Review: Pralus Ghana

Lindy's Rating: 5.0 (previously **)

Richard's Rating: 5.0 (previously **)

chocolate maker Francois Pralus bar Ghana region Ghana plantation (blend) cacao trees Forastero year (unknown) size 100g ~ 3.5oz cocoa solids 75% added fat cocoa butter sweetener sugar emulsifier soy lecithin flavoring (none) other ingredients (none) list price €4,00

color medium-dark brown PANTONE 19-1518 Puce texture smooth with text imprint and scoring aroma ashy, smoky, spice, hints of vanilla, cherry, and coffee snap medium hard taste coffee, spice (cinnamon) melt creamy length minimal finish somewhat bitter

Francois Pralus Ghana is a certified organic chocolate bar made from Forastero cacao beans in Ghana. It was one of the bars we tasted at our recent blind chocolate tasting. Although it was ranked lowest among the bars at that event, both Lindy and I felt it should have ended up somewhere nearer the middle.

The aroma of this bar was a bit weaker that the other bars at the tasting, but interesting none the less. People detected scents of ash, smoke, and spice, along with hints of vanilla, cherry, and coffee. The taste was experienced more consistently, with nearly everyone noticing coffee and spice. Lindy and one other person identified the spice flavor as cinnamon.

The melt of this bar was creamy and better than any of the other bars we tasted that evening. Sadly, the flavor disappeared quickly after the chocolate and left a somewhat bitter aftertaste.

Unfortunately, we did not take an opportunity to photograph the opened chocolate bars at the tasting, so I only have a picture of the wrapper.