Review: Lindt Excellence 90% Supreme Dark

Richard's Rating: 4.5

chocolate maker Lindt bar Excellence 90% region unknown plantation blend cacao trees unknown year unknown size 100g ~ 3.5oz cocoa solids 90% added fat cocoa butter sweetener sugar emulsifier (none) flavoring bourbon vanilla other ingredients cocoa powder list price $3.95

color dark brown PANTONE 19-1314 Seal Brown appearance smooth, imprints, scoring aroma roast (smoke, cocoa), vanilla, earth snap hard taste earth, roast (smoke), bitter melt smooth length short finish bitter, somewhat sour, slightly acidic

Lindt changed the formulations of their Excellence line of chocolate bars since our reviews of them in 2010. For the high content bars, they added cocoa powder processed with alkali.

Lindt 90% Supreme Dark had additional ingredients of cocoa butter, cocoa powder, sugar, and bourbon vanilla beans. There was no added emulsifier (none of the soy lecithin that was added in the 70% bar).

Inside a paper box, the 100 gram bar came enclosed in foil. The bar was scored into 10 pieces, each with imprints of the cursive Lindt name above six diagonal lines. The best before date was May 31, 2014.

The color of 90% was a dark brown Seal Brown (PANTONE 19-1314). The bar had a smooth surface and overall nice appearance. The snap was hard.

This chocolate had an aroma of roast, vanilla, and earth. The roast contained both smoke and cocoa scents.

An initial earthy taste transitioned to a smoky roast flavor. I also tasted vanilla and a strong bitterness.

The melt was smooth. The chocolate flavor lasted about 15 to 20 seconds after the chocolate was gone, giving a short length. The finish was that strong bitterness, along with some sourness and a little acidity.

You can purchase Excellence 90% online for $3.95 directly from Lindt or for only $1.96 currently on sale at World Wide Chocolate.

Review: Lindt Excellence 70% Smooth Dark

Richard's Rating: 5.0

chocolate maker Lindt bar Excellence 70% region unknown plantation blend cacao trees unknown year unknown size 100g ~ 3.5oz cocoa solids 70% added fat cocoa butter sweetener sugar emulsifier soy lecithin flavoring bourbon vanilla other ingredients (none) list price $3.95

color medium brown PANTONE 19-1012 Dark Brown appearance smooth, imprints, scoring aroma roast (smoke, tobacco), sweet, vanilla, earth, nut snap hard taste sweet (butterscotch), roast (cocoa), vanilla, nut, tannin, acidic, bitter melt smooth length short finish tannin, somewhat bitter, somewhat acidic

It's been several years since we reviewed Lindt's Excellence line, and since that time Lindt has changed the ingredients of these chocolates.

Lindt added soy lecithin to the 70% bar. Other ingredients of this 70% cocoa solids chocolate are sugar, cocoa butter, and bourbon vanilla beans.

The 100 gram bar came enclosed in foil inside a paper box. The best before date was April 30, 2014. The bar was scored into 10 pieces, each with imprints of the cursive Lindt name above six diagonal lines.

The chocolate had a medium brown Dark Brown (PANTONE 19-1012) color. The bar looked great, with a smooth surface and only a few adhered bits. The snap was hard.

The aroma was mostly roast, with smokiness and tobacco scents, and vanilla. It smelled sweet, and I noticed some earth and nuttiness as well.

Excellence 70% tasted sweet, with a dominant flavor of butterscotch. Flavors of cocoa roast, vanilla, and nut were also present. The taste was tannin, acidic, and bitter.

The melt was smooth. The length was at the far end of short, with the flavor lasting almost 20 seconds after the chocolate was gone. The finish was tannin, somewhat bitter, and somewhat acidic.

Overall, this iteration of their 70% bar is an improvement over the one we reviewed in 2010. The taste changed substantially and the formerly strong bitter finish was substantially reduced. This chocolate remains a great value, and can frequently be found on sale for as little as $2.00 at groceries and pharmacies.

You can purchase Excellence 70% online for $3.95 directly from Lindt or for $3.50 from World Wide Chocolate.

Sale: 15% off Bonnat, Cluizel, Pralus, Valrhona, and more!

World Wide Chocolate has 15% off French chocolate, including Cacao Barry, Bonnat, Bernard Castelain, Michel Cluizel, Francois Pralus, Yves Thuries, and Valrhona chocolate this week (through December 12th). Use coupon code FRENCH15 during checkout for this discount.

Other promotions include:

• 20% off Ghirardelli and Lindt using coupon code SPECIAL20
• 15% off Becolade, Cafe-Tasse, Callebaut, Cavalier, Chocolove, Côte d'Or, Dolfin, Galler, Godiva and Nirvana using coupon code BELGIAN15 (only valid through tomorrow)
• additional promotions can be found here
  

REMINDER: Only one coupon code is allowed per order.

