Montezuma: Orange Ecuadorian Chocolate

After I checked out that enjoyable salted dark chocolate bar from Montezuma, I looked at other pieces that Natalie had sent me from thousands of miles away. More Montezuma bars begged for evaluation. But which one to move along to first?

I spied one that would make Hollie salivate and make Hannah cry. Divisive chocolate is somehow appealing to me. Maybe I like conflict. Maybe I just liked the orange and black wrapper on this Ecuador dark chocolate with juicy orange.

Once I removed that eye-catching wrapper, I was greeted with a citrus aroma.

Coffee is the first flavor that emerges from the chocolate, with orange quickly following and then fading away such that there is only a hint of the citrus – perhaps subtle enough that even Hannah would enjoy it. The flavor is intense and long-lasting, which is at least partially because of the slow, buttery melt that is perfectly smooth and not at all grainy.

While the bar is nice, for a bar advertised as bar enhanced with juicy orange, it is a little light on the citrus flavor, and the orange is generally subtle enough that it seems like just another flavor note in a complex chocolate.

How orange should orange chocolate be? And is it more important to make Hollie or Hannah happy?

Montezuma: Salted Chocolate from the U.K.

Writing about British chocolate in an ironic observance of Independence Day earlier this week reminded me of a nice package I’d recently received from the U.K.

One with chocolate, of course. Natalie very kindly sent me some British chocolate that is nearly impossible to find in the U.S. Such as this Montezuma bar – a salted Peruvian 70% cocoa dark chocolate creation.

Remember my quest to find the perfect salted chocolate? This bar needed to be evaluated immediately. Before I tasted it, I noted smoky and banana notes in the aroma, along with a bit of fig.

While the bar didn’t hold up so well in its transatlantic journey, you can tell that the salt isn’t concentrated on the sides of the bar, and it is instead well-distributed in small graduals. This allows the flavor of the chocolate to come through, with strong elements of coffee and banana complimented by the salt’s capacity to cut bitterness. The flavor is quite intense, and well-balanced against the salt, though my personal preference would be for more salt.

I love salt, though. Really. It’s a wonder my blood pressure is as low as it is.

How do you think salt and chocolate compliment each other?

Dolcezza: Chocolate Mint Granizadao and Blogger Meetup

About a year ago, in one of my first posts, I wrote about the Valrhona Chocolate Amargo gelato that I’d enjoyed at the Georgetown location of Dolcezza, a DC-area gelato shop. It was (and is) good stuff. When Sarah said she had a gelato craving, I jumped at the opportunity to meet up with her at the Dupont Circle location.

This location is quite a bit different from the Georgetown one – a little darker on the decorating, and the gelato is in covered metal tubs instead of an inviting display case. But there is a really neat display board of the available flavors.

Tempting as it was to go with my fallback Valrhona Chocolate Amargo, I decided to be adventurous. After all, I was there to hear about Sarah’s major life plans, which may or may not involve taking over the world (she’s one spunky young woman who could do it if she wanted).

Which would be the best choice for a backdrop for a discussion on upcoming world domination? Chocolate Peanut Butter? Or Chocolate Mint Granizadao? After sampling both, I knew it was the latter.

This gelato has a strong spearmint flavor, that is fresh and, unsurprisingly, refreshing on a warm summer evening. There isn’t much chocolate here, just a bit of a light ganache woven through, and the mint flavor is dominant. I found the gelato to be thinner than my standby Valrhona gelato, and it was more watery than creamy. It was nicely flavored, but it didn’t take the place of my beloved Valrhona-based gelato.

Which I’ll be getting again.

And again.

What’s your favorite gelato flavor?

Artisan du Chocolat: Darjeelang

With it being July 4, American bloggers are probably going to be posting all sorts of patriotic things for Independence Day today. Red, white and blue recipes, plans for get-togethers with family, and deeply philosophical thoughts about our country.

I like to be different. So I’m posting a review of a British chocolate made with tea. I figure it is perfect, because some 200 or so years ago we had a formal, civilized tea party to tell the British that we thought we weren’t paying enough taxes.

What? That’s not what it was about? Next thing I know, you’re going to tell me that Paul Revere wasn’t running around on a horse warning the British that the Americans were ready to fight.

I’d rather talk about chocolate than history anyway. So let’s get going with this Artisan du Chocolat Darjeeling Dark Chocolate bar, which has a 72% cocoa Madagascan chocolate as a base.

The bar has a deep fruity aroma, with distinct cherry and subtle apricots.

The flavor of the tea hits immediately, and then some subtle spice, reminiscent of cinnamon and other chai spices, emerges. The fruity flavor of the chocolate is not strong until near the end when some cherry emerges, but there is still a good flavor balance between the tea and chocolate. This balances is supported by a smooth, slow melt that allows the chocolate flavor to build and the tea flavor to linger.

