Hmm, interesting. Of -course- I just bought a bar of the maligned Ocumare. Haven’t tried it yet, though. I did try a tasting square of the 52% milk (Madagascar Menavava) with nibs and liked it quite a lot. It did confirm that the little bits of crunch that I got in Domori SDL/Arriba were in fact cacao nibs.

I also tried (via taste test at the shop) some of their chocolate and pepper blends, but I didn’t like them at all and had to just sort of be politely non-commital, since the proprietor quite liked them.

i’ve had a pretty bad ocumare 61 from coppeneur, but lately they’ve been more consistent and the bars are really good. i even dare to say that when they get it right they can run with the best. but that might be for lack of competition or the quality of the bean itself.
i also love their dark milk bar with salt and caramel!

I acutally phoned Coppeneur to see if they sell their bars in Vancouver. They said Capers Market will carry the bars sometime in August and Stong’s Market is carrying them now. They also said http://www.coppeneurchocolate.com will sell the bars and truffles online soon. I haven’t tried their truffles but I’ve had their filled bars at “Cacao Drink Chocolate” in Portland. I tried cassis with champage, saffron with orange and chili with whisky. Definitely in the “WOW” catagory.

I didn’t find Coppeneur to be arragant or snobby like ‘marioh’ said.

I found that many of the Coppeneur bars tasted very similar – burnt and bitter with very strong coffee flavours.

The Trinidad bar that I tried was grainy, had an earthy/woodsy aroma and tasted quite burnt, like the beans had been over-roasted. The Grenada bar was similar but with more of a coffee-and-cream flavour (not so much burnt).

The Jamaica bar in contrast was extremely smooth with a strong bitter flavour and heavy tobacco end notes.

The Hacienda Iara bar started with some nice dried fruit notes, but once again ended with an extremely bitter coffee flavour that completely ruined it for me.

Out of the bars I tried, I actually liked the Ocumare the best (which really isn’t saying much). I have a few others that have been sitting in my office for months; I should bring myself to try them, but after just re-tasting some of the bars again I am left with an unpleasant taste in my mouth!

Tracey