Review: Raaka Ecuador 85% Dark

Richard's Rating: 5.5

chocolate maker Raaka bar Ecuador 85% Dark region Ecuador plantation (blend) cacao trees (unknown) year (unknown) size 34g ~ 1.2oz cocoa solids 85% added fat cocoa butter sweetener cane sugar emulsifier (none) flavoring (none) other ingredients (none) list price $5.00

color medium-dark brown PANTONE 19-1314 Seal Brown texture uneven shape, smooth, uneven sheen, scuffing, bubble, adhered bits aroma floral, earth (must), fruit, spice, hint of mint snap hard taste earth, sour, fruit (melon, berry), wine, floral, nut (almond) melt smooth length short finish tannin, somewhat sour, somewhat acidic, slightly chalky

U.S. chocolate makers Ryan Cheney and Nate Hodge established Raaka Virgin Chocolate and released their first bars in 2010. Their concept of virgin chocolate is not quite the same as raw, as they allow slightly higher temperatures. Raaka does not roast their cacao beans and processes all of their chocolate below 135 degrees Fahrenheit (57°C). They currently make two single origin bars (Ecuador and Madagascar) and five flavored bars.

Raaka buys beans from cooperatives, always paying above fair trade prices. They use only organic ingredients and make their chocolate in a nut-free environment. They purchased the cacao beans for their Ecuador 85% Dark bar from APROCA. The other ingredients were cane sugar and cocoa butter.

The bar was double-wrapped with silver foil sided wax paper and craft paper. It was sealed closed by a large product sticker on the back. There was no best before date. The batch number was 20.

Ecuador 85% had a medium-dark brown Seal Brown (PANTONE 19-1314) color. The unscored bar was uneven, with one side thicker than the other. The surface was smooth, with an uneven sheen, some scuffing, one bubble, and a some adhered bits of chocolate. The snap was hard.

The aroma of the chocolate contained floral, earth, fruit and spice scents. The earth was musty. I also smelled just a hint of mint.

The initial taste was earthy and sour before the fruit was revealed. I tasted mostly melon with a little berry. I also experienced flavors of wine, floral, and nut in form of almond. The back label listed tasting notes of "almond, melon, molasses", but I didn't taste the molasses.

The chocolate had a smooth melt. The chocolate flavor lasted 15 to 20 seconds after the chocolate was gone, giving a short length. The finish was tannin, somewhat sour, somewhat acidic, and slightly chalky.

You can purchase Ecuador 85% Dark directly from Raaka for $8.00 for a 2.5 ounce bar (or $5.00 for 1.2 ounce bar).

Ranking: best Bolivia single origin chocolate

Here are my personal ranking results from three rounds of tasting four single origin bars made from Bolivia cacao. You can see all of our current ranking results on the Chocolate Rankings page.

El Ceibo Heritage and Rogue Silvestre were both excellent chocolates, and I found it difficult to decide between them. Ultimately, I felt Heritage slightly edged out Silvestre with a greater variety of flavors. Note that the qualities of each chocolate differ, and you might prefer the flavor, aroma, or texture of a lower ranked chocolate to that of one ranked higher. Click on a name to see a detailed review of that chocolate bar.

El Ceibo Heritage Rogue Silvestre Dick Taylor Bolivia Taza Stone Ground 87%

2013 Good Food Awards for Chocolate

The Good Food Awards published their winners for 2013. The following unflavored bars won awards in the chocolate category:

Amano Chuao
Dandelion Sambirano, Madagascar
Fresco Papua New Guinea 220
Patric Madagascar 67%
Patric Madagascar 75%
Ritual Costa Rica
Ritual Madagascar
Rogue Hispaniola
Rogue Rio Caribe
Rogue Sambirano

The links above go directly to our associated detailed chocolate bar review.

Chocolate Consumption Statistics By Country

The ICCO (International Cocoa Organization) released their bi-annual World Cocoa Economy report for 2012 and included in it are some great statistics about chocolate consumption in various countries around the world.

