The bar had a bittersweet aroma, fruity without being too acidic

It was bitter at first, which turned to vanilla and raspberry

smooth melt, silky, earthy chocolate after taste

The aroma of the chocolate is flowery and mellow, with caramel/vanilla undertones. Essentially, it smells sweet.

The first flavor is citrusy, but it immediately changes over to a more robust caramel flavor as it begins to melt (though towards the end I noticed that a fruity essence returned). Overall good flavor, though not especially creamy and didn’t melt very smoothly in my mouth. I did miss the bitterness of cocoa, so I could have gone for a little less sugar (but it’s 62%..).

The aroma of the chocolate is vanilla and strawberries, almost like strawberry shortcake or something!

The first burst of flavor I got was banana, though it was very short-lived. As it began to melt, it developed more berry-like flavors which became an earthy cacao flavor. The box does describe it as “smooth & fruity” and I’d say that was right -  it did melt pretty smoothly, though wasn’t particularly creamy.

The aroma was at first of a sweet caramel, which gave way to fruitier undertones.

The first flavor I detected was banana. The banana flavor remained in the forefront for the entire process, but as it melted other tropical fruitiness came out. The fruitiness prevented bitterness while not being too sweet – a good transition bar for anyone afraid to try really dark chocolate.

Chocolove - Chocolatour 70%, Dominican Republic

The aroma is very flowery, like roses and tulips (though the wrapper describes it as similar to a glass of wine, which I didn’t really get..).

At first, the chocolate has a slightly bitter smoky flavor, but quickly melts into a tangy fruity flavor like passionfruit and citrus. It has a dry finish, similar to the feeling of a white wine. It has a smooth texture as it melts.

The review paper is called “Theobroma cacao L., the Food of the Gods: A scientific approach beyond myths and claims” (M. Rusconi and A. Conti, Pharmac. Res. 2010 (61): 5-13) and discusses a few interesting points I wanted to share.

The amount of antioxidants, or polyphenols, in a dark chocolate bar varies greatly between manufacturers. In fact, beans from different countries can have different levels of polyphenols, then, depending on the fermentation, roasting and manufacturing processes, the amounts are further varied. A typical dark chocolate bar (greater than 35% cacao) can have anywhere from 0.3 – 2.5 g of antioxidants per 100 g of chocolate. That’s a pretty big range, and unfortunately there’s really no way to tell unless you analyze the chocolate in a lab, and most chocolate makers don’t do that. So, while a higher percentage of chocolate most likely contains more antioxidants, it’s not always certain.

The majority of antioxidants in chocolate are called catechins (same ones as found in green tea..) or are groups of two catechins (or dimers, called procyanidin).  When you eat chocolate, the dimers can break in half in your stomach, which makes it easier for them to be absorbed into your bloodstream in the intestines. It also doesn’t seem to matter if you eat chocolate or drink cocoa – the catechins are still found in your bloodstream relatively quickly after eating. This contradicts an older study that said the presence of milk prevents the absorption of catechins, though they are not sure why. I guess this is still something open to debate and study.

Chocolate is the third greatest source of antioxidants in the American diet, after fruits and vegetables! However, I highly doubt people will start saying “A chocolate bar a day keeps the doctor away.” It can certainly help increase your antioxidant intake, but the typical chocolate bar is also a great source of fat and sugar. That doesn’t really stop me from eating a lot of it, though

The chocolate has a very sweet and flowery aroma. At first, the flavor is sweet also, but quickly melts into a rich cocoa bitterness. It has an earthy mellowness to it – it’s not bitter in an acrid way, but is satisfying. It has an incredibly smooth texture that belies its 85% cacao content (and lack of soy lecithin as an emulsifier) but can only be credited to the 18 micron particles. mmmmmmm

The chocolate itself has a warm chocolatey aroma with subtle fruity smells. It melts smoothly and at first has that slight bitterness we expect from dark chocolate. It mellows as it continues to melt and has maybe raspberry undertones.

It has a slight different experience when eaten together with a piece of candied ginger. The bittery spice of the ginger is not too overpowering, but does mask any bitterness in the chocolate, leaving a pleasant sensation in your mouth. I have decided I need to learn how to make candied ginger… it is so delicious! I think I would actually pick off all the pieces and eat them plain if the texture of them with the chocolate didn’t play off eachother so nicely!

To sum up (and translate the title!), there are small molecules in chocolate called phenols which the researchers extracted from both roasted and unroasted cacao beans (for comparison). They fed them to liver cells and observed some interesting results. After letting the cells “consume” the chocolate chemicals, they added celecoxib (CLX), which is an anti-inflammatory drug that is known to kill liver cells by causing them to go into a process called apoptosis. Apoptosis is also known as programmed cell death, or cell suicide, and is a very complicated process by which cells detect that they are damaged or under too much stress and gradually shut down and die.

They looked at the cells after giving them CLX to see how many were still alive. More cells survived if they had been fed chocolate. The researchers showed that the chemicals in chocolate can actually protect the cells from apoptosis and keep them alive so they have a chance to recover. That’s pretty cool! That means it could be possible to help protect your liver from disease by eating chocolate!

A few disclaimers: The study was done in vitro which means in glass, so the cells are not in their natural environment. Therefore, it is possible that cells behave differently in the body than they do in a petri dish. In addition, unroasted chocolate was better than roasted chocolate in this study, but we usually eat chocolate that has been roasted. There are more, but I won’t get into them here.

However, who doesn’t love a good excuse to really enjoy that dark chocolate bar?

I have noticed that these bars are very simply molded – no frilly shapes or inprints, just a block of rectangles. I kind of like that (after all, I’m going to eat it rather quickly..).

The aroma of the 72% is sweet and fruity – definitely makes me think citrus. At first, I get a strong cocoa flavor but as it melts citrus and flowery flavors become apparent. According to the tasting notes at their website, a finish of coffee can be tasted, though I must admit I don’t really get that at the end. The finish to me maintained a fresh feeling that was more flowery than roasted.