Michel Cluizel Plantation “Los Ancones”

This is the first of the three bars from Kakawa Chocolate House. I think it was the coloring that drew my eye. A normal, sophisticated black, but with a lime green border and light orange wording. This is a single origina bar from a family-owned, hundred year old plantation in Santo Domingo.

It’s divided into eighteen squares, each with the chocolatier name and Cluizel’s signature. Initially, it’s an earthy chocolate, then it moves on to a slight fruitiness and finishes on a sweet note.

The texture is as equally interesting as the taste. At first, I thought it was a little hard, but then it’s amazing how gently it melts away. Not extravagantly, but in a more subtle way. It’s very smooth, yet clean. Absolutely beautiful.

Worth it? Most definately. Since I bought this bar, I’ve also seen things by Michel Cluizel that I must investigate here in Arizona. Their online store is temporarily unavailable, but their website still has some interesting reading and tempting pictures. Such beautiful truffles!

I think this is a new favorite here.

Venchi Absinthum

This bar has been asking to be reviewed ever since I bought it home.

Why do I say that? Well, mainly because it has such a powerful smell that I have been made aware of it every time I open the Chocovault.

Regular Chocablog fans will probably know me as ‘the bloke who travels a lot and finds weird things to review’. Well, this bar fits that bill perfectly. You probably know Absinthe as that evil green/blue alcohol that used to send people insane and which you tend to avoid if you have any common sense at all. It’s a ferociously strong spirit with a bitter taste (so bitter that the usual method of consumption involves adding a large amount of sugar) and for that reason I was fascinated to see just how Venchi were going to pull off an absinthe chocolate blend.

The chocolate used here is a 75% dark ‘extra bitter’, so I was beginning to wonder just how much of a screwface I was going to pull. Opening the wrapper and revealing the surface of the chocolate released yet more pungent anise aroma which wiped out any hint of cocoa from the bar. One thing was certain – this was going to be a unique taste experience!

The bar breaks into very small squares. It’s only 45g anyway, but each horizontal line divides into three, so the actual ‘dose’ is pretty small, and this is probably a good thing. The first square was all about the Absinthe. Tart, aniseed notes overpowered any of the delicate chocolate flavours that may have been there, leaving only the texture of smooth dark chocolate for my tongue to work with. The finish is also alcoholic in nature. It’s more like eating an aniseed ball than a bar of good quality, high cocoa content chocolate. A second square merely reinforced the idea that there was no way I was ever going to be able to discern the more subtle aspects of the chocolate. All that happened was that I ended up with more of the powerful aniseed aftertaste obliterating my palate and forcing me to call a halt to any further tasting exercises for a while.

So there you go – proof that you can’t just throw any old flavours into a bar of chocolate and get away with it. There are some things in this world that are never going to be a good match for the cocoa bean, and if you ask me, Absinthe is one of them.

Australian Mars Bars

It’s been a long time since I’ve eaten the classic Mars Bar and had noticed the new variety, Mars Rocks, appearing more frequently at the supermarket and petrol station as well. Because the number three is my personal lucky number, I thought I’d give the ‘lite’ Mars bar version a try at the same time. (Hanging her head in shame and greed) – Yes, dear readers, I ate all three of them in one single afternoon. And yes, I felt deservedly sick afterwards.

The original Mars isn’t too bad in terms of fat content – 10g per 60g bar, at least when compared to other chocolate bars that tend to be lighter – on average about 45g and have more around 17g of fat – believe me, I’ve looked. I was also reminded of how sickly-sweet Mars bars are, and how ‘filling’ they can be. I was also reminded of seeing my nineteen year old brother trying to eat one within minutes of leaving the dentist after receiving two fillings. With an entirely numb right hand side of his face the caramel and chocolate spilling down his neck in a sticky drool was not a nice advertisement. After eating one nearly twenty years later though, they’re good, sturdy and value for money. Just make sure you have a cup of tea on hand to ease your thirst from the sugar hit.

The Mars ‘lite’ proudly proclaims itself as being ‘50% less fat’. Underneath this, in much smaller type, it states ‘…..than the average of leading bar brands.’ Oh, right. On the plus side, they taste just as good as the original, which is a relief. However, this is only because instead of the bar being 60g, it is merely 44.5g, so already the fat content has been cut by a quarter. Annoyingly it is still priced the same as the 60g bar, thus increasing Mars Confectionery’s profit margin by 25%. Sneaky Mars, sneaky….

Mars Rocks has some rice crispies in the outer chocolate layer so that it resembles a Chokito, but it adds very little in terms of anything uniquely different in taste to the original Mars Bar.

My advice is to buy the 60g classic, cut it in half and give one of the sections to a friend. There you have it – only five grams of fat but still the same dependable Mars Bar taste. Lower in fat and cheaper, too.

Trapa Lemon Fantasy

Whilst browsing the shelves of the Corte Inglés (a well known chain of Spanish supermarkets) I came across a couple of bars made by Trapa.

There are a total of five bars in their Swiss range, and this one contains black pepper and lemon granules (made from lemon juice, sugar and water) in a 55% cocoa dark chocolate ‘base’.

The chocolate is a nice dark colour, and smells very citrus. When you pop a square into your mouth you get all of the flavours right away, there’s no dominant flavour or crescendo of tastes. As soon as the chocolate starts to melt you become aware of the sweet little lemony bits – and they are quite sweet. The underlying black pepper notes never go away though, and serve well to temper some of that sweetness.

It isn’t really until the finish that the actual flavour of the chocolate manages to come through. It’s quite dark, with a good level of bittersweetness, which is probably a good thing given the sweetness of the lemon granules. (I tried my usual trick of keeping the granules in my mouth after the chocolate had gone, but found it way to sweet or my palate that way.)

Overall, I’d say this was pretty good stuff. It’s not as subtly blended as, say a Dolfin bar. Nor is the chocolate of the highest quality. However, it does fulfill the promise made on the wrapper. The combination of flavours is done well, and for that reason I’d say i twas worth trying.

Another one to keep an eye out for if you’re in Spain.