Review: Madécasse 80%

Lindy's Rating: 7.0 (previously ***)

Richard's Rating: 7.0 (previously ***)

chocolate maker Madécasse bar 80% region Madagascar plantation (blend) cacao trees (unknown) year (unknown) size 75g ~ 2.6oz cocoa solids 80% added fat cocoa butter sweetener sugar emulsifier (none) flavoring (none) other ingredients (none) list price $5.99

color medium-dark brown PANTONE 19-1015 Bracken texture smooth with stylized cacao bean imprints and scoring aroma floral, melon, roast (burnt, smoky) snap medium hard taste roast (burnt toast, nut), earthy (soil), fruit (apricot, berry, lime), sweet melt smooth length short finish slightly acidic, burnt or roast nut

The bar above appears uneven because it arrived broken, mostly along the score marks.

MORE RECENT REVIEW: Madécasse 80%

Note: updated February 11th, after tasting again with Lindy.

Madécasse came to be as a result of some Peace Corps volunteers who believed that making fine chocolate locally would help the farmers more than selling their cacao beans at fair trade prices. With cacao beans from the local Ezaka Cooperative, Madécasse makes their chocolate in Madagascar. Their product line includes 7 bars with cocoa content ranging from a 44% milk chocolate that won an award at the 2011 Good Food Awards to the 80% dark chocolate reviewed here.

The Madécasse 80% was made from only cacao beans, sugar, and cacao butter. The best before date was December 2011. The medium-dark brown color of the bar was closest to Bracken (PANTONE 19-1015). It was scored into 24 pieces, each with an imprint of what appears to be a stylized cacao bean. The snap of this chocolate was medium hard.

The aroma of this Madagascar chocolate was contained three primary scents: something floral, a fruit aroma like that of melon, and a roast that smelled almost burnt and a little smoky.

Initially, the flavor was similarly a roast, that I thought was like burnt toast, but Lindy experienced as a roasted nut. We also noticed multiple fruit flavors, including apricot and lime; Lindy also found berry. I experienced some sweetness, and occasionally an unpleasant earthy taste that reminded me of soil.

The melt was smooth, and the flavor after the chocolate was gone lasted into the short range, at around 10 to 15 seconds. The final aftertaste was a slight acidity with a hint of the burnt / roasted nut flavor that never went away.