Olive & Sinclair Chocolate Review

Why did I not hear about this bar before? Olive & Sinclair chocolate is hand crafted and made in small batches. Old-fashioned and modern techniques are used to create beautiful chocolate bars with a southern flair. There are many bean-to-bar chocolates on the market these days, but not all are created equal. After the cocoa beans are hand sorted at Olive & Sinclair, they are roasted and stone ground, something Scott Witherow, the founder of the company, says reminds him of how traditional grits are made in the South. This is one chocolate that's OK to chew, because you will appreciate the texture of the stone ground product. It yields to the teeth nicely but still has a nice firmness and snap when you break off a piece. Of course letting it melt slowly in your mouth works too.

When I say Olive & Sinclair is hand made, take a look at the old technique of hand sorting the beans here: Olive and Sinclair video

Chocolate bars by Olive & Sinclair

I'm so lucky that my friends and family get my chocolate addiction. The Sea Salt Bar I sampled was given to me by one of my friends. I was very excited to be exploring a bar I had never seen or heard of before. It's surprising to me that this bar isn't on every store shelf here, as it's an all-natural creation made with minimal, pure ingredients, exactly what most Boulderites admire.

When I opened the unpretentious yet nicely-styled package, I was met with a delightful cocoa aroma. My mouth immediately started watering after that, and I couldn't resist a bite before I sat down with a few large squares. I took my time with the rest of the serving.

The flavor goes from fruity to rich chocolate with just a tiny hint of spice and back to fruity. I love chocolates that are hard to describe. They make me want more, so I can try to figure out all the hidden flavors. Whatever the flavors, this bar is not typical. It's complex and intriguing. There's a very slightly bitter taste that's offset with just the right amount of sweetness. It seems that adding brown sugar instead of refined sugar creates a deeper more robust taste and adds faint notes of molasses and caramel. The sea salt plays with your taste buds, increasing and enhancing the flavors of the chocolate when you hit upon the very subtly crunchy saline flakes.

This is a great quality and fun bar to try. It's a must for any chocolate connoisseurs!

Sea Salt  Bar

The bar with a piece broken off and an obvious bite taken out of it. How did that happen? MMmmm

Eclat Chocolate

Oh la la!

As part of the best gift ever, I received a box of Eclat Peruvian Chocolates. I will go into the other half of the gift in another post down the road, but, for now, I want to focus on the truffles. There's a reason why these little gems are considered among the world's finest. They are so sweetly soft and smooth, oh SO smmmmoooth, and made with quite possibly the best chocolate in the world. They are divine in all ways: texture, flavor and quality.

Eclat Chocolate

From their website: Master Chocolatier Christopher Curtin pairs the finest ingredients from Peru and Australia with extensive Belgian culinary experience. Éclat’s award-winning truffle selection proves to be the most exquisite to sample and share.

In addition to the wonderful texture, these chocolates have a magnificent taste. The chocolate is pure, not too sweet but not really bitter either, and the outstanding flavor spreads evenly and freely in the mouth, coating each taste bud without being overpowering. These truffles are delicate and gourmet, but the flavor is still profound without being shocking. These are simply outstanding confections, truly outstanding. It seems a strange contradiction that something this sinful tasting can make a person feel like she's in heaven, but wow these goodies make me swoon. Incredible.

I wish I could share these with every reader, as it's nearly impossible to describe how delicious they are. It's really too bad you can't lick the image to get a taste! Trust me, though, these truffles are amazing.

Hand-Dipped Chocolates

Though machines make beautiful, uniform chocolates, there's something appealing about hand-dipped candies and chocolates.

French Broad Chocolate Bars Review

French Broad Chocolates: http://frenchbroadchocolates.com/

The Man and I were very excited to try French Broad chocolate bars. Before I go into the taste, I have to say how beautifully the bars are packaged. A different colored ribbon is wrapped around the foil on each bar, so just a hint of color shows outside of the paper wrapper. A single bar would make a lovely gift. If you are going to a dinner and want to bring the host something nice, a bar of chocolate like this would be appropriate. The presentation is very elegant. 

