Review: Mindo 67%

Lindy's Rating: 6.5

Richard's Rating: 6.0

chocolate maker Mindo bar 67% region Ecuador plantation (blend) cacao trees (unknown) year (unknown) size 100g ~ 3.5oz cocoa solids 67% added fat cocoa butter sweetener cane juice emulsifier (none) flavoring (none) other ingredients (none) list price $7.25

color medium-dark brown PANTONE 19-1015 Bracken texture smooth with scoring, bubbles aroma spice (anise, clove), earth (hay, grass) snap medium hard taste sweet, earth (hay), spice (anise), fruit (raisin, prune, plum) melt smooth length medium finish tannin

Mindo is one of those very rare chocolate makers that starts with wet cacao and does their own fermenting and drying. Most bean to bar chocolate makers buy already dried cacao beans and at best have some indirect input on the fermenting and drying processes. Barbara Wilson and Joe Meza have developed a personal relationship with a small cooperative of cacao farmers in Ecuador, from whom they directly purchase their cacao.

Mindo's 67% bar was made with organic cacao beans, certified organic evaporated cane juice, and a small amount of added cocoa butter from the same cacao beans. They have not yet received organic certification for their chocolate. The big 100 gram bar was scored into 24 pieces and came wrapped in silver-sided wax paper inside a white paper sleeve. The best before date on the bar we reviewed was October 2012.

The medium-dark brown color of 67% was a bit lighter than that of the 77%, but still close to Bracken (PANTONE 19-1015). The top surface had a smooth flat finish, with a little scuffing and bubbles in the corners of some pieces. The snap was medium-hard.

This chocolate had a spice aroma of anise combined with an earthiness like that of hay. I also smelled clove, and Lindy found grass in the earthiness.

67% tasted sweet, with flavors suggested by the aroma: an earthy hay and anise. We also tasted dried fruit. Lindy experienced a raisin flavor; for me it was prune and plum. Lindy tasted tannin.

The melt was better than smooth, but not quite the more smooth of 77%. The length was medium, with the chocolate flavor lasting 30 to 35 seconds after the chocolate was gone. 67% had a tannin finish like that of 77%.

You can purchase Mindo 67% online for $7.25 directly from Mindo.