Chapter Thirty-Eight: Comptoir du Cacao Ouganda Noir 80%

The Comptoir du Cacao Ouganda Noir 80% caught our eye during our recent splurge at Central Market. This  family owned and operated chocolate maker is located just outside of Paris. They specialize in an artisanal production process and offer a variety of single origin chocolates. This week we are reviewing their selection from Uganda, and we are eager to try more of their offerings in the future.

Tasting No.: 36
Comptoir du Cacao Ouganda Noir 80%

Initial Impressions:

The color of this bar was darker than our base bar. The snap and bite were both firm, introducing a fragrant floral and rose aroma.

Flavor Profile:

Initial – rose

Middle – soil, cinnamon

After – honey

Texture:
The texture of this was initially dry, but we found that it smoothed out relatively quickly, making the honey note hit our palate beautifully.

Overall:
This bar was rather rich but refreshingly light at the same time. We found it to satiate us quite quickly, noting that one bar could last quite a while. Because the flavor profile is bitter and complex, this would pair better with a sweeter wine like port or a zinfandel.

Rating: 8/10

*Notes:

Purchased at Central Market

Price range: Under $6

One last Trader Joe's bar is up for review next week, so don't forget to stop on by!


For now savor: "Chocolate: the poor mans' champagne." - Daniel Worona

Chapter Thirty-Seven: Loving Earth Bean to Bar 85% Dark

Gaby happened upon this week's bar while rummaging through the food items at Home Goods. Have you ever checked out their food selection? You're likely to happen upon a find fit for a foodie! Given that this bar was over 70% cacao with minimal ingredients, while also being organic and single origin, it fit our chocolate preferences nicely.

The Loving Earth Bean to Bar 85% Dark is dressed to impress with a box made from 97% post consumer recycled fiber and a wrapper that is completely compostable made from renewable plant sources. The cacao beans are a wild variety from the 2016 harvest of the Kemito Ene Cooperative, located in the Amazon. There are only 3 ingredients in this bar: raw cacao beans, coconut sugar, and virgin cacao butter. Naturally, less is more when it comes to ingredients and we appreciate the simplicity of this bar's makeup.

Tasting No. :35
Loving Earth Bean to Bar 85% Dark - 2015 Harvest

Initial Impressions:

The color of this bar was similar to the base bar, however the base bar is a bit darker. The snap of this bar was unique - it very much reminded us of snapping raw green beans. We quite enjoyed the aroma; it was pungent and sweet, smelling like honey and spice. The bite was firmer than the base bar.

Flavor Profile:

Initial – vanilla, hazelnut

Middle – honey

After – anise, faintly earthy

Texture:
The texture was superbly smooth, like velvet. It immediately began to melt upon impact in our mouths.

Overall:
We found the texture was so smooth that it was almost distracting. It melted instantaneously like butter in a hot pan. We highly recommend this bar and think it would be a good choice for someone beginning to explore dark chocolate. It was easy to recognize that this bar was too good. It wouldn't take much to devour the entire bar before realizing what we've done! Gaby has added it to her list of favorites.

Rating: 8 /10

*Notes:

Purchased at Home Goods

Price range: Under $6

Up next  we'll be tasting our first bar from Uganda. Don't forget to take a peek!

For now savor: "Hot fudge fills deep needs." - Susan Isaacs

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.

Chapter Thirty-Six: Taza 87% Dark

Our first encounter with Taza back in June left us with wary impressions. This bar's competing flavors and jagged, gritty texture overwhelmed the entire sensory experience. However, we were forever converted when we tried a different bar in July. We even decided to sample their drinking chocolate during our November series.

This week we bring you a new Taza selection. One of our favorite aspects of Taza is their stone grinding process. Now that we are accustomed to the texture, eating their chocolate gives us a sense of chocolate in its truest form; the texture is always enticing. As always, we are pleased with the product's purity was well as the company's ethical standards. Taza's 87% Dark is from Bolivia, is direct trade, organic, gluten, soy, and dairy free.

Tasting No. :34

Taza 87% Dark

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.

Initial Impressions:

Although the Taza bar is the same shade of brown, it is slightly redder than our base bar. Its fragrance is deeply earthy and musty, strongly reminding us of wet soil, almost in a nostalgic way. This bar has a firm snap, much firmer than the base bar. One of our favorite aspects of Taza is that they keep their texture less refined, so it is visible to the naked eye. The stone ground texture brings to mind the similarity between Taza and the Dominican drinking chocolate. The scent and texture combined call forth a genuine bean to bar, minimally processed chocolate experience that really is supremely satisfying. 

Flavor Profile:

Initial – earthy

Middle – caramel, spicy

After – jasmine

Texture:
This bar's texture could only be described as odd. It was almost distracting. Because it was so dry, it crumbled very easily and did not melt in our mouth.  This was the least favorable aspect of this bar.

Overall:
The most unexpected discovery about this Taza bar is that it makes the base bar's bouquet far more interesting. After tasting it and going back to the base bar, there was definitely a more layered and complex flavor profile. It makes us curious to try other bars in conjunction with this Taza bar, hopefully ringing true for other bars as well. The stellar taste of this bar made up for the unusual crumbly texture, thus landing this bar a solid 8/10 stars.

