Cacao Connoissieur’s Club

Cacao Connoisseur’s Club July 2010 Selection Beans from Cuba; land of festivity, flavor, color. Planted in Madagascar by chocolate maker extraordinaire Francois Pralus. Island brought to island. Bright and heady– curry, spice, peppercorns; leafy, like tobacco; caramel-sweet, like oolong tea. A slight bitter parting reminds us of the darkness in the sweetness that is Cuba.

Cacao Connoisseur’s Club June 2010 Selection The small first nibble breaks onto your tongue; a tree falling in an African rainforest and consciously making a sound. This chocolate is not delicate. The chocolate melts against the roof of your mouth, fills your cheeks and throat and becomes sweet. Most curious. This chocolate is delicate. Clearly

November 2009 Cacao Connoisseur’s Club Tasting Notes Potent fragrance of olivewood. The tiniest sliver on the tongue hits your mouth with the intensity and power of a locomotive: clean, fruity, a little tart, softening slightly as it fills your mouth. Brightness settles, leaving you uplifted.

October 2009 Cacao Connoisseur’s Club Tasting Notes Soft and creamy with notes  of caramel and spiced black cherries.

Beans from Sur del Lago in Maracaibo in Venezuela. The chocolate is dark but light on your tongue. Notes of raisins, Notes of cocoa and then it goes away Leaving nothing but the thought of chocolate. Two olive oil truffles wrapped in Maracaibo. Eat them quickly, the shells are delicate and thin.

From Maglio Arte Dolciaria in Italy, this bar comes in a square cardboard box that tapers slightly on the bottom. The bar itself is a 50 gram square of deep matte brown with a hint of yellow.

December 2008. Amano Jembrana. The island of Bali grows a small amount of cacao and Utah chocolate maker Art Pollard has used it to create a masterpiece.

November 2007. Bernard Castelain Macaibo. The aroma is pure cacao and heavenly.

July 2008. Valrhona’s Palmira is produced entirely from beans grown at a single plantation in western Venezuela; a region revered for fine criollo cacao.

June 2008. Each year, Mack Domori hand selects the three cacao varietals that will make up the year’s Blend N°1.