Last Christmas I received this super cute sampler of Vosges mini bars. Each bar was half an ounce, a great size for tasting (especially since I like to share and was only eating a quarter ounce). All of the bars were enjoyable, with some more to my taste than others. In order from least to most favorite:
Woolloomooloo – 41% cacao: Roasted & salted macadamia nuts + Indonesian coconut + hemp seeds + deep milk chocolate. The sweet and salty combo was good, but the coconut and even milk chocolate weren’t as noticeable. It wasn’t really chocolatey. At times it tasted very sweet, but I noticed it before chewing on the coconut pieces, so it was more from sugar. The saltiness from the nuts contrasted the sugar. I couldn’t detect the hemp (6/10)
Black Pearl – 55% cacao: Ginger + wasabi + black sesame seeds + dark chocolate. There’s a definite ginger taste, then mellow wasabi flavor sets in. I liked the overall flavor, but I didn’t care for chewing on the sesame seeds and would’ve preferred it without them. It left a nice spicy taste on the tongue (6/10)
Naga – 41% cacao: Sweet Indian curry + coconut + deep milk chocolate. Sweet curry powder taste emerges first, then creamy chocolate, then the coconut bits. Not too much coconut. Ends with a hint of spice, but just a hint (6.5/10)
Oaxaca – 75% cacao: Guajillo & pasilla chillies + Tanzanian bittersweet chocolate. It tastes a little bitter at first, with a hint of chillies, but then the chillies develop as the chocolate melts. These chilies seem well suited to the higher percentage chocolate (7/10)Creole – 70% cacao: New Orleans style chicory coffee + cocoa nibs + Sao Thome bittersweet chocolate. The nibs are a great complement to the coffee, even though they are bitter, too – they have a different flavor. I never used to like bits of things in chocolate, but these taste good. Bitter, but flavorful as well (7/10)
Macha - 41% cacao: Japanese macha green tea + deep milk chocolate. Great macha tea flavor that doesn’t overpower the chocolate. I’m glad they didn’t include little bits of other things (7.5/10)
Gianduja – 41% cacao: Almonds + caramelized hazelnut paste + deep milk chocolate. Milk chocolate was nice and creamy; I could even eat a plain bar of it. The bar was very soft though, close to melting. Nice hints of saltiness to contrast the caramelized hazelnuts (7.5/10)
Barcelona – 41% cacao: Hickory smoked almonds + grey sea salt + deep milk chocolate. Small (subtle) flakes of salt contrast well with the chocolate, and smoked almond bits worked very well with it (unlike bits in some of the other bars) (7.5/10)
Red fire – 55% cacao: Mexican ancho & chipotle chillies + Ceylon cinnamon + dark chocolate. Little crunches of chili, cinnamony chocolate taste, then chilis set in and warm the throat. I preferred this bar to the Oaxaca, though both were good (7.5/10)
It’s a tasty sampler. Writing about it makes me want to go out and get one of the Vosges Easter bunnies…
Tags: Bar, barcelona, black pearl, creole, fed fire, gianduja, matcha, naga, oaxaca, Vosges, wolloomooloo
