Like most Scharffen Berger bars, the aroma is highly fruity, emphasizing raspberries, but it’s also got some coconut and brown sugar, which softens the fruit and makes the scent as a whole warm and inviting, like a steaming cup of hot chocolate.
Flavor is very pinkish, like a pastel version of the 70%, very much muted and bled into the canvas with brown sugar and sweet spice, notably nutmeg. The bean blend appears to be almost exactly the same (but I could be wrong), the difference here being higher sugar content, which highlights the caramelized tones and mollifies the flavor, making it soft and affable.
Compared to the 70%, this one is painted in subdued colors, with gentle strokes in the early Rembrandt style, as opposed to thick and dramatic like Van Gogh. It’s a very fruity yet caramelized flavor with an artificial density courtesy of the fudge-like, almost chewy texture, which really should be corrected to bring the flavor up to a more urbane level. Still, with a pleasing intensity and soothing flavor, the chocolate is probably more accomplished than its 70% brother and definitely a worthy contender in the semisweet category.
