Monday, April 25, 2011

Potomac Chocolate: Upala 82% Cocoa Bar

After talking up the Potomac Chocolate Upala 82% cocoa bar, which is made right here in the DC area, to everybody and their mother (and father) since it was released, it’s probably obvious to those of you who follow me on twitter that I’m a fan. Enough of a fan that I shipped some to Lee over in the U.K. as part of our chocolate exchange; I was delighted to see from his review that he adored this newly-released bar.

And then I realized that I still hadn’t reviewed it myself.

Have I mentioned how smart and organized I am?

Anyway, back to this delightful bar. The flavor is incredibly intense, with a dominant coffee taste and a very subtle fruity flavor that I couldn’t pin down more accurately. Even without being able to identify it, I can tell that there is just enough sugar added to this bar to give the flavor a fairly universal appeal.

Though this is about the limit of the intensity I can handle from a chocolate, I am consistently drawn back to this bar because of what I believe is its best quality: the texture, which is not remotely dry. It is instead smooth and dense, with a slow melt that allows you to enjoy the flavor and buttery feel of the texture for ages. My assessment is that the texture of this bar is slightly superior to that of Potomac Chocolate’s 70% Cocoa Upala bar, but I still give the flavor edge to the 70% cocoa version.

Buy both. Obviously.

It may or may not be worth noting that I enjoy this bar enough that it’s on my standard packing list for business trips.

I hope that Ben, the one-man operation behind Potomac Chocolate, can keep up with that demand. I travel a lot.

Is chocolate on your packing list when you travel?

8 comments:

  1. I'd looove to try that chocolate bar!!! :D

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  2. I too would love to try this bar. If I drive, chocolate is definitely on my packing list. And I usually drive.

    I don't fly much, and I haven't checked luggage in years. I never know what can make it past security or not. Would the snarky TSA folks take chocolate away?

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  3. I would love to try that bar and actually when I drive through perhaps I will get one!

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  4. I think that would be a bit too much for me! I would probably enjoy the 70% more :)

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  5. Chocolate is always with me wherever I go. Oh, how I'd love this bar! :)

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  6. @EmmaThe TSA has wisely kept their hands off my chocolate.

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  7. Thanks for the review. I found your blog as I was searching for feedback on the Potomac chocolate line which we've just started carrying. I'm glad to hear such a good review and am also impressed given the simple ingredient list: cocoa beans and sugar. Can't beat that. I was also wrong to worry about the texture for the same reason.
    I personally am all for single origin chocolate so I can't wait to try Potomac.

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