After comparing 7 plain dark chocolates made with Indian cacao, I thought it would be interesting to see how they work with added ingredients. I have 4 bars in my stash, so let’s dive in!
1. Soklet 55% Milk Chocolate
Ok, so this is not a flavoured bar, just a plain milk chocolate, but I felt that it belongs here rather than with the dark bars. An interesting addition is ghee (purified butter) which is traditionally used in Indian cuisine. This is a tree-to-bar chocolate (the chocolate maker uses cacao from their own plantation) and all the ingredients are sustainably sourced. The packaging is minimalist and elegant black and gold. The bar is wrapped in a thick gold foil.
This bar was part of my Chocolate Advent Calendar in 2017 too.
The chocolate bar has a plain mould that can be segmented into small rectangles. With its 55% cocoa content, this dark-milk has a nice medium brown colour and smooth surface. The aroma is sweet and the texture is slightly more grainy than most European-style chocolates, it feels like soft icing sugar. The melt brings out notes of sweet hot chocolate, browned butter, clotted cream, dulce de leche. (Decadent.)
2. Earth Loaf American Barrel Aged
Aging cocoa beans in whiskey, rum, bourbon barrels is an interesting trend, and this is one of the first bars that I try. The cacao (more precisely the cacao butter) gets infused with the aromas of the barrel, giving the chocolate a slight peaty, smokey note, that is already present in the aroma. This is the third bar from Earth Loaf that I try (see the previous two in this post), and the mouthfeel is instantly recognisable. The packaging is black with gold drawings. This 72% dark chocolate is made with beans from the Karnataka Estate that were aged in American oak barrels that previously held bourbon and single-malt spirit. So strictly speaking this is still a two-ingredient bar, but I wouldn’t say it’s plain.
I have tasted whiskey and rum but I’m not a big fan of strong spirits so I can only say that the chocolate pairs really well with these spirit barrel notes. The original woody notes of the cacao are further enhanced and accompanied by this peaty, slightly smokey note of the spirits creating a perfect balance of flavours. This pleasant side-note lingers in the mouth long after the chocolate has been swallowed. Beautiful pairing that I would suggest to people who are already familiar with single origin chocolates and who can appreciate the added gentle flavour notes, and of course people who like spirits.
3. Choxco Salted Jaggery Banana Coconut and Fennel
The same base chocolate that I tasted in my week of India post received a generous amount of interesting inclusions. Just look at this chocolate! Jaggery (sugar) coated banana chips toasted with salt, coconut and fennel. This made me so curious to try it straight away. Chocolate, banana chips and coconut makes me think about tropical trail mixes, fennel is one of my favourite spices, so I was intrigued how it pairs with the other ingredients. The aroma of the bar doesn’t give away too much information about what’s inside.
Due to the amount of inclusions, this is definitely a chocolate to chomp at the beginning at least. It melts easily, leaving behind all the lovely crunchy and aromatic inclusions. The chocolate itself is really just a perfect base for the inclusions to shine through. The banana flavour is not dominant, I got more the taste of the coconut and the fragrant fennel which btw works brilliantly here. Maybe the ratio of chocolate to inclusions could be slightly different so that the inclusions disappear at the same time as the chocolate. Otherwise, it’s a perfect snacking and sharing chocolate (if you do :D).
4. Earth Loaf Caramelised Mosambi and Caraway
The most aromatic of the four bars is definitely this one, which is the fourth Earth Loaf bar in my stash. The wrapper is the same as the barrel aged only this is vibrant yellow already giving a hint about the citrusy flavours inside. First, I had no idea what Mosambi was, but thankfully the back of the wrapper explains that it’s a sweet lime. The inclusions are beautifully arranged on the back of the bar making sure that you get a piece of lime and some caraway seeds in every bite.
The chocolate is a 59% rich dark that creates a lovely base for these refreshing inclusions. Sadly my teeth gave up on chewing the Mosambi pieces, they dried out too much in my opinion and became very hard. They still gave away a pleasant sweet citrus flavour that’s enhanced by the fragrant caraway seeds. The whole seeds also make the mouthfeel interestingly textured, crunchy along with some caramelised sugar crystals from the Mosambi. Although caraway is probably a rarely used spice in chocolate (I’ve only had it once in a milk chocolate by the Belgian chocolatier Laurent Gerbaud) it surprisingly works very well. Shame for the hard lime pieces, otherwise it would be a perfect summertime chocolate bar that tastes like a refreshing botanical cocktail.
That’s all for now about Indian chocolates. Time for me to gather chocolates from another country, and I think I’ll choose Peru for next time as I have quite a lot of bars from different makers with this origin.
Hope you enjoyed, and let me know if you try any of the above-mentioned bars and what you think about them. Also feel free to suggest other makers or bars for me to try!
