Raaka Virgin Chocolate – Maple and Nibs
March 27, 2018
Last week I wrote about my experience with a virgin chocolate bar. For those of you that read my blog, you’re welcome for the double entendre. For those of you who didn’t – get your mind out of the gutter!
To recap, for the previous post I tried a Raaka 82% Bourbon cask aged Tanzanian virgin (as in unroasted) chocolate bar. Absolutely delicious!
Today’s tasty treat will be another Raaka production...
Maple Sugar and Toasted Nibs!
This time I'm trying the 75% Congo and Dominican Republic blend with maple sugar and toasted nibs. There’s no cane sugar in the bar, only maple sugar.
The aromas are earthy, with hints of tobacco and leather. Right away there are strong overripe fruity notes, mixed with baggy, earthy, and nutty flavors. It’s sour on the tongue at first. But then comes soft cocoa notes that are very rich and flavorful. The nibs contribute more than a crunchy texture, I taste banana and coffee.
This bar is very different from the Raaka I had last week. And it should be since it’s made from different origin beans and has a lower percentage of cacao mass. Yet there are common flavor components they share and I think they come from their unroasted roots.
Raw beans are more acidic, which means they have a more taste sour taste than roasted beans. Also, because they're not roasted, the flavor edges are sharp, harsh, and unrefined. And there’s usually what I call a “baggy” note.
Since I used to work in a bean to bar facility, I know the smell of unroasted cocoa beans. They smell like the jute or burlap bags they were shipped in. Some of that aroma is locked into the bean as a flavor, and I describe it as baggy.
Flavor Notes
Many chocolate flavor descriptors use smells to describe flavors. For example, a chocolate can be described as earthy. It doesn’t mean the chocolate contains dirt, but there is definitely a component of the smell of soil after a rain that you can taste while you eat it. I know, it’s weird, but there you have it.
These kinds of flavor descriptions are neither good nor bad. Just remember that they are more about making a point than grossing you out! They simply represent part of the experience.
So, that was another satisfying chocolate bar from Raaka. That’s two for two. I have one more that I’ll share with you next week. Here’s a teaser: Peruvian ground apple.
You can buy chocolate bars directly from Raaka Chocolate's website. Or, if you want to try a variety pack at a discount, check out this link from Amazon.
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