Review: Chocolove Rich Dark 65%

Richard's Rating: 5.5

chocolate maker (unknown) bar Rich Dark region (unknown) plantation (blend) cacao trees (unknown) year 2012 size 90g ~ 3.2oz cocoa solids 65% added fat cocoa butter sweetener sugar emulsifier soy lecithin flavoring vanilla other ingredients (none) list price N/A

color medium brown PANTONE 19-1015 Bracken texture smooth, scoring, imprints, scuffing, adhered bits aroma roast (malt, smoke), earth, sweet (marshmallow) snap medium hard taste roast (cocoa, coffee), vanilla, sweet (marshmallow), bitter, earth, fruit melt smooth length medium finish bitter, somewhat tannin, slightly sour

Chocolove makes many flavored chocolates and three unflavored dark bars. The other two are Extra Strong Dark 77% and Strong Dark 70%.

Rich Dark was made from a blend of Caribbean and African cacao in liquor form. The other ingredients were sugar, cocoa butter, soy lecithin, and vanilla. Total cocoa solids were 65%.

Chocolove uses outer paper wrapper that represent love letters. The poem inside Rich Dark was from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. An inner wrapper of gold foil-sided wax paper covered the 90 gram bar. The best before date was March 2014.

The chocolate had a medium brown Bracken (PANTONE 19-1015) color. The bar was scored into 18 pieces, each with a stylized heart imprint. Its surface was smooth, with some scuffing and adhered bits of chocolate.

The snap was medium hard, and the pieces did not break cleanly on the scoring lines due to its thickness. The aroma was primarily a malt and smoky roast along with some earthiness and a sweet marshmallow scent.

The taste of Rich Dark contained strong flavors of roast, vanilla, and sweetness. The roast flavor was more cocoa than coffee. The sweetness seemed to include a marshmallow flavor. Some bitterness was present. There were other more subtle flavors of earth and fruit as well.

The chocolate had a smooth melt. The length was medium, with the chocolate flavor lasting 25 to 30 seconds after the chocolate was gone. The final aftertaste was bitter, somewhat tannin, and slightly sour.

At a price of around $1 per ounce, Rich Dark is a bargain, even if the flavor is relatively uninteresting.

You can purchase Chocolove Rich Dark 65% online for $2.95 from Chocosphere.