Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Review: Moonstruck Dominican Republic

Lindy's Rating: 5.0 (previously **)
Richard's Rating: 6.0 (previously **)

chocolate makerFelchlin
barDominican Republic
regionDominican Republic
plantation(blend)
cacao trees(unknown)
year(unknown)
size56g ~ 2.0oz
cocoa solids72%
added fatcocoa butter
sweetenercane sugar
emulsifier(none)
flavoringvanilla
other ingredients(none)
list price$7.50

colormedium-dark brown
PANTONE 18-1314
Acorn
texturesmooth with image imprint and scoring
aromaearthy (musty), hint of fruit
snapmedium hard
tasteinitial cinnamon, sweet, fruit (berry, apple, melon, citrus, prune)
meltless smooth
lengthshort
finishslightly ashy, slightly acidic
Moonstruck Chocolatier is a small U.S. chocolatier in Portland, OR. In 2008, after 7 years at Barry Callebaut, Julian Rose joined the company as master chocolatier and head of research and development. Moonstruck makes a wide variety of chocolate products and has six chocolate cafés in the Portland area. They also sell a few chocolate bars, including four single-origin bars from the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, and the famous Fortunato No.4 from Peru.

I spoke with a company representative and discovered they are not a bean to bar chocolate maker. I was forwarded to one of their press representatives to find out their chocolate maker, and am awaiting an answer. I'll update this post once I hear back from them.

Dominican Republic is a single origin bar. The chocolate was made from 72% cocoa solids plus cane sugar, cocoa butter, and vanilla bean. The bar was wrapped in silver foil inside a paper box with raised graphics. The best before date was August, 2012. The two ounce bar was scored into 15 pieces, each with an imprint of Moonstruck's crescent moon and flute player.

The color of the chocolate was a medium-dark brown Acorn (PANTONE 18-1314). The bar had a medium-hard snap that revealed an earthy aroma, which seemed primarily musty. I also smelled occasional hints of fruit.

Dominican Republic had an initial cinnamon flavor, followed by a sweetness and multiple fruit flavors. Lindy noticed berry and apple. I tasted berry, overripe melon, citrus, and prune.

The melt of this chocolate was less smooth. The length of the chocolate was the middle of short (with the flavor lasting roughly 15 seconds). The aftertaste was slightly ashy. I also found it slightly acidic, and Lindy described it as vaguely metallic.

In spite of the seemingly interesting flavors, neither Lindy nor I particularly liked the taste of this chocolate, and we both rated it **. Moonstruck Dominican Republic won a silver medal at the 2010 Los Angeles Luxury Chocolate Salon.

You can purchase Dominican Republic online directly from Moonstruck for $7.50 or in person at one of their chocolate cafés or from one of their retail partners.

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