// Cocoa Pilgrim //

~ in pursuit of the craft chocolate movement and artisan chocolate worldwide ~

[cocoapilgrim]

Cacao Prieto makes its way from the Dominican Republic to Red Hook, Brooklyn. From its organic origins which largely dominate the nation's agriculture, and the nurture of a century-old family run cacao farm, Prieto chocolate truly distills the essence of the natural paradise that is Hispaniola island.

The Criollo 72% bar is rich and dark and thick and warm. To state the obvious, this is a 'chocolatey' bar. The acid is low, allowing the fragrance and cocoa butter to come forth. Give it a moment and a bouquet of spice reveals - cardamom, cloves and a hint of cinnamon. 

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// Star rating: 3.5/5 // Shareability: Morning or night, compliment the spice with a brew of chai tea or a good slosh of grenache.

[cocoapilgrim]

It's always a difficult thing parting with a Bahen & Co bar. Before I've even unwrapped the chocolate, there is the forecast of loss. In a short space of time, the dark beauty within will be gone. The wrapping will be partly torn, most surely crumpled. The foil, lacerated in haste. There will be no wavering, dithering, thinking. Auto-pilot takes over. Rather than a square, nay, a row, being snapped off, this 70% moves as a whole to anticipating lips. This chocolate simply must be consumed. 

And a mad dash it is. Wild fruits strike the tongue punching cherry in the mouth and to the nose. The texture has a slight grit which awakens more of the senses. There is acidity driving the berries. Papua New Guinea has produced a beautiful bean. The chocolate makers have shown her off beautifully.

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// Star rating: 3.5/5 // Shareability: Dare to share? Yes - but right here. Right now.

[cocoapilgrim]

Craft chocolate maker, Ben Rasmussen of Potomac chocolate had a chocolate epiphany at an early age. In fact he had two. One caused him to face the sugary reality of supermarket chocolate bars; the second took him to the dark side. The dark side of cacao that is. Ever since, he's been inspired and driven to create artisan bean-to-bar chocolate. 

The San Martin 70% is a trademark Potomac. Smooth, snappy and spirited, it is fruity, acidic and has a distinct banana aftertaste, a legacy of its Peruvian cacao roots. The Academy of Chocolate has given it a 2013 silver award. We too give it a hurrah, a whoop and a gulp.

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// Star Rating: 4/5 // Shareability: Compliment the banana with some coconut. That is: one part coconut cream, one part pineapple, one part white rum and a splash of lime juice.

[cocoapilgrim]

Next up on the Chocolate Trail, Marou Treasure Island. With beans sourced from a small island of the Mekong Delta in Vietnam, this single origin bar is indeed a treasure chest of gold.

Where "X" marks the spot, do you stop, take in the moment, look to the heavens knowing that everything you know in life, everything you've been led to believe and understand can all change in these next minutes? Or do you furiously dig, waste not your precious time - precious future -precious expectations?

The old head-n-heart battle on, and alas, the always beautiful Marou packaging does not last. We are digging single origin. Dark. Seventy-five percent. Bold. Tobacco. And - rather aptly - Rich. 

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// Star Rating: 5/5 // Shareability: To share that pot of gold? To 'fess up. To broadcast. To boast and brag. OR: To contain and guard closely... This is a moral quandary, a philosophical dilemma, an existential chocolate conundrum. What are you going to do?

[cocoapilgrim]

So here we go. We're bending the rules. We're writing in red, we're adding salt, we're paying with credit, we're drinking at noon, hell, we've even got the washing machine on before 10am. It's Bahen & Co chilli and salt.

Moving into the world of flavoured chocs, this gem from the Australian artisans is a stand out. Not one to be shy of a bit of chilli in my culinary adventures of norm, chilli in chocolate has had somewhat of a baptism in the last few years in Chocolate World. There are a few on the market now, none of which I'm yet to write home about, namely due to the extreme piercing of heat or the overly cautious additon of um, what?

Bahen & Co have struck the balance. The heat is mild but noticeable,the salt is the perfect partner in crime, the 70% house blend is the cherry on top. This is one fetching ménage à trois.

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// Star rating: 4/5 // Shareability: Chilli and salt, peaches and cream, dolphins and sunsets, cats and YouTube - partner up with your Bonnie or Clyde for this one.

[cocoapilgrim]

Akesson's Bali 75% Trinitario - this is another great bar from the Swedish chocolatier whose primary plantations are Madagascar and Brazil. This beautiful bar is our first experience of Balinese cocoa. And we love it. Heavy and rounded, very big, very smooth, light on fruit, with coffee and caramel undertones. Like, like, like.

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// Star rating: 4/5 // Shareability: Like dragging your best friend onto the dance floor when the song-of-the-summer comes on, this bar should accompany many a best friend situation.

[cocoapilgrim]

Italian chocolatier Domori is up there in the echelons of the chocolate world with, in our opinion, Amedei. Domori has a criollo range of eight bars from different plantations. Our first taste, the esteemed 70% Chuao from Venezuela. 

Grown in a small corner of the world in the Aragua Valley, the Chuao cocoa is harvested by farmers who still utilise techniques from over 300 years of cocoa production. The cacao is a protected asset of the community, which probably helps explain how this very limited variety has survived and maintained its high quality and genetic purity.

