Chocolopolis Chocolate Tasting, Part 2: Power Rankings

It has taken me a looong time to post these rankings from my birthday chocolate tasting last year. I have a bit of an excuse-I misplaced my chocolate tasting notes for months and months. So here's a plug for having a dedicated notebook for tasting notes. I have been using this lovely fella:

which my lovely brother got for me for my birthday (how have I not filled it up 3 times over by now?). It works really nicely because I just keep it with my stash of chocolate. Wait, did I just say STASH of chocolate? This is a new things for me. In the past, I have not ever had the self control for a stash to ever form in my house at all. 

But now that I have been buying quality bars and taking time to taste and think while I enjoy my chocolate, I have quite a stash (and quite a backlog of posts to write too...)! Anyway, I am loving the change in my life. 

But on to the main topic of this post: Power Rankings


It was so fun to taste with friends because some things we agreed upon and other things we didn't. For example, I don't know HOW anyone could rank ANY bar above Amedei Porcelana (so far my all time fave)...BUT some of my friends did. And that's ok. I guess. ;) No, really...it is. Although our tastes differed a bit making some of us like different bars over others, we all could appreciate the quality and complex flavors in the bars which was so much fun!

 

Here's how I ranked the 5 bars:

***1. Choc# 4 Amedei Porcelana  

 

 Origin: Venezuela
 Maker: Amedei Tuscany
 % chocolate: 70
 Notes: good snap, good texture, milky smooth flavor








***2. Choc# 2 Patric Chocolate  
 
      
 Origin: Madagascar
 Maker: Patric
 % chocolate:75
 Notes: pretty! milky. YUM





  


***3. Choc# 5 Vila Gracinda 
 
          
 Origin: Africa, Sao-Tome
 Maker: Michel Cluizel
 % chocolate: 67
 Notes: second best snap, milky flavor, flavor evolves a lot...gets better as time passes







***4. Choc# 3 Marou  

         
Origin: Vietnam, Tan Phu Dong
Maker: Marou
% chocolate: 75
Notes: cinnamon, nutty flavors, smooth and sweet








**5. Choc# 1 Original Beans  

          

Origin:Peruvian Andes, Piura River Valley
Maker: Original Beans
% chocolate: 75
Notes: nice snap, good texture, interesting flavors, good finish, berryish






So that's a wrap...8 months late. But wrapped all the same. :) 

CHEERS!

Holiday Special: Chuao Holiday Bars 2015

8 days until Christmas!!! There are very few people who do not love chocolate. So, if you are still in a bind, hopefully this post helps you ease your shopping paralysis. I got these bars at Central Market for $5.99 each.

***1. hope, joy & gingerbread - This one surprised me. I was sure it would be ranked lower than the peppermint, and that I wouldn't even like it. I'm not a huge fan of gingerbread. I mean, it smells amazing, but I can't get past the lingering ginger taste. But when it's combined with chocolate in this fabulous bar...problem solved. I really love the texture of this bar. This brand is so aware of the importance of texture in their bars. I love that. Also, the milk chocolate is just soooo perfectly smooth and sweet.

***2. peace, love & peppermint - This is like eating a cup of peppermint hot chocolate. So so good. The candy canes are crushed just right, providing texture but not getting stuck in your teeth. Delicious and well done.

Not everyone loves holiday flavors. If you are one of those people, these bars are NOT for you. I would refer those readers (or if you are shopping for someone like that) to these two posts - milk and dark - for more fabulous Chuao bars.

Power Rankings #10: IKEA CHOKLAD

photo credit delish.com

...because we all need another reason to love IKEA...

This post may seem a bit of a tangent on my chocolate journey...really, we are adding chocolate to our IKEA shopping lists now?...I know...but trust me, this detour is good.

A few weeks ago I took a long overdue trip to IKEA with a friend. We shared a DELICIOUS chocolate cake at lunch (of which, the 7 month old shoved a whole fistful in her mouth before I could even react...definitely my kid...look at that determined face...).

