Canada’s Soma Chocolatemaker is one of our very favourite bean-to-bar chocolate manufacturers, and their Chuao 70% bar is one of their best creations. Michael and I managed to get our hands on two bars from the same batch, and frankly, we both wanted to have our say.
So we did.
Michael’s Verdict
Your reaction to the word “Chuao” is a good indicator of how much time you spend thinking about chocolate. Apathy means you are probably happy with a big bar of Galaxy or Hershey’s every now and again, but a gasp means you are probably writing chocolate reviews for a website on a weekly basis. I would fall into the latter category.
Every year, the Chuao plantation in Venezuela produces a small amount of really, really good cocoa beans, so when they get turned into chocolate, it should – in theory – be really, really good chocolate. Chuao bars aren’t all that common because there just isn’t that many of the beans kicking around, hence things like the limited edition, hand-numbered bar produced by Amedei, but they are out there if you look hard enough.
Or you could just look towards Toronto’s Soma Chocolatemaker because they do all the heavy lifting and make a rather delightful Chuao 70% bar. I must admit before I even start, I’m a big fan of Soma and their Dark Fire bar is right up there in my personal Top Five, but even I wasn’t prepared for this because this is a spectacular bar.
As soon as the foil pouch is opened, the aroma comes flooding out – deep and rich, with lots of fruity tones. The ingredients on the label are cacao beans, organic cane sugar and cocoa butter, in that order; there’s no vanilla or anything else to mess with the flavour. The chocolate is less dark than I’d expected with just a touch of glossiness, but I really wouldn’t care what colour it is because it tastes so good.
It has layer upon layer of flavour, with the fruit rushing to front and balancing out the bitterness that comes with any higher percentage. And then there’s all those other notes coming in from time to time – the label mentions toasted almonds which I didn’t really get, but I’m more than happy to agree with their suggestion of figs and would toss in blackcurrant and a touch of woodiness too.
It is hard to pin down exactly what it is that makes it so wonderful, but there’s a delicate complexity that turns every bite into an adventure. I really wanted to save some for another day, but I ate it all in one sitting because I simply couldn’t stop. Soma’s Chuao bar comes with the highest possible recommendation – you simply have to hunt this down.
Dom’s Verdict
My bar was a gift from the lovely Judith, who was kind enough to bring it back from Toronto after a recent visit. Having previously tried a small sample from a different batch, I was really looking forward to getting my hands on more.
Soma’s foil packaging is distinctive and serves to completely seal the chocolate in. I don’t know if this is actually better than wrapping in paper, but it does mean that the moment you cut the pack open, you’re greeted with the amazing, fruity aroma that Michael mentioned.
As Michael also said, there’s only three ingredients in this bar, which means there’s no emulsifiers in there. This means that the surface maybe isn’t quite as uniformly glossy as some bars, but it does mean you get an unadulterated chocolate experience (as well as one those sensitive to soy can enjoy).
The taste is… well, the taste is divine.
It has all the rich, earthy notes you’d expect from a dark chocolate, with absolutely none of the bitterness. On top of that, there are wonderfully sweet, fruity notes that lift it to another level. It’s sweet and citrussy, but not as jarring as some of my favourite Madagascan chocolates can be. It’s intense, but smooth.
I didn’t particularly pick up on the almond or fig notes the label suggested, but I’ve never been great at describing the individual flavour notes within chocolate. But I do know what works, and this works as well as any chocolate I’ve tasted in the last five years.
Is this the best chocolate in the world? Well that’s entirely subjective, but it’s certainly my new favourite dark chocolate bar. It’s one that every chocolate lover absolutely must try.
We’re hoping to be able to help organise a UK distributor for Soma, but in the mean time, if you have to beg, borrow, steal or sell vital organs to get hold of some, then that’s what you should do.
We all know that chocolate is good for you (it’s only when you start adding sugar and milk powder that things go downhill), but there do seem to be more and more health foods using chocolate as an ingredient lately.
These “Nakd” bars (complete with Kshocolât style odd spelling and acented characters) from Natural Balance Foods are apparently completely raw and contain just 5 ingredients; raw dates, raw cashews, raw raisins, cocoa and something described as “natural chocolate flavour”. I’m not sure exactly what that consists of!
