CACAOTECA Chocolate TASTINGS – Part 1
A First Article!
I am so excited that my debut Chocolate Connoisseur article is a two-part series tasting Cacaoteca Chocolate bars! I’ve eaten their chocolate for years, and it is phenomenal.
Chocolatiers can enter many competitions around the world, and two of the most famous are the International Chocolate Awards and the Academy of Chocolate Awards. Cacaoteca received three Academy of Chocolate Awards over the years, and multiple entries were recognized in the 2021 International Chocolate Awards as well. Every bar on this list has won an award!
Awards certainly don’t mean everything, but in Cacaoteca’s case, they speak to the effort and quality put into each and every bar.
Quick Look at Cacaoteca Chocolate
Started back in 2016, Cacaoteca is located in Santo Domingo, capital of the Dominican Republic. The “D.R.”, nestled between Puerto Rico and Haiti, is a beautiful country, showing off a rare combination of rainforest, savannah, and highlands.
Cacaoteca’s founders, Coral (from the Dominican Republic) and her Canadian husband Edouard, take pride in the use of Dominican cacao, but they also trade directly with other farmers when needed.
While not part of this tasting, as I don’t normally eat white chocolate, I did really enjoy this bar! (photo credit: Cacaotech Chocolate)
Dominican Republic cacao is well known for its “terroir” – a unique combination of environmental factors: natural environment, ecosystem, and different farming methods. Coral and Edouard love to educate the public on Dominican “terroir” and “savoir-faire” as well – the French term for “know-how” that for Cacaoteca refers to artisanal mastery, technical expertise, and refined craftsmanship.
Notes on Chocolate Tastings
For me, I do all my chocolate tastings the same way: at 10:30AM, after a lot of water, before lunch, with my scrapbook and chocolate tasting journal in hand. If you do your tasting too early in the day, your mouth may still be dry from overnight, which can pull moisture from the chocolate, making it dry and crumbly.
Also, make sure to keep a palate cleanser ready between bars! I use plain Organic Triscuit crackers, or thin slices of a somewhat tart-ish apple, with some sort of sparkling water… seriously, sparkling water really makes a difference!
Let the Bar Tastings Begin…
Alright, today I’m tasting the first two of four different Cacaoteca bars, so let’s dive into the chocolate.
One early observation – Cacaoteca puts together some undeniably amazing bar packaging. The artwork is beautiful, and each bar features a different artistic design. Think vibrant colors – bold purples, blues, and greens – that help bring to life different nature and farm scenes.
One thing to keep in mind for each of these bars, there is a unique, granular texture to each of them, which I love. I know some people don’t like granular texture chocolate, so just something to keep in mind. Let’s get started, tasting the bars in order of increasing cacao percentages.
photo credit: Bar and Cocoa
Bar #1 – Cacaoteca Chocolate 51% Dark Milk
This bar is considered a “dark milk” chocolate bar. When tasting this bar, you can taste an interesting combination of coffee and fruit notes that linger in your palate for a short duration of time, and you don’t get a gross aftertaste like you do with some other “dark milk” bars.
It’s hard to compare preferences in a chocolate lineup with different bars from the same company, but if I had to choose between Cacaoteca’s 51% and their 63%, I would go with their 63% (up next). If you are experimenting with flavor wheels and trying to wrap your head around a tasting procedure, this is a great “dark milk” one to get your percentages, ranges, and flavor profiles down.
Its listed tasting notes are earthy and tobacco.
Bar Ingredients: cocoa mass, milk powder, cane sugar, cocoa butter, soy lecithin, vanilla extract, salt
photo credit: Bar and Cocoa
Bar #2 – Cacaoteca Chocolate 63% Dark
This is the first in the list here that’s a “dark chocolate” bar, no milk in the ingredient list. The three ingredients in this bar are simply cacao, cane sugar, and cacao butter. It smells delicious, has a great snap, melts slowly, and you can really see the cinnamon-colored sheen on the bar, to the point that it nearly reflects light.
When you unwrap the outer packaging, and then the interior clear plastic, you see their company name punched in individual letters all over the bar, with a compass symbol on the center. It truly is such a pretty chocolate bar. You’ll taste a little bitterness with a hint of the cane sugar, and it is absolutely perfect!
Its listed tasting notes are citrus and almonds.
Bar Ingredients: cocoa mass, cane sugar, cocoa butter
photo credit: Cacaotech Chocolate
A Few Final Notes
When you look at the ingredient list on each of these bars, the list is refreshingly short. Of note, Cacaoteca does use an emulsifier in their 51% bar, but that certainly doesn’t mean it’s a bad bar or poorly made. We would also prefer to see organic milk and not milk powder, but these are still fabulous bars nonetheless.
The price point for Cacaoteca bars is extraordinary. Individual Cacaoteca Chocolate bars are only $8.50 on the Bar & Cacoa website. They are delicious, and if you need to give someone a beautiful and unique gift who loves chocolate (including yourself!), this is the way to go. You can also click here to learn more about the bars on the Cacaoteca website.
I recommend purchasing one of each of the bars in my tastings – White Chocolate 32% (not included in my tastings, but it’s one of the only white chocolate bars I truly enjoy), Dark Milky 51%, Dark Chocolate 63%, Dark Intense 78%, and Dark El Arca 84%. Next week will feature the final two bars on this list.
Two quick final comments… first, I have yet to try Cacaoteca’s 100% bar or their rum truffles yet, so they won’t be covered.
And secondly, just a general note on dedicated chocolate tastings… if you’re new to the process, start by taking a close look at any chocolate before you even purchase it. Is the ingredient list extensive, as in more than a handful of ingredients? Can you pronounce the words? Does it look someone printed a chemical factory’s inventory list on the label? Trust your instincts here, and believe me, that will also translate over time into you trusting your tastebuds!
Back next week with part two.
