Perhaps not the very first, but one of the earliest entirely U.S. bean-to-bar chocolates, this one makes its country proud. A superb exposition of a complex chocolate, hitting all the notes with clarity and interest. Rather reminiscent of Domori Porcelana – a comparison any manufacturer might envy! If this is the characteristic of Hawaiian chocolate, it bodes well for the future.
Reviews
Alex Rast: 27-Jun-2009
| SCORES | Score/10 | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| Aroma: | 7 | 10% |
| Look/snap: | 9 | 5% |
| Taste: | 9.5 | 35% |
| Melt: | 9 | 5% |
| Length: | 9.5 | 15% |
| Opinion: | 9 | 30% |
| Total/100: | 90.5 | 100% |
| INFO | |
|---|---|
| Best before: | |
| Batch num: | |
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Like L’Harmonie, Guittard (in cooperation with Dole) packages the bars in rather awkward 10 g rectangles, 5 to a box. Not the easiest format, but the chocolate itself looks very nice, light brown and with no trace of moulding defects. Aroma is a little more problematic, mostly in the sense that it’s barely there: very mild indeed. Hints of cherry and raspberry are promising if underassertive, and then a cocoa/brown sugar cast takes over, bringing with it alarming dusty hints. Inauspicious: it looks like the bar will be muted.
Fortunately, nothing could be further from the truth. Immediately the first taste reveals much stronger fruity flavours: strawberry and raspberry. Next the cocoa identifiable in the aroma shows up, along with a creamy note that lends balance. As the flavour progresses, powerful raisin comes to the fore, with ever-so-slightly bitter woody hints that, rather than distract, lend focus to the finish.
Texturally the chocolate is likewise excellent, very creamy indeed with good smoothness, although in this category companies like Cluizel and Domori do a slightly better job. But on the whole it would be hard to improve on this bar which is near-perfection, reminding one very much of Domori’s Porcelana with its fruity cast and minimal bitterness. Chocolate produced entirely within a single country is still somewhat rare, but this chocolate delivers more than novelty value; it introduces a chocolate worth having again and again. With Waialua Estate, Guittard have a winner.
