Friday, August 13, 2010

CR: Endangered Species' 70% Cacao with Goldenberry and Lucuma

This bar marks the last of my supply of Endangered Species' "Organic Health" dark chocolates, and you know from my two other reviews (1, 2) that I've been overall displeased with what I've tasted. So far the bars have either tasted like overly sweet milk chocolate or sickeningly sweet milk chocolate, with the individual flavor players muted. Thankfully though, Endangered Species' 70% cacao with goldenberry & lucuma has proven to be the exception.

I was fully expecting it to taste like milk chocolate like the others, but it isn't overly sweet and one can taste at least one of the individual flavors (goldenberry I estimate). I can't tell whether or not my estimation of the sweetness matches the 70% bitterness of the cacao, but at least I can say it tastes dark enough like it's supposed to and isn't overly sweet. The sweetness of the other two organic bars was imposing and made me procrastinate on finishing them; in fact, I still haven't finished the one with acai berry, cacao nibs, and yacon since it's so unappealingly sweet. This bar seems to toe the line and may be desirable for those who still maintain a sweet tooth but are trying to consume bitter chocolate.

The flavor profile is quite interesting. It tastes like dark chocolate with raisins, an oddity since there are no raisins. I assume that the goldenberry simply has a similar flavor profile to raisins, much like how I think goji berries taste like a blend of oranges and cranberries. Keeping in consideration the bar's moderately acceptable sugar content, I'd consider this a wonderful substitute for Raisinets. The lucuma, however, I do not think I can detect.

The mouthfeel of this bar is about the same as most other Endangered Species' line: Crunchy and slow to melt, but I'm not complaining. It is only when multiple bars share similar flavors do I desire to have different mouthfeels available, much like the difference between Lindt and ES.

Overall, I like this bar, particularly because I was once a huge fan of Raisinets, but I'm not too terribly impressed. Given a limited amount of money I would still opt for Endangered Species' mint, New Tree's ginger, Lindt's 85% , and perhaps Endangered Species' cherry.

1 comment:

  1. Keep 'em coming. Thanks for turning me on to these high-cacao bars, I've had a couple now. Very good.

    I just tried Black & Green's 60% Hazelnut & Currant, and liked it a lot; nice mellow blend of sweet and tart from the currant. A bit low on percentage but still good.

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