Well, that week certainly sped by and what a crazy busy week it has been!
This is the last of the Purist bars from Hotel Chocolat that I'm featuring this year as it will take me another year to save up to buy three more! If you've seen my price survey you'll be aware that these bars are top the price charts.
The Chocolate: No need to repeat myself about the packaging as the picture below tells you everything you need to know. However, it does make you wonder how something so expensive can be in such mediocre and simplistic packaging. Clever marketing I suppose?
According to the tasting notes provided Hotel Chocolat managed to obtain some of the most prized cocoa on earth! Criollo cocoa beans have been used to make this bar of chocolate producing mellow flavours of roasted nuts, cream and caramel, raisins and malt. For those of you new to chocolate Criollo trees are notoriously difficult to grow. Not only do they produce fewer pods containing even fewer seeds but they are more susceptible to disease. Why would anyone want to grow this seed variety? Well, the flavours and aromas that the Criollo producers are far better than those of the hardier Forastero, which accounts for more than 80% of the world's cocoa crop.
The word "Chuao" actually refers to a small village on the north coast of Venezuela. Founded in the 16th century it was famous for its cacao plantations, producing very high quality cacao.
The aroma from this bar is certainly less intense to the Purist bar I tasted recently. However, for a 70% dark chocolate it has a certain intensity and there is a fruity acidity to the chocolate that lasts for a long time. It's also creamy and doesn't dry your mouth out which is so much more agreeable than the "With a Dash" Purist bar. I'm not picking up the nuts, caramel or malt flavours that are listed.
Overall it is a good bar of chocolate that is full of flavour. Unfortunately the price is very high and even though this is good quality chocolate £3.00 for a 35g bar is excessive. For that reason I'm going to give it 8/10 for flavour, 4/10 for price and 2/10 for packaging.
If you'd like to buy this bar click here.
This is the second of three Purist bars that I will be reviewing from Hotel Chocolat. This particular bar is from the Rabot Estate, Saint Lucia.
The estate is owned by Hotel Chocolat and came into their ownership in April 2006. The race to find such a location came about when a member of the Hotel Chocolat Tasting Club found a book dating back to the 1920's, Cocoa & Chocolate, Their History from Plantation to Consumer. The book covered how in the 1920's it was common place for Chocolatiers to make their own chocolate from the bean and how important the region of the Caribbean was. Cocoa production almost disappeared as bananas and tourism took centre stage. The cocoa beans from this part of the world are mainly Trinitario and therefore of good quality.
To cut a long story short Angus Thirlwell (co-founder) gained approval from the board, searched the Caribbean and found the Rabot Estate plantation in St Lucia. In May 2006 the restoration of the estate began and as they say the rest is history.
The Packaging: As with the other Purist bar I reviewed the packaging is exactly the same. Each 'tongue' of chocolate is wrapped in cellophane taped down with a long label which includes some helpful tasting notes.
The Chocolate: This is an interesting bar of chocolate and to quote the tasting notes, "Dash of Milk - a new style of chocolate midway between a classic milk and a classic dark". When you open the wrapper on this bar of chocolate you are immediately greeted with a strong tobacco and leather aroma which gives you the impression that it is going to be very dry. Usually a 90% dark chocolate will have little sugar and is likely to be dry on the pallet. So, it will be interesting to see how the milk chocolate works. The bar is beautifully tempered and has a great snap! Immediately on placing this bar on your tongue you can taste the depth to this chocolate. There is a slight bitterness which sends me on edge slightly but this is quickly lost as you hit a layer of creamy milk chocolate.
The combination of dark and milk layers certainly helps to reduce the chalky, dryness that appears and then disappears. This dark chocolate is not for a 'beginner' as it is fairly stringent and strong in flavour. Sugar is very low down on the ingredient list!
Overall I give this bar 7/10 for presentation and flavour unfortunately for me it was just a little too strong and the dry, chalky feeling on my mouth was not encouraging me to eat more! This 35g bar will cost you £3.00 but I received a discount of 50p when I purchased 3 bars.
To see their full range connect to Hotel Chocolat
Hotel Chocolat has never been featured on this blog mainly because I've always been slightly disappointed with their truffles. I was unlucky enough to taste some of their truffles a couple of years ago when a friend gave us one of their big boxes. But I thought I would take a quick look round their Moorgate shop to see what was on offer. What harm could it do? Their shops are elegant and all the assistants seem as though they've just been weened off Mars bars they look so young! In their defense I have to say they are actually very good and are keen to offer you free samples of chocolate at every opportunity. Hotel Chocolat certainly know how to play the retail game with posh packaging, Vogue style assistants and freebies. I was hooked, there was no hope I wasn't going to escape without making a purchase. Having avoided all the Halloween offerings and what seemed like a never ending selection of bars I found the PURIST section. I was immediately taken in by the packaging and the fantastic selection on view. Well I came away with three PURIST bars and parted with my money. The assistant wished me Happy Halloween which has to be a first! Maybe they're trying a little too hard...
The Packaging: The bar is simply packaged for Hotel Chocolat standards in a clear cellophane bag with a paper label providing information and tasting notes on the bar which is very helpful. The bar is clearly identified as being organic and suitable for vegetarians and vegans.
The Chocolate: The PURIST range includes rare and vintage chocolate sourced from the finest cocoa in the world. Apparently only 5% of the world's chocolate production is considered to be in this category. To quote from their website, "Grown only on the coast and in the rainforest's of Ecuador, Nacional Arriba cocoa is unique for many reasons – not least its floral notes and fruity flavours. This well-balanced recipe brings out the best from the Nacional Arriba bean – naturally mellow, with a deep intensity and layered flavours of dried fruits, roasted nuts, hints of jasmine and a long finish".
I have to say that the presentation of this chocolate bar is excellent they remind me of huge lolling tongues and I love the grooves, very organic feel to it. Once the packaging is opened the first aroma to hit you is that of tobacco and dark, dark cocoa. I've not tasted many 80% chocolates before so I'm expecting this to be bitter. Yes, it's slightly bitter as you'd expect but it is not making my mouth dry. Fruity notes are coming through and yes this chocolate is long in flavour. I'm not getting the nuts or jasmine but it certainly has a kick to it that just fills your mouth with woody flavours! Even after finishing this piece of chocolate some 5 minutes ago I'm still picking up the flavour. A 35g bar is all you'll need as it will last for ages.
Overall I give this bar 9/10 for great flavour and outstanding presentation. The attention to detail is excellent and I can't find much to fault it. For a 35g bar I paid £3.00 but as I purchased three I took advantage of their deal and saved £1.50.
If you'd like to buy this bar visit Hotel Chocolat now.
This post was by Richard....
