New Orleans Chili bar from Wild Ophelia

Tasting another spicy chocolate today, the New Orleans Chili bar from Wild Ophelia. I'm not a masochist, merely providing a service to my (3) loyal readers. Also, Walgreens had a 50% discount on Valentines candy, so it seemed like a good chance to taste something I wouldn't normally buy.

Wild Ophelia is a chocolate brand produced by Vosges, the noted Chicago chocolatier. Presumably it's also a reference to Hamlet, but the company's website is silent on that topic. This label produces chocolates with some unusual ingredients mixed in, supposedly to highlight "American farms & artisans". I've previously enjoyed the BBQ chip bar they make, which had a good balance of chocolate, crunch, and a bit of heat. This cayenne flavored bar is pretty likely to be a bit hotter.

Price: List price for this 2 oz bar is $4. Not particularly expensive for a higher end chocolate, but I believe prices vary substantially depending on the retailer. I paid at least $5 for the BBQ chip bar at BevMo a few months back. 

Packaging: An easy way to tell the difference between a big manufacturer and a little, artisanal shop is the quality of packaging. Unlike the mendiants from last week, the New Orleans Chili bar was professionally packaged and sealed, with a cardboard sleeve holding a sealed foil pouch containing the chocolate. While this preserves the flavor of the chocolate, it also makes it inconvenient to consume in multiple sittings.

Taste: 

Sweetness: (3)

The bar is more bitter than sweet, not surprising for a 70% bar. The pepper flavor probably has a hand in reducing the perceived sweetness further. This is unfortunate; a sweeter chocolate would probably do a better job standing up to the heat.

Texture: (2)

In one word, gritty. Again, this is probably due to the cayenne pepper rather than the chocolate portion per se, but the texture and the melt of this flavor are disappointing.

Complexity: (3)

The hot and bitter notes play against each other fairly well, though this one is also too hot for my taste. I'd prefer a sweeter chocolate since I think it would provide a more interesting contrast, but all the flavors are distinguishable without being overpowering.

Finish: (1)

There's basically no chocolate flavor remaining, just a gritty heat at the roof of the mouth. Like eating chips and salsa without the salt flavor to ameliorate the heat. 

Conclusion

If you like the spicy chocolates and don't mind a more bitter bar, you may enjoy this particular product. I can't recommend it, as the one saving grace is that I got it at discount. 

Tasting two chocolates from Éclat Chocolate

Today I'm tasting two different chocolates from Éclat Chocolate (because it's my first post, and because I had two).  First up is Sao Thome, a single origin chocolate from West Africa.  Next is Aleppo Pink Peppercorn, a chili-infused chocolate blend.

Éclat Chocolate: Sao Thome and Aleppo Pink Peppercorn

Sao Thome

Sao Thome is an island nation located off the west coast of Africa, right on the equator. Cacao plants were imported here from Latin America in the early 19th century, and chocolate now makes up 80% of the exports from this small country.  Chocolate produced here is supposed to have a powerful flavor, with floral and spicy hints.

Price: The Sao Thome mendiants from Éclat come in a 5.9 oz package for $14.50, or about $2.46 an ounce.  This chocolate seems more expensive because the package is relatively large, on a per ounce basis this is less than half as expensive as chocolate from Jinju Chocolates (look for a future review on this one).

Packaging: The packaging is pretty standard for this kind of product.  The label is printed well, and contains some useful information about the chocolate percentage and flavor notes.  The perforations along the top of the label hold the plastic sleeve closed, but also make it a bit difficult to open without sharp fingernails.

Taste: Each chocolate I review will be rated on four attributes: sweetness, melt, complexity, and finish.  Each characteristic will be graded on a 1-7 scale, with high numbers representing an excess of that particular quality and lower numbers representing a deficit.  The ideal chocolate will score 4 on each attribute.

Sweetness: (4)

This chocolate is quite sweet for a 70% cacao product.  The only bitterness is found in the light dusting of cacao nibs on the underside of each mendiant (which isn't represented in the company's photos particularly well).  

Melt: (5.5)

Small pieces of the Sao Thome melt very rapidly.  I'd estimate 10-15 seconds from solid to completely melted for a bite.  This is probably at least partially related to the narrower thickness of the mendiants, but is still pretty quick.  Also, due to the cacao nibs mentioned above, some portions have to be chewed.

Complexity: (3.5)

This chocolate is almost there, but it misses out on that last bit of complexity that separates a very good product from a great one.  In initial tastings, I was much more aware of the floral notes so I'll give credit for that although they've been less present in subsequent tastings.  The flavor is consistent throughout, with only the nibs providing a bit of bitterness.  For a chocolate this dark, though, I was hoping for a bit more.

Finish: (5)

The finish, or persistence of flavors, for this chocolate is heavily dependent on whether I've chewed all the nibs before finishing the chocolate itself.  As long as I finish with the chocolate, this is pretty close to a 4.  However, eating one of the nibs last leaves a bitter taste that persists for a couple minutes now.  Really a bit much.

Aleppo Pink Peppercorn

Spicy foods are all the rage right now, and spicy chocolates have been cropping up more frequently.  Éclat calls this product's flavor "a subtle heat provided by chili grown in Syria's famed Aleppo Valley."  I'm not the biggest fan of hotter foods, so I'll put this assertion to the test.

Price and packaging are identical to the Sao Thome discussed above, so let's skip straight to the taste.

Taste:

Sweetness: (3)

While there's some sweetness here, it is almost instantly overpowered by the peppery notes of this chocolate.  And after that, it's almost nothing but heat.

Melt: (5.5)

As above, the thin mendiants dissolve quickly in the mouth.  This one is a bit grittier than the Sao Thome, probably due to the chili and/or peppercorns mixed in.

Complexity: (2.5)

The Aleppo Pink Peppercorn is almost too hot for me.  Of course, so are many varieties of mild salsa so I realize that won't be a dealbreaker for everyone.  However, there's only the faintest flavor of chocolate detectable behind a wall of heat.  The initial pepper notes promised an interesting and complex experience, but the chili overpowered everything else.

Finish: (4)

Leaving aside whether the flavor is pleasant, the finish is just right.  This mendiant leaves a ghost of flavor on the palate (in this case, chili flavor) for a minute or two.  Compared to the actual flavor of the rest of the chocolate, this isn't even particularly unpleasant.

Conclusion

Of these two chocolates, I'd pretty strongly recommend the Sao Thome.  It's a pretty good value for a straightforward chocolate without excessive bitterness.  While the Aleppo Pink Peppercorn is interesting, I can't really recommend what has been an unpleasant experience each time I've tasted it.