It’s a good bar. Maybe we should have let the British stay in charge, perhaps we’d have more chocolate like this.

Or not.

Have you had Darjeeling with chocolate before?

Salazon Chocolate: Dark Chocolate with Sea Salt

One very nice thing about being a devoted chocolate lover living in DC is that there are more and more locally-made chocolates available to us all the time. Just look at those divine Fleur de Sel Caramels that I got from Artisan Confections. Zoe’s up in Frederick is putting together some truly divine flavor combinations in their bars. And of course, Potomac Chocolate provides us all with the chance to try locally-made goods from bean-to-bar artisan chocolate maker.

Now, to add to the offerings, Salazon started pumping out bars in nearby Eldersberg, MD about a year ago. I found this bar of dark chocolate with natural sea salt at the Friendship Heights Whole Foods on a trip to pick up running shoes, perfume, and cocoa powder.

It was an efficient trip. Really.

The aroma of this 54% cocoa bar is herby, and reminded me of basil and mint. The bar also offered some nicely executed artwork.

I take the fact that I noticed this as progress. It means that I looked at this bar long enough before eating it to notice. I also noticed, before I bit in, that there was salt visible on the back of the bar. Would this be like a shot of saltwater? Tough to say without eating.

Off I go.

The salt is evident, but is sufficiently ground such that it isn’t overwhelming; however, it’s a little concentrated towards the back of the bar, and the experience would be more complete if it were uniformly distributed. That said, the salt does bring out a nutty flavor from the chocolate, as well as a bit of mint, and the bar also features vanilla and perhaps a hint of licorice. The melt of the chocolate is smooth, until the end when there’s a hint of dryness. Overall, it’s a nice bar, and I enjoy finding locally-made products, but it’s not the best salted chocolate out there.

Even after this bar, I have yet to find that perfect salted chocolate. The quest continues.

Have you seen Salazon Chocolate around? Where did you see it?

Artisan Confections: Fleur de Sel Caramels

That awesome swimmer I took to a national synchronized swimming meet last weekend? She bought me more chocolate.

Inside that box were four salted butter caramels from Artisan Confections, right next door to DC in Arlington, VA. Nice, isn’t it? But it left me without new chocolate to review.

As if. Check out these fleur de sel caramels, straight from Artisan’s kitchen.

The chocolates had a subtle earthy aroma with a hint of vanilla. And that salt made eyes at me.

It did. It really did. Salt has a thing for me like I have a thing for salt.

The couverture that held onto that salt was smooth with fruity and minty flavors, with an earthy finish. It had a relatively fast melt as well as a texture that matched that of the caramel perfectly. No. Flaking. At. All.

This made it even easier to savor the interior caramel, which was that perfect texture that is neither chewy nor runny. The flavor trended towards buttery instead of creamy, and also included a little salt and vanilla with just the right amount of added sugar. The salt atop the pieces stands about a bit in a few bites, but not displeasingly so. All blended together, the chocolate, sugar, salt, and butter result in a near-perfect blend of flavors, with a superior texture making this what might be my ideal salted caramel.

My ideal salted caramel just a few miles away? My life is great.

Are there any chocolate makers near you who make great caramels?

Ritter Sport: Filled Chocolate Bars

Having plowed my way through five mini Ritter Sport bars from my sample pack, I was left with two bars, both of which were of the filled variety. Onte of them was, for a change of pace, dark chocolate instead of milk chocolate. A dark chocolate marzipan bar.

The 50% cocoa solids bar has a faint coffee aroma typical of most dark chocolates from large manufacturers. The flavor is also a standard, but pleasing, coffee-vanilla flavor with just a touch of added sugar.

Inside that dark chocolate is a sweet, substantially dense marzipan with a hint of almond extract at the end, as well as what seems to be a coconut flavor. It matches nicely with the chocolate, both from a texture continuity perspective and from a flavor balance perspective; I believe that milk chocolate would have simply made this bar too sweet. As the marzipan is fairly plain, the bar is not complex, but it is certainly satisfactory, and a nice change of pace from the milk chocolate.

Which we’re moving back to. With the zaniest creation from the box: the milk chocolate with yogurt filling.

Yogurt? I mean, the milk chocolate we know. Weak cream aroma, a sweet chocolate with a bit of dairy. But yogurt? How would this go?

It goes tart. Which is to say, nicely with sweet milk chocolate, even if just a little thin against the thick chocolate shell. Texture matching issues aside, the flavor combination is simply brilliant. Really. More chocolatiers should try this.

And send me samples.

Have you ever had chocolate with yogurt filling?