Review: Claudio Corallo 100% Puro Cacau

Richard's Rating: 5.0

chocolate maker Claudio Corallo bar 100% Puro Cacau region São Tomé e Principe plantation Terreiro Velho cacao trees Forastero year (unknown) size 50g ~ 1.8oz cocoa solids 100% added fat (none) sweetener (none) emulsifier (none) flavoring (none) other ingredients (none) list price N/A

color medium-dark brown PANTONE 19-1314 Seal Brown texture smooth, uneven shape and size, uneven grayish tone, adhered bits aroma roast, acidic, spice, fruit, earth snap hard taste sour, chalky, spice, tannin, roast (malt, tea, cocoa), bitter melt more smooth length medium finish astringent, tannin, acidic, somewhat sour

Claudio Corallo crafts his chocolate from tree to bar with cacao grown on his plantations in São Tomé e Principe. Corallo does not conche his chocolate, which tends to leave it with a less smooth melt and sharper flavor.

100% Puro Cacau was made only with cacao from the Terreiro Velho plantation on Principe, with no other added ingredients. Two bars totalling 50 grams came packaged in a single sealed plastic wrapper. The best before date was October 2014.

The two bars were individually uneven and completely different in size, with one less than half the thickness of the other. The color was a medium-dark brown Seal Brown (PANTONE 19-1314). The surface had a grayish tone and there were bits of adhered chocolate.

The aroma was acidic, and contained scents of roast, spice, fruit, and earth. On one occasion, I thought I smelled berry.

The taste of 100% Puro Cacau began gradually with sour and spice flavors along with chalkiness. Tannin grew quite strong with a complex roast of malt, black tea, and cocoa. A little bitterness was present as well.

This chocolate had a melt that was more smooth. The length was medium, with the chocolate flavor lasting 30 to 35 seconds after the chocolate was gone. The final aftertaste was astringent, tannin, acidic, and somewhat sour.

Claudio Corallo 100% Puro Cacau has no list price, and I could not find it available for purchase online anywhere. I purchased this one from Chocolopolis for $12.50, but they do not sell it online. QuintEssenz has it priced for €5.95 but they have none in stock, and only ship to Germany and Austria.

Review: Åkesson's Brazil Fazenda Sempre Firme 75%

Richard's Rating: 6.0

chocolate maker (unknown) bar Brazil region Brazil plantation Sempre Firme cacao trees Forastero year 2011 size 60g ~ 2.1oz cocoa solids 75% added fat cocoa butter sweetener cane sugar emulsifier soy lecithin flavoring (none) other ingredients (none) list price N/A

color medium-dark brown PANTONE 19-1317 Bitter Chocolate texture relief, scoring, smooth, uneven sheen, scuffing aroma earth (hay), roast (tobacco) snap hard taste earth (hay), roast (tobacco), bitter, fruit (berry, raisin), sweet melt smooth length short finish somewhat bitter, slightly sour, slightly acidic

Åkesson's sells three single origin plantation bars: Madagascar Ambolikapiky and Bali Sukrama Farms that we've previously reviewed, and this one: Brazil Fazenda Sempre Firme. Åkesson purchased this plantation in Bahia in 2009.

The cacao grown at Fazenda Sempre Firme is a Forestero variety called Parazinho. Åkesson's Brazil chocolate was made with 75% cocoa solids (cacao beans from this plantation and added cocoa butter). The other 25% were cane sugar and soy lecithin.

Åkesson's chocolate is made by an unnamed French company (presumed to be Pralus). Even though they did not make the chocolate themselves, Åkesson's was actively involved in production decisions.

The bar came sealed in a clear cellophane inside a black paper box. It weighed 60 grams and had a large "Å" relief in the center. The bar was scored into symmetrically, but unevenly, into 9 pieces. The best before date for this particular bar was December 16, 2013.

Brazil Fazenda Sempre Firme had a medium dark brown Bitter Chocolate (PANTONE 19-1317) color. The chocolate was not in perfect condition (probably from improper transportation or storage at some point), yet the surface was smooth with an uneven sheen and a little scuffing. The picture above over-emphasized the contrast -- the bar looked better in person.