For a little historical perspective, here is our posting about consumption statistics from the 2010 report.

This first table lists per-capita consumption of chocolate confections by country, and includes products made with white chocolate. It is based on data from CAOBISCO (European Union Association of the Chocolate, Biscuit and Confectionery Industries) and the ICA (International Confectionery Association).

Per-capita Chocolate Confection Consumption
country	kg/year	lb/year
Germany	11.6	25.4
Switzerland	10.5	23.1
United Kingdom	9.7	21.4
Norway	9.4	20.8
Denmark	8.5	18.7
Austria	8.2	18.0
Finland	7.3	16.0
Sweden	6.4	14.0
France	6.3	13.9
Estonia	6.2	13.7
Belgium	6.1	13.4
Lithuania	5.4	11.9
United States	5.3	11.6
Australia	4.5	9.9
Italy	3.7	8.2
Poland	3.6	7.9
Spain	3.6	7.9
Greece	3.5	7.7
Hungary	3.3	7.3
Brazil	2.9	6.4
Portugal	2.7	6.0
Japan	2.1	4.6
Bulgaria	1.3	2.8

The following tables are potentially more interesting. The next table contains estimates of per-capita consumption of cocoa by country. Unfortunately, I didn't find a clear definition by ICCO to identify the line between cocoa and chocolate confection, but here's the data they provided. If you find their definition, please email us or add it in a comment!

Per-capita Cocoa Consumption
country	kg/year	lb/year
Switzerland	5.88	12.94
Belgium	5.69	12.51
Ireland	4.02	8.84
Norway	4.02	8.83
Germany	3.96	8.72
Austria	3.80	8.36
United Kingdom	3.64	8.00
France	3.62	7.97
Denmark	3.29	7.23
Slovenia	3.07	6.75
Finland	3.02	6.65
Israel	2.96	6.52
Australia	2.87	6.33
Greece	2.60	5.72
Canada	2.55	5.61
United States	2.46	5.40
Czech Republic	2.44	5.37
Sweden	2.29	5.03
Netherlands	2.28	5.02
Spain	2.28	5.01
Hungary	1.79	3.94
Portugal	1.71	3.77
Poland	1.69	3.71
Italy	1.46	3.21
Russian Federation	1.39	3.06
Kazakhstan	1.23	2.70
Japan	1.22	2.67
Colombia	0.99	2.18
Romania	0.98	2.15
Chile	0.97	2.13
Saudi Arabia	0.97	2.12
Brazil	0.92	2.01
Argentina	0.79	1.73
Malaysia	0.60	1.31
Algeria	0.58	1.27
Mexico	0.55	1.21
Ghana	0.55	1.20
Republic of Korea	0.50	1.10
Ukraine	0.48	1.06
Cote d'Ivoire	0.44	0.98
Venezuela	0.41	0.90
South Africa	0.39	0.85
Turkey	0.34	0.74
Philippines	0.32	0.71
Ecuador	0.30	0.65
Nigeria	0.11	0.25
Indonesia	0.10	0.21
China	0.04	0.08
India	0.03	0.06

This last table averages per-capita consumption of cocoa by region. Of particular note is the World excluding China, India, and Indonesia. Because of the large populations of those countries with limited access to cocoa products, they otherwise skew the overall World average.

Per-capita Cocoa Consumption
region	kg/year	lb/year
World	0.61	1.35
World excluding China, India, Indonesia	1.09	2.40
Europe	2.18	4.80
Americas	1.37	3.01
Africa	0.20	0.44
Asia & Oceania	0.15	0.34

Review: Dick Taylor Bolivia

Richard's Rating: 6.0

chocolate maker Dick Taylor bar Bolivia region Bolivia plantation (blend) cacao trees (unknown) year (unknown) size 57g ~ 2.0oz cocoa solids 75% added fat (none) sweetener cane sugar emulsifier (none) flavoring (none) other ingredients (none) list price $7.50

color dark brown PANTONE 19-1314 Seal Brown texture imprint, smooth aroma earth (soil), roast (malt, smoke), sweet snap hard taste earth, roast (malt), sweet, nut, fruit, bitter melt smooth length medium finish bitter, slightly sour

Dick Taylor has been crafting bean to bar chocolate in small batches since 2010. They currently make chocolate from four origins: Belize, Bolivia, Dominican Republic, and Madagascar. In addition, they sell a few flavored bars, such as Black Fig, Fleur de Sel, and Maple Coconut.

