Review: Chocolove Extra Strong Dark 77%

Richard's Rating: 5.5

chocolate maker (unknown) bar Extra Strong Dark region (unknown) plantation (blend) cacao trees (unknown) year (unknown) size 90g ~ 3.2oz cocoa solids 77% added fat cocoa butter sweetener sugar emulsifier soy lecithin flavoring (none) other ingredients (none) list price $3.09

color medium-dark brown PANTONE 19-1015 Bracken texture smooth, scoring, scuffing, adhered bits aroma earth, roast (coffee, tobacco), floral snap hard taste roast (cocoa, coffee), earth, sour, fruit, bitter, hint of ash melt smooth length medium finish bitter, slightly sour

U.S. chocolatier Timothy Moley started Chocolove ten years ago and now produces more than 20 different Belgian chocolate bars. Most bars are flavored, and they vary in cocoa content from 33% to 77%. This review is for their unflavored chocolate bar with 77% cocoa solids: Extra Strong Dark.

The chocolate was made from cocoa liquor, sugar, cocoa butter, and soy lecithin. The liquor came from a blend of African and Caribbean cacao beans.

Each Chocolove wrapper is intended to represent a love letter, and inside each is a love poem. The poem of Extra Strong Dark was the beginning of Elegy 19: To His Mistress Going To Bed by John Donne. The substantial 90 gram bar itself was wrapped in gold foil-sided wax paper. The best before date was October 2013.

The color of Extra Strong Dark was a medium-dark brown Bracken (PANTONE 19-1015). The surface was smooth, with a little scuffing and some adhered bits of chocolate. The bar was scored, but not deeply enough for the chocolate to break cleanly on the scoring lines. The snap was hard.

Extra Strong Dark had a strong aroma of earth and roast, with some floral scent as well. The roast included both coffee and tobacco scents.

The chocolate tasted of roast and earth as well, but with cocoa and coffee flavors, and without the tobacco in the aroma. There was a fruit flavor I was unable to more specifically identify. I found the taste sour and bitter as well, and noticed a hint of ashiness.

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

I was surprised by how much I liked this chocolate: it's one of the better bars priced under $1 per ounce, as you can see on our Best Chocolate Values page.

You can purchase Chocolove Extra Strong Dark online for $2.95 from Chocosphere.

Review: Daniel Les Origines Trinidad 65%

Richard's Rating: 5.5

chocolate maker (unknown) bar Les Origines Trinidad 65% region Trinidad plantation Oropucce cacao trees Trinitario year (unknown) size 9g ~ 0.3oz 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 19-1012 Dark Brown texture smooth, lined, imprint, bubbles aroma floral, fruit, earth, roast snap hard taste fruit (berry), sweet, earth, nut melt smooth length short finish somewhat tannin

This is the other chocolate I received from my friend Edward (thank you!) from Les Origines line of bars of Vancouver chocolatier Daniel le Chocolat Belge. Yesterday, we reviewed Sao Tome 70%; today, we'll review Trinidad 65%.

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

Trinidad was made from Trinitario cacao beans from the Oropucce Plantation near the river of the same name in Trinidad. The ingredients of this chocolate were cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter, soy lecithin, and vanilla. It contained 65% cocoa solids.

Each 9.4 gram bar was lined and imprinted with the word "Chocolette" (the spelling of which still strikes me as odd). It came wrapped in gold foil-sided waxed paper inside a paper sleeve, and six tiny separately wrapped bars were sold per single box. There was no production or best before date.

The chocolate had a medium brown Dark Brown (PANTONE 19-1012) color. The surface was smooth, though the sheen was slightly uneven on the outer rim. There were bubbles in the raised lettering, as well as on the bottom border. There was also a bit of extra chocolate hardened on the bar on the right edge. The bar had a hard snap.

The aroma of Trinidad was floral, with additional scents of fruit, earth and roast.

The chocolate tasted of fruit that took me a while to identify as berry. A strong sweetness was present, along with more subtle earth and nut flavors.

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 somewhat tannin.

After reviewing Trinidad, I compared it to another chocolate with the same origin, Bonnat Trinité, and although they were not similar, I had given them the same final rating. Overall, I slightly prefer Trinité, even with it bitterness.

There is no list price for individual chocolate bars, but the box of six tiny bars was priced at CA$5.45.

