Gone Chocco

I’ve been working my way through Andy Van Den Broeck’s generous stash of Heritage chocolate blocks and was in a dark mood today.  The two blocks under review are relatively unadorned; it’s just the chocolate without any other additives like nuts or caramels.

 The darker block on the left is Ecuador 70% and the Premium Dark on the right is a less scary but still serious 50% cocoa solids block.  Both weigh 240 grams, so there’s a very generous whallop of chocolate awaiting you…..

The Ecuador dark has a slightly gritty feel, almost as though I can taste all the cocoa dust in it which isn’t a negative but shows that the block is the real deal.  The chocolate – whether chewed or allowed to melt slowly – soon dissolves into a more buttery and muddy finish and this is meant in a good, albeit unpoetic way.

The block has 38.2 grams of fat per 100 grams of which 24.1 grams are saturated fat, with 27.3 grams of sugar.  The blocks are thick and dense (again, in a nice way but certainly not how I’d describe a human being) and any concerns about nutrition are nullified because a few squares are enough to satisfy at 70% dark craving.

The Premium Dark also has discernible dusty cocoa texture within it but with added hints of what feels like dancing icing sugar resulting in a noticeably sweeter taste.  There’s no milk in this block (which is sometimes included in other 50% cocoa solid chocolate), so there’s no creamy mouth finish at the end; just a sweeter tang to ease the bitterness of cocoa.  This goes down well with a freshly brewed cappuccino (which of course does have milk). 

Having 20% less cocoa solids than the Ecuador block means that it contains more sugar at 46 grams per 100 grams and less saturated fat at 15.6 grams per 100 grams (total fat content is 34.5 grams per 100 grams).

Overall, I think the 70% has more to offer with less sugar to distract you from enjoying the cocoa and less quantity needed to eat it slowly and appreciate the range of flavours from dusty, buttery, bitter and smooth.  Lindt still rules the 70% roost, but this is better than the 70% offerings of Cadbury, Nestle and Green and Black’s.