Lindt Excellence - A Touch Of Sea Salt
This bar is the usual 47% dark blend that Lindt use for the range, but it also contains tiny crystals of sea salt. 3% to be precise.
Now you may not consider 3% to be a great deal of salt, but once you sample a piece of this chocolate, it isn’t very long before you start finding the crystals melting on your tongue.
If you’re a fan of salty caramel (think Green & Blacks or Cocopia to name but two) then this combination will be one you’ll love. The dark chocolate has already been described in detail by both myself and Dom in the Pear, Coffee, Cuba, Caramel and Mint reviews, and is a very pleasant slightly bittersweet blend. It isn’t really that dark; it doesn’t ’snap’ (unless it’s been in the fridge) and it doesn’t have a hugely complex flavour, but it’s pleasant enough and delivers enough flavour to make it very popular.
In my conversations with various chocolatiers here and in Europe I have noticed that they tend to look down on Lindt. I suppose it must be because the company identity retains some of the ‘chocolatier’ feel whereas the reality has to be a series of huge factories churning out truckloads of chocolate bars for every country in Europe (and probably most of the world). However, they have achieved consistently high standards in terms of flavour and variety, and I suppose it’s for that reason they have maintained a very high share of the market.
Well, this is definitely one to look out for if Lindt is your thing. I found the pairing very moreish indeed.
Posted by Simon on 19 Aug 2008 at 09:08 AM
| 10 Comments
Filed in Reviews under dark, lindt, salt
August 19, 2008 : 11:05am
Very cool review.
Regarding your “chocolatier experience” — consumers and chocolatiers are two very different targets. Chocolatiers tend to look at the “workability” of chocolate (i.e: how is it going to work with my machines, does it melt well, will it melt or stay firm when I bake cookies, ..etc.) That’s why the chocolate industry is fairly well divided between B2B (chocolate for chocolatiers) and B2C (chocolate for consumers.) There are hardly any companies that succeed in both.
August 19, 2008 : 11:37am
Thanks for your comment. It’s good (and a little scary) to know that Lindt are watching us eat our way through their product range (albeit slowly).
Isn’t it about time we got a few samples, I ask myself?
August 19, 2008 : 12:05pm
I think this is a really interesting discussion.
Lindt are obviously a large company, so I can understand smaller ’boutique’ chocolatiers may look down on them - but they do *consistently* produce great products.
August 19, 2008 : 4:42pm
…I’m just another chocoholic (with a steady supply to feed his addiction)
:)
August 19, 2008 : 11:42pm
I like some of Lindt chocolate to. But,I would have never thought of seasalt In chocolate. But,I am truely wondering how salty? I mean I like chocolate but,I don’t like the taste of alot of salt. So I guess I might try it.
August 20, 2008 : 12:14am
I’ve had my eye on a sea salt bar for a while now, but there are always so many more that I always end up getting something else instead. I’m really curious to try it, though.
August 20, 2008 : 5:39am
The lovely Matt from Lindt (here in South Australia) mentioned the sea salt variety, but I’ve yet to see it here (and believe, I’ve been looking).
Oh and 3% salt is very salty - that’s about all there is in sea water, isn’t it, or has my year 10 biology learnings failed me?
August 20, 2008 : 1:55pm
The idea of salt and chocolate for me was a little foreign; then I tried a sea-salt truffle by Raymond Lammers (exec. pastry chef at Stein Eriksen) a couple of years back and I was blown away.
I would actually love to see some reviews of small chocolate shops and innovative chocolatiers. There’s a pastry chef out of Spain that fills his chocolate truffles with roasted garlic and sauteed onions — now that’s a review I’d love to check out.
August 20, 2008 : 2:52pm
Watch this space - I found another small chocolatier while on holiday last month. My first UK chocolatier review is imminent!
August 22, 2008 : 11:06pm
I tried sea salt chocolate in portugal last week and wish I had bought more to bring back to the uk.any idea where I can buy it?