Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Askinosie White Chocolate (Plain, Nibble & Pistachio)

Askinosie White ChocolateI was converted to the “white side” by Green & Black’s White Chocolate several years ago and now I understand that the mix of milk, cocoa butter and vanilla can be a wonderful thing.

I was more than intrigued when Askinosie, a bean to bar, fair trade chocolate maker right here in the United States came out with their white chocolate, mostly because it’s made with goat’s milk instead of cow’s milk.

But the fascinating aspects don’t end there. It’s single origin, contains no soy lecithin or even any vanilla.

Askinosie White Chocolate with Pistachios

The Askinosie Soconusco White Chocolate Bar isn’t white. It’s the color of butterscotch pudding.

It smells a bit gamier than other white confections - kind of like erasers and marscapone.

I was expecting a texture of pure bliss, after all, this is un-deodorized cocoa butter, so it would have the texture of chocolate, the earthier hint of the cocoa solids that were once there and then the wonderful base of goat’s milk to boost it up and moderate the necessary sugar.

Instead it’s a bit grainy but it’s a sugary grain. It still has a wonderful mouthfeel and is rather cool on the tongue. But it wasn’t quite a buttery solid goat’s milk that I was hoping for.

While I say that intellectually, I ate about a third of the bar pondering these few paragraphs.

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The other two bars are far more interesting:

White Chocolate Nibble Bar - I thoroughly enjoyed my first Askinosie Nibble bars which were based on the Jose del San Tambo beans. All of the white bars are Soconusco beans of the Trinitario variety from Mexico. (Not my favorite in the dark version either.)

Like the dark nibble bar, the cacao nibs aren’t mixed in with the chocolate. Instead they’re just tossed on the bottom as the bar is molded. Personally, I prefer integrated elements. This whole “topping” thing means that the nibs aren’t completely surrounded.

That said, the nibs are fun. They obviously carry a huge amount of chocolate flavor punch in them. In this case they have a bit of a smokey and woodsy flavor to them and it really balances out the sweetness of the white chocolate. The texture variation is also remarkable. The nibs are crunchy, the white chocolate cool and the graininess I complained about earlier is unnoticeable.

White Chocolate Pistachio Bar

This was the star, the perfect combination of the above texture and flavor profile.

The addition of some lightly toasted & sparingly salted pistachios provided some crunch but mostly a grassy brightness. It balanced out the twang of the goat’s milk without making it sweeter, instead it just made it more flavorful.

Askinosie has also just launched a dark milk chocolate which is 52% cacao of the same Soconusco single origin, fleur de sel and goat’s milk.

Many people who suffer from lactose intolerance can digest goat’s milk without difficulty, so this new line of goat’s milk products from Askinosie, as well as the fact that they don’t use soy may be just the ticket for those with food sensitivities.

My hesitation with them, besides the fact that I haven’t seen them in stores, is that they’re very expensive at $10.50 a bar. (The regular dark chocolate bars are $8.00 to $8.50.)

Related Candies

  1. Choceur Coffee & Cream
  2. Mitchell’s Candies
  3. Askinosie Chocolate
  4. Ritter Sport White Chocolate with Hazelnuts
  5. Romanego Dragees, Cordials & Fondants
  6. KitKat Bitter & White
Name: Socunosco White Chocolate (Plain, Nibble & Pistachio)
    RATING:
  • 10 SUPERB
  • 9 YUMMY
  • 8 TASTY
  • 7 WORTH IT
  • 6 TEMPTING
  • 5 PLEASANT
  • 4 BENIGN
  • 3 UNAPPEALING
  • 2 APPALLING
  • 1 INEDIBLE
Brand: Askinosie Chocolate
Place Purchased: Askinosie website
Price: $10.50
Size: 3 ounces
Calories per ounce: 165
Categories: White Chocolate, Cacao Nibs, Nuts, United States, All Natural, Single Origin, Fair Trade

POSTED BY Cybele AT 11:44 am Tracker Pixel for Entry    

Comments
  1. I still prefer green and blacks white choco over any other.

    Comment by Sweet Pursuit on 12/30/08 at 6:34 pm #
  2. I’ve been meaning to try that white chocolate bar. I like white chocolate, which is in a different category for me than chocolate. I got samples of their other chocolates, and look forward to trying this one. Your description made it all that more appealing!

    Comment by David on 12/31/08 at 7:24 am #
  3. thank you so much for creating this blog!

    i love reading your reviews…they’re absolutely mouthwatering, delicious, and GREAT!

    please keep up the amazing work!

    Comment by sweetslover on 1/03/09 at 6:58 am #
  4. Ive never seen these before- but they look too thin for my liking. The bigger the better!

    Comment by Kelly Turner on 1/03/09 at 11:21 am #
  5. White Chocolate Pistachio Bar, its looking yummy.

    Comment by Kate on 1/04/09 at 3:07 am #
  6. I am a huge fan of white chocolate (and I really don’t care for dark chocolate at all).  I tried that Askinosie white chocolate bar and I am of the opinion that it tastes like what people who love dark chocolate think white chocolate ought to taste like.  There’s no vanilla in it, and it’s grainy, like dark chocolate so often is, especially Dagoba (nasty!) and as you mention, it’s not white.  It tastes like weak milk chocolate with big sugar grains in it.  I finished it because I paid so much for it, but I had to do it by eating it a bite at a time with nuts, and I will never buy it again.

    Comment by azalais on 3/08/09 at 10:38 pm #
  7. The chocolate is grainy because it doesnt have soy lecithin (an emulsifier) in it.

    Comment by Anna on 1/23/11 at 8:59 pm #
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