The ingredients are simply rolled together and pressed into 35g bars.
They’re not the nicest looking bars I’ve ever seen. I’d go so far as to say the appearance is a little off-putting. But they are vegan, gluten free and dairy free, which I know will appeal to lots of people. Cut one in half, and you can see they’re quite dense.
The texture is a little weird – the bars are chewy, but also quite dry. Once you get used to it, it’s quite palatable, but it won’t be to everyone’s liking. Neither will the flavour, which initially taste a bit cardboardy. You do get a bit of fruit and chocolate flavour coming through eventually though, and once you’re used to the oddness of it all, it’s fairly pleasant.
I don’t think Nakd bars are for me, but I’m probably not the target audience. For health food fans in a hurry, they’re probably worth trying. You’ll find them in supermarkets, health food stores and you can buy boxes of them online at Natural Balance’s website.
Next from the President’s Choice pile is the Gourmet Belgian Chocolate Collection, the flagship of their 2010 range and biggest of the boxes. It might even have been a load-bearing box because the others kinda fell over once it was gone. It’s too late to go back now though.
Chances are they are made by the same people who made their Mousse Cups because they have the same kind of chocolate, right down to the palm and coconut oil. But just like the other box, the overall collection looks rather impressive in the box and offers equally impressive value for money considering there are 30 of them in there.
As the pictures show, there are six different varieties, all with truffle-like qualities and a similar ball-like shape. Running through the line up:
Speculoos – President’s Choice seem to be really keen on Speculoos biscuits this year; they used it in their Belgian Chocolate Mousse Cups too; and I don’t mind one little bit. It is the star of the show here, with its sugary, cinammony goodness being the perfect foil for the milk chocolate. The filling is a little nondescript by comparison.
Cappuccino – the obligatory entry from the coffee family of chocolates. Milk chocolate and coffee mousse and not much more. In its defence, the coffee is a bit stronger than I’d have expected for a cappuccino chocolate, so it isn’t without some personality.
Almond Praline – or at least allegedly. The centre is very light on flavour, and the fluffiness of it makes it disappear before it can make any kind of impression at all. Really disappointing.
Stragiatelli – the white chocolate dominates here, but not in the bad way that it usually does. Instead, it adds some nice creaminess to the sweetness, and some little bits of dark chocolate scattered throughout the help to punctuate the sweet.
Chocomousse – milk chocolate mousse, a white chocolate shell and dark chocolate drizzling. Or, to put it another way, lots of different chocolate tastes all hitting each other head on and it tastes unbalanced. Sweet clashes with bitterness and the whole thing is just confusing. Not a fan.
Chili Mousse – a pretty little chocolate thanks to the strands of safflower on the top, and a slight spicy aroma that suggests some bite. But the fluffy mousse inside is surprisingly restrained, with just enough heat to get its point across. It also sticks around for a while afterwards too. Not bad at all.
Apart from the Chocomousse, there wasn’t really anything I was upset about eating and the biggest issue I had with the box is the lack of texture. Apart from the crunch of the Speculoos, it is all smooth mousse fillings and not much else but not a bad little collection for the mass market. I’d accept another box, but I would also be more than willing to share.
These grissini (breadsticks) were a gift from my friend Judith of Mostly About Chocolate late last year, so I thought it was about time I got down to writing about them. We split the 400g box between us, and you can read Judith’s review here.
The breadsticks are about half a centimeter in diameter and roughly 20cm long with a rippled dark chocolate coating.
The chocolate in question is only 45% cocoa solids, so not particularly inspiring. It’s not offensive, it just doesn’t taste of much. The coating is also quite thin, as you can see in this photo.
The breadsticks are pale in appearance and have a very nice crunch to them. They’re savoury and slightly salty and reminded me of The Big Yum’s Chocolate Pretzels, although the pretzels had a little more flavour to them.
As a quick snack, they’re quite enjoyable and it’s very easy to scoff a significant number without noticing. But once you get past the pretty box, they’re not what I’d consider a quality chocolate product. Unfortunately, Carluccio’s charge £10 for this box, and at that price I just can’t recommend them. If you’re looking for a chocolate combined with a savoury, biscuity snack, The Big Yum’s pretzels may not have the sophisticated outward appearance, but they’re more interesting, better value and arguably better quality.
