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Neuhaus Venezuala Ocumare 71%

By on October 15, 2008 in Marketing, Reviews

A while ago I passed by a local Neuhaus branch and for fun decided to jump in and have a look around. I noticed they had a bar collection of origin flavours I wouldn’t expect at this typical ‘pralinier’ brand, so off course I was rather curious to get their story. It turns out Neuhaus is offering an origin range with also a Sao Tomé, a West Africa and a Trinidad. They do so since 2005 at least but I hadn’t noticed them yet, then again the visibility is rather low at Neuhaus.

Neuhaus Venezuala Ocumare 71%
(more packaging photos on Flickr)

What is well done on this bar is the packaging: it opens like a booklet, and comes tied in with branded ribbon. Once unwrapped the packing reveals a bar foiled in yellowish paper. It’s one that clearly stand out from its competitors.
Ocumare de la Costa, a town near the Venezuelan “chocolate coast”, is a spot that delivers well-fermented Criollo with lots of delicate high notes. Local family-run cooperatives are harvesting some of the finest organic cacao in the world and the ‘Ocumare’ is the type of cocoa bean that gave Criollo its reputation they say.

For the bar itself, that is designed in bite size chunks, the texture is thick, smooth but not creamy, with a soft & munchy bite character that complements the luscious nature of the cacao. Aromas come one after another and hints nuts and cream, strawberries and has a clear ending that closes a modest but decently complex profile. This unobtrusive tasting experience makes this bar addictively easy to eat. Neuhaus (had) created a mild and very accessible origin flavour that doesn’t come too bitter at all, maybe some might discuss on the aftertaste.

All in all, I think this first Neuhaus origin bar was a nice discovery, and when the Ocumare wasn’t an immediate punch in the face, I surely may check out Neuhaus’ other flavours and buy some bars next time I walk by their store.

Pralus Venezuela 75%

By on October 3, 2008 in Reviews

Pralus is one of my favourite cacao brands. I appreciate the complexity they manage to manage to mould in a single bar, which results in a exciting tasting adventure (almost) every time. Pralus bars are also very expressive and seldom mild in taste. This also means that even within the huge cacao varieties, you can have something like a ‘brand image’, a signature taste pattern you should be able to recognize through the whole range, much like the Haute Couture creative directors manage to achieve every season for their collections. (For the record, I’ve read the chique Amedei packaging is actually designed by the Chanel house)

Pralus Venezuela 75%

The Pralus Venezuela bar is one I estimate high in my favourites range. It’s a Pralus, it’s rather rough, but moreover Venezuela is close to the roots of cacao and used to be the world’s biggest cacao producer. And not to forget Chuao, a tiny village located in the northern coastal range of Venezuela, famous for its cacao plantations where some of the finest cocoa beans in the world are produced. More on Chuao later though… let’s focus on the Venezuela bar!

I tasted this 75% single origin bar a couple of days ago with friends, and upon unwrapping the bar, the smell that was released immediately took my attention from the chat we had to the bar I had in my hands. Next to the seducing scents, the colour was wonderfully deep dark red brown. This seduction of nose and eyes only gets better with the first medium soft bite, dragging along into a complex story of various savours and sensations.

As the dark redness of this bar forebodes, slightly bitter and dark cacao tones open the bouquet with power, though a slight dusty aroma also seems to hang around. The texture is not a smooth as e.g a Valrhona but nonetheless you have a rather creamy bar while it melts away. As it gently does so, it releases smooth aromas with butter, some very light acid tones, but without betraying its blackness with always coffee, woody, and leather in the foreground. Every bite is an opportunity to concentrate on a different aspect of the taste curvature, this is definitely not a simple bar.

Pralus Venezuela 75%

My friends are totally not into dark chocolate, let alone single origin bars. However being a enthusiast cacao evangelist, I tempted them into tasting a small chunk from both the Hussel Bejofo I had already on the table, and the Pralus Venezuela, so at least they could experience the huge differences in the universe of cacao bars.

