Seventy% - Topic: Eightyfivepercent - one jewel and lots of ash

chocbloc on Eightyfivepercent - one jewel and lots of ash

Sun, 19 Aug 2007 05:52:54 +0000

I haven't tried many bars at 85% or higher because they are too bitter for my taste. However a couple years ago I had one from Pierre Marcolini that was amazing. They used to be available thru seventypercent.com, but no longer. I know there is a shop in NY, but the cost with shipping is pretty prohibitive. If there is any other way of getting some of these, please let me know. I'm dying to have another one.

Mike (restin' on my laurels and my hardys too)

Polarbear on Eightyfivepercent - one jewel and lots of ash

Mon, 02 Jul 2007 11:41:15 +0000

Two new 85% tried:

Green and Blacks 85% is good, like a strong and not so sweet version of the 70%, but it gives the impression that they have not managed to "extract" all the taste.

Rapunzel 85% (Bolivian beans, likely made for them by some third part?) is slightly sweeter and more intense in the taste, and slightly darker - but still even more creamy.

None of these chocs have the harshness often associated with such strong bars, and since less sugar is good for everyone, will be important parts of my diet for some time to come :-)

***
My name is Polarbear and I am a chocoholic...

Polarbear on Eightyfivepercent - one jewel and lots of ash

Tue, 17 Aug 2004 18:07:01 +0000

OK, I see the distinction. Should have been more precise.

The chocsoc bar is actually a small mystery itself, because it tastes and looks exactly the same (and is also made in France and is 67%) as a bar from the dane Claus Meyer. Meyer claims to have developed it himself with two collaborators. The only diffrence is that Meyer's wrapping claims that the beans are only from Madagaskar, while the coc soc is more unspecified around equator.

http://www.meyersmad.dk/meyers.asp?HM=505&PageID=3498

***
My name is Polarbear and I am a chocoholic...

choca on Eightyfivepercent - one jewel and lots of ash

Tue, 17 Aug 2004 10:53:45 +0000

Oh please , don't compare Cluizel to the chocolate society . Cluizel is a great chocolatier wether or not he makes his own chocolate from scratch . He certainly knows his stuff .
The chocolate society are very good at marketing and have good contacts with Valrhona but do not know the craft that well !

Polarbear on Eightyfivepercent - one jewel and lots of ash

Tue, 17 Aug 2004 07:40:17 +0000

Cluizel's chocolates have a very distinct common taste (sort of banana-fruit-peach) which suggests that they are his own, not bought from other companies - or they could be made after his recipes by a larger company, just like the Chocolate Society bar is made by Valrhona, but following his own recipes. They are certainly not just remoulds of other chocs.

***
My name is Polarbear and I am a chocoholic...

JasonBunting on Eightyfivepercent - one jewel and lots of ash

Fri, 13 Aug 2004 17:56:07 +0000

Ultimately, I don't really care too much - as long as the product I receive tastes great!

j a s o n b u n t i n g

choca on Eightyfivepercent - one jewel and lots of ash

Fri, 13 Aug 2004 17:41:35 +0000

What the website says means very little .
There are many chocolate companies making similar claims about " our beans are roasted and ground" . that does not mean that that company actually does that particular process .
I had always thought that Cluziel processed his own beans and I hope he does . That is why I was so shocked at the thought of him using Callebaut . Maybe he only uses Callebaut for certain jobs , and any way Callebaut make excellant chocolate often better than Valrohna . I only worry about the market dominence of Callebaut .
But I hoped i could raise the question of Cluziel because the person who told me is not prone to rumour , he is the retirted head of a very important global chocolate firm . not prone and no need to bulls**t . !!
Any one know the answer for sure ??

Martin Christy on Eightyfivepercent - one jewel and lots of ash

Thu, 12 Aug 2004 10:16:57 +0000

I have a video of the Cluizel factory, also with scenes of Cluizel himself at the plantations ... I've heard a lot of rumours like this, but never this one before. I think it can be ignored.

Martin Christy
Editor
http://www.seventypercent.com

Masur on Eightyfivepercent - one jewel and lots of ash

Wed, 11 Aug 2004 21:05:07 +0000

More about Michele Cluizel:

quote:

...Michel Cluizel selects and roasts cocoa beans from only the best estates to create his divine chocolate bars and confections.

[url]http://www.rockridgemarkethall.com/pastashop/confections.html[/url]

Masur

Masur on Eightyfivepercent - one jewel and lots of ash

Wed, 11 Aug 2004 20:37:56 +0000

La Fontaine au Chocolat web-site:
[url]http://www.fontaineauchocolat.com/[/url]

Masur

Masur on Eightyfivepercent - one jewel and lots of ash

Wed, 11 Aug 2004 20:35:50 +0000

La Fontaine au Chocolat is selling Michel Cluizel. This information can be found if you make a search in Google:

quote:

The Michel Cluizel firm is one of the very few independent family businesses in the world to make its own chocolate, starting from cocoa beans.

Similar information can be found on the Cluizel web-site. Regrettably the site is only available in french:
[url]http://www.cluizel.com/[/url]

Masur

Hans-Peter Rot on Eightyfivepercent - one jewel and lots of ash

Wed, 11 Aug 2004 13:42:42 +0000

That's news to me regarding Cluizel.

Quality of bean certainly plays a role...and so does brand. Was the manufacturer of those two bars the same, or were they different ones?

I believe the majority of beans grown in Ghana are Forasteros, so naturally the bar wouldn't have been as fine as the Venezuela bar.

choca on Eightyfivepercent - one jewel and lots of ash

Tue, 10 Aug 2004 17:32:11 +0000

I had an interesting chat with an old industry friend the other day and he said that Cluziel did not make his own chocolate and bought mainly from Callebaut , can any one tell me if this is right .?
Interesting comments on the 85 % bars . When I have tried a rough 100% from Ghana , i could not eat it . 100 % from venezuela was strong but fruity with a great after taste , so it really depends on the quality of the bean .

JasonBunting on Eightyfivepercent - one jewel and lots of ash

Thu, 05 Aug 2004 20:10:07 +0000

I recently finished off Valrhona's 85% bar and didn't care for it too much. For me, it had the definite, strong taste of a sour cheese in the length. Like a bleu cheese taste of sorts . . .

All I will say about Dolfin is . . . I have eaten it and would rather not in the future, unless they start doing something really different. I tried their plain 70% and 70% with bits of cacao nibs, and was not too impressed with either.

j a s o n b u n t i n g

Polarbear on Eightyfivepercent - one jewel and lots of ash

Mon, 02 Aug 2004 18:20:03 +0000

Well, I admit - I did plan the choco-shopping before I went, too.[:)]

The staff at the Marcolini shop was very polite and service minded, albeit a bit "cold-posh".

I also had a long talk with the girl at the counter at Artisan, who seemed to be a real chocoholic herself.

BTW, I sometimes tell choc-shop staffs that I don't want to buy a certain product because "vanillin" on the wrapping tells me a bit too much about the content. They always seem to be surprised. (Lego: The last time was at the small shop at Torgallmenningen!) May be they employ yung students who do not know too much about chocolate.

Often when I feel that I need a bar - must have it, just must have it!!! - I find a health food store in the hope of a Green&Blacks or Pronatec. But too often, they only have the tastless Plamil, or the annoying Villars 72%, a crown example of cheap forasteros&vanilin. The shop people always get surprised when I tell them that Villars is neither good nor organic, and that it contains syntetic "vanilla".

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My name is Polarbear and I am a chocoholic...