Just wondering if this worth a try?

https://amzn.to/42wGMJk

Background
I have a background in coffee and am very passionate about food and cooking in general. Always been interested in learning more about chocolate since they are similar but I'm not crazy about sugary foods. Eventually I found myself enjoying snacking on 100% ghirardelli dark chocolate wafers. I decided I wanted to try some other types pure cacao. After trying a few, I was fascinated and realized there's no better time to go for a deep dive into the rabbit hole. Sure you could try a new chocolate each week, but the differences and nuances are less obvious when spread apart. After all, most chocolate will taste primarily like... cholate. I wanted to really see the full spectrum of what chocolate has to offer, and doing a ton in a dense period seemed the most efficient. Plus maybe a touch of 'tism involved.

Methods
This all took place over the course of maybe 2 months where I would typically start each day mindfully trying around ~5g from 3 new bars at a time, selected randomly with an RNG. More than 3 new ones at a time tended to be a little too confusing on the palate, but I would often go back and make retroactive comparisions as sanity checks after the new ones. Then when I was all done, I went back and did a lot more fine tuning of my results. Some days I tried 20+ chocolates in the same day. I logged all of this on an excel spreadsheet. I'm not gonna share it here, but I tracked the following: Brand, Origin, Variety, Exp date, Price, Weight, $ per g. And then I had numerical ranking systems for the following categories: Package (the unboxing experience), Visual (of chocolate bar), mouthfeel, potency, distinctness, sweetness, bitterness, acidity, and overall score. I noted if there were any flavor notes on the package and recorded my own comments as well. I'm not a professional chocolate taster but to me, these categories were the most relevant things to track. I also took photos of the packaging and bars.

Source
All chocolates were sourced online. Most were from barandcocoa.com . I'm not writing this to shill them, but they were clearly the store with the largest collection of specialty 100% dark chocolates and prices were comparable or better to purchasing directly from the brands themselves. Their customer service was very good too, I'm quite happy with them. Ultimately I ended up buying all the possible 100% bars they had offered on the website at the time. Then there were a handful of brand-specific purchases where I bought through the brand website like To'ak.

Observations

There's a lot of things I could say.... I'm gonna subcategorize by the things I tracked.

Brand

• Most brands do not offer a wide array of 100% cacao options. Usually just was only one. Some exceptions were A. Morin, Chocolat Madagascar, and Fresco. These brands had 3+ types. To'ak and Ora also have some sampler packs that include 3 unsweetened cacao types. I didn't feel a strong correlation with whether or not a chocolate won any of the major awards (AoC or Int. Choc Awards) and how much I enjoyed them.

Origin

• Most bars were single orgin, usually from Latin America. Also a decent chunk from Africa. Least common was south pacific / oceania. There were some minor patterns in origin country and taste, but in general less than I expected. One notable origin was Nicaragua which the different brands I tried all seemed to share a very interesting and distinct flavor that I compare to leathery/woody and really enjoyed a lot, especially in Momotombo and Friis Holm La Dalia. The Ghanas that I tried from different brands both seemed to have an unmistakeable graham cracker type flavor. The fruitiest ones tended to come from Peru. Similar to coffee, I think the processing (fermentation, roasting, refining, conching) steps tend to play a larger factor in taste than the origin. And more processed ones (ie roasted darker, refined more) definitely seem to take away any exotic origin flavors in return for being more roasty taste, or in the case of conching, more rounded and smooth overall.

Variety

• As for variety, majority did not have the variety immediately listed on the packaging. The main cacao varieties are Nacional, Criollo, Trinitario, and Forestero. Not enough data to make any reasonable observations, although in general it is said that nacional/criollo are the finer cacao, and forestero is the large commercialized hardy lower quality cacao. Indeed I wasn't too big a fan of one Forastero, although another one I did like quite a lot and it was one of my favorites overall.

Exp Date

• Ranged from early 2025 to late 2027. I didnt notice any differences based on how "fresh" they were, although one that was close to expiration had what I would consider a defect taste.

Price/Weight

• Bars ranged from 50-100g each, and the price per gram ranged from 11c per gram to 31 cents per gram. To'ak, a brand that clearly tries to capture the "luxury" market was the most expensive overall, an outlier at a whopping $1.07 per gram. The highest priced single bar besides To'ak was Soma Arcana at $19.50 for a 65g bar. I gotta say Arcana was one of my favorites overall, that being said I wouldn't say there was a correlation at all between price per gram and how much I enjoyed them. In fact, A. Morin had several of my favorites overall, and they were very cheap.

