i agree that we here in europe have better access to some brands. but it takes some searching. i just recently found two shops here in munich. one has a good selection of amedei, the other a very limited selection of domori (only green and puro; at least in the summer time. in september they apparently stock puertomar, etc.). cluizel and valrhona are quite easy to get here. slitti i had to order per mail and marcolini, scharffen berger and co. i had never set my eyes on before finding them here at seventypercent.com.
the rovira i recently bought: that was a temporary stock. and my domori i have to have a friend bring me from berlin until i can get it here.

i am not a fan of ordering by mail though my slitti shipment was excellently packaged and handled.
the shops i found here have air conditioning and keep the products at the right temperature. one closes in august because of the heat and the other just simply won't have any domori, for instance, in the hotter summer months. if they can survive that way i think it's good proof that they are interested in quality, which makes me happy as a customer.

My experimental use of chocolate is more due to coincidents than empiricist preferences. When living in Vienna last year I
1) learnt the difference between good and bad chocolate (although I had this silly fascination for Hachez. I've still got a bar of their Cocoa Arrabia (?) with strawberry and pepper just to remind myself to appreciate the Really Good Ones.) Xocolat http://www.xocolat.at is a chilled store - quite refreshing during heatwaves I'd say.
2) had my first ultimate hot chocolate experience - at Demel. (Cold drinking chocolate is great too - especially from Demel and Gerstner.)
3) had my most ultimate cake and dessert experiences after years of suffering from a "sweet tooth".

Quite reasonably I continued making good stuff at home. Since chocolate still is an experience to me, I don't hesitate using expensive bars for experiments. Making only one portion means that only small amounts are spoiled if any.

slitti adds natural flavor to their chocolate. below the answer i received to my question:

Gentile Signor Slitti,

I just received a shipment of your chocolate from a store here in Germany and have a question. Listed in your ingredients are "natural flavors"; I was wondering what these might be exactly. I would be grateful for any information.

reply was

Natural Flavours = VANILLA FLAVOUR

We remain at your disposal for any question.

Best regards,
SLITTI CHOCOLATE.

LoneLy,

you seem to be quite experimental in your use of chocolate. impressive! i just eat the bars as they are. call me lazy and unimaginative.

monte,

i agree. italy and france are getting quite a lot of attention here. not unjustly, but maybe a bit one-sided.

I eat Chocovic Ocumare all the time, it's a very good bar with nice spicy tones and long flavour and also I think it's excellent value.

There is really no excuse for not listing everything if it is all natural (and that does not include 'natural flavor', which would still be a chemical substitute, just one originated from a natural source, e.g. - a cow.)

I know this will be controversial, but if that applies to all Slitti products then there will be no place for them in the Chocopaedia!

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

What was the ingredient in the Slitti?

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

I'm a huge fan of Amedei, also I think a lot of Domori. I think they have slightly different styles of chocolate range, in that Amedei stand more on their blends, whereas Domori really score on the new Château range.

For me the Domori Porcelana just wins over the Amedei because it is a little more chocolatey and less variable. It is a hair's breadth difference though, Domori at 90.25/100, Amedei at 90/100, so you could call them equal.

The 66% Amedei is one of my personal favourite eating bars. It just seems to sit better than the Toscano Black 70%.

The shop prices are a result of the cost of importing on a small scale - I'm sure they will be much lower in Italy! We try to set a fair price that does not put the chocolate out of reach. When I bought my first 50g bar of Amedei Porcelana from Selfridges it cost £7.60! (Fortunately this has now come down to £2.95.) We try not to go to those extremes! If you see a bar priced lower than us elsewhere on the web, let me know and we'll look at it.

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

If I was sure that Grand Blend did not contain a flavour enhancer and if it was widely available it would be my 'default' bar without a doubt.