Côte d'Or Noir de Noir

Always looking for new chocolate, I picked this Côte d'Or up at my local fancy grocer for $3.99. It seemed like it was extremely thick, but this bar is actually two bars packaged together. The wrapper was covered in English stickers, so it seems like it comes straight from Belgium.

Côte d'Or is a Belgian chocolate brand that was acquired by Kraft Foods in 1990. I wonder if that sale was as controversial as the more recent Cadbury acquisition?


For 56% chocolate, this bar had a beautiful satiny dark brown finish. The chocolate had an earthy scent, but rather than fruity, the flavor was more milky and almost sweet for a dark chocolate. Though a bit bitter, it was rich and almost savory, and the earthiness carried over into the finish.

The melt was just a bit dry, but not chalky (and I definitely prefer a little dry to sticky). I prefer my dark chocolate to be darker, but this bar was pretty good. My husband loved this one, but I think I'll have to try the Côte d'Or 70% Noir Intense bar.

B+

Côte d'Or website

Dolfin Chocolat Au Lait au The Vert Sencha du Japon

For my brother-in-law's birthday, my sister ordered chocolate from Chocosphere, but since they offer flat rate shipping under for orders under $50, she asked me to order some things to get the total order closer to that level. Honestly, it was hard to limit myself! Don't be fooled by the 1997-esque web design - there is some quality chocolate to be ordered.

I had to try more Dolfin chocolate, so among other things, I ordered their Sencha (green tea) bar for myself and the Lavender bar for a friend of mine. That friend was kind enough to give me a bite of the Lavender bar - I never liked lavender before, but consider me converted! It was that good.


Though I prefer matcha, sencha is pretty good, too. It's made from dried tea leaves and it's the most common kind of green tea in Japan (and probably the kind most Americans drink, too). In this bar, the sencha aroma was delightfully grassy and bitter. The tea leaves broke up the smooth chocolate with a slightly gritty crunch.

The green tea melded perfectly with the milk chocolate, which was some of the best milk chocolate I've had the pleasure of tasting (my husband loved it, too). It was smooth, not overly sticky, and neither too milky nor too sweet. This is absolutely the best green tea bar I've ever had. Although it was sencha, I found that it had more of a matcha essence than plain green tea. The green tea and chocolate weren't competing for flavor dominance; they were just in perfect harmony and balance.

A+

Dolfin website

Dolfin Noir au Poivre Rose

I think I have a new favorite brand. My sister gave me Dolfin's Noir au Poivre Rose (Black with Pink Pepper) for my birthday, and it was the first time I had seen the brand. Sometimes chocolate sits around at home because I have so much, but I prioritized this bar because it was so pretty. There's still a bit of wrapping paper stuck to the package in my picture because I was in such a hurry to eat the bar.

The whole experience, from opening the package to finishing the bar, was delightful. The wrapper reminded me of a checkbook (maybe it's a bit overpackaged). The bar itself was wrapped in a liner that reminded me of old-fashioned wallpaper. It was so cute and elegant!


Oh, the chocolate. It's been a long time since I've enjoyed chocolate this much. The bar had a strong peppercorn scent that carried over into the flavor. The pepper was more aromatic than spicy, and it was absolutely perfect with the dark chocolate.


Speaking of the chocolate, it was some of the best dark chocolate I've ever had. It was nutty and only mildly bitter, with very little fruitiness. The middle notes were sweet and creamy, and the finish was bitter and clean. The pepper even cleared my sinuses a bit, but I didn't find it to be too strong.

My husband had one complaint: the slightly gritty texture of the peppercorns reminded him of dirt at times. The texture didn't bother me. After this bar was gone, I promptly ordered more Dolfin chocolate, and, as you'll see in upcoming reviews, I was not disappointed.

A

Dolfin website