Packaging

• I quickly realized that the packaging makes a big impact on setting the stage for a chocolate experience. A beautifully embossed carboard box with aesthetic design, open it to reveal a satisfying crisp shiny wrapper sealing the precious cacao... Sure it doesnt affect flavor but its nice to have. Some that stood out with fantastic packaging / unwrapping experience were (no order): Baiani, Zotter Labooko, Fruition, Chocolarder, Rozsavolgyi Naked Cocoa, and Mission Chocolate. I also factored in functionality/informatics when evaluating the packaging. Fresco, although ugly design and dumb brand name imo, is has cool information regarding the processing aspects of chocolate.

Visual

• Similarly, the chocolate bar itself. My top tier in terms of artistic design of the chocolate bar were: Baiani, Zotter Labooko, Chocolarder, Rozsavolgyi Naked Cocoa, and Letterpress. But there were a lot of other cool ones too. Varlhona, Auro Saloy, Cacaoteca, Definite, Fjak, Mirzam, Ritual, Soma, are all worth mentioning for their chocolate design.

Mouthfeel

• I definitely found myself preferring the chocolates that were more silky smooth and luscious as opposed to chalky. However, I did notice a correlation that seemed to be, the smoother the chocolate was, the more round generic taste it would have. It seems that this is because the refining/conching process of chocolate, which makes it more smooth, also tends to vaporize some of the more exotic volatile taste/aroma compounds and acids. So on one hand, yes, the smooth ones tended to be very satisfying texturally and with a round, pleasant flavor without being too acidic or bitter, they also tended to lack the more interesting and distinct exotic flavors that a less processed chocolate would. Some of the most hyper smooth were The Organic House and Francois Pralus, both which were favorites overall for me. Maison Bonnat Noir also was hyper smooth, but also had a very distinct oily flavor reminiscent of fish oil, which was unforgivable. I'll talk more about potential defects in another subcategory. Chocolat Madagascar brand as a whole had some very nice mouthfeel, too. Some that I did not like their mouthfeel: Valrhona Araguani, Amedei Toscano Black, Akessons, Dandelion Camino Verde, Chocolarder, Marana. These tended to be more chalky or gritty or coarse and did not melt well in the mouth. Some like Raaka and Cacaoteca intentionally had bits of cacao nibs, I wasn't a fan of Raaka texture but in Cacaoteca they executed it very well imo.

Potency

• In this category I attempted to measure the "strength" of the flavor that it did have (not necesarily the character of flavor). A low potency flavor would be more of a "watered down" type of flavor, which in general I did not prefer, like in Amadei Toscano. But some executions of it were pleasant: Mirzam Tanzania has a lovely mild, airy, slightly weet with a subtle woodiness and perhaps vanilla taste. Soma Arcana was also on the more mild side, albeit fantastic. On the other side of the spectrum, A. Morin is a good example of high potency flavors, and part of the reason I liked them a lot.

Distinctness

• This refers to whether or not the flavor is "typical" chocolate or has some notably distinct, different flavors going on. Some high distinct ones were Baiani, which, although lower potency and suboptimal mouthfeel, has a very interesting and unique herbal taste that almost comes off as spearmint to me. A. Morin Guemon is another good example due to its intense smokey/woody flavor. Distinct isnt necesarily good or bad, chocolates with defects, or out of the ordinary smoothness or extreme sweetness which I also rated as highy distinct.

Sweetness

• Pretty self explanatory and easy to measure, most had no or minimal sweetness. What amazed me was how sweet a few of them were, to the extent where I even emailed the supplier asking if they might have made a mistake (for Cacao Hunters). It literally tastes like an ~80% dark chocolate bar to me, they assured me no sugar added, and I noticed some others were quite sweet too (Fresco 267, A. Morin Chanchamayo). So I did a lot of research into this. yes there are small amounts of naturally occuring sugars occuring in cacao which can come out more due to caramelization during roasting, but probably not enough alone to explain this phenomena. Other factors are sugars in the coffee pulp (longer fermentation potentially "absorbing" more of these) and naturally occuring amino acids/polyphenols/flavonoids which can increase perception of sweetness. The fermentation explanation makes the most sense to me, maybe some pulp residue even left on the beans after fermentation. It would be interesting to send some of these to a lab to analyze exactly how much sugar is in them.

Bitterness

• Not quite as easy to discern because potency, sweetness, acidity all seem to play a factor in the perception of bitterness. Hypersmooth ones tended to be less bitter, like Francois Pralus and The Organic House and Fresco 267. But not always- Zotter Labooko Maya was a good example of a nice mouthfeel dark, bold bitter one, which I liked a lot. Varlhona Araguani had very classic, bitter dark choclate forward but to me unidimensional and uninspiring with a chalky texture.