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: Valrhona Le Noir Extra Amer 85%

Richard's Rating: 5.0

chocolate maker Valrhona bar Le Noir Extra Amer region Africa plantation (blend) cacao trees (unknown) year (unknown) size 100g ~ 3.5oz cocoa solids 85% added fat cocoa butter sweetener sugar emulsifier soy lecithin flavoring vanilla extract other ingredients (none) list price N/A

color medium-dark brown texture smooth, imprint, lines, scoring, scuffing aroma roast, earth, vanilla, nut, spice, fruit snap hard taste earth, roast (tobacco, coffee), bitter, fruit (citrus) melt smooth length short finish bitter, somewhat tannin

Le Noir Extra Amer is one of Valrhona's lower priced quality chocolate bars. It contains a blend of cacao, like that of Le Noir Amer we reviewed earlier, but has higher cacao content.

Le Noir Extra Amer contained 85% cocoa solids (beans plus added cocoa butter) and was made with cacao beans from Africa. The ingredients of this chocolate were cacao beans, sugar, cocoa butter, soy lecithin, and vanilla extract.

The large 100 gram bar was scored into eight big pieces, each imprinted with diagonal parallel lines. There was also a Valrhona imprint shared among four of the pieces. The bar came wrapped in brass-colored foil inside a paper wrapper. The lot number of the chocolate reviewed here was 11138 and the best before date was October 2012.

The color of the chocolate was a medium dark brown that was nearly dark brown and noticeably darker than Le Noir Amer. The bar looked good: the surface was smooth, with some minimal scuffing. The bar had a hard snap.

The chocolate had a roast and earthy aroma, with additional scents of vanilla, nut, spice, and fruit.

It tasted of earth and roast as well, with the roast consisting of both tobacco and coffee flavors. Bitterness was clearly present, along with a fruit flavor that included some citrus.

The melt was smooth. The chocolate flavor after the chocolate was gone lasted about 15 to 20 seconds, giving it a short length. The final aftertaste was bitter and somewhat tannin.

There is no list price for this chocolate, but I purchased Valrhona Le Noir Extra Amer at Trader Joe's for $2.99. As you can see on our Best Chocolate Values page, $0.85 per ounce is a bargain for this 85% chocolate bar.

Chocolopolis Fourth Anniversary and Golden Tickets

During their anniversary celebration in July, Chocolopolis places golden tickets in three bars of chocolate in their store. Buying one of the bars with a golden ticket inside wins the buyer one free chocolate bar of their choice each week during the subsequent year! As you know if you're a regular reader, winning one of those golden tickets is what inspired me to begin my exploration of artisan chocolate and this blog. They'll be staggering the release of the three bars containing golden tickets over the month, with the first one being put out on shelves on July 7th, the second on July 14th, and the third on July 21st.

So, if you live in the Seattle area and haven't yet been to Chocolopolis, then this is the month to go and buy some great chocolate (and maybe find a golden ticket). Throughout the month, Chocolopolis will have single origin mini chocolate tastings every Tuesday and Saturday at 3 p.m. They will also continue their weekly Thursday evening (5 to 9 p.m.) free themed happy hour chocolate tastings that occur year-round.

During this fourth anniversary, they also have many other special events:

• Saturday, July 7th, 1:00 p.m. and 1:30 p.m.: Japanese Tea Ceremony and tasting tea paired with chocolate.
• Monday, July 9th, 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.: Serious Chocolate Talk: Kristy Leissle (a.k.a. Dr. Chocolate) explains fair trade, direct trade, and free trade.
• Wednesday, July 11th by private invitation: Chocolopolis Frequent Bar Club members taste raw cacao from the pod, as well as Chuao and Porcelana chocolate.
• Saturday, July 14th, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.: Bastille Day celebration with samples from French chocolate makers Bonnat, Michel Cluizel, Francois Pralus, and Valrhona.
• Saturday, July 14th, 1 p.m. to 2 p.m.: Chocolopolis chocolatiers Dominica and Sebastian Falcon demonstrate how to make truffles. Samples afterwards.
• Tuesday, July 17th, 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.: Serious Chocolate Talk: Kate Selting explains the cultural significance of cacao to indigenous cultures based on her Peace Corps experience with cacao farmers.
• Saturday, July 21st, 1 p.m. to 2 p.m.: Chocolopolis chocolatiers Dominica and Sebastian Falcon demonstrate how to temper chocolate. Samples afterwards.
• Saturday, July 28th, 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.: Rob Anderson, founder of local Washington chocolate maker Fresco answers questions about his chocolate making process and shares samples of his chocolate.

You can read more about anniversary and other events at Chocolopolis on their website.

