Hello weakened warriors! Yes I meant to spell it that way. In many ways the human population has been weakened by many things, the least of which is the Virus. Politics, loss of income, housing, friends, and so many other factors leave us reeling. I want to focus on some of the wonder parts that are stronger than ever and give me hope for a better future. Of course I am talking about chocolate. But this time and for the future I am going to talk about OPC (Other People's Chocolate).
Today is OmNom day. As I sit in my almost dingy motel room in Colorado Springs Colorado, the weekend of an expo where I do a decent amount of chocolate selling, I am face to face with a couple brands of chocolate that arrived just before I left my home and fortunately had the brainpower to throw into my bag. The first I want to discuss is:
OmNom. Wow, this stuff is impressive. Before I go to much further, you must be asking yourself where the hell do I get off pretending to be able to talk about another's chocolate? I do make my own and I'm quite proud of it and if you ask most chocolate makers, they are never quite satisfied with what they make. There is always room for improvement no matter the accolades. And I fall firmly into that camp. Plus I'm new at chocolate making, less than two years. BUT I've been studying OPC for decades. I've traveled a lot and have an impressive (if I must say so myself) collection of OPC. Over 300 bars line my chocolate library, and I taste something every day. I spend time in webinars and online tastings, and discuss it a lot. Regardless, all chocolate tasting, no matter the expertise, is subjective. I will do my best to be open and honest about why I say the things I do about what I taste.
OmNom. Wow, this stuff is impressive. Smooth and creamy. Rich and flavorful. And made in Iceland. Which is a trick to make it sound exotic. It works. I received 4 bars through my chocolate club last week, I'll be out soon. First: The box it came in is beautiful. A lemon yellow with a simple Logo on the outside, while on the inside the cardboard is printed with a vast array of cubist animals. At the center is a wolf? in color. Nicely done kids.
First taste is the "Milk of Nicaragua" bar, a 50% bar, that is smooth and creamy. The packaging is the first thing that stands out. Minimalist by comparison to most. The package itself has nothing but cubic style designs of animals in patterns. with a band that holds it together nicely that has the descriptions of the bar. Most of the label is taken up with what they have to put on there, ingredients, nutrition facts, weight etc. Other than that a small paragraph about them and nothing else. The inner wrapper is another simple pattern of an animal. The bar is a light red in color, the taste is unmistakably milk, but super creamy. I'm not a milk chocolate fan so you had better make it a really good one to stand out. This does the job. I'll eat the whole thing by the end of the month. I'll give it a score of 85 out of 100,
Second taste is the Madagascar 66%. I live for single origin bars. This one is pretty good. A very slight astriginancy, which is hard to eliminate, The sours and fruits of this fruity nation are subdued and buried more than I like. I love a good bold bar, hit me in the face with a chocolate type of guy. This is good, but I've had better. Another score of 85.
Third taste, Coffee and Milk. I do not drink coffee. I'm a tea guy. I don't drink coffee because I don't like coffee. Don't ask me why, I don't know why. I love most things dark and bitter, Beer, chocolate and women to start. Regardless this bar is yummy. While I may not finish it anytime soon, it gets high praises. a great flavor (cold brew?) no bitterness nor astriginancy, I can see this being a very popular bar with most folks. Score of 90.
Fourth and final taste, and favorite taste, Black n' Burnt Barley bar. Have to say I was not drawn to it from the name. I love a good anything blackened, cajun style and burnt ends or brisket BBQ, but burnt? That means ruined to me. Like toast. Yuch. BUT this is an amazing bar, so delicious, whatever they are doing with the barley to make it taste that way . . . Damn. This will not last out the week let alone the month. Even the things I don't normally like in a bar, like the actual toasted barley that is crunchy yet fibrous, I don't care. It's sweet and flavorful and delicious. I hope they keep this up. It'l be on every order ZI place from now on. Will also make an excellent gift. Score of 95.
That's it for this week. I'll post more reviews as I get the time. Let me know what YOU think.