Friday, August 21, 2020

Domori - Chacao Organic Dark Chocolate 85% bar - Aug. 21, 2020

Chocolate of the Day

Domori srl
(Chacao line)
Cioccolato Fondente Bio 85%
(Organic Dark Chocolate 85% (bar))
Good ++ - Good +++
Weight: .88 oz. (25 g.) / 1.76 oz. (50 g.) in total bar
Calories: 300.5 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $6.50 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocosphere.com, online order

Welcome to Day #9 of Ghana and Ivory Coast Theme Week.

Today's Cioccolato Fondente Bio 85% (Organic Dark Chocolate 85%) bar was from Domori (None, Torino (Turin), Italy).

Note: Please take your time with this bar. It will be worth it.

The aroma of this bar had bold dark chocolate with sweet spice, green, wax and coconut notes and a very faint bitterness. This chocolate had a relatively complex aroma that shifted a bit over time.

The melt and texture were relatively smooth with a balanced and relatively soft astringency and bitterness for an 85 percent made using (what I thought was a) bold Forastero* cacao grown in Cote de Ivoire (Ivory Coast). 

The flavor was bold and dark and not too sweet (thank you!). There were also balanced roasted and earth notes that unfolded during the tasting process. It was as if there were two different roasts (dark and light) that had been blended--to great effect. (There were some borderline charcoal-leaning notes in the flavor and yet some green in the aroma.) 

The roast profile chose may not have worked with a Criollo or even a Trinitario variety of cacao, but whatever it was it worked with today's with a bolder, darker (yet complex) cacao variety.*

The finish was lingering with an interesting expansive quality to it that was not quite bitter or sour, but similar to a nice, round, ripe, sweet grapefruit. It was not unpleasant and a little fascinating. It was as if, after a walk down a relatively dark corridor, someone opened a door in the ceiling and some interesting light was revealed. Perhaps this was true metaphorically as well as literally.

Having tasted many bold, densely dark Forastero* cacao bars before, this was one of the most fascinating ones. Savor this slowly, and you might appreciate the often unappreciated profundity of this cacao variety--thanks for the skill applied by the chocolate makers (and likely the in-country suppliers/growers as well). 

It was not flitty and fruity; but it had quite a bit to say if you slowed down and listened. (Moments later after I thought the finish had tailed off, there was a belated nutty (peanut butter) note. This bar never ceased to amaze.) All this with just two ingredients.**

This chocolate belongs in a tasting flight, to help illustrate what this cacao variety (and origin) are all about.

Maker's tasting notes: "A strong chocolate in which notes of ripe fruit stand out, supported by a dominant note of cocoa."

*Thank you to Chocosphere.com, a U.S. distributor for Domori. They provided more information on the cacao in this bar. The cacao variety used was organic "Forestino," from the Scay Cooperative in Cote de Ivoire. This Forestino cacao "...selected by Domori for this project comes from...the area between the villages of Toumodi, Oulaidon, Taabo and Liebe, not far from the seashore. Most of the plantations in this area are smaller and grow the Forestino (or French) cacao variety created in the early 20th century as a hybrid of the Brazilian Amelonado and the Guaiana from French Guaiana. Some plantations even preserve and harvest traces of pure Guaiana varieties." 

**Ingredients: Organic Cocoa mass, organic cane sugar

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...