Vosges Creole Bar

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

Mar 09, 11

Composition: New Orleans Style Chicory Coffee, Cocoa Nibs, 72% Sao Thome Bittersweet Chocolate.
Region of Production: USA.
Price: $7.50 from Vosges’ site.

While the surface of this bar is discolored, Vosges does a good job with the make of the bar. While 72% chocolate, it snaps easily and cleanly into squares. Moreover, it is completely smooth, even though it is full of cocoa nibs. Never did I see any ingredients protruding at all. Finally, since all the ingredients are black, they practically blend into the chocolate, giving it a perfectly uniform, nearly jet-black facade.

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As for flavor, this bar can be summarized in one word: power. The Creole Bar simply takes the concept of earthy chocolate and runs away with it, stacking earthy on top of earthy on top of earthy.

First of all, Sao Thome chocolate is some of the most flavorful, earthiest on the market, naturally exuding tones of coffee, dirt, and darker berries. I was also picking up some sweeter tropical fruits on the uptake, like raspberries and banana. The cocoa nibs only amplify the strong cocoa accent, unleashing a burst of smokiness as you bite into each. Finally, the finely ground chicory coffee adds a slightly bitter, fresh, roasted aroma. Somewhere in there—in the cocoa nibs perhaps—there is also a small bit of very refreshing sweetness that hits you upfront as you first bite into the chocolate. Thus, this bar starts out with a very interesting blend of earthy, fruity, and sweet, gradually giving way to very aromatic, bitter, and roasted flavors that leave your mouth literally exuding smoke, like a good cup of morning coffee.

Given the strong ingredients, I thought this bar would be very long as well, but it is unfortunately over within 5 minutes. Still, the aftertaste is so pronounced it more than makes up for the short length. More problematic is the waxiness of the bar, as the use of lecithin gets in the way of the chocolate’s flavor.

The texture, though, is still excellent. The chocolate feels tough but melts surprisingly smoothly, with some nice viscosity that I think matches its earthiness well. It only gets better with the extremely crunchy cocoa nibs, which crackle in each bite, and the coffee, so finely ground that it gives you a slight but never muddy grittiness. Very rarely do so many different textures come together so perfectly, and I especially give Vosges high marks for its ability to seamlessly incorporate ground coffee, without having it interfere with the texture of the other ingredients.

Final Word: How can you go wrong, combining three of the most intense, aromatic ingredients? Highly recommended for all lovers of coffee.

Disclaimer: This bar was a gift from Vosges Haut Chocolat. I have tried to keep the review as fair and objective as possible. Take the scores for what you will.

Scores

Presentation: 3.5/5.0
Taste: 4.5/5.0
Flavor: 4.6+/5.0
Melt / Texture: 4.4/5.0
Length: 2.8/5.0
Value: 4.2/5.0
Scores: 4.3+/5.0