Dolfin Dark Chocolate with Lavender

Ingredients: cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter, lavender, natural vanilla, emulsifier: soya lecithin. Cocoa solids: 60% min.

Dolfin is a Belgian company that’s been around over 20 years (based on info from their website). They describe their dark chocolate as “powerful, full-flavoured and sometimes extreme”, which is funny in comparison to the description of their milk chocolate as “soft and tender”. I would probably place a chocolate bar containing lavender in the “soft and tender” category, but it’s actually made with dark chocolate, with seriously intense results.

I’m not sure what drove me to pick up this particular bar, especially since it was next to Dolfin’s white pepper and cardamom bar, which sounds more to my taste. I’m not really into flowers – in fact, I’m allergic to the scent of lavender. I do like to try combinations that are new to me, and this bar is certainly unusual.

The bar smelled very flowery, like perfume, and it had a good snap. Taste-wise, it was dark, and the lavender was very present. It took me a while to place what the floral, spicy, heavy quality of the taste made me think of, and it’s musk (like in a perfume my mom probably had when I was a kid). There were little, bitter bits of lavender that remained on the tongue after the chocolate had melted, and I wasn’t sure how I felt about them. Some of them were small and nutty, and I liked what they added to the texture. Others made it too grainy. I even found a couple of thread-like pieces, which definitely didn’t work for me. At first, I was a little conflicted about this bar; the chocolate and lavender flavors were well balanced, but I didn’t like all of the lavender bits. However, I kept taking more and more of the bar, and decided after eating more than half of it that I will probably end up buying another one at some point (though not until I’ve tried some more from Dolfin).

Jade Chocolates Genmai

Genmai bar: 33% milk chocolate, roasted brown rice, roasted green tea, jasmine tea.

Ingredients: [redacted] Cacao (sugar, dry whole milk, cocoa butter, chocolate liquor, soy lecithin, natural vanilla flavor), [redacted] milk chocolate, roasted brown rice, roasted green tea, jasmine tea. [The "redacted" words are names of chocolate companies and were blacked out with marker - not sure if this had something to do with the bars being sold at the chocolate salon, or if they've changed the ingredients, but probably the former.]

My friend Sneha bought this bar at the SF Chocolate Salon (write up coming tomorrow, seriously) and was kind enough to share. I remember liking the offerings from Jade Chocolates, which included this bar, as well as their other bar, Dragon’s Breath, which also contains tea. The packaging for the bar was really beautiful handmade sustainable paper. The chocolate inside was a single bar, but each piece was different – they varied in height, and the pictures didn’t match up. It’s a unique look, as far as I know.

More importantly, the chocolate tasted pretty good. The milk chocolate was creamy, and not too sweet, and the green tea flavor (though maybe not the jasmine as much) was pretty prominent, without being in the way of the chocolate. I also enjoyed the crunchy bits of rice, which were small enough to be unobtrusive. I plan to try more from Jade Chocolates in the future. (6.5/10)

Amano Ocumare 70%

Ingredients: Cocoa beans, pure cane sugar, cocoa butter, whole Tahitian vanilla pods. Amano Artisan Chocolate is a small batch bean-to-bar chocolate maker based in Salt Lake City, Utah. Founder Art Pollard first became interested in making chocolate in 1996; Amano chocolate bars became available to the public in 2006. Although Amano isn’t fair trade certified, they cite that many farmers cannot afford to go through the process, and that they pay farmers and co-ops above fair trade price for beans. Amano does not disclose, however, whether or not they employ Oompa Loompas, and how they might be compensated.

According to Amano, the criollo beans from this bar come from the Ocumare Valley in Venezuela, where they have been grown since at least the early 1700s. It’s a flavorful bar, but very subtle, so it seems pretty mild (rather than bold). It begins with a really rich, chocolatey taste, a little woody. Small bits melting on the tongue taste like raspberries. It ends with a light, roasted, coffee bean-ish taste, but it’s not bitter really – it’s very well balanced. Definitely one of my favorite bars so far. (9.5/10)

Seeds of Change Chocolate

I was planning on writing about the Seeds of Change 61% La Dominicana bar I snagged at Green Festival last year, but it looks like the company removed it from their line up. Too bad – it was fudgy and with an orange flavor, like a richer chocolate orange. The ingredients were chocolate*, sugar*, cocoa butter*, milk fat, soy lecithin, and natural flavor* (* meaning organic), so I’m guessing the “natural flavor” was orange. I wonder why they didn’t specify.

Anyway, some of the other bars look interesting, but they all appear to contain bits of fruit or nuts, unlike that rich, chocolatey, orangey bar… I guess there’s the Narrangasett bar, which has chocolate with orange essence, candied pecans, cranberries, and cinnamon – sounds like a good combination.

Seeds of Change has been selling organic food since 1989, with a focus on sustainability – they contribute 1% of net revenues to advance organic farming and biodiversity. Their cacao beans are supplied by the National Confederation of Dominican Cocoa Growers, Inc., the largest confederation of organic cocoa growers in the Dominican Republic (accounting for 15% of growers in the country). Seeds of Change, along with Conservation International, an organization interested in sustainability, is working with farmers in the Dominican Republic and in Brazil to help them increase profits by using sustainable practices and improving product quality, among other goals. More info can be found on the site.

