Demarquette Chuao 64% Single Estate 2008 Vintage Chocolate Review

When Mark of Demarquette Chocolates said he wasn’t thrilled with this Chuao bar, I thought it was just nerves talking. But with there being already 4 other bars on the market I suppose it’s easy to understand. Soma, Amano, and Hotel Chocolate among others are all buying beans from this area of the world and making some excellent chocolate from it

Having tasted Hotel Chocolat, Soma and Amano, it was a significant hurdle to overcome and I think this bar does it well.  The flavour of the dark chocolate is rich and delightful, not bitter.  It leaves almost a milk chocolate flavour behind as an aftertaste.  This, as with all Demarquette bars, is really very nice, well balanced and easy to eat.

The flavour isn’t as fruity or acidic as the Soma Chuao which, for me, is slightly disappointing but it is still a delicious, full flavoured Chuao.  The 64% dark chocolate was not bitter and was very smooth, probably due to a longer conch time.

Of course, this has the delightful cocoa pod pattern on each square and I had to give most of it away :-(which I think is unfair but it went to a good cause 🙂