For the record, my wife picked this one out during our last chocolate-buying spree at Cardullo’s, a gourmet grocer in Harvard Square, Cambridge. It seemed a little girly for me, but how could she resist with the clever windowed packaging revealing the pretty little pieces of violet flowers inside of sugar crystals. Why not I thought, expecting the worst. In the end, I enjoyed it just fine. I can’t give it a high rating since, for me, the perfume notes got in the way of the chocolate. Flowers in chocolate are not unheard of. Galler and others have done violets and orange blossoms. Violets are a very interesting combination and beautiful to look at. My wife thoroughly enjoyed this bar.
WHAT: Yves Thuries, Dark Chocolate with Crystallized Violets. 80g bar. Ingredients: 70% cacao couverture chocolate (with non-GMO soy lecithin) crystallized natural violet fragments (includes sugar, saccharose and natural colors). Price range: $$$
WHEN: 22 August, 2009
OVERALL RATING: 66. Highest marks were for aroma and texture.
AROMA: Perfumed violets and lavender, Cinnamon on toast, light coffee, mushrooms.
INITIAL IMPRESSIONS: Jasmine and violets, toffee, lavender.
MIDDLE TASTE: Very buttery. Morphs into a more mixed floral in the middle – violet, roses and jasmine. Cafe au lait. Vanilla, creme. Honey.
FINISH: Rock-candy, cashews, butter, musk.
TEXTURE: The base chocolate is soft and smooth while the crystals add an interesting crunch.
LAST BITE – There’s a generous amount of violet crystals here and they definitely come through (otherwise, what would be the point?). I’m not so hot on the long ingredients list and don’t know why saccharose is needed. To be fair most of the ingredients are natural. Finally, don’t confuse the perfume for complexity in the chocolate – the base chocolate seems good, but not great. I can see this as a fun gift for someone. It makes a good showing with the windowed packaging, it’s great to look at and tastes good.
Disclosure: I paid for this chocolate myself.
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