Amano Chuao 70% Dark Chocolate Bar

This chocolate bar is the first of a series of Chuao bars I have to review. The smoothness of the chocolate would suggest a longer conch time but not the longest I have eaten as there is still an ever so slight graininess to the chocolate but it still has a smooth chocolate. The chocolate is slightly on the bitter side though with a harsher flavour compared to the dark chocolate than I have been eating of late. This is so popular a bean because Amadei controlled the whole of the production until recently and not there are a number of bars available, made by some of the finest bean to bar manufacturers.

According to Amano, the criollo beans are grown by the farmers of Chuao who “ritually harvest” them and sundry them in front of their historic church.

There isn’t as much fruitiness as some other bars I have reviewed and this slightly flat flavour is a bit of a disappointment to me. There seems to be a slight hint of burnt flavour to this bar but nothing hard and unpleasant. I’m not sure I get plum, blackberries, molasses or coffee, as the outer box said I should. What I did get is a pleasant 56g chocolate bar with a unique flavour and a previously exclusive heritage.

Not an unfair treatment of the Chuao bean but not the best example.