Amano Single Origin Bars

Last month I was contacted by the folks at Amano Artisan Chocolate, a company I had not known about before. The company sent us five bars of their chocolate to test out and reveal to you over the course of two posts. We've split the bars into the Dark Chocolate and the Flavored and Inclusion Bars. Today we are going to look at three of their single origin Dark Chocolate bars. All of the bars we are reviewing today were sent to us for free by Amano Artisan Chocolate in exchange for us sharing our honest experience with them with all of you; no other form of compensation was received.

Each bar is wrapped in a black wrapper as you can see in this photo. Any flavors or fragrances I describe is based on the cocoa beans, the soil in which the trees were grown, the conditions under which the beans grew and were harvested, and finally how they were processed into chocolate. Since all of these bars are simple cocoa beans, pure cane sugar, cocoa butter, and whole vanilla beans, the fragrance must be from the beans and the conditions of their growth and processing. That is the point of single origin bars.The three bars are nearly identical; the branding is etched on each of the 24 pieces that make up the bar. Breaking them apart made a sharp snap but it was easy to do. 

We'll start with the Dos Rios 70% 3 oz Dark Chocolate Bar. The beans used for this bar are all from the Dominican Republic, in an area northeast of Santo Domingo, the national capital. For those who do not know, that nation shares the island of Hispaniola with Cuba. The 3 ounce bar is supposed to be two servings according to the label, but at 70%, you may not need a full serving in one setting to feel fully satisfied. When I open the black wrapper, I got wave of dark chocolate, orange, and blueberry scents. I let the first piece melt in my mouth -- the initial flavor was orange then blueberry and finally a lavender with an increasing chocolate flavor with each second that passed; the lavender and the chocolate were the longest lasting of the flavors. the next piece I chew and discover that the lavender and the dark chocolate really stand out with the orange and blueberry bursting out later. Interesting. I'd stick with the melting way of eating this bar personally.

Next I tested the Guayas River Basin 70% 3 oz Dark Chocolate Bar. This is part of Ecuador is the coastal lowlands and is entirely within that country unlike many rivers which cross national borders. The bar had a dark chocolate with earthy qualities. Once again I let the first piece melt in my mouth -- the initial flavor is surprisingly bland, the earthy chocolate is the dominant essence then slowly I get a bit of a smoky and then blackberry notes that fades into a more green banana flavor that I'm not fond of but luckily the chocolate itself stays strong and saves it for my taste buds with final flavor back to smoky chocolate. Chewing the second piece after cleansing my mouth reveals smoky flavor first bursting with dark chocolate that quickly turns to green banana and then blackberry. This bar, I'd chew to enjoy personally more than letting it melt in my mouth.

The final single origin, dark chocolate bar for today is the Macorís 70% 3 oz Dark Chocolate Bar. Macorís is back in the Dominican Republic but this time closer to the coastline just east of Santo Domingo. I primarily get a dark chocolate scent this time when I unwrap the bar. Letting the first piece melt in my mouth, I get the dark chocolate then a bit of tanginess, more like molasses and brown sugar than caramel, the darker chocolate keeps pace with the tones of other flavors that have a slight apricot and nutty essence as it keeps melting. I like this one a lot, yet I still need to test the second piece by chewing it. When chewed the dark chocolate flavor is very strong but there is a hint of creaminess as well as the apricot and sweet tang. In this case, I'm torn between whether I prefer to chew or let a piece melt in my mouth.

With each piece, I got that cocoa buzz that I am lucky enough to be gifted to get from dark chocolate. That spoke to the purity of these bars and raised them to Sacrament Status. In terms of my own taste buds, I would rank them in the order of most to least favorite Macorís, Dos Rios, and then the Guayas because I'm not a fan of the green bananas.