I’ll have to try one of the bars currently offered by Seeds of Change (and avoid slacking off on posting about them, in case they change their offerings again).

E. Guittard Chucuri Bittersweet

Ingredients: Cacao beans, pure cane sugar, cocoa butter, soya lecithin, vanilla beans.

I was recommended this bar by my co-worker Sneha, and I take a lot of pride in that – when she started work about six months ago, she told me she never craved sweet food, only salty snacks. Now it seems like she wants to eat chocolate every day, which just goes to show one of the risks of knowing a chocolate monster.

The Guittard Chocolate Company opened in 1858 in San Francisco before moving south to Burlingame, and has been family-owned and operated ever since. Guittard’s artisan line, E. Guittard, named for the company’s founder Etienne, was introduced in 2001. According to the wrapper, the Trinitario beans in this 65% bar were grown in the San Vicente de Chucuri Valley in Colombia.

This bar is deeply chocolatey and very addictive. It tastes light and flowery, then a hint of spice and herbs balances it out. In the aftertaste, the chocolate lingers, before the floral hints return. Definitely a favorite. (9.5/10)

Askinosie San Jose Del Tambo 70%

Ingredients: Cocoa beans, sugar, cocoa butter At the Askinosie tasting (which I’ll write more about in part 2 of my Askinosie post), I got to taste the Soconusco bar from bean to bar. Afterwards, I decided to purchase the San Jose Del Tambo bar at Bittersweet, to get a better idea of it. The bar starts out very fruity, with hints of raspberries and plums, and then progresses into a darker tone, woody with roasted coffee, with a dry finish. Pretty light – I ate more than a piece to get the flavor. The finish reminds me a little of the chocolate liquor at the tasting in the way it makes the tongue dry. I could imagine eating this bar with a beer, or maybe with some wine.

Scharffen Berger Nibby (Semisweet)

Ingredients: cacao beans, sugar, milk, cacao nibs, cocoa butter, nonfat milk, non-GMO soy lecithin, and whole vanilla beans

I wasn’t planning on buying anything at the Scharffen Berger store, but this bar totally called out to me. When I buy a good quality (or sometimes not really good quality, but expensive) chocolate bar, I feel like I have to take eating it seriously or I’m wasting it. This bar is not serious at all, especially with the name “nibby”. Scharffen Berger could’ve given it a more serious name (like, um, “cacao nib bar”), but “nibby” suits it because it’s a fun bar.

I bought the one ounce bar, which adds to the fun aspect. It looks a little like a Nestle Crunch bar, but with far fewer bits. The nibs are scattered throughout, giving it a nutty crunch that’s not too extreme. They taste lightly roasted and bitter, and the 62% chocolate is fruity, like berries. I like the smoothness of the chocolate, which ends with a buttery melt on the tongue. I want to say the aftertaste is like tobacco, but I have zero experience with tobacco, so I have no idea why. It’s probably the aftertaste from the nibs, which are kind of like coffee beans, but happier.

All in all, a tasty bar that I feel comfortable eating at any time.

Dolfin Hot Masala

Ingredients: sugar, whole milk powder, cocoa butter, cocoa mass, masala (cinnamon, cardamom, pepper, clove, ginger), natural vanilla, soya lecithin.

I snagged a couple pieces of this bar last week from my co-worker, who bought it at Bittersweet. The first taste was very sweet and cinnamony. Too cinnamony. I wanted more cardamom, cloves, pepper, and ginger, which came out more in the aftertaste. I expected more of a blend from a “masala” bar, and I’m wondering if I’d have liked it more if it were labeled differently. It was still pretty tasty, with creamy milk chocolate. (6/10)

Thanks, Sne-dog!

UPDATE, 3/27/08: So Sneha still had this bar in her backpack, and we tried it again, just after eating oranges. I don’t know if the oranges helped, but the flavor was much better. I still thought the scent of cinnamon was predominant, but we both tasted cardamom and ginger, and a bit of cloves, compared to the overwhelming cinnamonosity of our last taste. Does this bar improve with age? Did the oranges actually aid us in tasting the spices? Very curious. I’d push this rating up to a 7/10, based on this tasting.

Vosges Mini Exotic Candy Bars

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…

Galler Chocolate Noir 70

Cocoa paste, sugar, cocoa butter, emulsifier: soya lecithin, natural vanilla.

Very smooth and creamy – it first tasted like chocolate, peanut butter and malt, with a roasted coffee finish. The second taste reminded me of opening a jar of natural peanut butter and stirring the peanuts and oil, but not too well, so that a little oil remains at the top. It’s very rich, and I could only eat one square at a time. I ended up using it in hot chocolate, which helped dilute the flavor; it still tasted peanut buttery, malty, and a little chalky, but not too rich to drink. 6.8/10