Organic fair trade dark chocolate with 90% cocoa solids (cocoa from the Dominican Republic) and raw cane sugar crystals. Very strong but not bitter chocolate/tobacco taste. Best fair trade chocolate so far (9 crystals out of 10) but ~4€ for a 50g bar is not a very competitive price. Unfortunately chocaholism has never been cheap. Link to producer website: Chacao (Domori Group).
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Green & Black's Dark 70% has a slight putrid taste and therefore only gets 6.5 out of 10 Cyclochoc points. This blemish is not so much discernible in Maya Gold as it is very spicy (a blend of spices and oranges, 7/10). Historical note: Maya Gold was the first Fairtrade product on the market. Green & Black's White is a fine choice for lovers of white chocolate. Nice vanilla aroma (7/10).
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The Austrian newspaper Der Standard published an article about hot chocolate including reviews and ratings (German).
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With chocolate the focus often lies with the manufacturer and not the resource, the cocoa bean. Sometimes additional ingredients such as extra healthy milk from happy alpine cows are emphasised. This is like ignoring the quality of thegrapes when speaking about wine. Hardly any chocolate is produced in cocoa growing countries. The Venezuelan producer El Rey is an exception to the rule. Their Carenero Superior line of chocolates are made from “single origin beans” (Criollo and Trinitario).
Apamate (73.5%): rich intense and slightly bitter
dark chocolate.
Choc-rating: 8.5/10.
Bucare (58.5%) and Mijao (61%): very fruity taste. I prefer texture and aftertaste of the Bucare bar. But they are very similar. I award them 8 and 7.5 out of 10 cocoa beans.
Jean-Étienne Liotard: Chocolatiere | ||
Recent research claims that feasting on dark chocolate and sloshing eat down increases life expectancy of males by 6.6 years (women by 4.8 years) compared to the average population—the study also mentions diet components such as fish, vegetables, garlic(which is highly girlfriend-incompatible) and other superfluous stuff.
Hurray, I always new the stuff was healthy! But I will dedicate my first article, a hymn and declaration of love, not to chocolate itself but to the fruit it is made of: the beans of the cocoa tree. The scientific name for this plant is Theobroma Cacao, derived from the Greek words for ‘gods’ and ‘food’: food of the gods (that's why chocolate lets you live longer).
Three types of cocoa exist:
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Cocoa pods greatly vary in shape, texture and colour.
You can get more information about cacao at the Q&A page of the International Cocoa Organization.