In addition, the first 100 buyers to add "Free T-Shirt" in the Comments field will receive a large size WWC t-shirt.

World Wide Chocolate only ships to United States, APO (military), and FPO (diplomatic) addresses. Full information can be found at World Wide Chocolate shipping policies.

Sale: 20% off Michel Cluizel and 5 free Venchi squares

This week World Wide Chocolate has 20% off Michel Cluizel and Lindt chocolate (through November 14th). Twenty percent off Michel Cluizel is a good deal, but you can frequently find Lindt priced lower on sale in retail stores. Use coupon code SPECIAL20 during checkout for this 20% discount.

As a bonus treat during checkout, the first 30 buyers to add "Free Venchi Chocolate Squares" in the Comments field will receive 5 free bite-size 3 gram chocolate squares of Venchi chocolate. That giveaway ends today, but they are also running a free t-shirt giveaway for the first 100 buyers who add "Free T-Shirt" in the Comments field (ends November 14th). Only one giveaway per order.

World Wide Chocolate has some additional promotions available, but none are especially compelling.

REMINDER: Only one coupon code is allowed per order.

World Wide Chocolate only ships to United States, APO (military), and FPO (diplomatic) addresses. Full information can be found at World Wide Chocolate shipping policies.

Sale: Lindt chocolate bars only $1

At Walgreens stores, Lindt chocolate bars are on sale through Saturday, May 28th at the price of 2 for $3. There is also a $1 off 2 "instant value coupon" available in stores, resulting in the lowest price I've ever seen for this chocolate: only $1 per bar.

At this price, it is only $0.28 cents per ounce, making these bars a superb value, as you can see on our best chocolate values page. Our postings about Lindt chocolate bars can be found by clicking any Lindt label, or you can go directly to our reviews of the Lindt Excellence 85% and 70% bars.

This offer does not appear to be available online, so you'll have to check at a Walgreens near you. Here is their store locator. This offer seems to be available everywhere in the U.S., but I've only confirmed it locally in Seattle. Please add a comment if you find it is not available in your area.

Store: Kakao

Last month I ran across kakáo (pronounced kuh-key-oh) while on a walk in the South Lake Union neighborhood of Seattle. I saw the sign in the window and felt compelled to check it out. I'm glad I did.

kakáo is a combination chocolate and coffee shop, with lots of bright, open space in which to hang out. In this converted warehouse, under 15' high wooden ceilings, they have ten tables with chairs, two loveseats, two lounge chairs, free Wi-Fi for internet access (wireless network 415: just ask them for the password), and lots of outlets around the walls and windows (to power your laptop, etc).

chocolate store	kakáo
website	http://www.kakaoseattle.com/
address	415 Westlake Ave. N. Seattle, WA 98109 United States
phone	(206) 388-5467
hours	Mon-Fri	7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.
	Sat	8 a.m. to 12 p.m.
online shopping	no
shipping area	N/A
warm weather shipping	N/A
chocolate makers	Amedei Michel Cluizel Claudio Corallo Dagoba Fran's Green and Black's Guittard Kallari Komforte Lindt Madécasse Moonstruck François Pralus Republica del Cacao Scharffen Berger Taza Theo Valrhona Vosges
special deals & events	free Wi-Fi
last updated	February 24, 2012

With more than 50 different chocolate bars of more than a dozen different brands, kakáo has the second largest collection of quality chocolate in Seattle (including some not available at Chocolopolis).

At the espresso bar, they serve Valrhona Celaya drinking chocolate in addition to more traditional drip coffee and espresso. Their coffee is from local Seattle green coffee maker Herkimer. A small collection of pastries is also available.

The shop is officially open weekdays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., but a barista let me know that they are usually open by 7:15 a.m. Their website is only a placeholder at present, but the owner, J.B., intends to add content and perhaps eventually sell chocolate online (I'll let you know if he does!)

kakáo has a side room that holds up to twenty people that is available for free, and can even be reserved. They also have a huge venue space for rent in back that has a capacity of 300 people (200 for a seated event). Call and talk to Jim if you're interested in more information about their venue space.

Sale: Green & Black's (and Lindt) 2 for $4

Walgreens is have a sale starting tomorrow, Sunday, March 27th, through Saturday, April 2nd, on Green & Black's, Lindt, and Dove chocolate bars: 2 for $4. This is a good price for Green & Black's Organic Dark bars.

Although the sale officially begins tomorrow, it seems to be available for online purchases starting today. Unfortunately, they only have one Green & Black's bar online -- the Organic Dark 70% (more are available in some stores). They have several Lindt bars online and some Dove bars. Shipping to the continental United States is free with purchase of $25 or more.

