Beschle Grand Cru Trinitario au Fleur de Sel & Pistaches

Posted by in Chocolate Reviews on April 7 2010 | Leave A Comment
Beschle Grand Cru Trinitario au Fleur de Sel et Pistaches

What with Japan week and chocolate covered creepy crawlies, it’s been a while since I sat down with something truly sophisticated and exciting. Thanks to a recent rendezvous with Dom at the South Bank Chocolate Festival I find myself in possession of one of the bars he was sent by Beschle, a Swiss chocolatier producing handmade bars like this.

When I opened the box and slid out the gold foil wrapped bar, I was immediately impressed with how thick it was. Divided into ten fairly substantial squares, each embossed with a simple cocoa pod motif, the bar is in the classic understated mould (as it were). Opening the foil released an immediate waft of light, tangy cocoa aromas. There are citrus, wood and leather notes in the smell of this bar, and it has a good, dense feel to it with a lovely snap. Drop a square onto the rest of the bar and it rattles like a piece of wood, showing that the chocolate has been expertly tempered.

Beschle Grand Cru Trinitario au Fleur de Sel et Pistaches

The underside of the bar reveals the pistachio and salt element. Tiny fragments of the bright green nut are scattered over the obverse, but they are also concealed within the bar, along with the Fleurs de Sel.

Beschle Grand Cru Trinitario au Fleur de Sel et Pistaches

In the mouth this bar offers superb complex cocoa flavours. Light on the palate and with a clean, very soft mouthfeel, the fruity, citrussy cocoa flavours are almost immediately joined by the salt, producing a quite complex array of tastes.

Deep cocoa notes with fruity highs are given a twist every time a fragment of salt melts on the tongue. The pistachio pieces contribute a little but this bar is primarily about the fine quality cocoa and it’s relationship with the salt. Indeed, soft pieces of pistachio may not be to everyone’s liking, and I could happily have done without. With cocoa this good I really just wanted as much of the flavour of the chocolate to come through, and as I rather enjoy the occasional salted chocolate I was quite happy with the two predominant tastes.

When the chocolate had melted away my mouth remained clean and fresh, with traces of the Trinitario leaving reminders of fresh, light cocoa without any bitterness and very little acidity. If you’re a fan of the salted caramel (or indeed of Lindt’s Sea Salt Bar) then I’d recommend you try and find some of this but bear in mind that’s it’s Swiss and hand made using very high quality cocoa. In other words, this bar is not cheap, but as we know the best things in life seldom are.

I really enjoyed this offering from Beschle, and now they’re on my radar I shall be keeping an eye out for more of their creations (although I suspect Dom probably has quite a few in his possession as I write this).

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Comments On This Post

  1. Amy

    Oh Simon, I still can’t believe you ate the creepy crawlies! This bar looks absolutely delicious though. There is something truly mind blowing about salt combined with a good quality chocolate, it is by far one of my all time favorite combination’s and I think the pistachios would only improve the taste. I’ll be paying my specialty chocolate shop a visit this week on the look out for Beschle!

  2. I’m always looking for a good chocolate and salt combination. This sounds heavenly!

  3. Simon

    There’s a new, thinner version of this bar available now. Two wafer thin slabs of 64% Madagascar Trinitario with (obviously) much tinier pieces of Pistachio. Still a salty, nutty delight. Well worth finding.

  4. Eve

    Great delivery. Great arguments. Keep up the good
    spirit.

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