Collecting lots of chocolate bars from around the world, my stash sometimes often grows to an unmanageable size. To help reduce this amount, I decided to do comparative tasting sessions based on various criteria. Instead of just reviewing one bar by one maker, I will post about chocolates made from the same origin (by different makers), or the same maker (different origins), or made in the same country (made in Belgium, South Korea etc. – different makers, different origins).
Representing India
This post is compiling tasting reviews of bars made with Indian cacao which is a relatively new origin among craft chocolate makers. Although cacao has been cultivated in Southern India for about 200 years, it was mainly used by big industrials, and from the 20th century mainly by Cadbury. The originally planted criollo varieties have been swapped for higher yield forastero varieties serving the bulk market (producing less than 1% of the world’s cacao). Small-batch bean-to-bar producers have only started to discover Indian cacao in the last 4-5 years. The interest for this origin is constantly growing, so I thought it would be worth comparing different bars to see whether there are some unique flavour notes specific to this cacao growing area. Nowadays you can even find tree-to-bar chocolates, Soklet is one of the most well-known brand to make chocolate from their own beans.
To organise this horizontal tasting, I created a randomised list of the chocolates in my stash to try each day for one week. The list is as follows:
DAY 1 : Earth Loaf 72% Kerala – made in India
This Earth Loaf bar is wrapped in a thick craft paper that almost feels like a fabric. Could the small brown flecks be cacao husk pieces? That’s my bet. (Update: David, one of the makers confirmed that they use traditional Indian handcrafted paper enriched with cocoa husk!) Underneath, there’s a thin, vacuum-sealed silver foil. The chocolate bar has a warm, dark-brown colour with some dullness on the top side (it’s probably my fault that I left it out in a relatively warm room). Very easy to segment into squares, it is not too thick. It has a slightly soft snap (again, could be due to being in a warmer room), but the breaking line shows a perfect temper. The aroma is predominantly rich chocolatey. Upon melting, it becomes thick and creamy like a rich hot chocolate. The overall flavour is like an intense chocolate brownie, very mellow, no bitterness or astringency at all. This base note is accompanied by hints of sweet red fruit notes, like cherries. Very pleasant, like a dessert.
Not all Belgian chocolate is created equal. Thankfully, there’s a growing bunch of artisan makers who are working hard on putting the craft back into chocolate and showing people the real flavours of chocolate. Mario Vandeneede is one of these makers using cocoa beans from Madagascar, Costa Rica, Tanzania, Dominican Republic, Ecuador or in this case India. The packaging is simple and practical. Personally I really like these resealable pouches because they protect the opened bar from odours and heat, and they are not making a mess in your bag 🙂 The name Chocolatoa refers to an Inca princess, Toa who we can see in the round logo. She represents the philosophy of joined forces for success, which Mario shows by working closely and in an ethical way with the cocoa farmers to create his high quality chocolate bars. The back label is mainly in Flemish, which I only understand partially thanks to my faint German knowledge (and thanks to Google Translate :D).
As I opened the pouch, there was already a strong aroma escaping, which is a very good sign. Sniffing inside (not very professional, I know, as the packaging imparts some of the aroma) the aroma of freshly roasted fruity cocoa beans made me want to jump right inside. The 40g slim rectangular bar is segmented in an interesting way resulting in strips rather than squares. The colour is medium dark brown with a nice sheen. Perfect snap and texture. During the very creamy melt the chocolate releases intense fruity notes, sweet and slightly tart bouquet of red berries like raspberry and sour cherry. Still quite mellow and has an undernote of a rich chocolate cake, but that comes out only towards the end and in the finish. A very bright and pleasant bar.
Interestingly, this bar is also a two-ingredient bar like the previous one, yet the flavour and texture are completely different. This really shows how the choice of ingredients (coconut sugar versus regular sugar), roasting (or not roasting), and some other factors like length of refining can add to the final flavour even if the cocoa comes from the same origin. That’s also the reason behind this series of tastings where I will show chocolates from the same region made by different makers, as we can’t really generalise the flavour notes of a certain origin. There are of course tendencies (fruity, earthy, nutty, spicy), but in the end, all chocolates will come out unique due to all these variables.
DAY 3 : Amazing Cacao 70% India – made in Russia
Love the colourful packaging of Amazing Cacao that is full of interesting information about the origin and the direct trade ethics. The front is decorated with indian fabric motifs and the image of a couple eating chocolate. The entire packaging is bilingual (Russian – English). Inside, we can read about the local cacao farms and their circumstances (no electricity, everything relies on solar energy), a detailed map of the region and a photo of a farmer couple with buckets of fresh cocoa beans. The packaging is recloseable (always a plus!) and the bar is protected within its own plastic box. The custom mould is segmented in various 3D triangles with the logo in the middle.
The dark brown bar has a perfect appearance and sharp snap. It has a creamy melt that brings out woody flavour notes like fresh wood shavings (timber is suggested on the back of the bar) with some minor acidity.
This one is the mellowest of the three bars I tasted so far. Very approachable for people new to craft chocolates.