 

 At $0.99 per bar, I didn't really expect much. But, I now have another IKEA must have item to add to my list every time I trek out there. And I think you should too! This chocolate was not the best quality at all, but I was expecting a lot worse for the price. This would be wonderful chocolate to use in baking or truffle making. There was no horrible aftertaste or waxy texture you find in poor quality chocolate. So it was pleasant to eat. Great snacking chocolate. Something you can devour and not think too much about the flavors. I wish HERSHEY'S still tasted like this. Like chocolate. Often with lesser quality chocolate, I like dark better, but surprisingly here I enjoyed the milk better. The addition of texture with the hazelnuts was my favorite of the three. There's not much else to say about these bars though.

 

1. CHOKLAD NÖT - Milk chocolate with hazelnuts - I can usually tell which bar I like best by which one is gone first. As was the case with this power ranking. I tasted each bar, noticed they tasted pretty good, next thing I know, this one was gone!

2. CHOKLAD LJUS - Milk chocolate - Often with lesser quality chocolate, I like dark better, but surprisingly here I enjoyed the milk better and finished it next.

3. CHOKLAD MÖRK - Dark chocolate - I think it came down to this dark chocolate having more of a bitter dark flavor rather than a fruity flavor. It was good, but couldn't beat out the milk. It was the last bar I finished. 

Power Rankings #8: Seattle Chocolates BONUS

Spring has sprung and so have a few new bars from Seattle Chocolates. They were on sale, like the others, for 2 for $4 (through the end of March). I just noticed them in the Easter section of Central Market the other day when I was out chocolate shopping and decided I had to try them and rank them. Ok...that's not really true...what really happened is that I bought them with the intention of surrendering them to the Easter Bunny to add to our Easter baskets. But when I got home...I wanted to eat them. So I asked the hubby if he thought I should just eat them or save them for Easter. He didn't really care either way...so I ripped right into them! This is not the first time my seasonal chocolate purchases have not made it to the actual holiday they were intended for...but hey, no regrets. I didn't think they really fit in with the regular bars since they are seasonal. So here are some bonus power rankings! 

1.***SPRING SURPRISE - coconut, almonds and sea salt dark chocolate truffle bar - Go figure that my favorite of these bars is the DARK chocolate one...People keep telling me that I should prefer dark...but I just plain don't. This bar however, is perfection. Ate it all in one sitting.

2.***FRESH MINT - milk chocolate truffle bar with mint cookie chunks - Did you not buy enough boxes of Thin Mints this year from the girl scout down the street? Have no fear, FRESH MINT is here! The flavor balance is much like the normal MELTAWAY MINT bar, but the cookie chunks kick it up a notch! I always love some crunchy texture. 

3.*FLUFFY TOFFEE - milk chocolate truffle bar with marshmallows & toffee - Don't read too much into the single star status of this bar. Toffee is just too sweet. Marshmallows and milk chocolate and toffee is just too much sweetness for my mouth. Sugar overload. 

Hopefully my chocolate impatience is your gain and you pick up one of these delicious bars for YOUR Easter baskets. But hey, if they don't make it...no judgement here. :)

CHEERS!

Power Rankings #7: Seattle Chocolates

"what happiness tastes like"

...what a perfect description of chocolate.

I had high hopes of getting this post published earlier in the month (since they are on sale till the end of the month), but obviously...that didn't happen. We did some traveling and have been pretty busy lately. BUT, don't worry...I have a few posts and an Easter Shopping Guide in the works. So get excited!

But, on to the subject of this post...

I purchased these Seattle Chocolates bars at Central Market in Mill Creek. They were on sale for 2/$4 (reg $2.99 each). All are vegan except denoted by "^". 
 

1.***PERFECT PEANUT BUTTER^ - dark chocolate truffle bar with roasted peanuts - Quite a bit of cocoa butter bloom on the back of this bar. Couldn't stop eating it though. Thought it was strange that the first ingredient was white chocolate, maybe it's in the peanut butter filling though... 