The aroma was primarily a strong earthy scent that reminded me of wet hay. There was also a tobacco roast. The combination smelled slightly unpleasant to me. The snap was hard.

The initial taste of this chocolate was similar its aroma: a powerful earthy hay with tobacco roast undertones. Bitterness and sweetness were present as fruit flavors developed. I tasted berry and raisin in particular.

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

Åkesson's previous Brazil bar, made with cacao from a neighboring farm (Fazenda Monte Alegre), won a gold in 2011 from the Academy of Chocolate.

You can purchase Åkesson's Brazil Fazenda Sempre Firme 75% online from The Meadow for $7.95.

Review: Daniel Les Origines Sao Tome 70%

Richard's Rating: 5.5

chocolate maker (unknown) bar Les Origines Sao Tome 70% region São Tomé plantation (blend) cacao trees Forastero year (unknown) size 9g ~ 0.3oz cocoa solids 70% added fat cocoa butter sweetener sugar emulsifier soy lecithin flavoring vanilla other ingredients (none) list price N/A

color medium-dark brown PANTONE 19-1314 Seal Brown texture smooth, lined, imprint, bubbles aroma roast (coffee, cocoa), spice (anise, clove), hint of sweet snap hard taste roast (coffee, cocoa), sweet, spice (anise), tannin melt smooth length short finish slightly bitter, slightly tannin

My friend Edward supplied me with two boxes of chocolate of Les Origines line of bars from Vancouver chocolatier Daniel le Chocolat Belge: Sao Tome 70% and Trinidad 65% (Thank you Edward!). Each box contained six tiny separately wrapped bars.

Daniel makes a large variety of chocolate confections (truffles, etc.), as you can see on their website. I do not know what chocolate maker they use for these bars.

Sao Tome was made from Forastero cacao beans from São Tomé. The ingredients were cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter, soy lecithin, and vanilla, and the chocolate contained 70% cocoa solids.

Each 9.4 gram bar was lined and imprinted with the word "Chocolette" (which seems an odd spelling both for a Belgian chocolate maker and for residing in Canada). It came wrapped in gold foil-sided waxed paper inside a paper sleeve. There was no production or best before date.

The chocolate had a medium-dark Seal Brown (PANTONE 19-1314) color. The surface was smooth and looked good other than several bubbles in the raised lettering. The bar had a hard snap.

Sao Tome had a coffee roast aroma combined with a strong anise scent. The roast also contained some cocoa, and there was a subtler clove scent as well. In addition, it smelled slightly sweet to me.

The taste very much like the aroma: a coffee and cocoa roast along with sweetness and an anise spice flavor. I also experienced some tannin.

The chocolate had a smooth melt. The length was very short, with the chocolate flavor lasting only 5 to 10 seconds after the chocolate was gone. The finish was slightly bitter and slightly tannin.

There is no list price for individual chocolate bars, but the box of six tiny bars was priced at CA$5.55.

Review: E. Guittard Quevedo

Lindy's Rating: 6.5

Richard's Rating: 6.5

chocolate maker Guittard bar Quevedo region Ecuador plantation (blend) cacao trees Forastero year (unknown) size 57g ~ 2.0oz cocoa solids 65% added fat cocoa butter sweetener cane sugar emulsifier soy lecithin flavoring vanilla other ingredients (none) list price $3.89

color medium-dark brown PANTONE 19-1015 Bracken texture smooth with signature imprints, scoring, scuffing, bubbles aroma floral, roast (cocoa), sweet, fruit (banana) snap hard taste floral, roast (tea), sweet, nut melt smooth length medium finish slightly acidic

Quevedo was a single origin chocolate bar made with Nacional cacao from Ecuador by E. Guittard. This bean to bar chocolate contained 65% cocoa solids (beans and added cocoa butter). Other ingredients were cane sugar, soy lecithin, and vanilla beans.

The two ounce bar was scored into twelve pieces, each with the E. Guittard signature imprint. It came enclosed in brass colored foil inside a paper wrapper. The best before date on the bar we reviewed was February 2013.

