Friday, March 30, 2007

Review: Astor Key Lime Dark Chocolate

Cocoa content: not specified
Sugars per serving: 29 g (adjusted: 20g)

The bar smells of sweet sweet chocolate, which makes sense given how much sugar is in the bar (however, nutrition information, including the sugars above, was for the whole bar, which is more than a typical serving). It actually smells a bit like an Andes chocolate mint, without the minty smell. The cocoa content wasn't specified on the wrapper, but I would guess it's less than 60%, probably around 50%.

Each piece of this bar has a key lime center. The chocolate breaks with a soft snap, and the chocolate in general is soft. The key lime flavor is strong and the chocolate flavor is a bit weak, so the predominant flavor is lime, not chocolate. According to the ingredients, the lime flavor is natural, not artificial.

Overall, I wasn't very impressed with this bar from Astor Chocolate.

Rating: 2 out of 5 Aztec Dudes

Monday, March 19, 2007

Review: Endangered Species Extreme Dark Chocolate

Cocoa content: 88%
Sugars per serving: 8 g
Website: http://www.chocolatebar.com/

Everything about this bar is intense. When I opened the wrapper, there was a strong smell of chocolate, with a bit of sweetness, like a burnt sweet smell. The chocolate breaks with a solid snap.

Wow. The flavor is quite smooth for a chocolate with 88% cocoa. The bitterness is well balanced. The chocolate melts smoothly in the mouth, with a little chalkiness.

There's a quality that some high-cocoa content chocolate has, where it feels like the chocolate is completely sucking the moisture out of your mouth (I'm sure there's a more scientific description of it, but moisture-sucking works for me). I get only a faint hint of that with this chocolate, although it was more noticeable with the more pieces I ate.

The aftertaste is mostly bitter, with a mild sweetness. This is not a bar I could finish in one (or two or three) sittings -- it's good, but it's too strong.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Aztec Dudes

Thursday, March 15, 2007

Welcome to Dark Chocolate Review

Hello! Allow me to introduce myself. I'm a thirtysomething software engineer living in Colorado, and I love chocolate. Specifically dark chocolate. For a few years now, my afternoon indulgence of choice has been a few squares of dark chocolate.

Some of the chocolate I've tried has been okay, some has been fantastic, and some has been downright awful.

I've looked on the web for sites that review chocolate bars, and although I didn't review all of Google's 5,426,832 (estimated) results, I didn't find any quick hits.

That's how this blog was born. I created it so I could keep eating great chocolate while also reviewing each kind I eat. Hopefully my reviews of dark chocolate bars will help you in your quest for good chocolate.

Enjoy!