could be. they didn’t have it when we were there, but they might have said it was temporarily out. give ‘em a call. they usually don’t answer emails.

have to take what i said about bonnat’s 100% back. seems there was a mix up of labels :( the last bonnat 100 i tried was as strong as any other. not that it was bad.

favorite chocolate? domori, domori, domori ;)

Puertomar, eh? Definitely a good one. Domori’s Porcelana has fallen off my favorite’s list due to the extremely unpleasant plastic ashiness of recent batches. Now I know what Lonely meant by “diesel.” I can definitely see how she interpreted that flavor as such. It’s one of the most undesirable flavors I’ve detected in a chocolate so far, and indeed, it’s quite a shame that this chocolate has plummeted from divine greatness to utter mediocrity.

On a more pleasant note, however, Guittard’s Sur del Lago has replaced the vacancy Domori’s Porcelana left. And I’m liking Carupano a lot more too. It’s rare for me to crave a certain chocolate after consuming several bars of it, but if I do, it’s a sure sign of favortism [:)]

So here is an update for those curious souls:

Cluizel Los Ancones
Amedei Chuao
Guittard Sur del Lago
Domori Carenero Superior
Scharffen Berger Cuyagua
Cluizel Amer Brut 72%
Domori Carupano
Amedei Porcelana
Valrhona Gran Couva

I felt it my duty to go get a bar from stock right away! I can see it could be described as “ash”, maybe there are a few odd over-roast or spoiled beans in there? I don’t really get plastic, though I’ve had the ‘diesel’ note before. Also there is now quite a bite at the back of the throat.

It is different, but I don’t rate it any less than I always have – this is the cream of Domori’s “wax” melt that you either love or hate. A few seconds in I still get something incredible happening, cream beyond cream – a world away from a Valrhona or Cluizel bar, but it still does it for me …

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

I think Martin meant that Domori is creamier than Valrhona and Cluizel. And I can definitely see this with the Chateau line, however, I think some of the other chocolate is a bit thicker and possessive of a subtle and complementary creaminess. For example, the crus and 75 line are thicker, imo, but the creaminess isn’t as evident as the Chateau line, of course. Don’t get me wrong, the creaminess IS there, but I’m just stating that it’s present at varying levels across the different lines.

The off-flavor (plastic) I tasted in Porcelana is definitely open to interpretation, and I think the important thing is not necessarily the label of the flavor but the presence of it. That’s why I said I could understand how Lonely interpreted it as diesel. It’s definitely not supposed to be there and is indeed a horrid flavor.

Alex, I recall your initial impression of Bonnat’s 100% as mild, but later bars were much more assertive and intense. I just had my first taste of this chocolate, and it almost floored me. I would regard this chocolate as more of an experience than anything else. Words escape me right now to describe this chocolate! Several things that make this such a unique chocolate, imo, are the intense tartness combined with the thick texture. The tartness is EXTREME, and I actually had to pucker my mouth. In so doing, the thick texture acted almost as a glue and seemed to intensify the whole experience! It was actually quite exciting, and I can honestly say that only a hanfdul of other chocolates have had this kind of lasting impression on me (i.e. very memorable and pleasurable experiences). This is an addictive chocolate. Other chocolates that astounded me were, of course, Los Ancones, Amedei Chuao, and Guittard Sur del Lago, the top three on my list. Maybe I need to venerate Bonnat 100% to the #4 slot.

Yes, Martin, my first encounters with Domori’s Porcelana were quite similar (pleasurable), but due to the mediocrity of recent batches, I cannot rely on this chocolate to satisfy that sensation.

No, the Bonnat 100% tasted very much like a 100%.

I doubt Domori deodorizes their cocoa butter. In fact, I doubt anyone does this, in part because there’s basically no reason to do so. Deodorization is a process that’s applied to cocoa butter in order to achieve a uniform and neutral flavor. This removes all undesirable flavors from even the poorest quality of beans, which thereby allows for anyone to use any cocoa butter from any kind of bean for any purpose. Additionally, cocoa butter doesn’t even impart its own flavor onto the chocolate either, so deodorizing is pointless. El Rey deodorizes the cocoa butter for their Icoa bar for obvious reasons.

Oh man, I made a big mistake. I got a little ahead of myself by thinking about El Rey the whole time I typed that! All cocoa butter IS deodorized, whereas El Rey’s is NOT. Man, I contradicted myself big time in that last post…and I can’t believe I didn’t catch it! It’s painfully obvious when I read each contradictory sentence [:0]

Yeah, most manufacturers deodorize it to produce a relatively neutral and consistent flavor, especially when poorer quality beans are used. As you can tell, I obviously goofed up in that post. Glad you caught me [;)]