The chocolate had a medium-dark brown Bracken (PANTONE 19-1015) color. The surface was smooth, but had scuffing and some tiny bubbles. The bar had a hard snap.

The aroma consisted of floral, roast, sweetness and fruit. We experienced the roast as cocoa and the fruit as banana.

Quevedo tasted floral, with a roast in the form of tea, and sweet. The tea flavor lacked the usual associated tannin. The sweetness was nicely less strong than we expected from a chocolate with 65% cocoa solids. I also noticed some nuttiness. Lindy described the flavors as muted, but I found them mild rather than muted.

The melt was smooth. This chocolate had a medium length, with the flavor lasting 20 to 25 seconds after the chocolate was gone. The finish was slightly acidic.

You can purchase Quevedo online for $3.89 directly from Guittard, or for $3.25 from Chocosphere.

Review: Taza Stone Ground 87%

Lindy's Rating: 5.5

Richard's Rating: 5.0

chocolate maker Taza bar Stone Ground 87% region Bolivia plantation (blend) cacao trees Criollo, Forastero year 2011 size 85g ~ 3.0oz cocoa solids 87% added fat (none) sweetener cane sugar emulsifier (none) flavoring vanilla other ingredients (none) list price $6.50

color medium-dark brown PANTONE 19-1015 Bracken texture smooth with scoring and lines, surface bubbles aroma roast (cocoa), earth, spice, sweet, hint of floral snap medium hard taste roast (cocoa), sour, bitter, nut, hint of butter, hint of sweet melt grainy length short finish slightly sour

Taza introduced their Stone Ground 87% chocolate bar this year. It is a single origin bar with a combination of Criollo and Forastero cacao from Bolivia. The chocolate was made with 87% cacao beans, cane sugar from Sertãozinho, Brazil, and vanilla beans from Villa Vanilla Spice Plantation in Villanueva, Costa Rica. No cocoa butter was added. Taza ground the beans using granite stone mills and did not conch the chocolate.

As they have done with all of their suppliers, Taza established a direct trade relationship with Central Integral Agroecologica de Alto Beni cooperative in Bolivia, from whom they sourced the cacao beans for this chocolate. The bar was USDA certified organic.

The three ounce bar was scored into 16 pieces, each topped with three imprinted parallel lines. Stone Ground 87% came wrapped in silver foil-sided paper inside a textured paper sleeve. The wrapper was stamped with batch code 473 and a best before date of 22 August 2012.

By entering the batch number on their home page, you can see information about how that particular chocolate was made. For example, the beans for the bar we reviewed were roasted within two months after they were received, for 45 minutes at 276°F. The bars of this batch of chocolate were wrapped on 23 August 2011 (revealing that Taza recommends eating their chocolate within one year after production).

The color of the chocolate was a medium-dark brown Bracken (PANTONE 19-1015). The surface was mostly smooth, but had several bubbles, including a few substantial ones. The bar had a medium hard snap.

Stone Ground 87% had an aroma that included a rich cocoa roast, with earth, spice and sweetness. I also smelled a suggestion of something floral.

The taste of this chocolate was primarily that of a sour roast. Both of us found it slightly bitter. I tasted additional flavors of nut as well as a hints of butter and sweetness.

As desired for a stone ground chocolate, Stone Ground 87% had a grainy melt. The length was short, with the flavor lasting 15 to 20 seconds after the chocolate was gone. The finish was slightly to somewhat sour.

You can purchase Taza Stone Ground 87% online for $6.50 directly from Taza.

Chocolate Labeling Revisited

Earlier this year I posted about how labeling in chocolate can be inaccurate. At the Northwest Chocolate Festival (NWCF), there was a lot of disappointment with chocolate labeling.

One repeated issue seemed to be the use of the traditional terms of Criollo, Trinitario and Forastero to indicate the type (and implicit quality) of cacao (as I explained in an early blog post about cacao trees).