2.***MELTAWAY MINT*^ - milk chocolate truffle bar with peppermint infusion - The first thing I noticed was the aroma-almost an after-dinner mint flavor. Sweet mint and definitely melty. This is a fantastic flavor combo. I bet the coconut oil really enhances this bar also.

3.***SALTED ALMOND* - dark chocolate truffle bar with almonds and sea salt - This bar is perfection. One of these days I will have to power rank the salted almond bars. Great balance of salt and almond. Wouldn't mind a little more chunky, but great flavor all around. 

4.***COCONUT MACAROON* - dark chocolate truffle bar with coconut and sea salt - Love the sea salt in this coconut bar. Also a great flavor combo. 

5.**/***SAN JUAN SEA SALT*^ - milk chocolate truffle bar with sea salt and toffee - The flavor masks the not up to par quality of the milk chocolate. There is a nice amount of salt which balances out the extra sweet of the toffee.

6.**EXTREME DARK* - dark chocolate truffle bar with roasted cocoa nibs - I like the nuttiness that the nibs bring into this bar.

7.**WHIDBEY WILDBERRY - dark chocolate truffle bar with cherries and strawberries - the fruity berries work well with the dark chocolate in this bar. I like that it's not just cherries, because I'm not a huge cherry fan. The mix is brilliant. 

8.*RAINIER CHERRY* - dark chocolate truffle bar with praline pecans and cherries - I noticed the "truffle bar" ness on this bar especially, the bottom of the outer shell kept sliding around and breaking off. The nuts didn't taste great. Not the best bar, in my opinion. 

9.*MILK CHOCOLATE*^ - milk chocolate truffle bar - definitely beats a Hershey milk "chocolate" bar. I know that the flavor and quality is not sufficient when I don't devour the whole milk bar in one sitting. Still decent.

10.*DARK CHOCOLATE* - dark chocolate truffle bar - the flavor really reminds me of mass market dark chocolate. It's not BAD. But it's not GREAT. At least not as a standalone bar. Obviously, with other flavors to mask the lower quality it's quite delicious. And as I said before, much better than Hershey's.

Overall this was a delicious chocolate tasting experience. The bars were lovely. Very rich. The perceived size is deceiving. The bars are THICK. There are 4 sections in each bar, a serving is only two sections...which kinda makes you laugh at first...but then after the second one...it kinda makes sense. 

Looking beyond flavor and taste...a few thoughts on quality. I think these bars are priced well for their quality. They are good quality. Just not GREAT quality. The ingredients list is evidence of this. There's "non-hydrogenated coconut oil" in most of these bars (deonted by "*"). That could be a contribution to the characteristic silky texture and smooth finish of this brand. Another evidence of the mid grade quality is that that straight chocolate bars are significantly not as good as the inclusion bars. You can taste the difference. 

These may become a "go-to" brand for me considering their affordability and overall taste. So go check out "what happiness tastes like."

Cheers!

Power Rankings #6: Michel Cluizel

Oh my, WOW. This was the most enjoyable chocolate I have ever tasted. Ever. They sell a few bars at Central Market and Whole Foods. But, I got this 16 piece box on amazon.com for $13.50 (though it is currently $16.95). Next, I'll have to try the 28 piece box because there are two more types. These are "single estate" chocolates which means the cocoa beans used to create it are taken from a single plantation. This gives each piece a VERY distinctive and unique flavor profile. The squares come from 5 different plantations: Mokaya, Los Ancones, Vila Gracinda, Mangaro and Maralumi. The box came with a nifty pamphlet with a description of each of the plantations and a map showing where they are in the world. Way cool. #chocolatenerd

This is exactly the kind of chocolate experience I was intimidated of a few short weeks ago. Don't be. Just go for it. The difference between the cocoa flavor in this chocolate and the lack of ANY flavor in American mass market chocolate is astounding. The flavors are complex and evolve. I went all out with this brand, breaking in my Chocolate Tasting Kit. I also even made sure to "cleanse my palate" between each piece with apple slices and room-ish temperature water (cold water will cool your mouth too much and the chocolate won't melt as nicely).

