Mary Jane’s Chocolates: Origine Bars – Saint Dominique and Mexique
September 19, 2016
Last week I wrote a review on Mary Jane's Chocolates dark chocolate coated dried cherries. While I was in the chocolate shop, a great opportunity presented itself. I found something tasty AND educational -- chocolate melting wafers based on a single-source country of origin.
This is very exciting for me!
Comparing Two Single Origin Chocolates
I bought a package of 70% Saint Dominique (Santo Domingo) cacao wafers and a package of Mexican 66% cacao wafers.
These were not hand-crafted. They were re-packed from Mary Jane's Chocolates supplier (I shouldn’t reveal them) with her brand on the label.
I didn’t buy them to review, per say, or to make anything (the packages are too small, only a few wafers in the sample). I bought them to get a sense of their flavor profiles since they come from chocolate grown in a specific country, region and climate, which in turn creates unique and natural flavor nuances from its origin.
Cacao has its own terroir.
There are already tasting notes on the packages. These come from the supplier. On the supplier’s website, they provide their customers with a tasting profile that not only names the flavors (like bitter, roasted, spicy) found in each origin chocolate, but shows which of the flavors are more predominant, or intense, than others.
With these descriptions in mind, I tasted the chocolates and compared my tasting notes to theirs. Here are my results...
Tasting Notes - Flavor Profiles
The flavor notes listed are in order, most intense to least intense. The first column of flavor notes is according to the chocolate manufacturer. The second column of flavor notes is according to my own taste-buds.
Flavor Notes (Mfg)
Flavor Notes (Bryn)
Saint Dominique
70% Dark
Cocoa Flavor
Cocoa Flavor
Fruity
Fruity
Bitter
Bitter
Floral
Roasted
Roasted
Spicy
Sour
Woody
Spicy
Sour
Woody
Floral (can’t taste them)
Mexique 66%
Cocoa Flavor
Cocoa Flavor
Fruity
Bitter
Bitter
Fruity
Sour
Spicy
Spicy
Woody
Roasted
Roasted
Woody
Floral
Floral
Sour
I was able to find the most predominant notes, like cocoa and fruity, with the same intensity as suggested by the manufacturer.
However, I also ranked some of the more subtle flavors differently. The most notable difference for me in the Saint Dominique was that I found the floral notes missing, while the maker ranked them third.
In the Mexique, I had close similarities with the predetermined flavor profile, but ranked the sour components lower because I didn’t taste sour until the very end.
It was great to find this opportunity at Mary Jane's Chocolates. I added more experience to my “flavor profile dictionary” -- you know, that one that I keep in my head and pull out for reference when I taste different chocolates!
How To Learn More About Chocolate Flavors
You can do something similar as a student of Chocolate University Online. I have my tasting notes for several different chocolate bars throughout all my lessons for comparison. I encourage you to explore and learn more about chocolate flavors and terroir.
Bryn worked for nearly 10 years in a research and product development for Ambrosia Chocolate Company in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Now she develops all of the CUO lessons and coaches the members of the Primal Chocolate Club.