Multiple presentations at NWCF explained that there is no longer any pure Criollo cacao, and that all quality cacao is now pretty much Trinitario that is closer to Criollo on the spectrum of hybridization between Criollo and Forastero. Some people felt that labeling anything as Criollo is deceptive. It also depends who you ask. As one chocolate maker explained, since Criollo means local and Forastero means foreign, if you ask a farmer if his cacao trees are Criollo or Forastero, he'll look at you as if you're stupid: of course they are Criollo (i.e., local)!

Ten distinct genetic types of cacao have actually been identified, and yet none of those names is used in labeling chocolate. Using the three terms of Criollo, Trinitario, and Forastero is obviously less meaningful.

The other labeling concern at NWCF was the near universal disdain regarding Fair Trade, which typically requires only 5% or so above market prices. Such pricing is insufficient to pay for the higher costs of growing quality cacao. The chocolate makers I spoke with said they paid anywhere from 30% to 400% higher than market prices for their quality beans (sometimes fermented and dried in a manner they requested). One maker cynically suggested that fair trade certifications seemed to be primarily for marketing and for generating money for the certification organizations.

Because much of the quality cacao is grown on many small (e.g., 1 hectare) farms and then the cacao from multiple farms are brought together for fermentation and drying, the cost of certifying those individual farms is too expensive. Many such farms are organic, but they are uncertified. Similarly, chocolate makers are often paying higher than fair trade prices, but aren't certified. Thus, both labels may be lacking on their products. I try to capture this distinction in our reviews and explicitly mention in the text about certifications.

An ideal label for me would include everything from accurate genetics of the cacao to the detailed dates and methods of harvesting and processing it into chocolate -- way too much information for a reasonable consumer. Another piece of information I would like to know is whether or not any added cocoa butter is made from the same cacao beans as the rest of the chocolate (or if a less expensive cocoa butter was used). One member of the audience in a class asked about finding out the percentage of the retail price of a chocolate bar paid to the farmers for their beans.

Beyond ingredients, what information would you want?

Review: Valrhona Grand Cru Abinao 85%

Lindy's Rating: 6.0

Richard's Rating: 6.0

chocolate maker Valrhona bar Abinao region Africa plantation (blend) cacao trees Forastero year (unknown) size 70g ~ 2.5oz cocoa solids 85% added fat cocoa butter sweetener sugar emulsifier soy lecithin flavoring vanilla extract other ingredients (none) list price $6.99

color medium brown PANTONE 19-1015 Bracken texture matte, smooth flower, asymmetric scoring lines aroma roast, fruit (raisin), earth, sweet (molasses) snap hard taste ashy, fruit (raisin), roast, sour melt more smooth length short finish tannin, slightly bitter

Africa was the source of Forastero cacao beans for Abinao 85%, one of Valrhona's Grand Cru line of chocolates. Valrhona made this chocolate from cocoa beans, sugar, cocoa butter, soy lecithin, and natural vanilla extract. Cocoa solids (both beans and cocoa butter) totaled 85%. The thin 70 gram bar was formed as normal for their Grand Cru bars: a matte texture with smooth imprints of a flower and the Valrhona name. The score lines were asymmetric, giving 25 pieces of varied sizes. The particular bar we reviewed had a best before date of December 2011.

Abinao had a medium brown Bracken (PANTONE 19-1015) color and the bar had a hard snap. The chocolate revealed aromas of roast, raisin, earth, and a sweetness Lindy recognized as molasses.

The taste started with an initial ashiness that quickly faded behind a strong raisin flavor. Roast was obviously present, and we tasted some sourness. There seemed to be hints of other fruit, too, but we couldn't identify them.

The melt was smoother than typical after a somewhat slow start. We rated it more smooth. The length was short, with only about 10 seconds of chocolate flavor after the chocolate was gone. The final aftertaste was tannin, with a slight bitterness.

For delivery in the U.S., you can purchase Valrhona Abinao 85% online for $6.99 directly from Valrhona or for $5.65 from Chocosphere. For delivery in the U.K. (and Europe), you can purchase it online for £3.55 from Chocolate Trading Co.

