Paul A. Young - 100% Dark Chocolate Bar

The tasting notes reflect my personal opinion.

Name

100% Dark Chocolate Bar
Main ingredients are 100% Guittard dark chocolate.
Cocoa content: minimum 44% cocoa solids

Manufacturer

paul.a.young fine chocolates, 143 Wardour St, SOHO, London, W1F 8WA, United Kingdom

Packaging

The chocolate is wrapped and sealed in transparent plastic wrap.

Look

The chocolate is very dark brown with a reddish hue at its edges.

Sound

The chocolate is hard to break but when it does, it breaks clearly in one snap.

Smell

There intensive cocoa aromas and fruity aromas of raisins.

Mouthfeel

The chocolate feels solid initially but becomes softer quickly. It feels slightly creamy and soft to touch before melting into a very fine liquid.

Taste

The chocolate requires a bit of time before it unfolds its flavours. It starts with dark cocoa flavours and a mild bitterness and astringency that are building up gradually. There is a subliminal sourness  that comes to the foreground when swallowed or moving and leaves a little sore sensation.

Aftertaste

The aftertaste is mainly astringency and the hint of sourness.

Summary

This has deep and dark-ish flavours of cocoa that are very intensive. Its flavours are dominated by dark cocoa, bitterness and hints of sourness.

Verdict

The chocolate is very well conched and melts very smoothly. It emphasises the dark cocoa notes of the cocoa. However, as the astringency and bitterness are building up, they have a tendency to entirely dominate the flavour. Thus, the cocoa and possibly fruity notes are hard to detect. Also, there is a little sour note in the chocolate that leaves a sore sensation on the tongue. 4 Stars.

Dates

Lot number: S14129, best before 01/09/2018, tasted 29/04&05&27/05/2018

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

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