We did not travel at the weekend to Clare for the Burren Slow Food as I was just not feeling up to the drive, tired and emotional. Instead I worked on my Tasting Assignment so we had a serious chocolate tasting session. By serious, I mean I laid out the chocolates and summary cards properly and had notlets, tasting wheel, room temp water, crackers and apples all at the ready.
It was good fun and the formality of the kitchen did help focus the brain. We tasted 4 bars, two Valrhona and two Willie (aka the chocolate guy off the telly). It was a bit of a novelty tasting the bars that we had seen him work so hard on, and when we found flaws we kinda accepted them. But having said that, at €4.50 for 8oz is a bit steep to be too lenient.
Willie’s gone with a small square box containing 2 square bars … one for now and one for later. Or if you are a caring and sharing person; One for you and one for me. Squares are similar to the Pralus pyramid presentation.
Willie’s Cacao Peruvian 70%
Price: €4.50 for 80g bar
Look: air holes when broken, dark, glossy to the front, swirls on the back.
Smell: powdered sugar and cocoa.
Snap: firm, but hard to snap because of its thickness.
Taste: very strong taste compared with the smell. Bold, toffee, butterscotch, then citrus notes (oranges) but the taste disappears quickly.
Texture: grainy, crumbly, dissolves rather than melts in the mouth.
Will I buy this again? Himself will
Source: Harvey Nics
Willie’s Cacao Venezuelan 72%
Price: €4.50 for 80g bar
Look: air holes when broken, dark, glossy to the front, swirls on the back, thinner on one side.
Smell: no interesting smell, maybe sugar, cocoa.
Snap: firm, but hard to snap because of its thickness.
Taste: totally different from the previous sample. After the initial melt, it is sour/puckering which is replaced by sweeter, fruity yet harsher flavor.
Texture: again grainy, crumbly, dissolves rather than melts in the mouth.
Will I buy this again? No
Source: Harvey Nics
