Coming from a non-European country, where Hersheys, Kit Kat, M&Ms, Mars and Snickers define our “chocolates”, I was awed after stumbling upon this Website. Only now, did I realise how advanced the chocolate culture actually is.

I don’t want to sound like a country bumpkin, but it was not until last week, did I taste (for the 1st time in my life), a choco bar with >20% Cacao mass. Lindt 70% may not mean much to most of the folks in this forum who’re used to Slitti’s or Bonnat, but to me, it was great!

I’d very much like to start a Choco Revolution of sorts in my country, so that my country men will come to know and appreciate good quality chocolate.

Would appreciate if my senior chocolatiers here can give me some advice or share your experiences?

BTW Martinc, I think this is a great site. Informative and interesting. Hope to learn more abt chocolates from you. Thanks!

Bobvilax, I love the descriptive word “bloom”! That is exactly what a good chocolate does. Good word to describe the gradual burst of intense flavors that one experiences when letting a top-notch chocolate melt on the tongue.

I like to use that word with quality chocolate, but I do take into concideration the different meanings and try to be descriptive enough so that people will know which meaning I’m reffering to. Speaking of, hey Martin, I got a bar that had some blooming on it for whatever reason, and it tasted kind of waxy. Would you suppose that this is because of the blooming, or the fault of the chocolatier?

I’m from Singapore, island republic at the southern tip of West Malaysia. Not sure if you guys are familiar with this region. The nearest cacao-producing country is neighbouring Indonesia. But the quality of cacao beans there is at best mediocre. We have a couple of choc factories in these parts, but the quality of choc made here is deplorable!!!

Currently tea and coffee dominates the market, and chocolate is reduced to just a candy, which I find a real pity. Really hope to stimulate the chocolate culture here.

We’ve got one Chocolate Bar by the name of Max Brenner’s (Israeli franchise, I think) here. How does this brand of chocolate fare amongst the other European brands?

Martinc – correct me if I’m wrong, I believe another cause of bloom is the breakdown and re-deposition of cacao butter on the chocolate surface as it undergoes extreme heating/cooling.

Bobvilax – 100 grams of Lindt Excellence 70%(made in France) costs S$2.98, which is about US$1.75. Is this price considered reasonable?

Thanks everyone for your feedback!

$1.75 for a 100g bar of Lindt Excellence 70% is quite reasonable, especially for its quality; in fact, that’s the cheapest I’ve ever seen it. There are two kinds of bloom: sugar bloom and fat bloom. Sugar bloom occurs when humidity causes the sugar crystals to separate and re-surface, whereas in fat bloom, temperature change causes the cocoa butter to separate and re-solidify in the chocolate.
What kind of advice were you looking for, Choco? Advice on what good chocolate to eat or how to start a chocolate revolution in your country? To solve the former problem, just take a look around the forum and read the comments about the several types of chocolates mentioned. A helpful tool is the site’s search feature; also, the review section is quite handy. As for the latter problem, I have no suggestions yet because it’s late and my bed is beckoning me to come to it :)