Black v Brown from Chocadores

Sarah from Chocadores kindly sent me samples of the Toscano Brown and Toscano Black to review and taste. So without further ado lets get down to some tasting. 


Background: 
Amedei is chocolate manufacturing company based in Pontedera, in the Tuscany region of Italy. It is renowned as being one of the most expensive chocolates in the world. The company was started by brother and sister team Alessio and Cecilia Tessieri who apparently had no previous experience. Wow!


Since 1990, Alessio and Cecilia have devoted and committed themselves to the search of perfect harmonious tastes, becoming reality in the form of a linear balanced bars or a napolitain shape (tablet of chocolate to be served with coffee), and a soft roundness of a praline. They actually named their company in honor of their Grandmother. The entire production process is followed by dedication and artisan skills such as the selection of the seeds of cocoa, personally done by Amedei in the countries of origin to the manufacturing of the chocolate conducted in the laboratory of Pontedera, under the attentive supervision of Cecilia, Amedei’s maitre chocolatier. Their products range from truffles and pralines to their award wining single origin bars. Their mission in life is to make the best chocolate in the world.

The Packaging: As you would expect coming from Italy packaging at Amedei has plenty of style, simplicity and sophistication. They are probably the Maserati of the chocolate world. These particular squares are probably their most simple in terms of design and I suggest a visit to their site to fully appreciate other beautiful designs. Art meets chocolate or should that be the other way round?


The Chocolate: Amedei source the majority of their chocolate from a Venezuelan region called Chuao. Cacao from this region is thought to be some of the best in the world.

Toscano Brown 32% - Strange name? It sounds so much better in Italian. This particular variety is made from chocolate sourced from Madagascar. I hope that's correct as there is nothing on the packaging. So apologies if I've misled you. The aroma coming from this morsel of milk chocolate is light and slightly woody and not especially strong in terms of cocoa. The taste is definitely creamy and rich with very strong caramel and malty overtones.

Toscano Black 70% - As you would expect there is a much stronger aroma from this chocolate. There is a definite aroma of wood, tobacco and a hint of fruit. Like their packaging their flavours are subtle and sophisticated. The flavours might be subtle but the chocolate is excellent in terms of 'snap' and brilliance of appearance.

These unique chocolates have delicate and slightly understated flavours with,  beautiful presentation and an excellent chocolate finish. I found these difficult to score as it's a bit like critiquing the Mona Lisa. Overall I give both these chocolates 8/10. 

To buy this chocolate and view others visit Chocadores today!

Toscano Black 63% Amedei (Madagascar)

"Chocadores Gourmet Chocolate" or "Chocadores" for short, is a great name for a website, it has such a fun and slightly operatic feel about it. The name really conjours up what I think about chocolate and has already put me in a good mood to review a sample of the gourmet chocolate they provide via their website.


About: Chocadores came to fruition after the owners tasted some delicious chocolate from Artisan du Chocolat. Armed with scant knowledge of chocolate but with huge bags of enthusiasm they embarked on a journey to discover the world of fine chocolate. Their mission is to bring some of the finest and purest chocolate to our attention. Not only do they want to bring excellent chocolate to the fore but they also want to ensure traceability and sustainability is high up on the producers list of responsibilities. 
They have set 5 key criteria that the chocolate must meet before it will go on sale via their website, as follows:

• Have an ethical/fair trading policy in place
• Use of only real ingredients (no additives, artificial flavourings)
• True provenance must be demonstrated on products
• Cocoa beans sourced from sustainable plantations (non African)
• The finest beans to be used in production (Criollo, Trinitario and sustainable Forastero)

There are a wide variety of products to choose from Chocolate Selection Boxes, Chocolate Bars, Chocolate Buttons and even Chocolate Gift Sets. Chocolatiers featured on their site include Amedei, Artisan du Chocolat, Auberge du Chocolat, El Ceibo (this is a favorite of mine), Pamaco and the list goes on!

Ok, let's get down to tasting this bar of chocolate. 

The Packaging: I would describe this as typically Italian, very stylish, smooth and sophisticated! A lovely red package with the Amedei logo emblazoned in black, on the inside there is lots of information about Amedei and the chocolate you're about to try. The chocolate is encased in a yellow foil jacket to keep the chocolate in tip top condition.

