thank you, monte. that pretty much confirms my experience. unfortunately i can’t get my hands on any pralus. but apparently chocovic’s ocumare and their forastero bar are good references as well. these i have found.
as far as origins go, madagascar is one i can usually recognize.

I think Madagascar has a fairly easy distinguishable characteristic to it, however, I believe Pralus’ Madagascar strays from the familiar flavor profile a bit. Probably due to such a dark roast, the alcohol and tart flavors are absent and replaced by a softer fruitiness reminiscent of a pear. It’s quite good, though mellow in fruitiness. But after eating Domori’s Madagascar, I don’t think anything can topple it from its venerated position on my list. The flavors are just outstanding.

Why limit yourself to just five? Go all out, man, and display it all, hehe [:D]

well, the tasting is gone and done and all had a good time. the resonance was terrific!
many were surprise how elaborate it was. i had about 20 people stuffed in my living room and kitchen, started off with some info on cocoa and good chocolate. then took everyone over to the kitchen where i had the chocolate (los ancones, bonnat madagascar, rajoles 70%, puertomar, amedei chuao and valrhona guanaja).
in the end everyone was stuffed (i think they went at it too fast :) but enjoyed the experience. clear favorites> madagascar and rajoles. hardly anyone liked los ancones very much, maybe it’s just not a german taste, dunno.
it was interesting for me as well to hear the people describe what they were tasting. there were definitely some with finer taste buds than mine. one friend tasted the green olives in los ancones, which i never have.
to clear the tongue i had sparkling water, mild teas and some bread.

my neighbor from canada had once actually worked on vanuatu for some time and knew the plantations there and had enjoyed the cocoa fruit. he still preferred it to even the best chocolates.

I haven’t arranged any tasting, among my friends Cluizel is very popular. (Well, Amedei is popular among the tough guys …). I guess it is because all of the single estates are quite sweet.

Chocolate is cheaper than therapy and you don’t need an appointment.

i found something better than water for clearing the palate: rooibos tea. either pure or with caramel or even vanilla added. does the trick nicely.

:-) every day in the winter. i like green tea better too, but it is more of a pain to make when you don’t have time. and there’s another lovely tea i’ve found here in munich…

for off-topic threads i’ve just created this topic:

http://www.seventypercent.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=323

hmm, i’d thought the same originally, but at my tasting some people commented on it. curiously it works for me. the temperature does a lot, and rooibos isn’t as strong as i thought. and vanilla is in most chocolates anyway, and caramel is just sugar basically.

btw, my fave tea is a darjeeling too. nice and smooth.