Cacao Sampaka Raspberry-Flavored Dark Chocolate

Posted by Edmund in Chocolate, Gourmet Chocolate Bars, Spain | 0 comments

Cacao Sampaka Raspberry-Flavored Dark Chocolate
Spain
Cost: €3.60
Keeper!

This is quite an impressive bar. The aroma of raspberries even bursts out as you open it.

Presentation: 3.5/5.0

The presentation is simple, yet refined. Cacao Sampaka always divides its bars into two 50g, thin, rectangular pieces. This design is great, not only for the implications for melt (look below), but also because it means you can cut off smaller, less intense, chocolate pieces, and really savor the chocolate.

Melt:  4.5/5.0

Excellent melt again, as with all the Cacao bars. The fact that Cacao Sampaka has flattened the bars to two very thin pieces only helps the melt, since the chocolate has much more surface area and so much more of the chocolate is in contact with the mouth. It’s an extremely good design. This is especially impressive in the case of the dark chocolate bar, since the high cocoa content tends to make it more resistant to melting smoothly and easily. The cacao design seems to overcome this problem, however.

Flavor (i.e. how well integrated the flavor is into the bar): 3.5/5.0

The flavor is a little underwhelming at first, but when you savor the bar and eat it slowly, the raspberries emerge in full force. They are really quite good, adding another dimension of taste. The fruitiness acts as a very nice counterpoint to the bitterness of the dark chocolate.

Taste: 4.0/5.0

For a dark chocolate bar, this is rather creamy and smooth, with a great subtlety to it. As stated, it seems one-dimensional at first, but the flavor really balances the bar. Moreover, the creaminess makes for a satisfying experience in the mouth that you normally don’t get with dark chocolate. The bitterness thus comes off as a lot lighter, and an interesting interplay of bitter, fruity, and creamy occurs in the mouth.

That being said, I do have to emphasize that it is quite satisfying for a white chocolate. I’m not a fan of whites, but this was extremely well done, and the crunch gave it a nice complexity you don’t see in most white chocolates.

Value: 4.3/5.0

All the Cacao Sampaka chocolates, priced at around €3.60, are perhaps the best priced of all gourmet chocolates on the market. A large number of the best bars sell for around $8/100g or even more, whereas Cacao Sampaka charges much less for what I consider a much more interesting bar, and one that often incorporates far more interesting flavors, like rose and strawberry.

Overall Score: 4.0/5.0. I may be a bit biased towards CS, considering how highly I enjoy all of its bars, but I could eat this all day. For a dark chocolate, it’s extremely edible.