Naive Orange & Cinnamon

Posted by in Chocolate Reviews on March 27 2012 | Leave A Comment

Naive are our new favourite Lithuanian bean-to-bar chocolate makers. I don’t think there’s many bean-to-bar chocolate makers in Lithuania, but even if there were, I think Naive would be at the top of the list.

I love the elegant simplicity of the packaging, the beautifully simple bar design, and of course, the wonderful chocolate.

As you can see from the wrapper, this is a 63% dark chocolate with orange & cinnamon. It’s made with a relatively short 19 hour conche time, and uses Naive’s house blend of beans. A quick email to Naive later, and they’re happy to tell me that this is a blend of Haitian and Ugandan cocoa beans. I really do like chocolate makers who are as open as that about where their ingredients come from.

As you can see from the back of the photo above, the other thing this bar has is nibs. Lots of nibs.

The chocolate doesn’t have a perfectly smooth texture, thanks to the cinnamon and shorter conche time, but it’s packed with flavour. There’s an orangeyness that complements the natural fruitiness of the chocolate and just a hint of spice. The nibs give it a great crunch, and I particularly like how they’re swirled over only about half the area of the bar, so it’s easy to break off a piece without nibs if you don’t want to be awake all night!

I know orange and chocolate together isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but I found this chocolate to be very moreish. Without thinking I’d be breaking off another piece, letting it slowly melt, crunching the nibs and going back for another piece. It’s delicious and very easy to eat.

As with the rest of the Naive range, it’s still not easy to get hold of in the UK but worth seeking out. You can pick their chocolate up from the Real Food Market and Fernandez & Wells.

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