 Flavor cards to help identify specific flavors/aromas/nuances.

Rubbing the chocolate with your finger can help give you a sense of quality. If it feels oily, that is bad. A nice smooth feel and good smudge is most desirable. 

on a scale from 1-10 I'm a 12 #GoHawks #WinForever

Finally, the snap. The sound of the snap can also tell you about quality. A poor snap is an indication of poorly stored or tempered chocolate. 

 

1.***Mokaya (Mexico)-  66% cacao - This was my FAVORITE because the flavor was kind of milky and sweet. In comparison to the others, the flavor was simple. The flavor evolved leaving a slight pepperiness  the end. As I wrote in my notes "SOO GOOD!"

2.***Los Ancones (Saint Domingue, Caribbean) - 67% cacao - This piece had a very dark, fruity flavor, which was quite different from #1, but still delicious! I can't explain enough how awesome it is to have the flavor stick around for such a long time. This was a VERY smoooth too, which is something I highly value!

3.***Vila Gracinda (Sao Tome, Africa) - 67% cacao - I was trying hard to identify the aromas with the flavor cards I have. I thought I smelled a little licorice. This definitely had a darker, fruity and spicy flavor to it. It is so interesting that the cocoa beans vary so much in their flavor. It's awesome.

4.***Mangaro (Madagascar) - 65% cacao - This was a really interesting taste. I really hated it the first go around. There's a distinct acidity to it. But there were three of these squares and when I tried a second...I really enjoyed the complexity of the flavor. I never really understood what "acidic" really meant when it comes to chocolate, so it was nice to get that.

5.**Maralumi (Papua New Guinea, Australia) - 64% cacao - This was the most distinctly complex tasting piece I had. The beginning was smooth and milky which was great. The flavor then evolved to an acidic and spicy flavor. But finished out with a fruity, sweetness. Very interesting.

So...do I want to taste all these bars again? 

No. 

Were they all worth trying? 

MOST DEFINITELY. 

What an awesome experience it was to taste this type of chocolate. It's definitely not for sitting on the couch and scarfing down while watching cheesy movies. BUT, delicious all the same! Hopefully reading this takes some of the intimidation out of truly gourmet chocolate for you, too! Just go try it! You really won't regret it. It's like the difference between Kraft singles (not cheese) and Tillamook sharp cheddar. Or the difference between McDonalds chicken nuggets (not chicken) and a nice panko breaded chicken tender. I will still enjoy my go-to faves like Snickers and a Hershey Almond Bar...but they no longer taste like chocolate to me. It's something entirely different. And my friends, if you haven't tasted chocolate yet...you are really missing out. 

CHEERS!

Power Rankings #5: Divine

I purchased 5 of these bars at Whole Foods in Lynnwood ($3 down from $3.99/bar). One of them (70% Dark Chocolate with Mint) I got from Santa in my stocking for Christmas.

This was an interesting brand to rate because the Dark Chocolate bars were SIGNIFICANTLY higher quality than the Milk Chocolate. Strange. And annoying because I really love milk chocolate!!!

 

1.***70% DARK CHOCOLATE with MINT - I got this bar for Christmas and it was a great bar. It was good balance of mint and chocolate. I am a little picky about that. This was refreshing but not overpowering. Great snap, also. Quality chocolate.

2.***DARK CHOCOLATE with RASPBERRIES - It’s really hard to go wrong with chocolate and raspberry in my book. This bar went beyond just raspberry flavor and had chunks of actual raspberry in it. YUM YUM!

3.**70% DARK CHOCOLATE intensely rich - This bar was a tough one to rate because it tasted great and the quality was there, but it was just not a bar that I couldn’t put down. Enjoyable enough though, just comes down to personal preferance.

