Thursday 13 January 2011

DOMORI - Chuao 70%

In a rare moment of madness I decided to throw caution to the wind and the contents of my piggy bank to purchase a bar of gold chocolate from the house of  DOMORI. Of course I've heard of them but I've never tasted their chocolate before or even looked at their website until a few days ago. 


Background: 
This chocolate originates from the Hacienda San Jose probably the most important place in the world in terms of protecting the future of the rare and mighty Criollo cocoa. According to the information provided on their website there is only a very small amount of this cocoa produced. Chuao is actually a small village, founded in the 16th Century and is located on the northern coastal range of Venezuela. Apparently it is surrounded by mountains and dense Rainforest making it almost impossible to penetrate.


The Packaging: 
Stylish and classy are two words that spring to mind when describing this bar. The design of the packaging is suave, sophisticated and reminds me of an antique cigarette case. The attention to detail is excellent.








The Chocolate: 
If you plan to visit the Chocolate Trading Company website you'll find a lot of useful facts including dietary information and flavour profiles to fit the chocolate you've decided to buy.


This is a 70% dark chocolate from Venezuela and on opening the packet there is a fantastic aroma of wood, tobacco, fruit and cocoa. The aroma is strong and intoxicating. Tick in the box!  Now for the taste test. The bar, well it's not really big enough to be called a bar, maybe a square. The chocolate has a great snap as you would expect. The chocolate melts quickly and is smooth almost creamy but with a slight bitter tobacco flavour in the background with fruit mixed in. I actually found it a bit dull and enjoyed the aroma more than the eating part which is a bit disappointing. 


Interestingly the chocolate is described as follows, "An immediate perception of nuts, almonds above all, followed by honey, vanilla and cream: great sweetness and smoothness."


DOMORI 70%
There is no doubt that this is a great bar of chocolate which has years of history and provenance behind it. However, I found it disappointing and almost an anticlimax but maybe I need to taste more of these bars to really appreciate the nuances and subtle flavours that are going on? I just need to win the lottery this weekend. Overall I give this bar 7/10. But before clicking 'add to basket' think carefully about who you're buying this bar for.


To buy this bar visit The Chocolate Trading Co. here.

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