Hotel Chocolat 70% Chuao Bar

Posted by Edmund in Chocolate, Featured Articles, Gourmet Chocolate Bars, United Kingdom | 0 comments

Apr 04, 11

Composition: 70% Single-Origin Dark Chocolate.
Region of Production: England.
Region of Origin: Venezuela.
Price: $5-$5.50 for 35g. $9-$10 for 70g.

Whenever I see any bar made with the legendary Chuao bean, the rarest of cocoa, I immediately rush for it, knowing that it’s going to be an exquisite. I may have found the exception, though.

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Aesthetically, Hotel Chocolat does a nice job with its bars. The miniature versions come in rather cheap-looking plastic wrappers. Still, the bar speaks for itself. It is decorated simply with long vertical lines and curves in a somewhat modernist and minimalist design. The bar is completely smooth, to the point that even after cracking apart a piece I could run my finger across the center and feel no jaggedness. There were some dots of discoloration, but it was relatively light, considering I’d kept this bar for over a month without eating it.

Flavor-wise, there is a lot going on in this bar, as with most bars based on the Chuao. It begins on a very creamy and lightly earthy note, mixed with some potent, tangy-sweet red fruits and berries. As time passes, each of those flavors becomes increasingly intense, so that by the end it’s a constant back-and-forth between the bitter smokiness of pure cocoa and the more tropical fruitiness of apples, sour cherries, and raspberries. I also get a pronounced oaky overtone throughout, giving the bar a solid, neutral base and controlling some of the tangier elements. In the finish, the chocolate leaves one final burst of tanginess that quickly gives way to an underlying, slightly dry, slightly tannic, and very smoky flavor. Very nice balance in general, though the almost unfiltered raw cocoa smokiness may feel slightly abrasive.

Still, the bar does not feel like much of a Chuao. Why Hotel Chocolat would tamper with the consistency and flavor of such a high-quality, rare bean by using soy lecithin is beyond me. I can both feel and taste the waxiness, which the intensity of the bar thankfully covers up partially. Moreover, even with the lecithin, the bar feels surprisingly tough to the bite. Chuao bars are typically very elegant and smooth, with an ultra-easy melt. This one, though, requires a strong bite to snap. It also melts slowly, to the point that the chocolate felt somewhat stagnant when I first tried it. More positively, the melt is very clean and smooth. Finally, I was not thrilled with the length: As one of the most flavorful chocolate beans on the market, the Chuao should easily last on the palate for fifteen minutes to half an hour. This one faded within about 5 minutes, nor was it all that strong during that time.

At first sight, then, this bar looks like a great value. It has the cheapest price I’ve ever seen for a Chuao bar, which typically goes for 4 times the standard price for a good gourmet chocolate. Nevertheless, it simply cannot live up to the name of Chuao.

Scores

Presentation: 4.0/5.0
Taste:  2.8/5.0
Melt / Texture: 2.7+/5.0
Length: 2.5/5.0
Value: 2.7+/5.0
Verdict: 2.7+/5.0