Blend…. a word which is rare on this blog. Ever since I started reviewing quality chocolate, I focused on Single Origin bars. Using cacao for a single country, region or even plantation. Today we experience a bar created with cacao from 4 distinct regions, all over the world. Venezuela (El Vigia), known for its refined…
Tag: Madagascar
Review: Ara Chocolat – Madagascar 75% (****)
After travelling all over the world with the bars I reviewed so far, I come back to familiar terrain today. In front of me lays a small dark single origin bar stating Madagascar. My favorite origin! I simply adore wonderful fruity chocolate. But the brand is little known to me. Ara Chocolat. Based in the…
Review: Domori – Sambirano Madagascar 70% (****)
After spending a while in the American and Canadian Artisan scene, we head back closer to my home today and return to Europe. In front of me lies a pretty little box stamped with a name that sounds like a bell. Domori. Welcome to Italy! Domori takes us away from the micro-batch producers and welcomes…
Review: The Chocolate Tree – 55% Ecuador Milk Chocolate (***1/2) + 72% Madagascar (***)
Double trouble on a sunny evening… Cue a dramatic music and the camera slowly panning towards a tight duel between two chocolate bars. One milk and one dark bar. Made by The Chocolate Tree in Scotland. Actually, the pure milk bar will be the first origin milk chocolate ever reviewed on my blog. Still a…
Review: Chocolat Naive – Dark chocolate with forest honey 67% (****)
Next up in my double review: Naive’s dark chocolate with forest honey. The second aroma infused bar I’ll try tonight. Once more I expect a sweeter chocolate bar. How wrong could I be! This time the bar is produced from a Trinitario cacao beans, lightly roasted and conched for 60 hours. The cacao originated in…
Review: Pierre Marcolini Carré² Chocolat – Madagascar – 72% (***)
High Hopes. The new single of Bruce Springsteen went through my mind when I finally took this Carré² Chocolat of Pierre Marcolini out of the cupboard for a review. The second bean-to-bar producer in Belgium I found so far. Monsieur Marcolini is a big name in the pralines world in Belgium and his shops are…
Review: Benoit Nihant – Madagascar 72% (***1/2)
Finally. FINALLY. I can’t stress it enough. Finally I’ve found a true bean-to-bar producer in Belgium. In the so-called land of chocolate. One of two BTB producers. Ok, i’ll let it go now, but I’m still appalled by the idea we still see ourselves as THE chocolate country. Benoit Nihant who has his workshop in…
Review: Akesson’s Madagascar 75% Criollo Cocoa (****)
Two little words on a box of chocolate can make my heart skip a beat… Madagascar and Akesson’s. For one, the Madagascar region provides several chocolate makers with the beans to create wonderful, fruitful chocolate. And secondly, Akesson’s took me by surprise with their Bali bar, which brought me one of the most exotic tasting…
Review: Menakao – 100% madagascar (****)
100%. The highest number in chocolate. The most terrifying, the most intense, the most under-appreciated of chocolates. We met again. I know it’ll never by my top favorite chocolate either, yet every single time I’m drawn to it, just to experience the taste in its purest. Madagascan style this time around. Ladies and gentlemen, Menakao…
Review: Pralus – Le 100% (*****)
After I’ve tasted the Pacari Raw, I gathered 100% chocolate would be a bridge to far for me. I do appreciate the magnificent aromas present, but it’s to in your face tastewise, I didn’t see myself going to the cupboard and choose a piece of 100% above any of the other nice chocolate I have…