Acidity

• This also was a little more tricky to evaluate compared to some of the others. I notice one downside of trying a lot of chocolates at once is that, as you keep tasting, sometimes it feels like the taste buds start wearing down and becoming more or less receptive to certain aspects being notable. That said, there was a similar trend where the more refined ones tended to be less acidic and round, whereas less refined more acidic and complex. Conexion Ecuador 100% is a great example of a very complex, high acidity one. Also Original Beans Cusco, probably the most fruit/berry forward chocolate of all of them, was high acidity. Goodnow Farms too, with a "peachy" flavor although I thought it was overrated overall and a little astringent. A. Morin Chanchomayo also fruity and bright.

Astringency

• I didnt track this, but could have. In generally I did not prefer higher levels of astringency. Most did not have much. I really enjoyed Fresco 267, and as a result bought their six other 100% bars, but unfortunately the rest generally were high astringency and grassy-ish which I wasnt crazy about.

Tasting notes

• I tracked my notes, as well as any notes listed on the bar itself. Like wine and coffee, in general I would say the tasting notes are very hit or miss. I'd say at least 50% of the time they just felt like BS and werent applicable. Especially if they were really detailed, like The Organic House describes theirs as "Porcini, sage, lilac, petit verdot. Mellow earthy notes with a smooth finish." What? No. Fantastic bar but thats BS. The more concise descriptions tended to be more accurate. Like Moka Origins Tanzania "100% dark chocolate with subtle notes of cherry." Thats better, and indeed I felt there was a subtle cherry notes to it. Great bar too.

Defects

• Out of the 61, maybe 4 or 5 of them had what I would consider a major defect. The most frequent was a weird but unmistakeable fishy, oily taste. It was very notable in the aftertaste of Maison Bonnat Noir, which would have been an outstanding hypersmooth bar without it. Ora Uganda also had it, gross. They are one of those "ceremonial drinking chocolate" companies and honestly all of them were not great and excessively acidic imo. Much better off just buying these nicer bars as the price isnt really different. Letterpress Esmeraldas also had the unforgiveable fishy oily taste, although this was only present in this bar, their Ashanti Ghana bar was fine and quite good with that classic Ghana graham cracker toasty taste. Another defect I noticed was a petrol type of flavor found in Millcreek Cacao ecuador arriba nacional. Raaka tasted fine, but smell was subtly offputting like rancid oil and not crazy about its texture.

OVERALL!!!!

• If you made it this far,cool. Overall, I rated my total enjoyment from 1 to 4. A score of 1 meant it was definitely offputting/bad. A score of 2 meant not bad but prob wouldnt buy again. 3 meant good or interesting in some way to consider purchasing again. 4 were my favorites overall.
• Of the 61] 17 scored 4/4. 28 scored 3/4. 12 scored 2/4. and 4 scored 1/4. Which makes sense cause these are all fine, highly regarded chocolatiers and mostly should be enjoyable.
• Here are the 4/4s and what I liked about them, in no order:

The Organic House, Phillippines: hypersmooth, not very acidic/bitter, mellow soft caramel, milky and creamy, nutty. Disagree with the floral tasting notes, but it is a mellower taste so I can see why.

Cacao Hunters, Colombia: Very tasty, extremely sweet, caramely, mellow flavors, maybe a little fruity. their description isnt bad ["flavors of lemongrass, lemon balm, green apple, fresh herbs, and flowers"], I think apple works. Well balanced although suspiciously sweet, probably the sweetest overall.

Momotombo Waslala, Nicaragua: Soft/mellow yet profound. A very distinct leathery/woody flavor with a touch of mintiness. Interesting degree of complexity for being mellow, and highly distinct

Domori, Venezuela: Potent hazelnut flavor, almost like nutella. Maybe peanut/almond a tad. Very smooth mouthfeel, rich and balanced.

Original Beans, Cusco: The most fruity, ridiculous berry flavor, deep and bright.

Francois Pralus, Madagascar: Hypersmooth and lush, intensely milky, toasted nut/caramel. really well executed crowd-pleaser for sure. good job sir

Zotter Labooka Maya, blend: Great mouthfeel with beautiful packaging and design. Bold and intense. A fearless, classic dark chocolate flavor leaning towards bitter.

Firetree, Vanuatu: Deep, rich, moody, balanced. There is a slight hint of red fruit flavor in the periphery. satisfying lip smacking texture.

Fresco 267, Ghana: Very sweet, nutty, toasty. Very smooth and rounded, albeit a tinge of astringency in the finish. Light on the palate with a very distinct graham cracker flavor.

A. Morin Guemon, Ivory Coast: Unmistakeable smokey/woody flavor. Potent, entrancing and distinct. love it.

A. Morin Chanchamayo, Peru: Extremely fruity, floral, complex. Very sweet and hard to believe its not sweetened or flavored.