Rating: 8 /10

*Notes:

Purchased at Central Market

Price range under $6

Next up is a bar made from raw ashaninka cacao (and also from a brand that's new to us). Check back next Monday to read our thoughts!

For now savor: "I have this theory that chocolate slows down the aging process...it may not be true, but do I dare take the chance?" - Anonymous

Chapter Thirty-Two: Bovetti 73%

Welcome back! After a restful break we are ready to return to our favorite pastime of eating chocolate. With a new year comes new resolutions, and we have committed to improving Chocolate Bar Hopping and making the experience of reading along easier for you, dear readers. Expect to see some exciting changes in the coming weeks. 

Our first change is the introduction of a new base bar. We quite enjoyed our Guittard base bar, but often found it to be much sweeter and less chocolate-y than we preferred.  When tasting this new base bar, we felt that it embodied what we love most about chocolate: deep chocolate flavor, complex taste profile, mild sweetness, and divine texture.  You can read more about our new base bar and how it compared to our previous base bar by reading this post.

Bovetti has always provided a decadent tasting experience and this bar was no different.  We are consistently thrilled by their delicious and satisfying chocolate bars.

Strangely, all of the bars we have tried thus far from Bovetti have been 73% cacao. 

Tasting No. :30
Bovetti Chocolatier: Dark Chocolate 73% Cocoa (we couldn't find a link to this particular bar, but this dark chocolate with hazelnuts looks divine!)

Initial Impressions:

The snap of this bar was not quite as firm as the base bar, it almost felt pliable.  The aroma was spicy like cinnamon, with notes of coconut and almond.  Gaby said it reminded her of an almond joy.  The bite was firm but melted very easily, it again brought forth a feeling of eating flourless chocolate cake. 

Flavor Profile:

Initial – almond

Middle – slight acidity, earthy

After – cherry, caramel

Texture:

The texture of this bar was thick, smooth, enveloping, and velvety.  It was much moister than the base bar which crumbles in your mouth, it felt like a chocolate ocean swirling over our tongues. 

Overall:
This bar is true to the Bovetti form; pure, simple, and quality chocolate taste.  We would gladly give this bar as a gift, or keep it for ourselves.  All it takes is a bite to be satisfied.  We both added this bar to our list of favorites.

Rating: 8/10

*Notes:

Purchased at Central Market

Price range under $6
Drink pairing suggestion: we tasted this with a strong black loose leaf tea with a dash of milk - no sweetener.

Next week we will be sampling our first Amedei chocolate; known as the best chocolate in the world. Curious about it? Join us!

For now savor: “Flowers wilt, jewelery tarnishes, and candles burn out...but chocolate doesn't hang around long enough to get old.” - Anonymous, Heavenly Humor for the Chocolate Lover's Soul

Chapter Thirty: White Christmas Part One

With the holidays upon us we wanted to try something a little different. We will be tasting white chocolate bars from brands we know and love and new ones we are just discovering. We're so glad you could make it!

We know what you may be thinking: white chocolate isn't really chocolate! However, did you know that cocoa butter is a by-product of the chocolate making process? So while the cacao bean or solid is not included in the white chocolate itself, it technically does have cacao in it. :P Here's another fun fact: the cocoa butter is what smells like chocolate, not the cacao beans! We hope you enjoy our little segue from dark chocolate bars as much as we did. Our tasting method will be a bit different for the white chocolate reviews. As we have no base bar, there will be no comparison. Instead we will be focusing on the color, texture, flavor profile, and aroma individually.

Back in August, we tasted a Milkboy bar that we found to be absolutely delightful. We wanted to try to find white chocolate from brands we are familiar with and have enjoyed reviewing, so this seemed like a natural choice and a lucky find! In particular, we like that Milkboy is both UTZ certified and from sustainable sources.

Tasting No. :28
Milkboy Swiss White Chocolate with Bourbon Vanilla

Initial Impressions:
The first thing we noticed with this bar was the abundance of visible vanilla bean. The snap is quite soft and the color is a buttery cream color. It has a deep vanilla bouquet with some caramel notes on the finish. The bourbon was not immediately apparent, but subtly came to the surface after the immediate taste of vanilla.

Flavor Profile:

Initial – mild vanilla

Middle – vanilla, butterscotch

After – caramel bourbon

Texture:
We loved that this bar melted immediately in our mouths, it was silky smooth, but also thick as chocolate syrup.

Overall:
This was a relatively sweet bar but we loved the complex vanilla flavor.  It was nice to be able to see the vanilla as well and the texture was lovely and smooth.  We think this would make a good gift for anyone who enjoys white chocolate.   

Rating: 7/10

*Notes:

Purchased at Central Market

Price range: Under $6

Check back to see which bar we'll be reviewing next week!

For now savor: "Money can't buy happiness. But, it can buy a chocolate, which is pretty much the same thing." - Hanako Ishii

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.