The first thing I noticed was that I could smell the chocolate upon opening the package. I was immediately swooning over the incredible chocolate aroma. Some chocolates don't have a strong or enticing scent, but French Broad chocolates will make your mouth water before you even taste them. 

We started off sampling the 81 percent dark chocolate bar. That's a pretty dark bar! It has a nice, sharp snap when you break off a piece, like good chocolate should, and it tasted fresh. Surprisingly, this bar was not bitter at all. Even the finish is nice with a pure cocoa flavor that lingers in your mouth. The descriptions on the French Broad website are accurate, but don't be turned off by what they call the sandy texture of this one. The grittiness is subtle and not at all unpleasant. It actually adds a nice texture to the chocolate, and it quickly melts into a smooth mass in your mouth. There's no doubt about the high quality of the chocolate. It's not at all chalky like some darker bars can be. The flavor was bold without being overpowering. It was truly an outstanding bar. I was so impressed, and even the Man, who's more of a milk chocolate fan, liked it. 

The second bar we sampled was a 75 percent dark chocolate bar with sea salt flakes. We noticed that the salt wasn't too pronounced but it did enhance the chocolate. Even though it was a dark bar, it had a lightness to it and a tang that was reminiscent of good milk chocolate. I absolutely loved it. I thought this bar was outstanding in every way: taste, texture, aroma and balance. We noticed a definite trend, and it seems that all of the French Broad chocolate bars are not overly sweet but not at all bitter.  

The third bar we tried, a Malted Milk Chocolate Bar, is a 45 percent cocoa bar that will knock your socks off. Again, this wasn't overly sweet, which was a nice surprise, as so many milk chocolates are on the too sweet side. In fact, the bar has no more sugar added to it than the 70 percent dark chocolates the French Broad Company makes. The Man was in heaven. Right off the bat, you can detect notes of caramel as the nutty, milky flavor of the malted milk emerges. The taste of rich chocolate quickly follows. As far as milk chocolate goes, this is exceptional. The flavors are unique, and all true milk chocolate lovers will appreciate this bar. The texture of the bar is smooth, yet it clings nicely in your mouth after it melts, allowing the well-rounded flavor to emerge more fully. As the Man pointed out, it has a great mouth feel. 

From their website:

French Broad Chocolates

Actually, our name is quite, um, couth. It is inspired by the mighty French Broad River, a brief account of which we have included below. We were awestruck at the age and majesty of the river running through our chosen home town, and we’re proud to identify with it. It helps us establish our local identity, while having the added benefit of some great double entendre. To us, indulging in handmade chocolate truffles is a sexy and sensual experience, and the suggestive nature of the name “French Broad” speaks well to that.

Robin Chocolates

The Man and I took a quick trip to Robin Chocolates in Longmont where we had some to die for chocolates. We even got to try a new chocolate S'mores item on the menu! Another sample that was outrageously good was the Chocolate Caramel Fleur de Sel. Ohhhhh this little chocolate will float around in my head for days to come. 

We will be doing an interview and a full write up after we take another trip to Robin Chocolates next week, so stay tuned for the full scoop! 

Chocolate Caramel Fleur de Sel

Caramel layered with chocolate caramel and sea salt in a dark chocolate shell

Robin Chocolates

From their website:

We often hear from our customers that our chocolates are too beautiful to eat. We couldn't disagree more. While we do agree that they are beautiful, our goal is to make them taste at least as good as they look. Chocolatier and pastry chef Robin Autorino refers to them as edible art - art for your eyes and your mouth. While we would never recommend tasting a Monet, Picasso, or Rembrandt, we do highly recommend our artisan chocolates and confections.

600 S Airport Rd Bldg B Ste D Longmont CO 80503