Review: Valrhona Le Noir Amer 71%

Richard's Rating: 5.5

chocolate maker Valrhona bar Le Noir Amer region (unknown) plantation (blend) cacao trees Trinitario, Criollo year (unknown) size 100g ~ 3.5oz cocoa solids 71% added fat cocoa butter sweetener sugar emulsifier soy lecithin flavoring vanilla extract other ingredients (none) list price N/A

color medium-dark brown PANTONE 19-1015 Bracken texture smooth, imprint, lines, scoring, scuffing aroma roast (coffee, cocoa), earth, vanilla, fruit, hint of nut snap hard taste roast (cocoa, coffee), earth, sweet, fruit (hint of orange) melt smooth length medium finish tannin

Valrhona makes several premium single origin and blend chocolate bars that we've reviewed over the past couple of years. They also make quality blend chocolate bars that are priced much lower. Two of these are Le Noir Amer and Le Noir Extra Amer, the former of which I'm posting about today.

According to the wrapper, Le Noir Amer was made from a blend of Trinitario and Criollo cacao beans. The ingredients were cacao beans, sugar, cocoa butter, soy lecithin, and vanilla extract. The chocolate contained 71% cocoa solids (the beans plus added cocoa butter).

The large 100 gram bar was scored into eight big pieces, each imprinted with diagonal parallel lines. There was also a Valrhona imprint shared among four of the pieces. The bar came wrapped in brass-colored foil inside a paper wrapper. The lot number of the chocolate reviewed here was 11073 and the best before date was August 2012.

The chocolate had a color slightly redder than a medium-dark brown Bracken (PANTONE 19-1015). The surface was smooth, with just a little scuffing. The bar had a hard snap.

Le Noir Amer gave off a roast and earthy aroma, with scents of coffee, cocoa, vanilla, fruit, and a hint of nut.

The taste was similarly full of roast and earthy, and the roast had cocoa and coffee flavors. It tasted sweet, with a fruit flavor that I struggled to identify. The fruit seemed to include a non-citrus orange.

The chocolate had a smooth melt. The length was medium, with the chocolate flavor lasting about 30 seconds after the chocolate was gone. The final aftertaste was tannin.

Although there isn't a list price for this chocolate, I purchased Valrhona Le Noir Amer at Trader Joe's for $2.99. As you can see on our Best Chocolate Values page, it's one of the better bars for under $1.25 per ounce.

Review: Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate Lover's 85%

Richard's Rating: 5.5

chocolate maker (unknown) bar Dark Chocolate Lover's region Colombia plantation (blend) cacao trees (unknown) year (unknown) size 100g ~ 3.5oz cocoa solids 85% added fat cocoa butter sweetener sugar emulsifier soy lecithin flavoring vanilla other ingredients (none) list price $1.49

color dark brown PANTONE 19-1314 Seal Brown texture smooth, scoring, image imprints, adhered bits aroma vanilla, marshmallow, sweet (butterscotch), roast, spice snap hard taste roast, chalk, marshmallow, fruit melt more smooth length medium finish somewhat sour, slightly acidic, slightly bitter

We first reviewed this chocolate in October 2010 and didn't like it at all. Based on feedback from our readers over just the past couple of months, though, we needed to try this chocolate again. I'm glad we did.

Trader Joe's sells several chocolate bars under its own label. Unfortunately, we do not know who actually makes the Dark Chocolate Lover's bar. The cacao for this chocolate came from the Tumaco region of Colombia.

The ingredients of Dark Chocolate Lover's were cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter, soy lecithin, and natural vanilla flavor. Cocoa solids (cocoa mass and cocoa butter) made up 85% of the chocolate. Inside a paper box were two 50 gram bars, each individually sealed inside a plastic wrapper with an image similar to that of the outer box. Each bar was scored into 16 pieces, half of them with a flower imprint. The best before date of the chocolate was 18 October 2013.

The color of the chocolate was a dark brown Seal Brown (PANTONE 19-1314). The surface was smooth with a glossy top. There were some bits of chocolate adhered to the top, mostly near the edges. The bar had a hard snap.

Dark Chocolate Lover's had a pleasant aroma of vanilla, marshmallow, and a butterscotch sweetness. There were also scents of roast and spice.

The chocolate tasted of roast, marshmallow, and fruit flavors, along with some underlying chalkiness. The taste was also slightly acidic.

The melt was more smooth. The chocolate flavor lasted about 20 to 25 seconds after the chocolate was gone, giving a medium length. The finish was somewhat sour, slightly acidic, and slightly bitter.

Both the aroma and taste were much better than the bar we reviewed in 2010 (perhaps it was from a bad batch, or it is greatly improved). Although the taste still did not impress me, you should try Dark Chocolate Lover's. If you like this chocolate, it's an amazing value at literally the lowest list price per ounce of any 100 gram or smaller bar we've reviewed.

You can purchase Dark Chocolate Lover's for $1.49 at most Trader Joe's stores.