r/realchocolatelovers

Just finished this lovely 70% from Chiang Mai by Rila Kakao. It’s probably my favourite of theirs (together with their 70% Chantaburi)

It’s very complex, you get a lot of acidity from fermentation, plus fruity notes to start with. I melted some with milk and salt to turn it into chocolate sauce to pour on top of vanilla ice cream, absolutely delicious.

Continuation of the trip around Sweden! Or rather from Ecuador to Sweden. This time: Höganäs 100% bar.

I did previously try their 70%, but I was still curious about this one. So first, upon opening the wrapping: clear aromas that remind me of a mix between some more assertive red fruits and something yellow, sometimes tart and sometimes ripe. That was a welcome addition, since IMHO their 70% was low in aromas. The fruity acidity continues in the flavour, underlying cocoa notes that remind me of cocoa powder, together with some nut (skin?). Texture feels smoother than I remember from their 70%, not too buttery, with a uniform melt (I hate crumbly melt), maybe just a tad dry, but still okay.

An interesting thing about Höganäs and Hacienda San José in Ecuador, where their cacao beans come from, is that they rely on resistant, high-yield varieties, including CCN-51, which aren’t famous for their aromatic or flavour qualities (it’s in fact classified as bulk and not fine cacao). It’s interesting how this could have resulted in such an approachable 100%, since from what I have seen, CCN-51 tends to have higher levels of off-flavour-associated compounds, but neither the 70% nor the 100% I tried displayed them. Good processing, I guess! The problem with the 70% was rather that it didn’t have a high enough level of interesting flavours.

I was trying to test this bar on others: one kid stole a piece despite my warnings and managed to eat it without spitting it out. That led me to a devilish idea: to test it on kid 2 by asking them to assess the %. They said 70% (read: this is dark chocolate). An adult victim, when pressed, said cranberry aroma and guessed the bar to be an 85% one.

I’m positive it’s a good bar to recommend to everybody who has been punishing themselves with ultra-bitter and/or astringent 100% bars, for as long as they can take a bit of fruity acidity. Unless, obviously, someone truly enjoys ultra-bitter and astringent ones (but it’s definitely not me).

Purchased from delitea.se. Price: 886 SEK/kg, which is approximately 95 USD/kg or 81 EUR/kg.

this bar was for some reason hard to find for me

taste: a warm roasted cocoa, bold nutty.

very good, like every bonnat bar!
Les Sirenes Philippines still at number 1!

This bean-to-bar chocolate is made by Dick Taylor Craft Chocolate from Eureka, CA.

This bar is 78% cocoa, made with beans grown in Vanuatu, a relatively rare origin, only recently attracting the attention of specialty chocolate makers.

This is definitely an earthy bar, not much fruit to be found. It has a noticeable but light acidity which helps lift it, and little to no bitterness. I find the “tobacco” note listed to be fairly accurate, the flavor of the chocolate does remind me of some high-end cigars, particularly corojos. It reminds me of that slightly sour and fermented tobacco smell. I also get some rich nuttiness (maybe macadamia?), and a hint of a fresh soil adjacent note. It’s very unique, and definitely tasty.

This is my first bar from Dick Taylor, and I was very excited to see why people recommend this company so highly. I can definitely understand why, this is obviously a very high quality bar.

If I were being nitpicky, I’d say the texture could be a bit smoother and snappier (gold standard texture-wise for me is Chocolat Bonnat), however it seems there’s no added cocoa butter in this bar, so I’m not sure how much smoother/snappier it could be (I only recently started getting into craft chocolate, and I have a lot to learn). From what I understand, European chocolate tends to be higher in cocoa butter.

For an origin as unique as this, I’m actually glad they kept the origin completely pure by not adding any extra cocoa butter. I’ll make that texture-tradeoff in this case.

I'm trying to get my Mom the best milk chocolates (she hates dark) possible. Cost is not an issue, my Mom does so much for me and I'm not able to give much in return. (And no I'm not late, we had to postpone this year.) I got some from craft chocolatiers but I'm having trouble finding what I want.

I heard Dandelion was one of the best brands, is that true? If not any idea where I can get the best milk chocolate pralines, truffles, or similar. And are these milk chocolate?

https://www.dandelionchocolate.com/products/single-origin-truffle-collection

https://www.dandelionchocolate.com/products/single-origin-pralines

https://www.dandelionchocolate.com/products/midnight-sun-collection

https://www.dandelionchocolate.com/products/city-of-light-collection

https://www.dandelionchocolate.com/products/knafeh-nut-collection