Amalia Chocolate con Leche

I have tried a couple of the Spanish chocolatier Amalia's bars, and liked one and not the other so much. This is their milk chocolate version, and the cacao content is at 37% (fairly high for a milk chocolate, which are normally around 30%). The ingredient listing is otherwise short, sugar, cocoa and cocoa butter, milk powder, lecithin and vanillin.

How does it taste? I've really given up eating milk chocolate, it just doesn't do it for me as a chocolate fix, but this one is fairly good, creamy and smooth. I would like to see a 70% bar made by them.

Amalia Chocolate Puro

Similar to the Dark Almond from Spanish chocolatier Amalia that I tried previously, this is a dark chocolate, with 55% cacao content. The ingredient listing is good, short, sugar, cocoa (cocoa and cocoa butter), lecithin and vanillin.

How does it taste? The bar snaps well, smells fairly good, and is good tasting, if a little fruity. It leaves a pleasant aftertaste. I would like to see a 70% version from Amalia, I think that might be a good chocolate bar.

Trapa Supremo Milk Chocolate

This is the fourth chocolate bar that I have tried made by the Spanish chocolatier Trapa, and two of the others are milk chocolate but with another ingredient, in those cases nuts. The ingredients of this milk chocolate bar are the same as the other, sugar, cocoa butter, cocoa mass, whole milk powder, defatted cocoa powder, soy lecithin, flavours (vanilla) and salt (an unusual ingredient for chocolate bars). The cacao content is 30%.

How did it taste? I would say that this is a good tasting milk chocolate compared to similar ones, but it's still all about sweetness (and making me wonder lately why I even bother trying milk chocolate bars, after eating the good dark bars). It has nothing to do with the taste, but inside the wrapping, there was only 1/4 the foil wrapping present. I know that I won't buy this bar again.

Valor Dark Chocolate with Pear

I saw this new chocolate bar at Christmas from the Spanish chocolatier Valor, and couldn't buy it except as a package of four (too expensive at $16, even on sale, to try), so I was disappointed. Until recently, when I found it for sale individually. They have nice looking packaging. The cacao content of this bar is at 70%. The ingredient listing is long for a good quality chocolate bar, but still looks good; cocoa liquor, sugar, cocoa powder, cocoa butter, pear pulp (3%), apple, pineapple fiber, sodium alginate and calcium phosphate as thickeners, natural aroma and soybean lecithin as an emulsifier.

How did it taste? Well, I guess I could have waited longer. It is a good dark chocolate, and you can taste the pear fine, and pear and chocolate make a somewhat good combination, but ultimately it was only a good bar. I don't think that I would buy this bar again, and prefer other bars in Valor's offerings.

Amalia Dark Chocolate with Almonds

Amalia is another Spanish chocolatier, this is one of their bars, a dark chocolate with almonds. The cacao content is at 55%, and is thus just a dark chocolate bar. Otherwise, the ingredient listing looks good, sugar, cocoa (cocoa and cocoa butter), almonds (at 15% content), lecithin and vanillin.

How does it taste? The chocolate is definitely dark, and serves as a decent dark chocolate, but certainly not a great one. The almond pieces are big, which is good. Overall, I would say that this bar is okay, and that I would not buy it again.

Trapa Supremo Milk Chocolate with Almonds

This is the third of the chocolate bars I tasted from the Spanish chocolatier Trapa (it seems there have been a lot of bars coming out of Spain to Canada recently, or perhaps I've just noticed them more). This one is a milk chocolate, with 28% cacao content. The ingredient listing looks typical to a milk chocolate bar, sugar, cocoa butter, cocoa mass, milk powder, almonds, cocoa powder, soy lecithin, flavours and salt (again with the salt).

How did it taste? Good milk chocolate, but too few almonds and too small pieces for my tastes. I don't think I would buy this bar again, except for my beautiful Bride, who does like it.

Trapa Supremo Dark Chocolate

This is the second of three chocolate bars I tried from the Spanish Chocolatier Trapa. The ingredient listing looks interesting, with 42% cacao content this is a bittersweet chocolate; sugar, cocoa mass, cocoa butter, cocoa powder, soy lecithin, flavours and salt (this is the interesting part).

How did it taste? Very fruity, maybe too fruity (because of too much artificial flavour?), but a smooth chocolate. It would serve in a pinch as an eating bar, but I would choose other bars over this one.

Dona Jimena Almond Milk Chocolate

Another of the chocolate bars from the Spanish chocolatier Dona Jimena is made of chocolate from Belgium. The cacao content is at 25%, and the ingredient listing is typical for a milk chocolate, sugar, milk powder, almonds (at 15% content), cocoa mass, cocoa butter, soy lecithin and artificial flavour (vanillin).

How does it taste? Good milk chocolate, with fairly large almond pieces, my beautiful Bride liked it, and I could buy it for her.

Dona Jimena 70% Dark Chocolate

This Spanish chocolatier uses Belgian chocolate to make its bars. The ingredient listing is quite good, cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa powder and soy lecithin. No vanilla. The cacao content is at 70%.

How does it taste? Fairly smooth chocolate, a little fruity, but nothing outstanding. I don't think I would buy this bar again.

Valor Dark Chocolate with Banana

My absolute favourite combination for a chocolate fondue is banana, thus I was excited to see this chocolate bar by the Spanish chocolatier Chocolates Valor, S.A. (I've always thought someone should make one). Too, this is a dark chocolate bar; at 70% cacao content, a very dark one (even better - dark chocolate with banana). The ingredient listing looks good, chocolate processed with alkali, sugar, cocoa, cocoa butter, fructose, banana pulp, natural flavour, soy lecithin and citric acid.

