Friday, June 6, 2008

Domori Cru

Domori Gran CruI’ve heard that Domori makes some of the best chocolate bars ever.

I’m not reviewing those. (I will someday, but I’m afraid that trying the best chocolate in the world would be like flying first class, I’d never want to go back to coach.)

Instead of I got a hold of these lovely little 8 gram tasting squares of Domori’s 70% Cru single origin chocolates at the Fancy Food Show back in January. Besides being made from extremely rare beans, Domori also uses no soy lecithin in this line - it’s all cacao and pure cane sugar at work here, a fascinating experiment in flavor.

As I often do with tastings, I did my notes blind and then later looked at the descriptions & origin information. You can read along to see how I did. But I’ll save you the suspense, this is good stuff and lives up to its hype. The consistency of every piece was silky smooth on the tongue - incredible melt & quick release of flavors then a lingering revelation of more notes.

DomoriCareno Superior

Origin: Venezuela - It is a trinitario-type cacao grown in the Barlovento area of Venezuela.

I say: Mild with some light blueberry notes and peppery carnation. Smooth, as were all others.

They say: It has notes of dried figs, raisins and cashews with great character, smoothness and finish.

Domori ApurimacApurimac

Origin: Peru - It is a recent hybrid (trinitario-type cacao).

I say: So buttery smooth. There’s a bit of a bitter high note to it, kind of reminiscent of asparagus. But the texture is so dreamily silky, it’s rather staggering. Cool on the tongue.

They said:  It has notes of flowers, caramel and cream. It is very mild with a nice sourness.

Domori Sur del LagoSur del Lago Clasificado

Origin: Venezuela - It includes more trinitario-type cacaos with a high content of criollo genotype.

I say: Dark olive notes rise to the top, it’s sweet but has a tangy bite. Silky, caramel.

They say: It has mild notes of almond and coffee, excellent finesse, smoothness and finish.

Domori Rio CaribeRio Caribe Superior

Origin: Venezuela

I say: One of the more mellow pieces. It has some tangy elements and most notably a dry finish.

They say: Notes of nuts, ripe fruit, raisins, tobacco and chlorophyll. It has a nice acidity, a great smoothness and a long finish.

Domori ArribaArriba

Origin: Ecuador - It is a Nacional-type cacao.

They say: It has notes of hazelnut, banana and citrus. It is very fresh and mild.

I say: This one was a bit more bitter, with coffee notes and flavors of sweet cashews. A weird chalky feeling to it, even though it was actually quite smooth. Dry, acrid.

Domori SambrianoSambriano

Origin: Madagascar

I say: Strong tangy & raisin notes, lemon and bitter orange.

They say: It is a light-colored cacao with unique notes of berries along with a very pleasant sourness. It has a long finish, great sweetness and smoothness.

Overall, my notes weren’t far off from theirs, though sometimes I think it’s like the astrology column from the newspaper. With some single origin kits I’m not always able to distinguish the different bars blind, but these were quite distinct. Though the chocolates are available as single bars, you can also get assortments of these individually wrapped tasting squares in boxes. They’re still quite expensive, over a dollar a piece from Chocosphere. Though these don’t have nuts in them, they are made in a facility that processes nuts, milk and soy. Domori also does a version of these that are 100% (no sugar).

Related Candies

  1. Four 99%-100% Chocolate
  2. Amano Single Origin Bars: Madagascar & Ocumare
  3. Michel Cluizel Les 1ers Crus de Plantation
  4. Dagoba Single Origin
  5. Single Origin Chocolate
Name: Cru 70% Assortment
    RATING:
  • 10 SUPERB
  • 9 YUMMY
  • 8 TASTY
  • 7 WORTH IT
  • 6 TEMPTING
  • 5 PLEASANT
  • 4 BENIGN
  • 3 UNAPPEALING
  • 2 APPALLING
  • 1 INEDIBLE
Brand: Domori
Place Purchased: samples from Fancy Food Show
Price: retail $25 for 18
Size: .28 ounces
Calories per ounce: unknown
Categories: Chocolate, Italy, Single Origin, All Natural

POSTED BY Cybele AT 1:21 pm Tracker Pixel for Entry    

Comments
  1. These sound excellent!

    I envy you being able to taste and test them! I love great chocolate, but these look to be a bit out of my range.

    It was better when I was blissfully ignorant of their existence. Now you’ve gone and spoiled that, and I’ll never look at the chocolate I eat the same again.

    But, it feels great to have my mind expanded!

    Comment by Russ on 6/06/08 at 1:36 pm #
  2. I really love your reviews, it’s almost as if you’re talking about wine! Chocolate is better, in my opinion though smile

    Comment by Jac on 6/06/08 at 2:28 pm #
  3. Not at all like wine. I don’t see the word “pretentious” showing up anywhere in the post!

    Comment by Russ on 6/07/08 at 2:42 pm #
  4. I know what you mean about trying top of the line stuff and then worrying about going back. I recently splashed out on some very expensive chocolate that I’m putting off for a bit (making sure of course I keep it in perfect condition!) so I can be a bit fairer on obviously poorer chocolate.

    Comment by Terry on 6/08/08 at 1:14 am #
  5. “I?ve heard that Domori makes some of the best chocolate bars ever”

    Cybele you do realise with comments like that the existance of my website could potentially be ended :D :D

    Your notes were very similar indeed to the manafacture notes…if anything they were better dscripters with less of the marketing fluff!

    Jim

    Comment by Jim on 6/08/08 at 1:01 pm #
  6. I always find that beans from Ecuador have that odd bitterness to them. I think out of all the single origin bars, the ones from there tend to be my least favorite.

    Comment by Sera on 6/10/08 at 12:05 pm #
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