The Chocolate: The 'Tuscan Blacks' are a blend of three different cocoa beans with varying cocoa % exclusively selected by Amedei. This particular chocolate has a 63% cocoa content. The chocolate is perfectly tempered and has a good 'snap' as you break into it. It is a very acceptable and agreeable chocolate but it's not going to set the world on fire. It does not have the intensity of single origin dark chocolates but it is certainly smooth, creamy and slightly sweet. There are definite fruity tones, a hint of tobacco but no bitterness and the flavour lasts.

Toscano Black 63

Overall I give this bar of chocolate a score of 7/10 for balance, flavour and ethical policy. If you're looking to break into dark chocolate, no pun intended, this is a good place to start. This bar is available from Chocadores at £4.25 for a 50g bar plus postage and packing. 


To purchase this bar now click here, Chocadores

Cinnamon 32% Cocoa by William and Suzue Curley

Well I decided to take a lucky dip into the bag of chocolates that I amassed from my recent visit to Chocolate Unwrapped and pulled out a bar produced by William and Suzue Curley. I hadn't realized that this business is a husband and wife partnership. Their first shop opened in 2004 in leafy Richmond and accolades quickly followed. William was awarded the Best British Chocolatier accolade for 2007, 2008 and again for 2009 by the Academy of Chocolate.

To quote from their website, "Brought up in Fife, William's career began with an apprenticeship at Gleneagles. He then went on to spend 6 years at numerous Michelin-starred establishments, working with respected chefs including Pierre Koffman at La Tante Claire, Raymond Blanc at Le Manoir aux Quat' Saisons and Marco Pierre White at The Oak Restaurant".

"He has won numerous awards, including The Caterer's Acorn Award, The Craft Guild Pastry Chef of the Year, The Academy of Culinary Arts Awards of Excellence and British Dessert of the Year. Having won the William Heptinstall Scholarship, he was given the opportunity to work under Marc Meneau at L'Espérance in France".

The other half of the team is Suzue who is also a highly respected patissier. Originally from Osaka, Japan, Suzue has worked at Claridges and The Savoy where she was in charge of the world famous Afternoon Teas. She has won many national competitions including Gold at Hotelympia in 2000". They are very much a class act with oodles of experience and awards behind them.

The Packaging: With all this experience there is no need to be extravagant with fancy packaging and that's exactly what you get with this bar. It is one of the most unassuming pieces of packaging that I've seen in a long time. A simple but elegant design with gold embossed lettering provides a reassuring feel of quality. The bar itself has been placed in a clear cellophane bag with William Curley's logo.

The Chocolate: This is a milk chocolate with a cocoa content of 32%. I'm a bit surprised by the finish of this bar as it has a few holes on the surface. I'm sure this one slipped through 'quality control' and is not representative of the usual high quality one can expect from William Curley. Well they say beauty is only skin deep and there is nothing flash about this bar in terms of presentation. I've decided not to use the picture of the bar purchased from William's stall at Chocolate Unwrapped as it had taken a few knocks and I believe that would be rather unfair of me.

The cinnamon aroma is intoxicating and conjures up thoughts of mulled wine, Christmas and apples, all in one chunk! The cinnamon is perfectly balanced and once this has gone you're left with the flavour of cocoa, caramel and sweet dreamy chocolate. Amedei chocolate is used exclusively for all their creations. Amedei, based in Italy, source their prized cocoa from Venezuelan plantations that use the best Criollo and Trinitario beans. They also source their chocolate from other countries including Madagascar, Ecuador, Trinidad, Jamaica and Grenada.


Overall I give this bar 8.5/10 for flavour but only 5/10 for final presentation especially when you are paying £3.50 for a 50g bar you expect it to be minus the holes. Look beyond the presentation and you'll find a very comforting bar of chocolate. Somebody else just finished the last piece of chocolate....grrr how annoying is that!


If you'd like to buy this bar visit William Curley's online shop
or you might like to visit shop in Belgravia to see their full range of delicious chocolates!

William Curley - Belgravia Shop