Notes on chocolate: good stuff, despite the rude name

Don’t be put off by what it says on the label

Last week’s warning about the very hot chilli chocolate has turned into a hearty recommendation. I’ve had a stuffy head this week, the sort that feels like heavy cement when you bend to pick something up. I had a few pieces of Ramon’s Carolina Reaper, steadied myself for the ride and, boof, better than any pharmaceutical decongestant.

When a chocolate is called Duck Shit Dancong, as Fossa’s is, £8.95/50g, I have to taste it for you, don’t I? Beautiful wrapper btw. Ya Shi Xiang – Duck Shit – is an Oolong tea, so named, apparently, because the farmer who originally grew it wanted to hide his delicious tea and so called it something disgusting. It’s very floral with an acceptable astringent-tea aftertaste. I think if you love tea and you love chocolate, you’ll really like this. It’s definitely a bar to savour and not scoff, and it’s billed as a dark milk, but I didn’t really get that, it feels like a dark chocolate to me.

I mentioned Island chocolate buttons a few weeks ago and this week I also tried their Cocoa & Hazelnut Spread, £10/300g, which is so yummy. It’s super runny, so be careful, but very tasty (over 50% of it is hazelnuts). It’s perfect on pancakes, because why can’t you have a pancake day once a month?

Cocoa Amore’s 65% Tumaco Colombia bar, £2.25/30g, was delicious. By the time I’d got to it on a Tuesday afternoon I’d tested so much chocolate my palate was really jaded and my heartbeat on an unfettered gallop. Yet still, I found it quite hard to stop eating. It’s the sort of dark bar that feels like a real treat.

Follow Annalisa on Twitter @AnnalisaB

Contributor

Annalisa Barbieri

The GuardianTramp

Related Content

Article image
Notes on chocolate: choose the stuff that can beat the heat
Peanut M&Ms can withstand summer temperatures, but there are other solutions too… by Annalisa Barbieri

Annalisa Barbieri

04, Aug, 2019 @5:00 AM

Article image
Notes on chocolate: bespoke stocking fillers (if you’ve been good)
Delicious bars for maximum festive fun

Annalisa Barbieri

13, Dec, 2020 @9:00 AM

Article image
Notes on chocolate: a Eurovision box of chocolate hits
There are no ‘nul points’ in this super selection

Annalisa Barbieri

30, Apr, 2023 @8:01 AM

Article image
Notes on chocolate: gingerbread, gianduja… It’s good to keep an open mind
Unexpected and even challenging flavours to take you out of your comfort zone, by Annalisa Barbieri

Annalisa Barbieri

24, Oct, 2021 @8:00 AM

Article image
Notes on chocolate: pale and interesting
It’s often dismissed by aficionados, but these takes on white chocolate could convert the haters

Annalisa Barbieri

30, Jun, 2019 @5:00 AM

Article image
Notes on chocolate: Oxford’s local heroes
In town for a wedding and a little the worse for wear, Annalisa Barbieri looks for something sweet and soothing

Annalisa Barbieri

22, Sep, 2019 @5:00 AM

Article image
Notes on chocolate: Italy’s finest bar
Gianduia with its micro-ground Piedmontese hazelnuts is gorgeous, if pricey, says Annalisa Barbieri

Annalisa Barbieri

14, Jul, 2019 @5:00 AM

Article image
Notes on chocolate: beyond the bean
Ingenious makers are ensuring no part of the cacao fruit is wasted. By Annalisa Barbieri

Annalisa Barbieri

12, Mar, 2023 @9:00 AM

Article image
Notes on chocolate: dark mode activated
It’s time to explore small, dark bars that pack a cocoa punch

Annalisa Barbieri

10, Sep, 2023 @8:00 AM

Article image
Notes on chocolate: who knew about fibre in chocolate?
High-fibre choc won’t send your blood-sugar levels soaring the way the other stuff does, writes Annalisa Barbieri

Annalisa Barbieri

19, Feb, 2023 @9:00 AM