Paul A. Young 72% Venezuelan with Tellicherry Pepper

Posted by in Chocolate Reviews on July 14 2010 | Leave A Comment

This is one of Paul A. Young’s latest creations. It was thrust into my hand at the recent Taste of London event in Regents Park, and also one of the samples on offer at Jennifer Earle’s Chocs & Tunes tasting last week. My bar has suffered slightly from the recent heat, but that shouldn’t affect the taste.

This is a simple 50g bar, and follows Paul’s standard format for solid bars. A rectangular slab divided into four pieces.

The Tellicherry pepper comes from south west India, and is named after the city of the same name. It takes the form of crushed peppercorns, scattered throughout the chocolate, and you can just make out the odd small piece when you break a chunk off.

According to Paul, one of the reasons for using this particular variety of peppercorn is because the bar is more about the flavour than outright heat. That really comes through in the first bite, when the flavour of the pepper really comes through and helps lift the smooth and fruity chocolate. It’s really quite pleasant.

Occasionally though, you come across a larger piece of peppercorn and the heat starts to come through more overtly and it becomes just a little too strong for my liking. I’m not the world’s biggest fan of spicy food, and this is just a little too much for me to enjoy casually. It’s an interesting experience, and I’d be happy to share small pieces with friends, but it’s not the kind of bar I’d buy for myself to sit down and relax with.

If you like a little bit of heat, you should definitely give this one a go, particularly if you’re looking for a little bit more flavour than your average chilli chocolate. It’s purely a matter of taste though, but personally I’d rather spend time with Paul’s Marmite XO bar. At least until I see what weird and wonderful creation he comes up with next.

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