4.**MILK CHOCOLATE with TOFFEE & SEA SALT - Well, the brand was going good until I got to the milk...the toffee masked some of the off taste of the poorer quality milk chocolate. Why is it so hard to make good milk chocolate?

5.*MILK CHOCOLATE seriously smooth - This was such a disappointing milk chocolate. There was such an aftertaste with this bar. So sad.

6.*DARK CHOCOLATE with GINGER & ORANGE - I couldn’t get past the ginger in this bar. It was surprisingly not actually a bad flavor combo but I could hardly taste anything else. Also, the orange bits were chunky and got stuck in my teeth. Not a fan.

So, this wasn't the best brand I've tasted thus far, but not the worst either. I'd buy a few of the bars again and stay away from the others.

CHEERS!

Power Rankings #4: Hammond's

I purchased all eight of these bars at Central Market in Mill Creek for $2.99/piece. They look great, don't they?!

Well, they were NOT great. These bars ARE NOT worth $2.99 a piece. They are only one very tiny tiny tiny step above American mass market chocolate, in my opinion. I even witnessed cocoa butter bloom for the first time since starting this adventure.

 














And the winner of this weeks power rankings (winner of the losers):

 1. **Peanut Butter Cup - dark chocolate with peanut butter - Aside from the cocoa butter bloom, and smoky aftertaste, this bar was decent. Not great though. Bummer, cause I looooove chocolate/pb combos. I really wanted to like this one.

2. **Toffee Brittle - dark chocolate with toffee - This was one of the best bar of the six for sure (not that that is saying much)... I didn't even mind finishing this one. Still, the toffee made it overly sweet. And that aftertaste... it was harder to notice with the dark chocolate, than milk...but still...gross.

3. **Sea Side Caramel - dark chocolate with sea salt caramel - Well...the first ingredient for this one-sugar...hm. 27g. That’s quite a bit. There are 4g fiber though which makes me feel a little better. But enough about nutrition facts. It's poor quality chocolate. But poor quality dark chocolate tastes better than poor quality milk, I am learning.

4. */*Red Velvet Cake - milk chocolate with red velvet cake ganache - Sounds soooo good, right?! These bars are so mean! I would eat it again...but only if it was the only thing around. Which happens...you know...when you get to the point where you are eating chocolate chips for a chocolate fix? Or is that just me? The red velvet flavor is really fun in this bar...but the whole thing is a little too sweet. That is why red velvet goes so well with cream cheese frosting, right? To balance it out? The uber sweet is what stops me from giving it a solid **.

5. *Sea Side Caramel - milk chocolate with sea salt caramel - This is the first bar I tried. I read the ingredients before hand...first listed is SUGAR-which isn’t THAT crazy for a milk chocolate especially with caramel...but 33g in this bar. Plus...it is terrible. Ok...not terrible...I finished it (but I am quite an addict). It’s definitely NOT worth $2.99. Poor quality chocolate. Maybe that is why this brand doesn’t have any plain chocolate bars, they are all inclusion bars. There was a bad aftertaste. And I didn’t taste ANY sea salt. BOOO!

6. *Malted Milkshake - milk chocolate with malted milk - There was nothing malted about this milkshake. The flavor was almost there...but it was just off. And after spending a good amount of time in the UK...I know malted. This bar tasted processed and chemically. Gross.

7. *Pigs N’ Taters - milk chocolate with crispy bacon bits & potato chips - I gave this bar to a friend for Christmas. And now I am embarrassed that I did. I can hear Gordon Ramsey saying "Never send something out with out tasting it yourself!" hahhahaha. I’ve had bacon in chocolate before and enjoyed it. This bar has potato chips too...but it didn’t add flavor...just crunchy texture. It wasn’t as smoky as the Chuao bacon bar was...but still more than jives with my tastebuds.