Review: Coppeneur Hacienda Iara 100%

Lindy's Rating: 4.5 (previously *)

Richard's Rating: 6.0 (previously **)

chocolate maker Coppeneur bar Hacienda Iara 100% region Ecuador plantation Iara cacao trees Forastero year (unknown) size 50g ~ 1.8oz cocoa solids 100% added fat (none) sweetener (none) emulsifier (none) flavoring (none) other ingredients (none) list price CA$5.95

color medium-dark brown PANTONE 19-1518 Puce texture smooth with picture relief and text imprint aroma roast (cocoa), floral (jasmine) snap medium hard taste bitter, roast, earth, nut melt creamy length medium finish somewhat bitter

German chocolate maker Coppeneur has a relationship with the Iara plantation in Ecuador run by Gonzalo Martinetti. There, they grow organic Nacional Arriba cacao (which is biologically Forastero), which was the source of the cacao beans for this bar.

Hacienda Iara 100% was made from 100% cocoa solids, without even added cocoa butter. The 50 gram bar was certified organic in Germany. It was wrapped in plastic and packaged along with a 40-page Coppeneur booklet in a black hard paper box that was sealed with fake silver wax stamped with the Coppeneur logo. Coppeneur bars unscored, with a large relief of half a cacao pod surrounded by a circular design and the imprint of "Coppeneur" and its logo in the upper left. The best before date was August 2012.

The color of this chocolate was a medium-dark brown Puce (PANTONE 19-1518). The bar had a medium hard snap. Hacienda Iara 100% had two primary aromas: a cocoa roast and floral scent that Lindy identified as jasmine.

The chocolate had a bitter taste. The other dominant flavor was roast. I also tasted some earth and nut flavors. The melt was creamy, and the flavor lasted 30 to 35 seconds after the chocolate was gone, giving it a medium length. The final aftertaste seemed somewhat bitter to me. Lindy found it more so.

Overall, Lindy described Hacienda Iara 100% as "a bitter experience all around", and rated it *. I felt it deserved **, although this plantation bar was not as good as either Pralus Le 100% or Bonnat 100% Cacao.

You can purchase Coppeneur Hacienda Iara 100% online for CA$5.95 in Canada and the U.S. directly from Coppeneur.

Review: Francois Pralus Djakarta

Lindy's Rating: 7.0 (previously ***)

Richard's Rating: 6.0 (previously **)

chocolate maker Pralus bar Djakarta region Ghana, Indonesia plantation (blend) cacao trees Criollo, Forastero?, Trinitario? 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 brown PANTONE 19-1317 Bitter Chocolate texture smooth with text imprint and scoring aroma earthy, roast (cocoa), sweet snap hard taste hint of bitter, roast (cocoa), fruit (apple, citrus), hint of dairy melt smooth length short finish slightly bitter

Despite its name, Pralus Djakarta is a mixed-origin bar from Ghana and Indonesia. The wrapper indicated the beans were a mixture of Trinitario and Criollo, but Pralus wrote on their website that Djakarta was made from a combination of Forastero and Criollo beans. The latter seems more likely, given Ghana as the origin of the non-Criollo beans.

Djakarta was made of 75% cocoa solids, with sugar, added cocoa butter, and soy lecithin. This bar was packaged as usual for Pralus chocolate bars: paper wrapper over gold foil-covered chocolate. The 100 gram bar we reviewed had a best before date of 3 February 2012.

The bar was scored into 24 small pieces and one large piece (that is the same size as 8 small ones) with the "Pralus" imprint. The color of the chocolate was a medium brown Bitter Chocolate (PANTONE 19-1317). It had a hard snap.

Djakarta had aromas of roast in form of cocoa, an earthiness, and some sweetness. The initial taste gave a slight bitterness, and then revealed the cocoa roast we smelled, along with some fruit flavors. Lindy identified apple and I found some citrus. I also noticed a hint of dairy.

The chocolate had a smooth melt. The flavor only lasted 10 to 15 seconds after the chocolate was gone, giving a short length. The aftertaste was slightly bitter.

Overall, Lindy described Djakarta as enjoyable to eat, and rated it a low ***. I found it somewhat less desirable and rated it a high **.

