September 22, 2008

Candy Review: Theo Madagascar, 65% Cacao

We've covered Theo for their ethical production and their "bean-to-bar" operations, we thought it high time we take Theo chocolate for a test drive or two. So we checked out theri 65% cacao content Madagascar bar.

Sadly, the test drive didn't go as well as we had hoped when looking at them in the showroom.

Let's start on a positive note. The packaging is beautiful, and the bar itself is elegant in its simplicity. There are no imprints, nothing fancy, just straight-up dark (and we mean dark) bars of chocolate.

We found the bar to be crumbly and dry. And it doesn't melt very smoothly in your mouth. In fact, when we looked at the cross-section after biting into it, you could see the gray striations in the chocolate - a sure indicator that something went wrong in the production.

From a flavor standpoint, again the experience fell short. We were expecting a rich, deep, complex experience, but found the chocolate had little depth of flavor and little to no finish.

We're hoping this is just an old batch, perhaps, although the "Best By" date is 04/09? We're just having a disconnect between Theo's reputation and the actual chocolate we tried.

We're reviewing Theo's Limited Edition Dark later this week, so stay tuned.

Buy Theo Chocolate Here