Words: Taylor Leonard

CHOCOLATE BARS
Experts we’re not, but we’ve still got an opinion

1 PURE DELIGHT
Caffarel Puro Cioccolato Fondente
What? Straight-up chocolate with no extra promises.
Verdict? Hallelujah! No aftertaste and no bitterness with this Italian classic. Just a rich, smooth chocolate with a full-bodied flavour.
Did you know? The process of grinding chocolate into a smooth paste, “conching”, can take over 70 hours.

2 RICH AND FAMOUS
Maxim’s de Paris Dark Chocolate
What? The highest cocoa content of any bar on our list, with a helping of chopped up beans to boot.
Verdict? A small portion of this strong confection makes the perfect coffee mate.
Did you know? Maxim’s restaurant opened in 1893, and was once owned by Pierre Cardin.

3 BITTER END
Zotter Bitter Classic
What? This chocolate is made from organic and Fairtrade cocoa beans, which are hand-scooped in Austria.
Verdict? The soft mousse centre makes this a smooth choice, until you taste the bitter finale.
Did you know? Fairtrade started as a student movement in the 1960s.

4 AXE THE FLAX
NewTree Alpha Dark Chocolate
What? A healthy Belgian chocolate with lots of cocoa and some flax seeds thrown in for good measure.
Verdict? We asked for chocolate, not breakfast cereal with a powdered milk aftertaste.
Did you know? Flax seeds have anti-cancer properties and can help fight diabetes.

5 THE CRUNCH
Pablo Garrigós Ibáñez Crunchy Chocolate Turrón
What? A chocolate version of the Spanish confection, made from honey, sugar and egg white, plus chocolate, hazelnut and crunchy cereals.
Verdict? Not exactly the best turrón we’ve had, as this one tasted more “corner shop” than “gourmet”.
Did you know? Turrón is a popular Christmas treat.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 1st, 2008 at 2:47 am and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.