Wednesday, April 16, 2008

7. Feinherb 60% (Bio)


Since I had the honour of picking yesterday's flavour, it was only natural that Dan picked today's. Being the to-the-point MANLY MAN that he is, he settled promptly for the Feinherb 60% (Dark Chocolate 60%) chocolate bar from the Bio series.

One of my favourite flavours from Ritter Sport is the Halbitter 50%, so I thought to myself, this is my chance to push the chocolate envelope.


I love reading the descriptions of the chocolate bars in the Bio category because they are just so damn fancy and exotic. A blend of chocolate from Ecuador, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic? That's a little tropical vacation in a tiny chocolate square right there.


Sweetness: 3 out of 5


Of course it wasn't that sweet at all. It was nice, strong, bitter and very cacao-y with a mild aftertaste that I cannot really describe. Somehow it made me think of the Olmecs and the Mayans, DISCOVERING the cacao tree and exploring its uses in its purest forms. My mind wanders too much sometimes. Now if only I could focus on work a bit more...


I liked it, but I realized that my palate isn't really as mature as I would like to have thought it is. Oh well.


Texture: 4 out of 5

Pure chunk of dark chocolate - almost as dark as my black black heart.


Devourability: 3.5 out of 5


Once again, the 65 g Bio Ritter Sports are a lot smaller than the 100 g regulars, so my portion disappeared into thin air in a matter of minutes. Even the individual squares were smaller! I understand that with fine quality, you have to sacrifice quantity, but I am a greedy little bastard who wants it all.


Frequency: 1.5 out of 5

Eh. Once again, my cheapo self rears its nasty head, and I am just not willing to buy a smaller chocolate bar for a higher price just because it was handled in a cleaner and more earth conscious way. The taste, while quite nice, was not enough to make up for the price and size difference.

Aren't you proud of me?


Overall: 12 out of 20

Superior chocolate makers such as Ritter Sport have the advantage that because of their high-quality ingredients, they can be more transparent about their product and offer such an unadulterated product. With this chocolate bar, I realized that I am not a mature chocolate taster or a purist at all. I am in fact, quite a fan of when non-cocoa-y gunk mixes into the final product.

It was a good little stepping-stone to face the most cacao-y of the Ritter Sport brand though: To the monster, the mighty, Edel-Bitter (75% cacao), I declare: "I am ready!" (methinks)

4 comments:

Unknown said...

Yo Missy,
is Dan P still in or are you eating all the chocolate alone? I could help out if you want me to...

Anonymous said...

All you need to do is eat plain dark chocolate for a while, and you'll develop a taste for it. After eating so much flavored and filled chocolates, then yeah, a solid dark bar will taste too strong.

By the way, have you heard of Zotter? His flavor combinations will blow you away. Plus, he has twice as many as Ritter, and he's always making new ones.

Shelley said...

Talke, believe it or not, Dan P is finally back to reviewing! Slowly but surely... but baby steps are good. :)

Hans, thank you so much for your great recommendations.
No, I hadn't heard of Zotter before but I just looked it up on the Internet. Those flavour combos sound amazing! Banana curry? Lemon polenta? Spicy chicken ensemble?

My curiosity has officially been sparked. I have too much to learn in this chocolate world.

Anonymous said...

i used to loathe dark chocolate when i was a kid.. so bitter, i didn't see a point. even today, i am partial to sweet milk chocolate, as i'm just a total sugar whore. but once in a while, (when i'm at home in cali) i'll feel SOPHITCATED enough to gobble on some cacao. and it's good for you too, supposedly. GOBBLE UP, PIGGY.