Trinitario Chocolate Bars

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Trinitario cacao is prized as a fine flavour cacao and named after its birthplace of Trinidad. Trinitario’s origins lie in the wiping out of practically an entire crop of Criollo cacao trees in Trinidad in 1727 by either a disease or some other natural disaster. In an effort to save the tree, the effected plantations were planted in Forestero trees. The two cacao trees hybridized into the new variety that was named Trinitario. This hybrid result contains both the disease resistant properties of the Forestero and the prized flavour values of the Criollo. Trinitario is now grown in a variety of areas such as Columbia, Mexico, Venezuela, and the Caribbean, in addition to its original birthplace of Trinidad. Chocolate bars consisting solely of Trinitario chocolate include Pralus Bars, Rio Caribe by Domori, and Carenero Superior by El Rey.

Michel Cluizel 1er Cru de Plantation Venezuela Conception

Those liked Michel Cluizel's 85% bar are very likely to find this one too sweet, but on the positive side, there are some very unusual flavours present.

Hotel Chocolat 66% Sambirano Valley

This bar of Purist chocolate from Hotel Chocolat comes from the fantastic Sambriano Valley region of Madagascar and offers some very fruity, sharp but beautiful flavours. It may not be as rounded as a number of other bars from own-estate makers, but it's still very good.

Artisan du Chocolat Jamaica Bean To Bar

This bean to bar experiment from Gerard and his team at Artisan du Chocolat was a fantastic success and I hope it goes to show how much hard work goes into making chocolate for people. This bar was past it's best so it wouldn't be fair to judge too harshly, I thoroughly enjoyed it though.

Marou Tiền Giang 80%

The downside of restricting yourself to safe chocolate is that you'll end up missing wonderful chocolate such as this bean to bar chocolate maker in Vietnam which has produced a lovely bar of soft-mannered chocolate.

Patric Rio Caribe Superior

Despite being several months past its best, this Venezuelan bar of 70% chocolate does a great job. The flavours are varied but fairly mellow. The melt is exceptional given its age and the distance travelled. It'd certainly be one I'd recommend to my American friends.

Pralus Fortissima 80%

The aroma indicated that it was likely to be a robust bar of dark chocolate. Unfortunately it came across as being very understated and not at all interesting. I wanted those strong aromas to be evident as their Chuao bar but there was only a very slight appearance of acidity on the tip of my tongue.

Chococo Sea-Salt Popcorn Chocolate Clusters

If you're looking for something different then you should really give these sea salt milk chocolate coated popcorn clusters as they're something you just won't want to put down.

Fruition Chocolate 66% Dark Chocolate

There is something magnificent about micro-batch chocolate makers putting the effort in to create utterly delightful chocolate as this 66% bar. It may be a touch sweet, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

Demarquette Araguani 72%

This Demarquette Araguani 72% just didn't do it for me, I found it uninteresting, a touch too brutish and without the variety of flavours one may have expected given the aroma.

Pralus Caracas 75%

I've got to say that this Pralus Caracas 75% isn't anywhere near as good as their previous bars. It uses Venezuelan cacao along with some from Ghana - which I don't think does it any credit.

Paul A. Young 70% Guanaja

When it comes to coverture bars there's always the problem of does the bar offer more when bought by the maker themselves? In this instance I would say so, but that may be tarnished by the fact that this bar was out of date.

Jeff de Bruges 43% Venezuelan

I'm not exactly sure what I expected from this bar. Milk chocolate is such a strange beast that it can so easily turn into a saccharine cloud hovering over you. This doesn't go that far, its very milky, which some people will enjoy, I'm just in two minds - unfortunately.

Valrhona Guanaja 70% Grand Crus

This Grands Crus from Valrhona using single origin Guanaja cacao of the Trinitario Criollo varieties promised much but didn't actually deliver much. There was hardly any flavour to speak of a complete lack of drama. Valrhona built their name on the back of excellent chocolate, but don't match those heights with this bar.

Chapon Ecuador 75%

This Chapon Ecuador bar certainly isn't rich, complicated or robust. Instead it has a strikingly orange flavour with base notes of caramel. If you just wanted some light 75% chocolate then I'd certainly suggest you try this one out.

Michel Cluizel Noir Au Grue de Cacao

Michel Cluizel has produced a delightful and relaxed bar of chocolate that can easily be enjoyed by the masses. There's no fine, complex flavours just a strange combination of distinctive ones.

Limited Edition: Oriente Cuba Terruño de Baracoa

Certainly an interesting bar from Marcolini. It had a lovely cherry flavour but didn't give me the wow factor I was hoping for. It most definitely interesting, but didn't give any sense of complexity I love in fine chocolate.

Hotel Chocolat Rabot Estate 70% Dash of Milk

If you would like to try a bar that has more of a bittersweet chocolate flavour then try these. Even though there is less sugar in it than could be expected, the full milk powder manages to bring down the overall acidity profile of the bar and give it more of a rounded flavour.

The Grenada Chocolate Company Nib-a-licious 60%

This has a strange banana and mango flavour that is quite strange - but very enjoyable. The nibs, of course, give a lovely variable texture. I'd definitely say this is a must try bar.

Artisan du Chocolat Orchid & Orange Blossom Dark Chocolate

Although it didn't knock my socks off, it still was a very pleasant bar that I'd happily enjoy again. The flavours are subtle but you can't have robust chocolate all of the time.

Amano Morobe 70% Dark Chocolate Bar

This Amano Morobe 70% dark chocolate bar is a marvel of chocolate making. How Art manages to get so much flavour out of the bean is remarkable. If you are in a position to buy some, you most definitely should.

Pralus Cuba 75% Dark Chocolate

I was hoping for so much more from Pralus with this 75% bar made with Cuban cacao. But alas it was very muted and left me wanting more acidity. If you are looking for a mild dark chocolate bar with less cocoa butter then try this one.

Coppeneur Trinidad 72% Chilli and Lavender

If you wanted to try a Coppeneur dark chocolate bar then this Trinidad 72% Chilli and Lavender is very good, not exceptional, but definitely worth considering if you like chilli chocolate. There's not a great deal of heat, so it would suit most chocolate lovers.

Original Hawaiian 60% Dark Chocolate

I enjoyed this Original Hawaiian 60% Trinitario Dark Chocolate bar but expect it would have tasted much better when it was fresh last year, instead of waiting eight months to review it. It produces a mild flavour that be a perfect compromise for people just starting their dark chocolate experiences.