This bar is special because it was made by not one but three Belgian chocolate makers, hence the name Trinity. A collaboration of six hands to create a chocolate made from South-Indian cacao beans. The bar was exclusively available at the Salon du Chocolat in Brussels in Spring 2018, and I received it from my Belgian chocolate friend Céline as part of our chocswap. The packaging is colourful on the front and monochrome inside. They crammed as much text as possible on the inner three sides to give plenty of information about the growing region and the chocolate making process. They included a map and an “identity card” listing the main characteristics such as detailed origin, type of cacao, harvest year, recipe, roasting and conching. Although, unless you have some knowledge about the chocolate making processes, it won’t tell you much knowing that the cocoa was roasted for 1 hour at 120°C. While I like geek info like that, I think “light roast”, “medium roast” might be easier to understand for enthusiastic amateurs.
The colour of the bar is medium brown, it could almost be mistaken for a milk chocolate. Smooth, glossy surface with a few air bubbles on the edges. Perfect snap and very creamy melt (note the +10% added cacao butter). Lightly sweet aroma followed by an extremely mellow flavour profile. Notes of raisin and wood, well-balanced acidity and a bright but relatively short finish. Based on the previous three bars this one might have lost a bit too much of its fruitiness. Pleasant but not very memorable.
DAY 5 : Earth Loaf 72% Malabar Forest – made in India
Another single-origin bar from Earth Loaf made with cocoa beans from Malabar region, more precisely from two villages situated in protected forest land. According to the makers, they use the same beans as the Amazing Cacao bar I tasted on Day 3.
The packaging is the same as the Kerala bar, with a different illustration and sticker. The bar has a dark brown colour and a faint citrus aroma. The slow melt results in a thick, creamy mouthfeel, but it’s less “sticky” than the Kerala bar was. Light citrus notes mix with a woody undernote (unlike the fresh wood shavings note in the previous bars, here it is more an old oak note, or something more mature), low acidity. The finish tastes like a lime caramel in dark chocolate.
DAY 6: Frederic Blondeel 70% India – made in Belgium
I bought this bar by Frederic Blondeel specifically for my Ecole Chocolat Mastering Chocolate Flavour course as we had a tasting assignment dedicated to cacao varieties, so I had to find bars made with Forastero cacao. Unfortunately there’s not much information about the bar itself due to the very basic packaging. The 45g bar is segmented into 5 strips with the maker’s name engraved into each of these. The thin cellophane bag has a transparent sticker showing the origin and percentage and some basic info in French and Flemish.
“100% Forastero: All my childhood” was a motto intriguing enough for me to buy this bar. Our childhood memories of chocolate, our first taste of it, our favourites, chocolates that we were gifted at our birthday, or that we secretly received from our grandparents, these are important flavour memories. This bar has a nice, shiny appearance, warm dark brown tone and it has a perfect snap. It is quite thin so melts easily on the tongue. The added cocoa butter and soya lecithin create a super smooth and creamy mouthfeel. The aroma is sweet and fruity. Upon melting, it is surprisingly sweet and chocolatey, I would probably guess that it is around 55% rather than 72%. Mellow, rich and pleasant chocolate flavour but without any other particularly strong note. Very light acidity, no bitterness.
I received this ChocXo bar from Patricia (@myic2016) in our third chocswap along with more products from this brand as she visited their factory-store. The packaging is modern and simplistic with only the most important information. I like the way they used a bit of colour to imitate colourful Indian fabrics. Inside the resealable pouch the bar is wrapped in thin silver foil. The bar has a smooth dark brown surface and perfect snap. It has a very faint chocolate aroma. Quite slow to melt, the mouthfeel is creamy and smooth. The melt releases mild notes of roasted coffee, rich chocolate cake and hints of tart fruits in the finish. Moderate acidity and pleasant clean finish.
First of all, thank you for reading so far. After an entire week of chocolates made with Indian cacao my general impression is that all of these bars were mellow and very approachable. They don’t have bitter or astringent notes, so they are perfect for people who are just starting to discover craft chocolates or higher percentage dark chocolates in general. The flavour notes are mostly familiar, like a rich chocolate dessert, in some cases with a nice fruity or woody note that balances very well. Overall, all of the above-mentioned bars were pleasant, but for a more experienced taster like me, some of them were lacking a bit of character. For this reason, I preferred the ones that presented bolder, sharper fruity or woody notes, like the bars from Amazing Cacao, Chocolatoa and Earth Loaf. It was also very interesting to see, that even though almost all 7 bars were the same percentage (70-73%) and either using 2 or 3 ingredients only (added cacao butter), the mouthfeel and texture of each bar was so different.
Next up
In a follow-up article I will show you a few bars that are also made with Indian cacao but with some added flavours to see if the added ingredients make any difference.
Thanks for reading, have a chocolatey day!
x
Lilla / Little Beetle Chocolates
Sources:
Dom Ramsay: Chocolate, DK, London, 2016, p 94.
https://www.chocolatiers.co.uk/blogs/guides/56415365-indian-cacao
