Ecuadorian Dark Chocolate 72 M&S

Sunny weather, blue sky.........remember?

I wish I could say that the weather is getting better. Record after record is being broken and what's coming over the horizon isn't looking very pretty either.  I've decided that the slutty mummy trilogy, 'Fifty Shades of Grey', is to blame for all this!  Surely, 'Fifty Shades of Pink' would have been a more fitting and apt title?  
The word 'monsoon' has reached a new peak this month as we try to fit it into every sentence.  While sleepy villages in Wales, county shows and the country's sporting events are swept away by rising water levels the Olympics looks set to be a total wash out!  Even Kylie and Jason could't get it on because of that killjoy, rain.  


I wish I could say that our enthusiasm for the Olympics was running a different course to the weather. According to recent polls the British public don't believe the games make or have any 'real' connection with them. The Olympic Torch Relay may have passed through their village or town a few weeks ago, producing a spark of enthusiasm, a glimmer of sporting achievement but now that has all been washed away. Recently I've noticed that even the Greater Anglia train guards have stopped announcing, "Welcome to Stratford, home of the 2012 Olympics".  Now, commuters don't even raise their heads from their tablets as they pass through Stratford, such is their lack of expectation, only foreign visitors show interest, by clicking frantically at their cameras as we speed by. Sometimes, I think the UK, as a nation, collectively needs a good slapping!  


However, all is not doom and gloom, Nick Clegg, who looks sadder each day, has failed in his attempt to abolish the Lords or whatever he was fuddling and muddling with. Why can't politicians get their priorities right? 


Fortunately, Bradley (Wiggo) Wiggins is sending the French into melt down as he proudly wears the Maillot Jaune in the Tour de France, for a fifth day.  Let's hope Wiggo is setting the stage for further triumphs at the Olympics and that the mood of the British public changes soon. Maybe, just maybe that stiff upper lip may even crack a smile? Ok, enough of my waffling....let's eat some chocolate.


As happens with chocolate tasting there are always a number of chocolate bars that seem to remain at the bottom of your chocolate pile, so to speak. This 72% Ecuadorian dark chocolate bar from M&S is no exception and has passed its 'best before' date by a few months!  Sometime ago M&S set up their, Plan A, 'Doing the Right Thing', initiative several years ago. Launched in 2007, M&S have been setting 100 commitments, now increased to 180, to assist with Climate Change, Waste, Sustainable Raw Materials, Health and being a Fair Partner.

Ecuador 72 - 100g

According to the blurb M&S have been working directly with cocoa farmers in Ecuador to develop high quality chocolate. As part of their relationship they've invested in ecological projects to replenish the rainforests while the Fairtrade standards mean better social conditions for the farmers.


The bar itself is carbon neutral. Those clever people at M&S have calculated the quantity of CO2 emissions throughout the whole process, from bean to bar and offsetting this by planting lots and lots of trees.

Carbon Neutral Chocolate

The chocolate itself has a delicious fruity, blackberry and a hint of forest aroma which continues throughout the chocolate. Which has a juicy, tangy and slightly acidic mouth feel that has plenty of depth. Not bitter in the slightest, a very enjoyable piece of chocolate and you can feel good about yourself at the end which ticks all my boxes! Overall 7/10.