Chapter Nine: All Roads Lead to Raspberry

We were given Prestat’s Dark Chocolate with Raspberry bar to try last month.  It is a 60% fairly traded bar with the cacao beans sourced from West Africa.  This particular bar won U.K.’s “Great Taste Gold” award in 2012.  This award, also known as the Oscars of the fine food world, is quite prestigious.

Tasting No.: 7

Prestat Dark Chocolate with Raspberry

Initial Impressions:

Surprisingly, this bar and the base bar are almost exactly the same color.  The snap is firm, while the feel of the chocolate is soft and decadent. Raspberry is the dominant aroma of this bar, so strong that it was almost off-putting.  Laura said that she was happy this bar was gifted to us because she would not have bought this bar based on smell alone but ended up really liking it and adding to her list of favorites.

Flavor Profile:

Initial – vanilla, mild sweetness

Middle – tangy with hints of raspberry starting to come through

After – tart raspberry, naturally fruity and not artificial

Texture:

This bar has a firm bite, with the chocolate itself being soft and smooth.  The raspberry seeds are intermittent and subtle, adding an unexpected change in texture.

Overall:

When we first smelled this bar, we were not looking forward to tasting it, because the smell of raspberry was so strong.  We thought there was going to be an artificial taste of raspberry; but we were pleasantly proven wrong.  The raspberry was subtle and truly fruity, not at all artificial. This added a delicate element of fruit in the background and never overpowered the chocolate itself.  Compared with the base bar, the Prestat bar was fruity with citrus notes.

Rating: 7.5/10

*Notes:

Purchased at Central Market

Price range under $10

Next week, we are excited to try another stone ground offering from Taza. 

For now savor “Chocolate: Here today…gone today!” - Anonymous

 

Remember, fairly traded chocolate is a responsible way to support farmers by ensuring that the chocolate that you consume has been bought for a fair price.  By choosing to purchase fair trade chocolate, you can honor the cocoa tree growers and support their way of life which in turn leads to better chocolate.