Sarotti No. 1 Mexico Dark Chocolate Chili

This is the second of two from Sarotti’s No. 1 line of chocolate bars, this one features cacao beans from Mexico, with chili as flavouring, and has a cacao content of 66%. The ingredient listing is good, cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter, chili soya lecithin and natural vanilla.

How does it taste? The few I’ve eaten from Sarotti have been hit and miss, this one was not so good. The chili was not very strong (okay, only a little spicy aftertaste), and the dark chocolate could be more dark. I’ve never eaten chocolate made from cacao beans from Mexico, but they seem pretty okay. The chocolate itself is smooth but not so flavourful; it's definitely not the sugared chocolate I've seen labelled as Mexican chocolate. I doubt that I would eat this bar again.

Sarotti No. 1 Brazil Dark Chocolate Mint

I found a couple more of Sarotti's No. 1 line of chocolate bars, this one features cacao beans from Brazil, with mint oil as flavouring, and has a cacao content of 60%. The ingredient listing is good, cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter, soya lecithin and mint oil.

How does it taste? The few I've eaten from Sarotti have been hit and miss, this one was fairly good. The mint was not too strong, though the dark chocolate could be more dark. I've never eaten chocolate made from cacao beans from Brazil, but they seem pretty good. The chocolate itself is smooth and flavourful. I would eat this bar again.

Sarotti HalbBitter

It's been sort of hit and miss for the chocolate bars I've eaten from the German chocolatier Sarotti, most of them have had less than stellar ingredients, more sugar and flavour than chocolate. This halbbitter (semisweet) bar's ingredients look better, just sugar, cocoa mass, cocoa butter, soya lecithin and flavouring, with a cacao content of 50% minimum. It tastes not bad too, a good semisweet bar, though not fantastic. I see, too, from the packaging, Sarotti is promoting a Chocolate Museum, located in Köln, which looks to be associated with Lindt.

Sarotti No. 1 Java

The last of the five varieties in the No. 1 Series by Sarotti contains beans from the island of Java, and is presented as a milk chocolate bar at 33% cacao content. Like the others, the ingredients are quite good, as in a short list, just sugar, cocoa butter, milk powder, cocoa mass, soya lecithin as an emulsifier, and vanilla flavour. Java has had cacao beans since Colonial times. In 1560 Spanish conquistadors brought varietal Criollo beans from Mexico to propogate. This bar is a fairly good milk chocolate, it melts well in the mouth. There is something about milk chocolate that I have noticed lately, however, an aftertaste that I don't like, perhaps the milk itself. I don't think that I would buy this bar again.

Sarotti No. 1 Papua Neuguinea

I must confess that I don't like candied orange peel, never have, hot crossed buns at Easter don't do it for me, because of the candied bits in them, so I viewed this version of Sarotti's No. 1 series, the fourth one I have reviewed, with a little trepidation. This bar contains cacao beans from Papua New Guinea, of Criollo and Forastero varietals, and has a cocoa content of 72%. Like the other bars in this series, the ingredient listing is short, just cocoa mass, sugar, candied orange peel (orange peel, sugar, dextrose), soya lecithin as an emulsifier, and vanilla flavour. When it came to tasting it, it broke very well, with a good snap, smelled fairly good, orangey, but the taste almost immediately when chewing it, was overwhelmingly orange, the chocolate disappeared into the background, and, eventually, I was down to chewing the bits I don't like, the candied peel. I must confess, that I could not finish this, I only ate four squares of the ten in the package, so I gave it a fair try, I think. I did give it to another lady at work who enjoys candied peel, but I would not buy this again, ever.

Sarotti No. 1 Ecuador

The third chocolate bar from the Sarotti No. 1 series contains cacao beans from Ecuador. The bean varietals that this country is well known for are Arriba Superior, Navida and Epoca. I have liked other chocolate bars with beans from Ecuador, and this one is no exception. Again, the ingredients are pretty good, cocoa mass, sugar and soya lecithin as an emulsifier, with a minimum cocoa content of 72%. The bar, though, was a less smooth tasting than the other Ecuadoran bars that I have tasted, a little to the chalky side. Still good, I'm seeming to like the beans from this country.

