Olive and Sinclair: Mexican Style Cinn-Chili

That package I received from Heather last week had two stone-ground chocolate bars from Nashville, and I only discussed the 75% cocoa dark chocolate bar in my first post about the package. Truthfully, I was even more excited about the second Olive & Sinclair bar, the Mexican Style Cinn-Chili bar, but when trying out a new chocolatier, I like to sample a plain chocolate first to get a better sense of what they are all about before I dive into the more exotic creations. Having accomplished that by trying the 75% cocoa dark chocolate bar, I moved along to the Mexican Style Cinn-Chili bar.

Again, the aroma isn’t very strong – not even from the cinnamon or chili – so I had to bite into it to find out more.

My impressions of this chocolate came in four stages. First, the chocolate is soft with a little grit to it, and that unique texture leads to the second stage of taste-testing: the cinnamon. As the soft chocolate melts away, the chili starts to come through as the third stage. The fourth stage comes several seconds later, when I tried to determine what the chocolate itself tasted like. After several bites of this 67% cocoa bar, I was convinced that it was more about the add-in flavors than the chocolate flavor, and that the chocolate quality was most evident through the texture. Since I adore cinnamon and chili in chocolate, I enjoyed the spiciness despite the fact that it overwhelmed the chocolate flavor. I would certainly get this bar again, but more for the cinnamon and chili mixed with the high-quality cocoa butter than for the chocolate itself.

Vosges Bars: Red Fire

I've been neglecting reviews of the chocolates I picked up in Chicago almost three months ago. Just so much exciting stuff going on in DC - a Malgieri demo, my own baking, and just great chocolate happenings. Luckily, that didn't make the Vosges treats I picked up any less delicious. The last few treats will be reviewed in the next week or so, be sure to check in.

One of the truffles from the Vosges Aztec collection that I enjoyed the most was the red fire, with the combination of chilie, cinnamon, and chocolate. Luckily for me, though I’d quickly consumed the truffles, my library of Vosges bars included a red fire bar.

I was hopeful that the effect would be similar to that from the truffle. The bar wasn’t sprinkled with spices like the truffle was, but it did tell me that I was a goddess.

Don’t you love it when your chocolate talks to you? I sure do. I also love it when dark chocolate manages to come across as creamy and flavorful, which is impressive for a chocolate with 55% cocoa solids. The intense chocolate flavor is the first taste, and is followed by a fiery cinnamon and then the ancho and chipotle chilies. The chocolate and the extras are well balanced, and isn’t overwhelmingly spicy like the Oaxaca bar was. Nice work, Vosges.