|
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Stainer: Peru & Bianco
They come in smart little boxes with 50 gram bars tucked into orange-tinted cellophane wrappers.
I wanted to taste what Stainer’s dark chocolate was like without any other additions. I was drawn to this lovely box with a little hummingbird on the front. 65% Cacao Peru says it’s intenso & fruttato which I translated as cognates to mean intense and fruity. The back of the box has no purple prose setting the stage for the tasting, it’s just the ingredients in four different languages (Italian, English, Spanish and German). The bar is lovely. It’s rather thick, with easy to break domed segments. The color is a bit on the red side of brown. The scent is woodsy and sweet. It has a slightly chalky bite, it has a very distinct snap. But it’s quite smooth and melts easily. The first notes are fruity, like figs and raisins. Later it becomes more woodsy, like cedar with some light coffee notes. Not sweet, but pleasant, there’s a light bitter tone over the finish but very little dryness. Though it gives the regional origin of the beans, it doesn’t mention the types of beans in the bar or where in Peru they’re from, so I’m hesitant to call it a single origin bar.
I’ve had quite a bit of chili infused chocolate over the past couple of years, but this may be the first time I’ve had a white chocolate with pepper. This bar, Cioccolato Bianco Peperoncino e Vaniglia Bourbon features red chili and bourbon vanilla (in case you couldn’t figure that out from the name). It has a 30% cacao content, and since this is white chocolate that means all that cacao is just cacao fat. (The king of vegetable fats.) The squares are dotted with chili bits and vanilla seeds. It smells less sweet than many white chocolates, a little milky and kind of cheesy. It’s also not terribly soft to bite, so it has a nice temper and breaks easily instead of bending like some heavily milky white chocolates do. The first taste, however, is overwhelmingly hot. The burn of the chili comes out right away, then a smooth and creamy sweetness with a touch of vanilla, then a throat searing heat. Letting it melt instead of chewing it up a bit seems to mellow out the heat, but it’s still a lot hotter than I expected. I don’t think it’s really my thing, I tempered it with some pretzels and almonds just to get through half the bar. I liked it, but it was kind of throat choking at times. (I must admit that I’m a bit of a wuss when it comes to anything that’s hotter than “medium” in the chili family, I do great with curries & wasabi/horseradish, but pepper really gets me). The boxes are compelling and I want to cute them apart and make the fronts into trading cards or something. But at about $8 for a 50 gram bar, it’s among the most expensive chocolate bars I’ve bought to date ... I won’t be making a habit of it. I do plan to try a few more of the vast collection before I make a final determination about them. I picked these up at Chocolate Covered in San Francisco’s Noe Valley. I haven’t seen them at any of my regular chocolate suppliers (but they may be coming soon as chocolate weather returns this fall). Here are some other thoughts on Stainer’s bars: Chocablog tasted Curry & White Chocolate and Honey & Ginseng Dark, Talkalota Chocolate has Scotchbonnet Pepper and Rum & Masai Spice and finally, Lissbliss tried the 100% Venezuela. Related Candies
POSTED BY Cybele AT 11:31 am
|
||||||||||||||||||
ABOUT
FEEDSCONTACT
EMAIL DIGESTCANDY RATINGSTYPE
BRAND
COUNTRY
ARCHIVES
|
Meticulously photographed and documented reviews of candy from around the world. And the occasional other sweet adventures. Open your mouth, expand your mind.
  SEARCHSearch the Candy Blog archives
    
FEATURED NEWS ITEMS
COPYRIGHT NOTICEAll content (text and photos unless otherwise credited) is copyright 2005-2024 by Cybele May Please do not use my photos without prior permission directly from me, they represent what I ate in preparation for these reviews and are not to be used for other purposes. Design by Hop Studios
|
|||||||||||||||||
SUPERB 
YUMMY 
TASTY 
WORTH IT 
TEMPTING 
PLEASANT 
BENIGN 
UNAPPEALING 
APPALLING 
INEDIBLE 
SUPERB
YUMMY 
TASTY 
TEMPTING 
PLEASANT 
BENIGN 
UNAPPEALING 
APPALLING 
INEDIBLE 
-
Comment by
Linda R. Moore on 7/02/08 at 2:22 pm #
-
Comment by
feisty tourist on 7/03/08 at 8:00 am #
-
Comment by
Anna Carrion on 7/04/08 at 9:43 am #
-
Comment by
Jim on 7/05/08 at 1:51 pm #
-
Comment by
Candy Lover on 7/10/08 at 5:25 am #
-
Comment by
Debby on 8/29/08 at 2:39 am #
-
Comment by
charlotte on 4/11/09 at 10:58 am #
-
Comment by
Peperoncini Piccanti on 4/19/17 at 11:58 am #
Commenting is not available in this channel entry.Sounds absolutely exquisite. I do love white chocolate—done well it’s fantastic—but I’ve never tried anything like this.
interesting! i’ll be on the lookout for the second bar especially. have you tried a chocolate bar from bonajuto (sicily)? now that is different. http://feistync.wordpress.com/2007/11/16/sicily-wine-and-chocolate/
I`m interested in finding out about international chocolates. I tried peruvian chocolate and they do taste rich. Brands like Sublme, Motta ans Don`ofrio. Brought me fond memories.
Ooh that Bourbon and chilli bar reminds me of this Montezuma’s bar I reviewed called “spice it up” which also combined vanilla white chocolate and chilli….by the sounds of it this was alot more intense though.
That sound absulutaly DESCUSTING, but then again its is my opinion on the candy.
Wow, spicy white chocolate? I have a pretty high tolerance for spicy food, so I really want to try that…
Thanks to finding your website I was able to order (from a place in Florida) more of Helena’s Tejas candies. My neighbors who just returned from Peru brought me a box and they are delicious!!! Have you tried them?
I don’t understand all the grumpy people who post on your blog. For pete’s sake you are writing about your opinion and candy!!! They need to sweeten up a bit.
Many thanks
Charlotte
Chocolate + Peperoncini piccanti = top mix !
Next entry: Mini Mentos: Orange, Apple, Lemon & Strawberry
Previous entry: Summer 2008 Candy Giveaway!