HomeyGirl said:
I am so glad to have found this forum!! Perhaps with your assistance I can move along in my search for a replacement of a very nice bar.
The Lindt 70% Excellence bar that I have enjoyed for years is gone, replaced with a “new” formula. I cannot describe what has changed, only that I cannot eat the bar.
Lindt is somewhat notorious for reformulating bars periodically – with maddening inconsistency and no apparent rationale. I suspect sourcing may be the issue for them: it's hard to secure a consistent quality supply source in the tonnages they're looking for.
Also be aware that formulations may be different depending on the country you buy it in – Lindt seems to believe in a “target market” approach. Personally I think there are big problems with that, in that it assumes a national preference without giving those in the country much of a choice, it doesn't assert a manufacturer style, and it means that it's difficult if not impossible to make a meaningful assessment of the bars, much less to rely on them when away from your “home”.
So I do have to ask what country you're in, in part because that also has a bearing on the other options that will be available.
The 70%'s I've tried from them have been fairly acid and sharp. Such a style was once typical of Valrhona but they have moved away from that, it would seem. Amano is the standard-bearer here – and they will be a big improvement over the Lindt – as long as you are OK with a higher price. Probably the Madagascar is the one to get.
If you are looking for a lower-cost option, then in the UK, the Sainsbury's Organic 70% Dominican Republic is well worth getting, and probably the best value for the money of any chocolate in existence. In the US, the Scharffen Berger 70% is fairly good, although not nearly the equal of Amano. In continental Europe, notwithstanding my comments on Valrhona, Guanaja 70% is probably still about as stylistically close to old Lindt (at least the Lindts I tried) as any bar you're likely to find.
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