04/2018, tasted 17/09&08&15/10/2017

Neuhaus - Dark Chocolate

The tasting notes reflect my personal opinion.

Name

Dark Chocolate
Main ingredients are cocoa mass, sugar, butter oil, soy lecithin, flavours.
Cocoa content: minimum 52% cocoa

Manufacturer

Neuhaus NV, Postweg 2, 1602 Vlezenbeek, Belgium

Packaging

The 45g chocolate bar is wrapped in aluminium paper and a paper sleeve.

Look

The chocolate is dark brown with red and whit-ish hue at the edges.

Sound

The chocolate bar is quite thick and hard to break. When it does, there is very robust snap sound.

Smell

The smell is dominated by sugary sweetness and light notes of cocoa.

Mouthfeel

The chocolate melts slowly into a very fine liquid. It surface becomes softer during the process.

Taste

The initial flavour is strongly dominated by sugary sweetness. Cocoa notes unfold slowly but the sweetness is building up as well and tends to overwhelm the slightly more bitter and dark-ish flavours. However, the cocoa and nut flavours remain noticeable.

Aftertaste

Once the sweetness decreased, nutty cocoa flavours linger in the upper middle part of the mouth.

Summary

This is a finely melting and comparably sweet dark chocolate with light cocoa and nut flavours.

Verdict

The chocolate flavours are dominated by its sweetness that covers most of a potentially nutty and warming cocoa. It melts and some of the flavours work as an aftertaste. 3 Stars.

Dates

Lot number: 4005302, best before 12/11/2017, tasted 17/09&01&07/10/2017

La Praline Gothenburg - Truffles Seasalt

The tasting notes reflect my personal opinion.

Name

Truffes Fantaisie Havssalt (Truffles Seasalt)
Main ingredients are non-hydrogenated vegetable fat (coconut, palm), sugar, fat reduced cocoa powder, whey powder, seasalt (0.6%), soya lecithin, vanillin (artificial vanilla flavouring), cocoa powder for dusting.
Cocoa content: minimum 44% cocoa solids

Manufacturer

La Praline Gothenburg AB, Backa Strandgata 12, 422 46 Göteborg, Sweden

Packaging

The 200g package of pralines is sealed in aluminium wrap and boxed in cardboard.

Look

The colour is dark brown with some darker almost black spots. After cutting the truffle, the sides are dark brown with a black hue. Little salt crystals can be visible.

Smell

Intensive cocoa and fat aromas hit you when opening the packaging and linger in the air.

Mouthfeel

The truffle feels solid and cannot be squashed with the tongue easily. It has a creamy and soft surface and melts into a fine liquid. The salt crystals are noticeable int the soft and creamy truffle.

Taste

The initial taste of the cocoa powder until a more mild cocoa flavour combined with the richness of the fat evolves. Once the first salt crystals have started dissolving, they add a little salty edge to the truffle. However, the seasalt dissolves slower than truffle. Thus, after the truffle has molten, only salt crystals are left. You know that it is but it still feels really salty each single time. Occassionally, there is also a salty spicy punch.

Aftertaste

If you manage to get of the remaining salt quickly, the aftertaste is mainly fatty cocoa. However, most of the time I did not and thus, the aftertaste was simply salt.

Summary

This is a rich chocolate truffle with a salty edge. Its richness is comes from the fat and combines to a rich and mild cocoa feeling. However, the undissolved sea salt is a problem.

Verdict

The truffles have a convincing richness and density. They have mild cocoa flavour that is smoothened by the fat. Initially, the flavour is enhanced by mild note of slowly dissolving sea salt. However, the slowly dissolving salt crystals stay longer than the truffle. Thus, you end up with pure salt in your mouth. If you chew the product, the salt crystals are crushed and melt much faster. But this can bring the salt to the foreground. In particular, you get very salty spots nearby the teeth and this spoils the product, too. Melting and chewing included an almost painful salt punch. 1 Star.

Dates

Lot number: JP12HAV1216, best before 31/12/2017, tasted 15/08&03&16/09/2017