Friend B. was very surprised by the rich bouquet each of both bars offered, and spotted the differences in taste and feel right away. Funny enough he spontaneously began comparing this new experience with wine tasting, which I found very amusing and interesting, since that what this blog is all about. Taking dark single origins bars to friends, evangelise the ‘new’ chocolate and changing the ‘bitter’ prejudices into sweet ‘experiences’.

Hussel. Bejofo Grand Cru de Plantation de Madagascar 72%

By on September 29, 2008 in Reviews

From the Dusseldorf Collection, Hussel was a new German brand to look forward to tasting the first time. I had a “Bejofo Grand Cru de plantation de Madagascar” at 72%. Bejofo refers to the name of the plantation in the Sambirano valley in Madagascar, where Hussel cultivates Trinitario beans for this origin bars. Madagascar’s Sambirano region is known to offer exceptional cacao, with a light, but well elaborated flavor and tones of citrus and blackcurrants. Hussel also offers another range under the name Jara, which comes from their plantation in Los Rios, Ecuador.


The square shaped packaging comes with a lot of red in its design, classy golden lettering and has nice designed imagery in the background evoking the atmosphere of cacao plantations and tropical forests, quite similar to the packing illustrations from Domori. The bar also focusses on organic agriculture with a clear Bio label on the front.

Hussel has this bar conched for 72 hours. Conching is a kneading process that takes place as one of the last steps in manufacturing, to smooth out cacao and to enhance the flavor. The bitter taste of the cocoa slowly disappears and the chocolate flavors and aromas becomes fully developed.  Conching is also important for making chocolate homogeneous. The first impressions of this Hussel Bejofo 72% reminded me much of some Pralus bars, like the Indonesia and Venezuela versions. From the first bite this cacao immediately takes you on a tasteful journey. The Bejofo 72% is very well tempered and has a pleasant mouth feel. The chuncks comfortably melt away and with every step release more of its aromas. A balanced curve with touches of acid, spices, definitely citrus and typical Madagascar orange tones, changing into blackcurrants, and with an ever sustaining woody palate,  this bar offers a perfectly balanced experience.

I’ve had it tasted by friends too, and the Hussel is a very good bar to introduce people to the rich taste varieties of dark origin chocolate bars. They were all pleasantly surprised by this very new cacao tasting and made them talking about dark bars, percentages and origins. The Cote d’Or Sensations for example, that are widely available on the market here, are left far behind in tasting experience. The sweetness achieved by the added cane sugar definitely helps to appreciate dark origin cacao on a new level, without diving into a lot of bitter discussions. Hussel, definitely a brand to keep an eye on!

Bonnat 100%

By on September 28, 2008 in Reviews

Following the earlier post of the 100% in Paris experience, I thought is was a good moment to take out the 100% Cacao bar from Chocolat Bonnat. Amidst the white wrapped bars that Bonnat offers with different origin varieties, the 100% bar firmly stands out with its bright red packaging. It actually has a very high Charlie & The Chocolate Factory feeling. If you look at the shape and design of the bar – ready to break off  bite ready chunks -  you’ll probably recognize its structure from the current Choqoa blog header image. Bonnat has a simple and classic looking bar, with in the middle a bigger area reserved for the signature. But how does it perform?

(Photo by Everjean)

Upon breaking a piece off, the first smell already announces this is going to be a very bitter bar with short powerful touches of raw cacaobeans and spices. The tempering is great. The taste curve starts rather flat, and only briefly releases a first impression of what’s about to come. Then the taste experience softens down away, and even almost disappears. The bar then melts further and makes a striking come back with deep cacao scents, where it reveals a very strong character, opens up its full aromas, with a biting bitterness mostly at the end.

It’s a bitter bar for sure, that runs dry your mouth, with an aroma that relates a little to artichokes. The Bonnat 100% reminds of Cluizel’s Noir Infini, though I think Cluizel tasting experience focuses on variety in tones of aromas, and the Bonnat’s strength is a variation of bitterness. I liked to try out this red wrapped Bonnat, though I found this bar less expressively tastefull. It’s bitterness is its strenght, but also its prevails over taste.

The bar also had some clear fat blooming on it, but it was easily wiped off.

(Photo by Everjean)