I just tried some Vanucci unsweetened, and it’s among the least palatable of all unsweetened bars I’ve tried. It’s gritty with a chiding bitterness. I need to conduct another tasting, though, so this is only preliminary.

Neither, just cocoa mass.

I recommend you order from http://www.chocosphere.com. They have everything you could possibly want. Here are some unsweetened bars they offer:

Domori Puro
Domori 100%
Bonnat 100%
Slitti 100%
Cluizel Noir Infini
Scharffen Berger 99%

Also, available in couverture and pastille format:

Dagoba 100%
Cluizel Noir Infini
Callebaut 100%
Valrhona 100%
Scharffen Berger 99%

A side note about the Domori 100%. This one is not Puro, but it’s a 75g bar, a blend of two varietals. It’s quite good, and I highly recommend it. Also, Domori offers 100% and 80% bars (sweetened with fructose; see my post about the effects of it on the glycemic level), along with 60% and 70% bars. Although the price is $100, it might be worth checking out.
Do you eat 80%-range chocolate as well? If so, there are several options for you too.

I have been ordering from chocosphere and am happy, however, they are unable to match the UK’s selection at this time. They just added Bonnat 2 weeks ago and I have recently ordered a couple of 75% varietals. I also just ordered the Domori 100% in addition to the Puro.

As an aside, I have tried Scharffenberger in the past and found the taste to be okay, however, in my communications with them, they are not concerned with preserving the catechins (antioxidants/phytochemicals) that make chocolate so health promoting in the first place, so I don’t get their chocolate anymore.

ChocoDoc

Hi, greenie,

I think they might have actually added cinnamon. If you check the list of ingredients it should say something about spices. I’m guessing that’s where the taste comes from.

How did you store the bar? Horizontally or standing on its end? Improper storing might have caused the cinammon to go to one end of the bar ;)

The cinnamon flavor you detect is also present in the 72% and the 85%, but the amount he may add to Noir Infini is probably at a minimum just to achieve a slight accent, or perhaps even to achieve a more rounded flavor since he already uses quite assertive beans for this chocolate. Also, the bean ratio for each bar might differ slightly to reflect the cocoa content.

Was this the first time you tatsed Noir Infini? Sometimes, when one is introduced to a new chocolate, especially one with such a high cocoa content, he/she might experience a sensory overload. This just means that the taste buds are not acclimated to such a potency, so further consumption will adjust your palate to not only the strength but also the ability to detect the flavors which may have seemed “hidden” before.

Breaking a chocolate releases many of its aromatic properties as well, which in turn leads to greater flavor release…naturally. So, chewing a chocolate a couple times (not excessive chomping) is a good idea.

Easy! Only may be not because of chocolate..

I know, i know, one shouldn’t admit to dancing alone, but can’t you imaging been so silly happy at least once? and chocolate just happens to be near and jumps into hand..

Something similar with me. My neighbours must think I’m mad when I sing Tom Lehrer at full voice and conducts an “air orchestra”…

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My name is Polarbear and I am a chocoholic…