Second bar I picked up during my business trip to France. Totally different, this is a true dark chocolate with no special ingredients other than cacao, sugar and some vanilla. Alter Eco produces chocolate which is fair trade and eco-friendly. The company goes a long way to ensure farmers get a good price for their crops and help to reduce the CO2 footprint of the chocolate making, by supporting reforestation for instance.
The package of this bar is pretty into your face, but on the back an inside the cardboard sleeve, a massive amount of info is given about their goals and actions. This time a golden-colored foil keeps the bar in mint condition. This bar doesn’t look very special either. It serves it purpose without any frills.
The bar imprints Peru as its origin, but on the back I found the cacao came from a Peruvian cooperative, while the cacao butter originated in the Dominican Republic. So it isn’t single origin, rather a blend.
Bean: not mentioned
Origin: Peru (cacao) + Dominican Republic (cacao butter)
Production: Manufacturer not mentioned – produced in Switzerland
Price pair: € 1,95/100 g – Cora Dreux, France
Colour: Pretty light, almost milk chocolate with a reddish hue
Aroma: lots of cacao, wood and a little acidity and sweet vanilla. A nice promising smell in my book.
taste: A hard snap on breaking, taking a piece in your mouth brings immediate sweetness to your attention. While it subsides, cacao takes over. The chocolate taste is entwined with a slight fruity acidity and a noticeable bitter coffee touch. The vanilla added to the chocolate is very clear on the palate. the overall taste is strikingly bitter/sweet while still mellow compared to the more refined single origin chocolates. Yet it brings a nice freshness to the tongue in a degree I didn’t find in any low-cost bars before.
Don’t expect powerful taste changes, rather a nice harmonious taste experience. The aftertaste provides lots of vanilla and some more bitterness and isn’t particularly long. But since the price of the chocolate is close to the bulk chocolate, I consider this a very enjoyable everyday chocolate-craving bar. Well worth to try if you can get a hold on it.