Sarotti No. 1 Sao Thome

The second of the single-origin chocolate bars I am trying from Sarotti, is made from Forastero cocoa beans from Sao Thome. The cocoa content is a minimum of 75% and it also contains 10% caramelised cocoa kernel splinters (I suspect because Forastero cacao beans may not provide the best chocolate flavour, and the sweetness might mask some of this). So saying, it still came out tasting pretty good, perhaps there is not too much mediocrity to mask, though I do prefer a solid bar when enjoying dark chocolate, as I find that I can not allow the chocolate to just melt in my mouth, I have the tendency to chew the chocolate because of the chunks in it. The cocoa kernels tasted sweet more than cacao, though it was an interesting counterpoint to the dark chocolate. The ingredient listing looks good too, just cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa kernel and soya lecithin as an emulsifier. Overall, a good bar, but not one I would choose again.

Sarotti No. 1 Santo Domingo

The latest chocolate bar I consumed this week, was one of Sarotti's single source cacao chocolate bars, this being the 85% cacao content made with cacao beans from Santo Domingo. I found this bar to be pretty good, though I find that 85% cacao content bars tend to be a little chalky for my tastes, a little more sugar would make this a better bar. Still, it's fairly good tasting chocolate, with a fairly good snap, a pleasant smell, and it melts in your mouth fairly well. In the long run, compared to other single-source bars I have tasted recently, I would not select this bar again.

Sarotti Single Source Chocolate Bars

There seems to be a trend among chocolatiers to create Special high quality few ingredient chocolate bars made from cacao beans from single sources. I wrote earlier about those I found from the German manufacturer Tschibo. Sarotti is also a German chocolatier, and most of the chocolate bars I have seen from them are milk chocolate, with less than great ingredients, so I was pleased to find these higher quality chocolate bars. Most of them have a high cocoa content, more than 72%, and less than five ingredients; cocoa mass, sugar, soya lecithin, vanilla flavour being among them. They cost about $4 each for 100 g of chocolate. It should be interesting to taste and compare them.

The first of these bars is the one likely I'll least enjoy, as it is a milk chocolate, with 33% cacao content. The beans themselves come from the southern coast of the island of Java, they have grown there for a long time, and have been harvested and exported since Colonial times. The Java cacao bean is of the Mexican variety Criollo, which Spanish conquistadors brought to Java in 1560.

The second of these bars is a dark chocolate with candied orange peel in it, the cacao content is 72%. The beans come from Papua New Guinea, and are of the variety Criollo and Forastero.

The third of these also has a cacao content of 72%, these beans come from north Ecuador. There are three varieties of beans in this bar, Arriba - Superior, Navida and Epoca.

The fourth of these has a cacao content of 75%, the beans come from the small African island of Sao Thome. The beans are of the variety Forastero. This bar also contains 10% caramelized cocoa kernel splinters, which should be interesting to taste.

The last, but certainly not least, has a cacao content of 85%, and contains beans from Santo Domingo located in the Caribbean.

Two more Sarotti Chocolate Bars

I bought these two chocolate bars at the same time as the limited edition versions, these are more traditional. And both contain hazelnuts, the first in whole form, the second in the form of noisette, or hazelnut cream.

Some Special Edition Sarotti Chocolates

I came across these in this European delicatessan that I frequent in Kitchener. It's Oktoberfest this week, something I normally avoid, even though I am of German heritage, as it seems mostly to be about drinking lots of beer; my brother-in-law would be more in to that. These Limited Edition chocolate bars are made to old recipes, the company has been around for over 100 years. The Florentiner is filled with almonds, the Tiramisu likely tastes like the Italian dessert, and has Marscapone powder in it, and the Latte Macchiato has a coffee flavour. The ingredients are not the best, I've noticed afterwards that it has vegetable oil as one of the ingredients, but I have bought and eaten other chocolate bars of theirs, and they were tasty.