Cocoa is a funny thing, it is an ingredient in some of the world’s most indulgent confectionary, and its unique chocolate flavour is second to none. But if you ever try cocoa from a tub (i.e. meant as a cooking ingredient) it is ironically inedible. Having this knowledge, did mean that I wasn’t exactly looking forward to trying this bar, but I can appreciate an 85% cocoa chocolate so perhaps I was worrying over nothing.
The bar is very smartly presented, with its dark envelope style packaging. It is a neat way of wrapping up a bar, and immediately makes it gift worthy. The chocolate itself it a very dark colour, and has a surprisingly sweet but rich aroma. It not a thick bar, but it broke easily with a satisfying snap. I went for a fairly large corner of the chocolate and allowed it to melt on my palette. It wasn’t easy to let the chocolate melt in this way, the strength of flavour was really very overpowering. The taste was bitter, sharp, zingy and almost electric. The more is remained in my mouth, the more other flavours appeared, such as a nuttiness, but all were far too strong for my taste buds. The flavour remained in my mouth for sometime after the chocolate had been eaten, and sadly it wasn’t a great taste. I did try a second piece, for researches sake, and the results were much the same.
If you do purchase a bar of this chocolate, I think it poignant to remind you that less is more, start with a smaller piece! If like me you find it all a bit much, may I suggest grating a chunk into a mug of hot milk and mixing with a spoon full of sugar, for a rather luxurious hot chocolate instead!
By Cinabar
2 comments:
Cannot disagree more with Cinabar on 100% Purist Chocolat. I, initially tried a small piece and found it smooth and long-lasting compared with lower percentage chocolate. Didn't detect the full flavour so tried a larger piece - WHAM! I experienced the full, tantalising chocolatey flavour - DELICIOUS! I have had to restrain myself from eating it all in one go as it was bought as a present and I'm not sure where to get more - or even if I could afford it, assuming something so tasty must also be pricey. For the real CHOCOLATE lover this is 100% perfection.
Well it was a bit strong for me - but I can tell you that you can pick up more from branches of Hotel Chocolat.
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