Even though the E. Guittard Orinoco was a bit too sweet for my tastes, I figured it was worth giving other Guittard bars a chance. Guittard is, after all, a bean-to-bar chocolatier right here in the U.S. On to the Ambanja Bittersweet, a 65% cocoa dark chocolate bar made with Madagascan beans.
No overwhelming aroma is apparent after unwrapping, but there’s a bit of fruitiness.
The fruity taste, which seems to center on banana, doesn’t come through until the end of a dominant bitter, earthy flavor at the beginning. The texture is quite dry, and it seems that this chocolate would be best used in confection, where added cream can compensate for a dry melt…and where a bit of added sugar could cut back on the bitter taste at the beginning.
I supposed I’ll be looking elsewhere for truly superior chocolate when I trek off to San Francisco next month. It will be my mission.
What’s the driest chocolate you’ve ever had?
I feel like I am a failure as a chocolate lover because I love the super sweet milk chocolate. And white chocolate. I love the almost bitter dark chocolate too.....but I enjoy all kinds. I tried some chocolate when I worked at starbucks that had a super high percentage of....cocoa? And it barely tasted like chocolate....not a fan.
ReplyDeleteSub-par chocolate always saddens me...particularly from Madagascar. TCHO is based out of SF, isn't it? And there is always Ghirardelli and Scharfenberger...
ReplyDeleteI have yet to taste a chocolate I didn't love. Though we don't always have the money to splurge on the really good chocolates very often.
ReplyDeleteHmm, driest chocolate? Hmm. Perhaps a really old Taza disc that I found floating around in a handbag after months. Or maybe a year.
ReplyDeleteI didn't mind the dryness!
I also thought that the Fine and Raw Mesquite bar was rather dry, perhaps because of the flavoring. Again, the dryness didn't bother me too much though. I guess I'm an easy sell.