Description:    The coffee is a blend of finest varieties of Arabica and comes from various Fairtrade cooperatives in South America and gives the bar a distinctive espresso aroma; a perfectly subtle expression.

Ingredients:    Cocoa mass, raw cane sugar, cocoa butter, whole cane sugar, coffee (4,4%) and ground vanilla. 55% cocoa in the chocolate. Gluten free. GMO free. No preservatives, colouring agents or emulsifiers such as lecithin. 

Organic and fair trade:    All ingredients are organic certified. Fairly traded ingredients.

Cacao: From Fairtrade cooperatives in Peru and The Dominican Republic. Cane sugar: From Fairtrade cooperatives in Paraguay. Vanilla: From Fairtrade cooperatives in Madagascar "Mananara".

Allergen information:    May contain traces of milk, hazelnuts, almonds and peanuts.

REVIEWS

2. Review

6 November 2010

http://taste-my-plate.blogspot.com/2010/11/love-and-chocolate.html

Woohoo!! I'm so excited to be back!! I've been away for a little while and I apologize. As some of you may know from following my previous posts I was planning a big move. Well, after much painstaking, and what seemed like never ending packing, it's now all complete. I'm officially living back in Vancouver Canada. Of course this does not mean I will not continue blogging with the UK. I would be very happy to share with Canadians and Brits alike.

To welcome myself back I though it would be a great idea to start with one of the world's most loved foods....CHOCOLATE! But not just any chocolate, my new found favourite chocolate called CHOCOLATE & LOVE.

I am lucky enough to have been asked by Chocolate and Love to try their chocolate, come up with a verdict and tell you lovely folks all about it. I couldn't taste and write this verdict without my chocolate adoring other half, and here's what we have to say about it (and just so you know I'm still nibbling on the chocolate as I'm writing for you now).....The flavours represent every chocolate lover’s dream, one that might be richer than sweeter (just how 'real deal' chocolate should be) but the kind that you hope will never end. It has a very smooth taste that overwhelms your mouth and its wild smell always encourages another bite. Make no mistake; this brand belongs on the same shelf right next to the best known chocolate brands. The only thing that sparks a difference is the packaging which is not as fancy as of some of its counterparts, but instead it offers simplicity that makes it stand out. The earthy look gives it a feel of sincerity which you will believe in once you try it. And if you don't tear apart the packing too quickly to get your mouth wrapped around this decadence you'll find that the inside, so creatively, has some interesting and reassuring information about the sourcing of the cocao. Oh and as you probably guessed... it is organic.

We've tasted 2 flavours of the many to be selected from Chocolate and Love's website. 71% "Filthy Rich" (which you certainly don't need to be to buy this brand of chocolate) was the first, followed by 55% "The Coffee Affair". Both following to the 'T' the description above. I am a huge coffee flavour fan so I will no doubt place this one as my favourite. The coffee flavour beings strong enough for that extra kick, but subtle enough to allow the cocoa the melt on your mouth with ease and seduction.

This is great gift for those loved ones, for your own sneaky nibbling, and of course for many of your up and coming Christmas baking!

I will be hosting a dinner party next week which I most certainly plan to use this chocolate for whipping up a heavenly dessert. Stay tuned!

Don't hesitate, visit their website and order your own CHOCOLATE & LOVE today!

1. Review

http://choclogblog.blogspot.com/2010/10/chocolate-and-love.html

25 October 2010

Chocolate and Love

Two very nicely wrapped 100g bars of dark chocolate arrived on my doormat - oops, quite some time ago now.  Chocolate and Love is an online shop selling high quality chocolates which are ethically sourced from small producers.  As well as offering their own bars and those from Amedei and Beschle among others, they also sell more unusual items such as raw chocolate, cocoa nibs and chocolate tea.  If you are a chocolate lover, their website is well worth a look.

Its always good to see another ethical chocolate product on the market and I was pleased to see that these own label bars were both organic and fair trade.  I would have been even more pleased if they were Soil Association certified, but that's one of my crusades.  The cocoa itself comes from small scale farmers in Peru and the Dominican Republic.

The wrappers were gorgeous with a cocoa inspired motif.  I particularly admired the orange flavoured one which had oranges peeping out amongst the cocoa pods.  On the reverse, you can find information about the co-operatives from where the chocolate is sourced.  The outer wrapper is FSC certified which is good, but I was rather disappointed to find that the inner wrapper was plastic.  Plastic is not what I expect from a good quality product which claims to be ethical, apart from being non-recyclable, it also looks rather cheap.

Orange Mantra (65%) - cocoa mass, raw cane sugar, cocoa butter, whole cane sugar, natural orange oil, ground vanilla
This had a good snap and a pleasant melt in the mouth texture.  Orange flavouring in chocolate can easily be overdone. This bar, however, had a very pleasant true orange taste which was not in the least overpowering. It was somewhat like a seville orange, bitter and marmalady - it tasted like real fruit rather than something synthesised in a lab.  It's not designed to be scoffed in large quantities, but savoured slowly - this can only be a good thing.

The Coffee Affair (55%) - cocoa mass, raw cane sugar, cocoa butter, whole cane sugar, coffee, ground vanilla
CT, as the chocolate coffee lover in our household, got to try this one, or at least the 20g he was allowed - I had designs on the rest. Again this had a nice snap, a firm texture and was rather crunchy in the mouth as befits a strong, robust flavoured chocolate. CT reckoned this was an Adult X rated product for those who enjoy strong flavours, not to be taken before bedtime.  The coffee flavour persists on the palate for quite some time.  It was delicious and not overly sweet nor cloying.  It's a wake up call rather than a comfort food and is best taken in small doses.

The remaining 80g was used in a coffee chocolate ganache to top the praline cake I recently posted about.  As some of you may know, I am more likely to split my ganache than not, but this chocolate worked like a dream and I had no problems at all.  Its powerful taste worked particularly well with this cake.

Plastic wrappers notwithstanding, I would be very happy to partake of these again and try more of Chocolate & Love's products.