Vosges Goji Bar

Posted by Edmund in Chocolate, Featured Articles, Gourmet Chocolate Bars, USA | 2 comments

Jan 26, 11

Composition: 45% Deep Milk Chocolate, Pink Himalayan Salt, Tibetan Goji Berries.
Region of Production: USA.
Price: $7.50 at Vosges’ website.

Presentation-wise, this is one my better experiences with Vosges. As I’ve said before, I’m a fan of the packaging, which displays the ingredients prominently for the buyer to see. As for the bar itself, there’s still some smearing, but the chocolate bloom is at a minimum. Instead, you get a clean, slightly glossy coffee brown. If it didn’t have minor smears, it would, in fact, be captivating.

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Surprisingly, the bar does not have much aroma. I’d have expected something a bit earthy, salty, and fruity, but here it’s just plain milk chocolate, with just a slight whiff of salt.

The flavor, too, is a tad underwhelming. It’s not that I can’t taste it—the strong, salty kick and the chewy, fruity berries definitely come through. It’s just that they don’t come to the forefront as the centerpiece of the bar, instead letting the milk chocolate do most of the talking. Unfortunately, that milk chocolate just isn’t good enough on its own. While I do enjoy the creaminess, it’s a bit bland, emphasizing milky elegance rather than flavor. I do get some fruity, rainforest tones (maybe from the berries), in addition to a natural smokiness that is too subtle.

Still, the salt is very well done. Oftentimes, salt can be used in a heavy-handed manner. In this bar, while Vosges uses a surprisingly large amount of salt, the bar somehow never becomes overbearing because that salt hits you very gradually (though it’s a bit strong in the aftertaste). It seems like it’s very well distributed throughout the bar, coming at you.

The berries disappoint, however, as they are few and far between. When you do get lucky enough to snag one, you get the chewiness of a dried fruit, packing some sour-sweet flavor.. I do admire that this bar, tries to hit as many tastes as possible, combining the sweet, sour, and salty all in one, but the berries just don’t come through enough.

The chocolate melts evenly, but a bit slowly—something I wouldn’t have expected from a milk chocolate, especially one which uses lecithin. The chunks of berry may have hardened the bar. More positively, the melt is slow enough for you to really pick up every flavor and to savor it, especially from the salt. It does leave a very long aftertaste, too, especially for a milk chocolate. Unfortunately, the chocolate is very viscous, constantly clinging to your teeth as it goes down and hitting the throat roughly.

Scores

Presentation: 3.3/5.0
Taste: 2.2/5.0. Plain, overly sweet, overly rich milk chocolate.
Flavor: 2.5/5.0. Plus for the salt. Minus for the berries.
Melt: 2.0/5.0
Length: 4.0/5.0 (though not important here)
Value: 1.0/5.0
Overall Score: 2.2+/5.0