Welcome back to Parts II and III of this mini-series, Chocolate Around the World! We're looking at single origin chocolates, i.e. chocolate made exclusively from beans from one specific area of the world. This week I will be reviewing two bars, both made by the Mast Brothers in Brooklyn, NY!
Before I even tried the chocolate, I had some appreciation for this brand. You can tell that this is Chocolate made by Master Chocolatiers by the care that is put into the packaging. The bars are first wrapped in gold foil and then enveloped all the way around like a present (no foil edges sticking out here!), with sturdy decorative paper. On the back, they are sealed with a thick sticker that has a short description of where the chocolate came from. Each bar is stamped with its batch number. Apparently the Mast Brothers have made well over 11 million bars!
Mast Brothers prides itself on being American-made, and their specialty is single origin and single estate bars. Single estate is like singe origin's really intense brother. Not only are the cacao beans from the same part of the world; they are all from the same farm. The bars I've tasted are made with beans from Belize and Peru, and wowee, do they have some distinct characteristics.
The Peru bar is 75% cacao plus a bit of cane sugar. I am used to dark chocolate being rich and creamy, bold and earthy. This bar is super bright and tangy, the flavor spreading in an immediate way like a sour candy. In fact, it is slightly sour, and there is very little lingering aftertaste. According to the Mast Brothers, I should be tasting plum, rhubarb and cinnamon. For me, it was the bright character of the bar that really stood out, rather than the individual flavors, though I did note hints of herbs. Maybe this is the rhubarb!
The Belize bar is also made with only cacao and cane sugar, although it has a slightly lower cacao content (70%). This bar has a very savory character with three distinct flavor stages. The first is very subtle; I was thinking, "For 70% cacao, this doesn't have a super strong chocolate flavor!" The second and longest lasting flavor stage is slightly sweet and luscious. It reminded me of strawberries. The third stage is the aftertaste, which is milky and more diluted-tasting than most dark chocolate. This final flavor stage felt like I had just taken a sip of hot cocoa. Not bad! According to the Mast Brothers, I should be tasting raisin, plum and sarsaparilla. Sarsaparilla is a root and apparently, the inspiration for many a soft drink worldwide.
I do not know how much these bars cost, as they were a gift : ) I suspect that they are in the more pricey range, probably around $8 per bar. Thanks for reading! Strawberry kisses :*:*:*
Before I even tried the chocolate, I had some appreciation for this brand. You can tell that this is Chocolate made by Master Chocolatiers by the care that is put into the packaging. The bars are first wrapped in gold foil and then enveloped all the way around like a present (no foil edges sticking out here!), with sturdy decorative paper. On the back, they are sealed with a thick sticker that has a short description of where the chocolate came from. Each bar is stamped with its batch number. Apparently the Mast Brothers have made well over 11 million bars!
Mast Brothers prides itself on being American-made, and their specialty is single origin and single estate bars. Single estate is like singe origin's really intense brother. Not only are the cacao beans from the same part of the world; they are all from the same farm. The bars I've tasted are made with beans from Belize and Peru, and wowee, do they have some distinct characteristics.
The Peru bar is 75% cacao plus a bit of cane sugar. I am used to dark chocolate being rich and creamy, bold and earthy. This bar is super bright and tangy, the flavor spreading in an immediate way like a sour candy. In fact, it is slightly sour, and there is very little lingering aftertaste. According to the Mast Brothers, I should be tasting plum, rhubarb and cinnamon. For me, it was the bright character of the bar that really stood out, rather than the individual flavors, though I did note hints of herbs. Maybe this is the rhubarb!
The Belize bar is also made with only cacao and cane sugar, although it has a slightly lower cacao content (70%). This bar has a very savory character with three distinct flavor stages. The first is very subtle; I was thinking, "For 70% cacao, this doesn't have a super strong chocolate flavor!" The second and longest lasting flavor stage is slightly sweet and luscious. It reminded me of strawberries. The third stage is the aftertaste, which is milky and more diluted-tasting than most dark chocolate. This final flavor stage felt like I had just taken a sip of hot cocoa. Not bad! According to the Mast Brothers, I should be tasting raisin, plum and sarsaparilla. Sarsaparilla is a root and apparently, the inspiration for many a soft drink worldwide.
I do not know how much these bars cost, as they were a gift : ) I suspect that they are in the more pricey range, probably around $8 per bar. Thanks for reading! Strawberry kisses :*:*:*