Friis Holm La Dalia, Nicaragua: satisfying mouthfeel, soft and mellow yet profound. shares similar leathery/woody (tobacco?) flavor as the other Nicaraguans, great.

Definite Chocolate, Dominican Republic: A soft herbal flavor, almost minty, balanced with some bitterness. I wouldnt call it particularly fruity [like the notes], but black tea taste for sure is applicable. interesting!

Moka Origins, Tanzania: sweet, I agree it has a cherry like fruitiness. straightforward and enjoyable.

Mission Chocolate, Brazil: deep, luscious, vivid. Musky undertone, like mushroom, with a molasses flavor.

A. Morin Porcelana, Venezuela: Fruity, roasty, nutty, floral, woody... All perfectly balanced, another banger by A Morin.

Soma Arcana, blend: Airy and light flavor, but not in a watered down way. No bitterness. Like sweet cream or toasted marshmallow. Theres a strong "browned butter" element, but I dont notice any fruitiness [like in the tasting notes]

Honestly its hard to pick favorites even, I feel like I want to mention a few of the 3/4s that maybe could be 4s: Rozsavolgyi Naked Cocoa, Peru was a very great execution of a creamy, rounded, milky straightforward chocolate experience, like drinking a cup of hot chocolate. beautiful packing and design. The Mirzam, Tanzania was really nice for a mild, airy, slightly sweed and non domineering flavor, possibly verging on vanilla. ALL of the Chocolat Madagascar were really great, beautiful mouthfeel, leaning more towards classic chocolate as opposed to anything exotic or distinct. I will say I was disappointed by Amadei Toscano Black, Blend, and Varlhona Araguani, Venezuela, which I thought were highly regarded in the chocolate world. And although Goodnow Farms, Peru, had a interesting distinct flavor, I dont think it was as good as all the awards that it seems to have won. How about the extremely expensive To'ak ones? They were really good tbh, with pretty accurate notes, but I cant justify the cost. Seems mostly to be marketing. As mentioned earlier, I did not like Ora that much at all. Baiani, Brazil was interesting for its distinctness (spearmint?) albeit chalky and watered down flavor.

If I had to pick 5 absolute favorites overall to recommend, that show a good variety of the cacao spectrum, shewww.... Maybe Pralus, Momotombo, A Morin Guemon, Original Beans and Soma Arcana. IDK, maybe throw in one of the extremely sweet ones too if you like that.

Conclusion

• Mainly just wanted to record all of these observations while still fresh in my mind before I close this chapter for now. Since I put in a lot of effort. Figured other people might find it interesting. It was really fun but a little exhausting since I got a little OCD about it. I'm thinking of taking a chocolate tasting course in the future to learn more. BTW chocolate definitely has caffeine in it, especially in its pure form. Its noticeable when I eat too much or too late in the day, would be hard to sleep at night.
• Overall it costed over $700 I think and close to 10 lbs of chocolate... I gave some gifts of 56 set samplers relatives for Christmas. Interesting how some of them had completely different observations than my own haha. I'll be finishing the rest of it over the next few months.
• These are all the brands that were tried:

​

Millcreek Cacao, Conexion, Qantu, Akesson's, The Organic House, Raaka, Cacao Hunters, Valrhona Araguani, Momotombo, Domori, Auro Saloy, Original Beans, Francois Pralus, Cacaoteca, Baiani, Zotter Labooko, Belvie Black Diamond, Amadei Toscano, Firetree, Fresco, Maison Bonnat, Dandelion, A. Morin, Fruition, Firetree, Chocolat Madagascar, Friis Holm, Definite Chocolate, Goodnow Farms, Fjak, Moka origins, Chocolarder, Mirzam, Marana, Rozsavolgyi, Ritual, Mission, Letterpress, Marou, Soma, To'ak, Ora.

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My favorite episodes of PodSaveChocolate feature an interview and tasting with a chocolate maker and/or chocolatier.

This past Tuesday (the 28th), I spent an hour with Tandy discussing her background, how she came to found Embers, and more – and tasting five bars:

• 70% Wild Harvest Bolivia
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Here’s the link to the post for the episode – the archived video is on YouTube, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

If you are a chocolate maker or chocolatier and are interested in being featured in an interview/tasting episode of PodSaveChocolate – DM/PM me.

For small makers, there is no charge other than sending me whatever you want to taste during the interview. (For larger companies there is a modest fee to help pay for the hosting and related costs.)

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https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DGXLEGW?psc=1&smid=ASBG6UVTMWDAY&ref_=chk_typ_quicklook_titleToDp

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