8. *Sweet & Spicy - dark chocolate with chipotle - This bar reminded me of the Chuao firecracker bar. Ah, my mouth was burning. I did not like it. One bite, and I was done! At least the Firecracker bar had pop rocks too! 

In summary...I would not like them in a box, I would not like them with a fox. I would eat a few if I was really in need of a fix (and let's be honest, it happens). But the rest, I am happy to never touch my tastebuds again!

CHEERS!

Power Rankings #3: Alter Eco

Because Alter Eco is a brand that makes a lot more than just chocolate, I went into these power rankings with lower expectations for quality. I was quickly proved wrong when even the bars I didn't care for had really nice flavor balance and quality (there was only one of the 8 bars that I wouldn't eat again). The box-type packaging was particularly useful in my case. (I keep eating all my bars before I get a chance to take photos.) The boxes make it impossible to tell how much chocolate is or is not there. ;) 

I purchased these bars at Whole Foods in Lynnwood, WA. They happened to be on sale when I bought them ($3, on sale from $3.99/bar). There are two bars missing from my power rankings- "Dark Brown Butter" and "Deep Dark Sea Salt." Deal with it. :)

1. ***Dark Velvet - "a touch of milk MELTY SMOOTH" - 47% cocoa - Nice snap, especially for a milkier chocolate. This one had me saying “MMMMMMMMM CHOCOLATE”. I LOVE a good quality milk and they are SO few and far between.

2. ***Dark Mint - "cool crispy mint BOLD AND BRISK" - 60% cocoa - There is something so refreshing about a good combo of mint and chocolate. MMMMMM. I started eating this bar with no intention of finishing it all. I had to stop and write this review before gobbling the whole thing up. And now I’m left with the delicious aftertaste - the true mark of quality chocolate.

3. ***Dark Cacao - "crunchy cocoa nibs BITTERSWEET BITE" - 63% cocoa - I like the crunchy of the nibs and the slight bitterness it adds to the bar. It is still plenty sweet. A great combo of bitter and sweet.

4. **Dark Quinoa - "nutty toasted quinoa LIGHT CRISPY CRUNCH" - 60% cocoa - This unique bar is clever. I am always a fan of crunchy chocolate, you can hardly tell this is quinoa. Upon reading the labels, there isn’t a significant nutritional difference between this and other similar bars, like one might assume.

5. **Dark Almond - "slow-roasted TOASTY NUT" - 60% cocoa - This is a good bar. Not great. Forgettable but pleasant. I feel like I’m beginning to sound like Simon Cowell.

6. **Dark Coconut Toffee - "butter and sea salt CRUNCHY AND TOASTED" - 47% cocoa - I am not usually a big fan of toffee...but this bar was so deliciously milk chocolatey smooth that I quite enjoyed it. There was some saltiness which was nice, but I feel like that is executed better in other bars. I would eat it again, but given a choice I’d go for the straight milk “Dark Velvet.” Sidenote - I don’t know why this brand calls all of their bars “DARK” when two of them were 47% cocoa and very milky in flavor…

7. **Dark Blackout - "bittersweet cocoa DEEP FRUITY INTENSITY" - 85% cocoa - I can definitely taste the fruitiness of the dark chocolate. It’s just not something I enjoy enough to choose. The nib bar was a much more preferable dark for me. Although, there are 10g of fiber and only 12g of sugar in an entire bar (2 servings)! A FiberOne bar only has 9g of fiber but also less sugar at 10g. All in all...pretty comparable!

8. *Dark Twist - "crystallized orange peel VIBRANT AND TANGY" - 60% cocoa - This bar has a good flavor balance with the orange. The “crystallized orange peel” chunks could have been smaller to give it a smoother feel. Some of them were big enough to get stuck in my teeth which makes me prefer Chuao for a dark chocolate orange fix. 

Have you ever had Alter Eco chocolate? What do you think of my rankings? We'll see this brand again when I move on to truffles. 

Cheers!