chrisurban.com » ecuador

Kallari 85% single source organic chocolate

Chris Urban — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 00:41:52 +0000

Very interesting, especially comparing this to the 75% Kallari, I’m truly amazed the difference that the extra 10% makes. This is not like the 75% at all – completely different flavor spectrum, much more restrained and concentrrated. This really is a chocolate-lovers’ chocolate, but borderline too intense. The overwhelming cocoa-ness very nearly drowns out some of the notes we experienced with the 75%.
Five-year-old: “I do not like this at all. Yeck – I need to spit it out. I like the other one much better.”
Seriously, this one just teeters on the brink of bitterness – but when you let this melt on your tongue, you get more of the core flavor that you don’t get with the 75%: deep, earthy flavors, almost olive and the high notes are more almond or hazelnut. Intense.

Kallari 75% single source organic chocolate

Chris Urban — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 00:32:45 +0000

Wow – pleasantly surprised by this one. You get a nice coating along the sides and back of your tongue, and there’s a nice and full nutty, earthy flavor. It’s almost like eating peanut butter, where you smack the roof of your mouth, except that it’s chocolate.
Five-year-old: “It tastes like peanuts.” “It’s delicious and good.”
This is a really yummy chocolate – much much flavor than I expected, very smooth, very nice finish. There’s a lot of notes in this that I can’t identify in the first taste – some dark fruit, like blueberry, but not sweet, some earthiness, almost like mushroom or peanuts, and then a smooth clean finish… (maybe it’s the champagne?)

Dagoba Single Origin 68% Organic Dark Los Rios Ecuador

Chris Urban — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 01:24:43 +0000

In stark contrast to the other Ecuador chocolate we just reviewed, here’s one with a much more interesting arrangment of flavors. Also from the Amazonian Ecuador region, this chocolate possessed more of a fruity cocoa flavor and a smoother mouthfeel. The chocolate itself was interesting in appearance – whether it was a brief exposure to heat or simply age – but it had a lighter cocoa coating to the bar, and this did not seem to interfere with the taste of the chocolate itself.
In terms of taste, this had an overall higher average note than the Vintage Plantations bar – probably from the citrus-lemony notes. We’d say this was a good overall chocolate, we’d probably purchase this again.

Vintage Plantations 65% Dark Rancho San Jacintho Harvest, Ecuador

Chris Urban — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 01:16:39 +0000

We found this chocolate to be dry on the start, a little too sweet and not enough complexity on the mouthfeel. I expected a little more from this, Ecuadorian-sourced organic chocolate, but I have to be careful about this to not give the wrong impression: this is definitely an above-average chocolate, but I expected a little more complexity to the flavor. The sweetness (cane sugar) lingered, but not any other notes in the cocoa spectrum – maybe the tiniest hint of cherry or berry, but very difficult to distinguish above the general, even nuttiness.

Hachez Cocoa d’Arriba – Strawberry & Pepper

Chris Urban — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 02:22:59 +0000

Strawberry and pepper? German dark chocolate? Sounded interesting.

Using Ecuadorian dark chocolate, this is a mildly bitter, dark, not overly sweet chocolate. Very smooth, full-flavored, bittersweet chocolate. We think while the pepper is just about right, the strawberry could stand to be a little more prominent. As it is, it has just a hint of strawberry (1.5%) which floats to the top as it melts in your mouth, and the pepper holds the bottom down. This is indeed a “superior mild dark chocolate.”

Two year old’s reaction: shakes head vigorously and succinctly says “no.”

Four year old: “a little salty, tastes like grapes, a little bitter and creamy.”