Romania is not the first country that jumps to mind when thinking about the great chocolate-producing nations in the world. But that’s where Heidi hail from, and so it is with a certain amount of trepidation that I approach my very first Romanian bar of chocolate.
Part of that was down to the helpful description provided by Heidi on the back of the packaging: “Heidi Dark Extreme is about walking that extra mile when everyone else has abandoned the race. It’s about the fire that keeps you going.” Crumbs.
I needn’t have been too concerned though because while this allegedly Dark Extreme bar isn’t quite as monumental as the box suggests, it is more interesting than I was expecting. First of all, it manages to avoid the harshness that can come with the higher percentage bars – it’s 85% cocoa solids, but it tastes much milder because of the healthy amount of vanilla which has been added probably for that precise reason. It also has an unusual cool sensation on your tongue which is strangely reminiscent of those cheap Icy Square candies – I have absolutely no idea where it comes from, but it kept me coming back to for more.
I still don’t know if I’d recommend it though because it is just the strangeness of Heidi Grand’Or Dark Extreme that makes it stand out rather than it being a satisfying bar of chocolate. It is enough to make me want to search out some more Heidi bars, if only to see what other peculiarities they might harbour.
I have a bit of a soft spot for this bonkers band of bearded brothers from Brooklyn. The first bar of theirs I tried, a Madagascan chocolate with Fleur de Sel was one of my favourite bars of last year.
Of course, first impressions are vital, and when it comes to packaging, nobody does it better than Mast Brothers. This bar is no exception, with a heavy, copper coloured paper outer wrapper hiding the gold-wrapped chocolate inside. Unwrapping a bar of Mast Brothers chocolate is an experience in itself.
As you can see, the packaging, both on the reverse and inside, helpfully gives plenty of background information about the bar and the village of Chuao in Venezuela where the cocoa beans come from.
I’ve talked before about one of the main problems with chocolate called “Chuao”. More chocolate is sold with that label than beans produced by the village. Some chocolate may use beans from the surrounding regions, others may not even be Chuao at all. For the consumer, it’s practically impossible to know for sure. So I’m going to assume that this bar is exactly what it claims to be, and just go on flavour.
The tasting notes describe it as:
“Spicy with notes of cinnamon, cloves, allspice and tobacco. A lingering buttery finish.”
I thought it would be intesting to compare it to a couple of other Chuao bars I have in my stash, so I broke out a bar of Amano and one of Soma’s latest batch, both of which are 70% rather than the 76% cocoa solids of this bar.
The first thing to say is that the Soma Chuao is nowhere near as good as the bar we originally reviewed. I’ve actually tried two different batches of the Soma since our original rave review. Both have been different, but neither have been a patch on the original. I think that goes to show the difficulty artisan bean-to-bar chocolate makers face in maintaining quality. Tiny variations at any stage of the chocolate making process can have a huge impact on flavour.
While it’s still a pleasant bar, it just doesn’t have the same fruitiness earlier batches did. The Amano bar is sweeter, fruitier and more buttery, with a hint of tobacco. There are some similarities between the two, but the Mast Brothers bar is very different again.
Immediately, it’s much more intense than the others, with a slightly bitter note. It’s a more complex flavour, with the tobacco and spice notes being much more prominent than the other bars. But for me, it doesn’t hold together quite as well as the others. I personally prefer lighter, sweeter and fruitier notes in my chocolate, and this didn’t quite do it for me.
Having said that, it’s still a bar I’d happily part company with money for (The Chocolate Society were kind enough to send this particular review sample). But if I had to pick one of the three Chuao bars in front of me now, it would be the Amano.
We don’t often go back over old ground on Chocablog. Once we’ve reviewed something, we like to move on as there’s always something new and exciting to get our teeth into.
But when this little box of delights was pushed into my hand at the Academy of Chocolate Awards party, I knew I had to write about them. Of course, we’ve already reviewed – and loved – a Nicky Grant selection, but this box has a few that we haven’t seen before.
Previously, we tried the honey & cinnamon, dark truffle and cornish sea salt caramel, which are all just as good as first time round, so I want to look at the other three varieties in this box.
Cardamom & Pistachio
No prizes for guessing which one this is from the photos. Rolled in pistachios, this chocolate would stand out in any box. Inside that bright green jacket is a layer of white chocolate, with a cardamom-infused milk chocolate ganache in the centre.
I love pistachios, so I was always going to like this. The flavours are smooth and subtle, and all those finely chopped pistachios give a great texture. I’m not entirely convinced the ‘look’ of this chocolate will appeal to everyone, but it tastes divine.
Hazelnut Gianduja
An oddly shaped cylinder of dark chocolate with a blob on the top, which as you might guess from the name contains a crystalised hazelnut. Underneath is a rich, smooth gianduja (chocolate & hazelnut paste).
I’m not the world’s greatest hazelnut fan, but the flavour and combination of crispy and smooth textures once again work really well here.
Fennel & Ginger
I absolutely adore ginger, so while this is probably the simplest of the three chocolates, it was the one I was most looking forward to the most. It’s a simple infused ganache covered in dark chocolate and it’s absolutely wonderful.
Fennel doesn’t usually do a lot for me, but here it seems to lift the ginger to a different level. It’s full of flavour without being overly spicy and works perfectly with the dark chocolate.
It’s no surprise that this particular chocolate won a gold in the Academy Awards, it really is something special. But then so is the entire Nicky Grant range. If you haven’t tried them yet, now would probably be a good time to start.
Slightly surreal packaging illustration aside, this is in fact a reasonable ‘normal’ bar from the Zotter range that has thus far offered us Bacon Chocolate, Golden Cherries, Basil and Rose, and other more leftfield flavour combinations. Like all of Josef Zotter’s creations, the ingredients for this one are almost entirely fair trade, organic, or both. (The only ingredient which is neither is the salt.)
This bar is enrobed in Zotters ‘Noble’ Bitter dark Chocolate, which has 70% cocoa solids and is a good bittersweet prelude to the rich and creamy (and slightly boozy) interior.
For some strange reason this bar put me in mind of Christmas. The rich booziness of plum brandy married with the dark, smooth combination of chocolate and cream put me in mind of snowy winter nights and roaring fires. There’s no fruit in this bar for texture, no sliver of fruity jelly or tiny fragments of cunningly preserved fruit.
This is rich, thick, chocolatey indulgence in a very European way (Plum Brandy being much more popular in countries used to much colder, longer winters) and I rather enjoyed it, having been fed plums with or without chocolate and/or booze at various points by Polish relatives.
But therein lies my only question about this bar. You can’t deny that it’s a beautifully executed combination of flavours, but I do wonder if it’s one that’s likely to catch on with UK buyers of premium chocolate brands. Let’s not forget that a 70g bar of Zotter Chocolate is no a cheap thing, and I’m willing to bet that this bar isn’t as popular as some of the others in the currently available range.
If, like me, you’re quite partial to plums and brandy, then it’s definitely worth tracking down, but I’m not sure there are that many plum brandy fans out there.
