Friday, June 2, 2006

Dagoba Single Origin

All the upscale chocolate bar makers are doing single origin bars lately. I was pretty excited about the Dagoba bars, because they’re organic and they’re ethically traded (some is Fair Trade Certified). I’ve enjoyed Dagoba chocolate in the past and my only complaint really has been that they’re skimpy on the inclusions when they feature nuts or fruit.

I’ve not seen this array of tasting squares in stores, so I ordered it online.

image

The assortment contains four each of the Pacuare and Los Rios, and only two of the Milagros. The little tasting squares are 9 grams each and have the same design on them - a set of crossing lines and then a little V with some leaves, which I’m guessing signifies varietal.

Pacuare - Costa Rican Trinitario (68%) - lovely medium chocolate brown tones with a good snap and instant melt on the tongue. Strong smoky & toasted notes and tart bite. There are some interesting charcoal elements with a little bit of a pepper burn right before the finish. The acidity is only noticeable at the start and it finishes quite sweet.

Los Rios - Ecuador Arriba (68%) - dark and lustrous. Immediate coffee notes with a good buttery melt. Rather Sweet and not too acidic but a strongly dry finish. The oddest flavor note I found in this bar (consistently across several of the squares) was an olive note. I thought I was nuts at first but with four bars to try, I noticed it on two of them.

Milagros - Peruvian Amazonia (68%) - wonderfully buttery with some notes of cinnamon and raisin. A nice dry finish with a little tart, acidic bite. The smoothest of the bunch. (This variety is certified Fair Trade.)

Overall the buttery quality and smoothness of the chocolate shines on these. Not at all chalky, they are a bit on the sweet side. I wouldn’t be adverse to seeing these bumped up to 70% cacao and just reduce the sugar not the cocoa butter.

The texture and taste on these feels much more accessible than some of the Scharffen Berger, Chocovic or E. Guittard. I haven’t done a head to head mixing brands yet, but maybe someday.

The tasting squares option is expensive, but you can get the larger bar assortment if you’re not looking to share. 

Note: Dagoba did recall some of their chocolate recently due to lead content and the Los Rios 68% part of the single origins line was part of the recall. It appears that the lead contamination happened somewhere in the supply chain (the cacao), not in the manufacturing. Los Rios is not available yet (as far as I’ve seen) but the other affected lines like Eclipse are just getting back on shelves now.

Name: Single Origins Chocolate
    RATING:
  • 10 SUPERB
  • 9 YUMMY
  • 8 TASTY
  • 7 WORTH IT
  • 6 TEMPTING
  • 5 PLEASANT
  • 4 BENIGN
  • 3 UNAPPEALING
  • 2 APPALLING
  • 1 INEDIBLE
Brand: Dagoba
Place Purchased: Chocosphere
Price: $10.95 plus shipping
Size: 3.2 ounces
Calories per ounce: unknown
Categories: Chocolate, Fair Trade, Organic, Single Origin, United States, Dagoba, Kosher

POSTED BY Cybele AT 6:59 am Tracker Pixel for Entry    

Comments
  1. Oh, man, Dagoba’s single origins are my most favourite chocolate ever.  Especially the Los Rios.  After tasting Dagoba’s offerings, I shall never, ever be without it.

    Comment by Melissa on 6/02/06 at 7:59 am #
  2. This is one of the items I’ve been eyeing at Chocosphere along with the E. Guittard tasting set and a couple of others.  I really like that they are all 68% across the board - I think that it would help to show the differences at the same cacao content (though I agree I’d rather see a 70%).

    An olive note?  That’s an interesting one.  The strangest impression I’ve taken from a chocolate so far is soy sauce of all things.  I do love that you never really know what you’re going to find hiding in the flavor.

    Comment by william on 6/02/06 at 8:10 am #
  3. I’ve only tried the Pacuare from Dagoba’s single origin variety, but it is definitely one of my top-5 chocolates… maybe even top-3.

    Comment by Benas on 2/04/07 at 10:37 am #
  4. I just got around to having some of the Milagros today.

    It’s very good chocolate, but I must say that I prefer the caramel touch of the Pacuare to the acidic fruitiness of the Milagros.

    Comment by Benas on 2/05/07 at 11:02 am #
  5. Alright, today I got my hands on some Los Rios… I must say that it is definitely the most cocoa-flavored of the trio, and is also probably the most bitter. However, it has the buttery texture of the Pacuare that the Milagros lacks. I think I might just favor the Los Rios.

    Comment by Benas on 2/06/07 at 1:35 pm #
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