Bolivia was made from 75% organic cacao beans and 25% organic cane sugar. The bar was not certified organic. The cacao beans were from a small lot of Rio Bene Wild Harvest (cacao beniano) sourced from John Nanci of Chocolate Alchemy.

Dick Taylor has an extremely detailed chocolate mold, as you can see in the photo of the bar above. The bar came wrapped in gold-sided foil inside an outer paper wrapper that was sealed on the back with a large product sticker. The best before date was September 2013.

The color of Bolivia was a dark brown Seal Brown (PANTONE 19-1314). The top surface was smooth, with just a few bits of adhered chocolate. The snap was hard.

Bolivia smelled primarily of earth and roast. The earthiness seemed to be a rich soil scent. The roast was mostly malt, with a little smokiness. The aroma also revealed sweetness.

The chocolate tasted of earth, roast, and sweetness as well. The roast contained malt. Along with those flavors were nut, fruit, and bitter.

The melt was smooth. The length was medium, with the chocolate flavor lasting 20 to 25 seconds after the chocolate was gone. The finish was bitter and slightly sour.

The Bolivia bar is not currently for sale from Dick Taylor, but you can purchase it for $8.95 from The Meadow.

Review: Dick Taylor Madagascar

Richard's Rating: 7.0

chocolate maker Dick Taylor bar Madagascar region Madagascar plantation (blend) cacao trees (unknown) year (unknown) size 57g ~ 2.0oz cocoa solids 72% added fat (none) sweetener cane sugar emulsifier (none) flavoring (none) other ingredients (none) list price $7.50

color medium brown PANTONE 19-1431 Fudgesickle texture imprint, smooth, uneven sheen, bubbles aroma earth, roast, fruit, spice, dairy (cheese), acidic snap hard taste earth, fruit (citrus, lemon, berry, watermelon), roast (cocoa), acidic melt smooth length medium finish somewhat acidic, slightly sour

MORE RECENT REVIEW: Dick Taylor Madagascar Sambirano

U.S. chocolate makers Adam Dick and Dustin Taylor craft their bean to bar chocolate from only cacao beans and cane sugar. Dick Taylor currently makes four unflavored single origin chocolate bars: Belize, Bolivia, Dominican Republic, and Madagascar, as well as some flavored ones.

Madagascar contained 72% cacao beans and 28% cane sugar. Both ingredients were organic, though their bars are not certified. The cacao beans were sourced from Bertil Åkesson.

The bar came came wrapped in gold-sided foil inside an outer paper wrapper sealed on the back with a large product sticker. The best before date was September 2013.

Madagascar had a medium brown Fudgesickle (PANTONE 19-1431) color. As you can see in the bar photo above, Dick Taylor has a beautifully detailed chocolate mold. The top surface was smooth, with an uneven sheen and several tiny bubbles. The snap was hard.

The aroma contained earth, roast, fruit, spice, and dairy scents. The dairy scent was suggestive of cheese. I also found the aroma acidic.

The chocolate started out tasting earthy, and then revealed a wonderful collection of fruit flavors: citrus, lemon, berry, and watermelon. A cocoa roast and acidity were present along with the bonanza of fruit.

The melt was smooth. The chocolate flavor lasted about 25 to 30 seconds after the chocolate was gone, giving a medium length. The finish was somewhat acidic and slightly sour.

You can purchase Madagascar for $7.50 directly from Dick Taylor, or for $7.95 from The Meadow.