Pralus Bresil 75% Dark Chocolate Bar

Do you know how you read descriptions and think that they’re just making it up, like Jilly Goolden did with the wines? Well this Pralus Bresil 75% dark chocolate bar is supposed to taste “fruity”, and do you know what? It actually does. And one thing you can trust me on is that the quality is out of this world.

I bought this bar from Chocolate Trading Company for the pretty hefty price of £3.95 for 100g. It’s certainly not the cheapest chocolate bar I’ve ever tasted, but its certainly one of the best.

First off, I just love the packaging. I’ve got a few of the Pralus chocolate bars and I just love how the stripes across the middle are different colours according to where the cocoa comes from. Another interesting design point is that they also put a dot on a map denoting the location of its inception.

I’ve really started getting into the trying to understand the production of fine chocolate, the different types of cocoa tree and the different regions of production as they all combine into making vastly different chocolate bars with a massive variation of taste and texture. For those that are interested, this bar comes from Farastero cocoa grown in a plantation of a friend of Pralus, a Diego Badaro. This plantation is located in Itacare which is in the Rio de Contas region of Eastern Brazil. There’s a river that runs close by that comes out of the historic Chapada Diamantina National Park which is famous for its diamonds. The Badaro plantation has over a century of history and produces organic chocolate with biodynamic agriculture – its good for the planet and good for you (don’t quote me on that!)

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The first thing you’ll notice about the aroma is that it is indeed very fruity and acidic. Paul (from Chocolate Trading) states that he feels that it has the aroma of raspberries, and I’d have to say he’s spot on. There’s probably no other way to describe it. To be honest, I’ve never witnessed dark chocolate that had such a sharp aroma.

When you actually taste it the first flavours that will be evident are that of caramel which subside into a dark fruit taste. Other’s have mentioned smoked wood, but I only get a slight cedar wood taste at the very end of the taste experience.

When it comes to the texture, this is an absolutely smooth bar of dark chocolate. It just effortlessly melts in the mouth. It almost evaporates and leaves a wonderful soft texture in your mouth as it disappears.

I’m trying to place the Pralus Bresil dark chocolate bar into context, and what comes to mind is a beautiful Sunday morning with the sun shining, a slightly damp feel to the air as the early risers have already mowed their lawns. It has that sort of crisp feel to it but still a roundness of contentment. Or you could just sum it up in one word: “beautiful”.

Rating:

Taste: 90% – fruity, complex, desirable, delicious, delectable.

Texture: 95% – possibly smoother than any dark chocolate bar I’ve tasted recently.

Appearance: 95% – the packaging is entertaining and enticing. The nice variation on the traditional chocolate squares inside is also very appealing.

Nutritional Information: 80% you get to read about where the cocoa came from, that its organic and to be honest, nothing else matters (in the information stakes).

Price: 70% – its not cheap, but its well worth the money:

Overall: 86% – you’ve got to try it if you like dark chocolate.

You can buy from Amazon usually.

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