Over the course of the seven years I've been doing this blog, I've focused on strange chocolates many times. Specifically, five times--on August 20th and October 22nd in 2012; March 21st and September 20th in 2015; and January 17th in 2016. In this post, I'll discuss a 95% cocoa offering from Lindt & Sprungli, an Arriba Nacional cacao and ginger concoction from Antidote, and a honey caramel with habanero chiles from Lake Champlain Chocolates.
Just to review, what we call "chocolate" is usually made from 3-4 main ingredients: cocoa solids, fat in the form of cocoa butter, sugar, and sometimes milk. Although there's some variances in the definition, basically 35% or more cocoa solids (and no milk) is deemed "dark chocolate," 10-20% cocoa solids, plus milk, is "milk chocolate," and 0% cocoa solids, and milk, is "white chocolate." All of the types I got for this post are well within the dark chocolate category. Which, as I've stated before, is my least favorite--I find it unpleasantly bitter and astringent compared to the others.
I purchased the Lindt & Sprungli one because it had the highest percentage of cocoa solids that I've ever seen. Although, as high as it is, it's not the most. There are several examples of 100% cocoa solids chocolates (and therefore, no cocoa butter or sugar), such as Montezuma's Absolute Black, Francois Pralus's 100%, and Ghiradelli's 100%. (I'll give these a try if/when I encounter them.) Lindt & Sprungli is an old business, dating back to 1845. David Sprungli-Schwartz and his son Rudolf Sprungli-Ammann started this company in Zurich, Switzerland, after having run a chocolate shop there since 1836. In 1899 they bought out the Lindt chocolate company, and so added to the firm's title. By 1977 the chocolates were being exported (and made, in some cases) around the world. Lindt & Sprungli has also absorbed a further four chocolate companies--Caffarel (Italy), Hofbauer (Austria), and two American ones, Russell Stover and Ghiradelli. One of their most popular brands is their Lindor line, which are individually wrapped roundish chocolates with various fillings inside. There is one possible bit of controversy, though. In 2017 they were accused of growing cocoa illegally, in national parks and other protected areas in the Ivory Coast and Ghana. Lindt & Sprungli dispute this charge, but just to throw it out there.
Lake Champlain Chocolates is a Vermont establishment, operating out of Burlington. The company started in 1983, from the owner of the Ice House restaurant. They're very into post-modern, eco and health-friendly trends, as their products are proudly made without GMOs, preservatives, "extenders," additives, and use organic and fair trade ingredients "when possible." They're also "keto friendly," which I just learned is a low carb/high fat diet similar to the Atkins Diet. The owner is Jim Lampman.
Antidote is the new kid on the block, having only started in July of 2010, in Brookyn, NY in the U.S. The owner, Red Thalhammer, was a huge fan of the cocoa from Ecuador, the Arriba Nacional type. Antidote also clearly loves to experiment, as it makes chocolates combined with unusual ingredients, such as fennel, cardamom, bananas and cayenne pepper, mango and juniper, quinoa, peppercorns, and tea. Similar to Lake Champlain Chocolates, its products are organic, kosher, vegan, and gluten-free. The company also makes it a point to use the minimum amount of packaging, to eliminate waste. Finally, at least two of its offerings ("Tona," and "Xochi,") are 100% cocoa.
1) Lindt & Sprungli Excellence, 95% cocoa dark chocolate: Bar was 80 grams (2.8 ounces), and chocolate was a very dark brown, obviously. As bad as I feared--bitter, nasty, and very hard to finish.
2) Antidote Serious Chocolate, with ginger pieces: 65 gram/2.3 ounce bar. About the same hue as the Lindt & Sprungli one, only with visible white ginger chunks embedded in it. I liked the ginger bite--it was nice and significant. It helped cut the dark chocolate bitterness somewhat. (Also, the cocoa percentage was "only" 77%.) So better than the first one, but still not that great, with the dark chocolate unpleasantness once again.
3) Lake Champlain Chocolates, It's Hot Honey, sweet honey caramel with habanero: Bar was 3.25 ounces/92 grams. Cocoa percentage was 57%. Similar color to the others, but squares were fuller, reflecting the filling inside. This was the strongest of the trio. Caramel was tasty, and the slight pepper bite (mostly detected as an aftertaste) was alright, too. The lower cocoa solids amount also surely helped, too. Solid overall--I might even eat this one again, unlike the others.
Therefore, there were no big shocks here. I went in expecting to dislike, or at least be underwhelmed by these selections, and that's about what happened. The only one that I enjoyed was the one with the lowest cocoa solid percentage. But, as always, I know many (most?) consumers disagree with me, and adore dark chocolate, the higher percentage of cocoa the better. So if you're one of these folks you might like, or even love these.
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