How does it taste? Did I set myself up for too much of a disappointment. It certainly smells good, opening the package, looks very dark and snaps well. And the early indications are, that my beautiful Bride enjoyed it when she ate it earlier in the day. So, it does taste good, the chocolate though is perhaps a little too bitter for the combination of banana and chocolate, or perhaps there needed to be more banana (in a fondue, it's banana with a chocolate coating that makes it good). Overall, good but not great. I think I would buy this bar again.

Trapa Supremo Milk Chocolate with Hazelnuts

This milk chocolate bar from the Spanish chocolatier Trapa, from what I've read, uses the same century old recipe that the Trapesian monks created in 1891 in Palencia, Spain. I have also seen the bittersweet chocolate version in the Supremo line, but there are ones with white chocolate, rice crispies and almonds. They also make several other lines of chocolate, with specialty ingredients, some with Swiss chocolate. The ingredients of this bar are definitely milk chocolate, with sugar, cocoa butter, cocoa mass, whole milk powder, hazelnuts (pieces), defatted cocoa powder, soy lecithin, flavours and salt (an unusual ingredient for chocolate bars). There is no indication of the cacao content or origin.

How does it taste? Fairly good, sweet, the bar smells of the hazelnuts as you open the package, and there are lots of hazelnut pieces within. I think I could buy this again.

Amatller Cacao Ecuador 85

Another of the chocolate bars, the last, I tried from the Spanish chocolatier Chocolates Simon Coll, S.A., this bar is made from cacao from Ecuador, at 85% cacao content. Like the other bars from this chocolatier, the ingredient listing looks good, just cocoa mass and sugar.

How does it taste? Good, but like all bars above above 80% cacao content, it tends to be a little chalky and what I can only describe as "crunchy", so not smooth and melting well. A decent offering from this Spanish company, but not their best.

Amatller Cacao Ecuador

I was convinced before that cacao from Ecuador was really good, initial contact with chocolate made from beans from there tasted really good. The more recent ones I have tasted have not been so good, and this is yet another example. Perhaps it depends on the beans, you can get bad beans from any country, and you can't make good chocolate out of bad beans, but you can make bad chocolate out of good beans. This is another offering I tasted from the Spanish chocolatier Chocolates Simon Coll, S.A., their Amatller line features a number of different regional cacaos and different cacao contents. This one is 70% cacao content, and again, the ingredient listing looks good, just cocoa mass and sugar.

How does it taste? Not bad, not as good as I would have liked. A reasonable dark chocolate bar, that I might eat given the choice.

Amatller Extra Fine

This latest offering from the Spanish chocolatier Chocolates Simon Coll, S.A. that I tried is a Dark chocolate, in that it has 50% cacao content, different than the 70% that I tried before. The ingredient listing is fairly good, short, just sugar, cocoa mass, cocoa butter, soya lecithin as an emulsifer, and vanillin.

How does it taste? Definitely sweeter than the other Amatller bars I have I eaten, good though, a solid middle-of-the-road chocolate, that you could eat in a pinch.

Valor Dark Chocolate with Hazelnuts

I have tried several of this Spanish company's offerings, Chocolates Valor, S.A., and have liked most of them, I was intrigued by this bar, because it was dark chocolate, it contained whole hazelnuts, and it was so big (250 g) (which cost $7). The ingredient listing leads me to believe that it meets the requirements of being dark chocolate (ie. has more than 49% cacao, but not much more), but otherwise looks good, sugar, chocolate processed with alkali, hazelnuts, cocoa butter, soya lecithin (as an emulsifier) and vanillin (artificial vanilla).

How did it taste? Despite my expectations, it tasted like a dark milk chocolate, "sweet dark chocolate" is how I would describe it. I liked the crunchy whole hazelnuts, which worked well with the chocolate. Overall, I would rate this in the middle of the pack, I would eat it over other bars, but if I had better bars in the house, then not.

Amatller Chocolate Negro Cacao Ghana 85%

The second of the Ghana Cacao chocolate bars I tried from Chocolate Simon Coll, S.A. features a cacao content of 85%. Again, there's not much to say about the ingredients, just cocoa mass and sugar.

How does it taste? Better than the 70% cacao version, and it did not suffer from the chalkiness you can get from a high cacao content chocolate bar. It tastes very chocolate-y and smells pretty good.

Amatller Extra Fine Dark Chocolate

The second of the several chocolate bars of the longtime, since 1797, Spanish chocolatier Chocolate Simon Coll, S.A. is labelled as Extra Fine Chocolate, with a cacao content of 70%, though there is no indication of the origin of the cacao beans. The ingredient listing is short, just cocoa mass, sugar, soya lecithin and vanillin. The chocolate is wrapped in gold foil inside.

How does it taste? Again, like the Ghana chocolate bar from Amatller I tried earlier, I was struck by how fruity it smelled upon opening the wrapping. The chocolate snapped fairly well. Chewing on it, it did not taste chalky. It did not melt so smoothly in my mouth. Overall, I liked this one better than the previous one, a better than medium chocolate, one I would put on my list of "buy if I can find it and it's not so expensive" chocolate bars.

Amatller Chocolate Negro Ghana

I recently came across several of this Spanish chocolatier Chocolate Simon Coll, S.A., they have been in existence since 1797. There's not much to say about the ingredients, just cocoa mass and sugar, with a cacao content of 70%. The cacao beans come from Ghana, I would say, from the outside of the box. The chocolate is wrapped in a dark plastic rather than foil.

How does it taste? I was struck by how fruity it smelled upon opening the wrapping. Looking at the squares, they looked a little dull and not so deep brown as one would expect 70% chocolate to be. Too, the chocolate was not so smooth when I put it into my mouth. It tasted pretty good, a medium quality chocolate, though I don't think that it would become one of my favourites. Perhaps the Ghana beans are not to my liking.