Biagio Sample Day: Single Origin Bars and Unique Creations

Since the holiday season means brisk business for most shops, especially chocolate shops, Biagio hasn’t had a sample day since the one I went to in November. I was becoming anxious about missing the date for the next one, as I have several upcoming meets and work-related travel, but was relieved to see that yesterday was pegged for sample day.

Didn’t make it yourself? Don’t worry. I can fill you in on some of what happened.

They had about a dozen chocolates available for sampling. Some of them were new to me, including an interesting white chocolate with Moroccan mint by Domori that I enjoyed immensely.

Others I have more experience with than I care to admit.

The offerings for the tasting were varied and included quite a few single-origin dark chocolates.

First, the Uba Budo offers a 72% cocoa bar sourced from one plantation in Sao Tome. The bar is fairly sweet with a fruity taste that lingers.

I also had to check out the Bonnat Chuao, as it was 100% Venezuelan. This 75% cocoa bar was very smooth, as most Venezuelan chocolates are, and has an intense bitter taste that is well-balanced with just a bit of sugar.

And finally, I was under strict instructions from Candice at 20° N &20° S to research the situation with Amedei at the store, since she’s had trouble finding it. I’m happy to report that she’d have no trouble here.

Biagio even had their Grenada 70% cocoa bar out for sampling, and I found it to be quite smooth with a vanilla flavor that had an intense and lingering earthy taste to accompany it.

In addition to the single-origin bars out for tasting, several bars that featured unique add-ins were available.

The Divine bar of Dark Chocolate with Raspberries included very tart dried raspberries that dominated the flavor of the chocolate.

The Malie Kai Milk Chocolate Nibby Bar offered a sweet milk chocolate to nicely contrast with the bitter cocoa nibs.

And finally, that Domori Biancomenta white chocolate with Moroccan mint offered a strong mint flavor and a bit of crunch from mint leaves against smooth white chocolate.

After partaking in the sampling, I picked up some chocolate to take home.

Since I so enjoyed the Domori Biancomenta, I got one of those bars along with a Lattesal, which features milk chocolate and sea salt.
I also picked up a Malie Kai Dark Chocolate Nibby Bar, since it happened to be on sale. I'm interested in how it compares to the Milk Chocolate Nibby Bar that was out for sampling.

Finally, I also picked up bars from two chocolatiers I've been meaning to check out. First, a Patric Rio Caribe Superior bar. Second, I was unable to step away from the Christopher Elbow dark chocolate bar with roasted macademia and sea salt.
Keep an eye out for in-depth reviews of these bars. And do go to the next sample day at Biagio. If you can't make sample day itself, you simply must go to the shop to find some unique chocolates.

Have you ever been to a chocolate sample day?