Choceur 70% Fairtrade Dark Chocolate

Having bought and tasted his, I was in the middle of writing up the review when I read somewhere that Aldi had outperformed the big four supermarkets in a recent customer satisfaction survey. Yes, Choceur the Aldi in-house chocolate brand – has gone Fairtrade, and this is the dark chocolate version of the two bars on sale.

I have to say that appearance wise it isn’t much different to any other supermarket’s ‘Bestest’ or ‘Savour the Poshness’ ranges. Dark, glossy chocolate with a good sheen, a crisp snap, and a slightly bitter cacao aroma. On the palette it’s quick to melt, delivering acidic, bittersweet cacao flavours with a slight burnt sugar top note. The finish is a mixture of the sweetness with a hint of toasted nuts, slightly acidic but with good solid cacao base notes.

Given the fact that it’s made from “Belgian Chocolate’ I’m sure there’s every possibility that more than one supermarket is using the same couverture for their 70% Fairtrade chocolate. In fact there can’t be too many cacao producers who could satisfy the demands of supermarkets, particularly those who have international presence.

Given that more and more of us are popping into what used to be considered ‘low budget’ supermarkets it makes sense for Aldi to develop a quality range of products, and this definitely compares favourably with similar offerings from other, better known supermarket chains. It costs less than a quid, 99.4% of the ingredients are Fairtrade, and as such it’s a perfectly acceptable everyday dark chocolate. I used some to make a batch of chocolate mousses (of which more at some other point) and it had just the depth of flavour I wanted.

For what it is and how much it costs, there isn’t really anything bad you could say about this bar. It’s not gourmet chocolate, it’s not made from a batch of rare beans brought down from the Andes on the backs of Llamas, and so it doesn’t cost a fortune but does give you plenty of bang for your buck. Give it a go – what do you have to lose?

Choc Affair Aniseed

Here’s some more Fairtrade chocolate sent to us by the Fairtrade Foundation for Fairtrade Fortnight. This time, it’s a 34% milk chocolate flavoured with aniseed oil.

If you’re thinking that sounds a bit weird, you’d be right. In fact, it’s not just weird, it’s horrible. While I like liquorice, and even found some that works with chocolate, I’ve never really got on with aniseed. Part of my dislike comes from products like this, where it’s so strong that it simply overwhelms any other flavour.

These particular chocolates are, for some reason, shaped like pyramids. the molding isn’t great though, with lots of air bubbles in the surface, and the fact that they’re loose in the bag means that they look like they’ve been knocked around a bit.

Upon opening the bag, you’re greeted with the strong smell of aniseed and not a hint of chocolate aroma. The shape makes them a little bit awkward to eat. You either attempt to bite off a chunk and end up spiking the roof of your mouth, or you try to eat one whole… and end up spiking the roof of your mouth.

The flavour is overwhelmingly aniseed. It has all the texture of milk chocolate, but none of the flavour. And it’s the kind of flavour that stays in your mouth for the rest of the day.

Of course, if you love aniseed, you will probably get a kick out of something like this. But I don’t love aniseed. I love chocolate. And I really don’t think fellow chocolate lovers will get much out of this at all.

It is a little sad writing bad things about a Fairtrade chocolate, and I’ve no doubt Choc-affair are accomplished at what they do – at least they’ve taken the time to produce something with fairly traded ingredients, which is more than most chocolate companies do.

No, my hatred of this particular product is based primarily on the fact that I just don’t want my chocolate infected with aniseed oil. Ever again.

Amano Cuyagua

The folks at Amano have sent me over a couple of their products, starting with the limited edition Cuyagua bar. Note that this was one of Amano’s three originally-released bars; it was also part of a short supply, which made it unavailable for a while. It’s back again now, though Amano’s website informs us that it is slightly different this time as the beans are fermented in a different way than with the original.

You may also be interested in taking a look at said website, which has been redesigned with the promise of more frequent updates. One new feature, Ask the Chocolate Maker, introduces an anecdote on the Cuyagua bar that I found particularly stirring.

The cacao origin here is Venezuela, specifically from the out-of-the-way Cuyagua Valley. The rich colored squares have a marshmallow aroma reminiscent of the Montanya bar, accented with a peppery feel. For the first half, I found a spicier, dustier taste until I hit a sudden transition to light banana notes. It’s quite soft and sensible.

I would liken this chocolate to a sunset. Pastel yet vivid and strong colors form its face. The dull purples and mellow pinks make way for and reflect off of the bright gold globe of the sun. A happy and feel-good tone they both have.

This is a must-try from the Amano line — get it while it lasts.

Nero & Bianco Fairtrade Chocolate

Nero & Bianco are a High Wycombe based company, selling Fairtrade chocolate from Peru and The Dominican Republic. We were sent a dark, milk, and white bars to review, and although each has a long list of cocoa growing co-operatives on the back, it doesn’t specifically give an origin for each bar, so I suspect all the bars are similar blends.

The dark chocolate bar is 70% cocoa solids and a very healthy 99.74% Fairtrade certified, with only the soya lecithin emulsifier not being certified.

The chocolate has a sweet aroma and a very smooth texture that reminded me a little of the Friis Holm Johe bar I tried last year. It melts quickly and cleanly on the tongue, with a pleasant sweet flavour, and just a hint of bitterness at the end.

The milk chocolate is a very healthy 39% cocoa solids, but a slightly less impressive 67.67% Fairtrade certified ingredients. It has the same smooth texture as the dark, but this one melts even more readily in the mouth and has a very pleasant rich & creamy flavour. It’s the kind of milk chocolate bar I could happily nibble on through the day.

The white chocolate doesn’t have a cocoa butter percentage listed, but it’s 71.58% Fairtrade certified. It also contains ground vanilla which gives it a pleasantly flecked look, but does impart a slightly grainy texture. Pleasant enough, but not really my thing (I made a white chocolate mousse with most of my bar).

All in all, a pretty good showing from Nero & Bianco. Not what I’d call fine chocolate, but worth seeking out for your every day chocolate munching needs.

You can apparently buy Nero & Bianco exclusively from Peros.co.uk (who seem to share an address with Nero & Bianco), but their website is a little confusing and I’ve no idea how you actually buy anything.