The Domori bar holds on to the perfect flavour and quality of the Chuao. It has an initial big fruity flavour that is sharp yet smooth. It melts into a deliciously rounded chocolatey flavour that is creamy with subtle hints of caramel. It's 25grams of chocolate heaven.

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// Star Rating: 5/5 // Shareability: This five star chocolate should come with a five star experience. This is the chocolate you stock up on for the summer holiday in the Tuscan Villa, the French Riviera, the Amalfi Coast. Or just a good old bubble bath.

[cocoapilgrim]

Madagascar from Mast - a highly anticipated experience each and every time. The citrus and fruit burst your cheeks and conduce immediate salivation. The chocolate is slightly textured and gritty, a contrast to the zest and buzz of the lemon, lime and grapefruit that soon takes over. I think there's a party in my mouth.

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// Star Rating: 4/5 // Shareability: Mast Brothers chocolate is a conversation starter in many ways - the chocolate, the packaging, the brothers, their story. Crack this one open at the end of your dinner soirée.

[cocoapilgrim]

Another golden gem from Willie's Cacao, the 69% from Indonesia. The packaging notes caramel flavours in this bar, although I can't help but be stuck on light and lovely citrus and lemon flavours. Saying that, there is not too much acidity going on here. It's a balanced, snappy bar.

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// Star Rating: 4/5 // Shareability: This is a summer choc. Throw it back with a good slosh of crisp riesling on the deck. Sunset optional.

[cocoapilgrim]

The quiet of the dawn, overlooking a lake at sunrise, golden orange, soft pink, lemon sorbet colours marking the end of the twilight and the beginning of the most poignant day that you are etching carefully into the memory bank. Colours, smells, sights, sounds and feelings that envelop your entire being. Time has stood still. Travelling, you think, has never been so serene, so awakening, so rich.  Bing! An email. Wait. I'm at work.

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// Star Rating: 5/5 // Shareability: Be selfish. This is Marou. 

[cocoapilgrim]

Pump Street Bakery has surprised us with a unique chocolate, unique packaging, unique spirit. These guys source their beans direct from farms and cooperatives of various countries and turn around these small batches in Suffolk, UK. This Venezuelan 75% is nicely fruity, but big and buttery. Feels indulgent indeed.

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// Star Rating: 4/5 // Shareability: With David Bowie. On vinyl. Windows open. Volume max. There is something rock star about this choc.

[cocoapilgrim]

Round two on the Pacari range. This 70% is a single region bar that has won gold in the American 2012 Chocolate Awards. We're not entirely convinced this deserves the acclaim of gold. Do taste buds differ this side of the pond?

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// Star Rating: 2.5/5 // Shareability: Umm, the children? Well they won't appreciate Marou or Amedei and surely raw is healthier, right?

[cocoapilgrim]

New kid on the block: Raw. It's still trying to win the hearts and taste buds of the chocolate loving community - not just the Planet Organic-quinoa-and-goji-berry-loving health freaks. Often bundled in with the 'healthy', organic and fair trade varieties, raw chocolate is somewhat of a cocoa gem.

The Pacari range is great. This 85% bar is strong, reasonably gritty and although it contains sugar, gives your tongue a mellow smack. It's definitely different and worth the exploration. 

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// Star Rating: 3/5

[cocoapilgrim]

The little bundle of chocolate love that arrived today is none other than the long awaited Bahen & Co. Former winemaker team turned bean-to-bar chocolate makers, Bahen produce these bars of beauty in Margaret River, Australia.

"For us it's a case of addition by subtraction. Doing less to make better chocolate by allowing the cocoa bean to express its own wild signature."

Let the tasting begin.

[cocoapilgrim]

The exquisite chocolate of Tuscan chocolatier Cecilia Tessieri, founder of Amedei, is a long time Cocoa Pilgrim favourite.

The Italian chocolate factory has full oversight over every aspect of their bean to bar process. From long established relationships with growers to close and careful processing with their vintage machinery, Amedei epitomises true craft and craftsmanship. 

The Toscano Black 70% is blended Criollo and Trinitario cocoa. It's a smooth and clean chocolate, has low acidity and notes of subtle hazelnut. Not one of Amedei's best, but none-the-less, a quality, beautiful chocolate. See our post on the much revered Chuao for the ultimate Amedei.

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// Star Rating: 3.5/5 // Shareability: Show off the end of your dinner party with the suave and sophisticated Toscano Black. Dark chocolate might not be the preference of most, but this 70% can entice and enthuse even the everyday chocolate lover.

[cocoapilgrim]

This Sambirano 71% from our modern day Willy Wonka, is a medley of bold, delicious fruit. It bears the signature fruit notes particular to Madagascan cacao - this one with raspberries in particular. It's a lush, rich chocolate that lingers in the corners of your cheeks.

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// Star Rating: 4/5 // Shareability: Two squares in the box - one for you, one for me. Or one now, one later. Or rather one is not enough, I need to open the second.

[cocoapilgrim]

Single estate Akesson's Madagascar bar comes from a very limited production of Criollo cocoa from a small plantation established in the 1920s. This noteworthy bar has been awarded the Academy of Chocolate silver in 2013. Boutique, unique and simply stunning. 

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// Star Rating: 4/5 // Shareability: This is no mother's day chocolate. Strictly like-minded chocolate obsessed friends or partner who can continue the discussion on the nobility of the esteemed Criollo.