You can purchase Pralus Djakarta online directly from Pralus for €4,00, or from Chocolopolis for $7.99.

Review: Francois Pralus Caracas

Lindy's Rating: 7.0 (previously ***)

Richard's Rating: 6.0 (previously **)

chocolate maker Pralus bar Caracas region Ghana, Venezuela plantation (blend) cacao trees Forastero, Trinitario 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 19-1015 Bracken texture smooth with text imprint and scoring aroma sweet, earthy, spice, hint of smoke snap hard taste sweet, fruit (coconut), almond, hint of tart melt smooth length short finish very slightly acidic

Caracas is a misleading name for this chocolate bar from Pralus. It is not a single-origin bar from Venezuela, as it includes beans from Ghana. The Trinitario label is also misleading, as this chocolate is made from a mixture of both Forastero and Trinitario cacao beans.

Pralus Caracas is made of 75% cocoa solids, sugar, added cocoa butter, and soy lecithin. This bar was packaged as usual for Pralus chocolate bars: paper wrapper over gold foil-covered chocolate. The 100 gram bar we reviewed had a best before date of 6 August 2011.

The bar was scored into 24 small pieces and one large piece (that is the same size as 8 small ones) with the "Pralus" imprint. The color of Caracas was a medium-dark brown Bracken (PANTONE 19-1015). It had a hard snap.

This chocolate had aromas of sweetness, some earthiness, and a spice that I thought might include cinnamon. Lindy also noticed a hint of smokiness.

Caracas tasted sweet, and included flavors of fruit, coconut, almond, and a hint of tartness. Lindy playfully described it as the "Almond Joy" chocolate due to the coconut and almond flavors, even though it tasted nothing like Almond Joy candy.

The melt was smooth, and the length short. The finish was not bitter, with the aftertaste being only very slightly acidic. Overall, Lindy rated Caracas a low *** and I rated it a high **.

You can purchase Pralus Caracas online directly from Pralus for €4,00, or from Chocolopolis for $9.50.

Review: Hägeland Uganda

Lindy's Rating: 6.0 (previously **)

Richard's Rating: 6.0 (previously **)

chocolate maker Hägeland bar Uganda region Uganda plantation (blend) cacao trees Forastero year (unknown) size 100g ~ 3.5oz cocoa solids 80% added fat cocoa butter sweetener sugar emulsifier (none) flavoring vanilla other ingredients (none) list price N/A

color dark brown texture smooth aroma strong earthy (mushroom), smoky, spice (not quite clove), hint of nuts snap medium-hard taste earthy, coffee, hints of smoke, ash, and fruit melt smooth length minimal-short finish slightly bitter

This Hägeland Uganda bar comes to us thanks to Phillip (who hosted our recent blind chocolate tasting). He found this bar at a Walmart store.

Hägeland is a Belgian chocolate maker that distributes their chocolate exclusively through Walmart in the United States. The bars are not presently available online, nor in all Walmart stores, and the prices vary by store. I phoned several local Washington State Walmarts until I found them currently available at the Federal Way Walmart Supercenter for $2.28 (usually $2.99).

Hägeland's Uganda bars are made from Forastero cacao beans from Uganda. The color of this bar was a dark brown and unleashed a strong earthy aroma that we decided was mushroom. Other aromas we noticed included a smoky roast, a spice we couldn't quite identify that seemed similar to clove, and a hint of nuts.

I found the taste similarly earthy, but Lindy found the flavor to be more of a roast that she experienced as coffee. We also both tasted hints of ash, smoke and fruit. The melt was average and the length was on the minimal side of short. The final aftertaste was a slight bitterness.

Overall, a good ** bar that we both found more interesting than what we consider the standard of **, the Lindt Excellence bars, and sometimes less expensive, too.

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.