For more info on the four of these bars we've reviewed, here are direct links:
Green & Black's Organic Dark 70%
Green & Black's Organic Dark 85%
Lindt Excellence 70%
Lindt Excellence 85%

Lindt on sale at Walgreens

As you may have read in our reviews of the Lindt Excellence 85% and 70% bars, they are not anywhere near our favorites, but they are certainly good chocolate bars at a reasonable price.

At least at local Seattle area Walgreens stores, these bars will be on sale from Sunday, October 17th, through Saturday, October 23rd, at the price of 2 for $3. There is also a $1 off 2 "instant value coupon" available in stores, resulting in the lowest price I've ever seen for this chocolate: only $1 per bar.

Note that this offer is not yet available today; it will begin this Sunday.

Review: Lindt Excellence 85%

Lindy's Rating: 5.0 (previously **)

Richard's Rating: 5.0 (previously **)

chocolate maker Lindt bar Excellence 85% year (unknown) cacao trees (unknown) region (unknown) size 100g ~ 3.5oz plantation (blend) cocoa solids 85% fat cocoa butter sweetener sugar emulsifier (none) flavoring bourbon vanilla other ingredients (none) list price $3.50

color medium-dark brown texture stripes of smooth & matte aroma cherry, roast snap very hard taste earthy, roast (coffee), grapefruit melt slow start length short finish bitter

Lindy and I tasted four bars today, including the Lindt Excellence 70%, which has been updated to merge Lindy's tasting notes and add her rating, and the Lindt Excellence 85% reviewed here.

The color and texture were nearly identical to that of the 70%. The snap was a bit harder. The aroma of cherries was much stronger than in the 70%, and overwhelmed any subtler scents other than some roast. Surprisingly, that cherry aroma did not come out in the flavor, and instead this bar tasted earthy and of roast coffee. Lindy also noticed a grapefruit flavor. The length was longer than the 70%, but still short. The finish was more bitter. Overall, we both liked this bar slightly more than the 70%. Another solid bar in the inexpensive category.

UPDATE: As of 20 April 2013, the best price I found for purchase online in the U.S. was $3.50 from World Wide Chocolate. However, you can frequently find Lindt Excellence bars on sale for $2.00 or less at local groceries and pharmacies.

Review: Lindt Excellence 70%

Lindy's Rating: 4.5 (previously **)

Richard's Rating: 4.5 (previously **)

chocolate maker Lindt bar Excellence 70% year (unknown) cacao trees (unknown) region (unknown) size 100g ~ 3.5oz plantation (blend) cocoa solids 70% fat cocoa butter sweetener sugar emulsifier (none) flavoring bourbon vanilla other ingredients (none) list price $3.50

color medium-dark brown texture stripes of smooth & matte aroma coffee, sweet tobacco, hint of cherry snap hard taste cherry, tobacco melt slow start length minimal, almost none finish bitter, dry, ashy

MORE RECENT REVIEW: Lindt Excellence 70% Smooth Dark

As my friend Michael and I were discussing, it's helpful to have some baseline reviews of more common dark chocolate as reference points, so yesterday afternoon I went to a local pharmacy and purchased two bars from Lindt. I'll pick up a couple of bars from Green & Black's the next time I see them.

In my experience, Lindt Excellence 70% has been a reliably good chocolate bar. It has solid chocolate flavor, though lacks the depth and length of better bars. Surprisingly smooth given the lack of an emulsifier. Although not the quality of the best artisan chocolates, it compares well with some of them, and it's a bargain for the price.

I realized that it might be useful to actually see the chocolate, so I'll be taking pictures to include in the reviews.

UPDATE: As of 20 April 2013, the best price I found for purchase online in the U.S. was $3.50 from World Wide Chocolate. However, you can frequently find Lindt Excellence bars on sale for $2.00 or less at local groceries and pharmacies.

Not just the percentage

Up until a little over a year ago, I used to believe that good chocolate was measured simply by the proportion of cocoa in the chocolate. My favorite chocolate bars were the 85% and 70% bars from Green & Black's and Lindt that you could buy in some grocery stores.

I didn't consider that the type and quality of cocoa beans varies like that of coffee beans for coffee or grapes for wine, but of course it does.

Just as important to a chocolate bar are the other ingredients. In addition to cocoa solids, chocolate requires fat (best as cocoa butter) and a sweetener (typically sugar). Nearly all chocolates also use an emulsifier (to make the chocolate smoother, often in the form of lecithin) and flavoring (usually vanilla). Some chocolates also include other ingredients and flavorings (though the better chocolates seem not to).

I'm going to try to review and rate the chocolates I taste over the next 10 months. Admittedly, the rating part will be completely biased by my own preferences. Please note that the chocolates I taste here will be almost exclusively "dark" chocolates, with at least 50% cocoa solids, as those are the varieties I like best.

By the way, it turns out that Chocolopolis has its own blog.