Review: Michel Cluizel Vila Gracinda

Lindy's Rating: 5.5 (previously **)

Richard's Rating: 6.0 (previously **)

chocolate maker Michel Cluizel bar Vila Gracinda region São Tomé plantation Vila Gracinda cacao trees (probably Forastero) year (unknown) size 100g ~ 3.5oz cocoa solids 67% fat cocoa butter sweetener cane sugar emulsifier (none) flavoring bourbon vanilla other ingredients (none) list price N/A

color medium-dark brown texture smooth with text imprints aroma clove, licorice, red fruit, coffee snap hard taste coffee, roast, somewhat bitter melt less smooth length short finish flat, ashy

Michel Cluizel 1er Cru de Plantation Vila Gracinda is our first bar from Africa, with beans from the Vila Gracinda plantation on the island of São Tomé. I was unable to track down the type of cacao trees planted there, although it seems likely to be the Forastero that is prevalent in São Tomé. If they answer my email with this information, I will update the review accordingly.

When we opened the bar, it happened to be the first time we tasted when it was bright and sunny here in Seattle. Under artificial light, the color appeared darker than most other bars we'd tasted, definitely a medium-dark brown. However, under bright sunlight, the color appeared more of a medium brown. Because we evaluated the color of the other bars under artificial light, we rated the color medium-dark brown.

The potential color discrepancy points out one of our concerns when evaluating chocolate. How do we remain as objective as possible using our criteria? We will try to maintain similar conditions under which we review each chocolate (such as eating nothing during the four hours before tasting, although this is somewhat problematic when we taste more than one bar in a sitting). As we've been reviewing more bars, we have also been refining our criteria, about which I'll write more in a future posting.

With regards to the Gracinda bar, although Lindy and I both smelled clove as one of the strong aromas, we sensed different other fragrances: Lindy noticed red fruit while I noticed licorice and coffee.

Coffee was also the predominant flavor for me, along with roast. Lindy found the taste somewhat bitter, but I didn't experience any bitterness. The length was short, and the finish was flat and ashy, or "unremarkable" as Lindy described it.

UPDATE: As of 28 April 2013, you can purchase Vila Gracinda for 3,85 € directly from Michel Cluizel. The best price I found for purchase online in the U.S. was $5.99 from Caputo's.

Cacao Trees

Cacao trees (Theobroma cacao L.) are divided into three morphological types: Criollo, Forastero, and Trinitario.

Criollo trees produce the most valuable beans, with better flavor and less bitterness than other types. Unfortunately, they are are vulnerable to disease and have lower bean yields. The lower yields mean that even with substantially higher Criollo bean prices, they generate less revenue for farmers than planting with Forastero or Trinitario. Criollo trees are grown primarily in Venezuela, Columbia, Comoros, Grenada, Jamaica, Java, Madagascar and Trinidad. Between 1% and 5% of the annual world production is Criollo.

Forastero trees are often subdivided into lower Amazon Forastero and upper Amazon Forastero in terms of genetics, but since the chocolate created from both Forastero varieties is generally considered inferior, they are simply called Forastero from a consumer perspective. Both types of Forastero produce higher bean yields and are much more resistant to disease than Criollo, and as a result, are used in most cacao plantations. They are grown in the Ivory Coast, Brazil, Cameroon, Columbia, Ecuador, French Guyana, Ghana, Guyana, Indonesia, Nigeria, Peru, São Tomé, Venezuela, and other countries of West Africa, South America, and Southeast Asia. Between 80% and 90% of the world production is Forastero.

Trinitario trees are a hybrid of Criollo and Forastero trees, originally from Trinidad, and are now grown in many countries, including Cameroon, Ecuador, Java, Lesser Antilles, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Sri Lanka, and Venezuela. Acquiring much of the quality of Criollo and the increased yield and disease-resistance of Forastero, Trinitario has become a popular cacao tree among plantations selling to artisan chocolate makers. Between 10% and 20% of the world production is Trinitario.

A recent study published in 2008 suggests that the traditional division into three types of cacao trees does not accurately reflect their genetic diversity. Instead, they propose a new classification of 10 types: Amelonado, Contamana, Criollo, Curaray, Guiana, Iquitos, Marañon, Nanay, Nacional and Purús. Until such a change is widely accepted, I'll continue to use the traditional classification into Criollo, Forastero, or Trinitario.

Note: the ranges of values for world production are because I did not find reliable data, and instead combined data from multiple unconfirmed sources.