Sugar Savvy

First off, I love the size of this Dolfin bar. As someone who is frantically trying to eat as wide a variety of food as possible in the next two months, I really appreciate the 30g size as I can happily eat it in one go before moving onto the next treat in my pantry (okay, so everyone else would call my pantry a wardrobe, but there are more snacks than food in it at the moment so pantry is correct in my mind).

This Dolfin 60% Dark White Pepper and Cardamom bar had a crisp snap to it, indicating high quality cocoa butter and good tempering. Upon smelling the bar, I could discern hints of cardamom, but I’m not sure if I could have detected the white pepper had I not known it was there. I was expecting a bigger spice hit than I initially experienced, but the white pepper did gradually create a (very) slight burn in the back of the throat. As cardamom is a strong spice, I was also prepared for this flavor to dominate the chocolate, but instead it was nicely blended in with the pepper to create a general sense of spice that suited the percentage of the chocolate really well.

The chocolate is not chalky or bitter, and with the combination of spices, it is simultaneously sweet, spicy, cool and warming. The beans are from Guatemala, and the chocolate itself is made in Belgium, so I would rather not think about the food miles of this little treat. There was no crunchiness from the spice, although after noting this, I realized that the reason I often associate spicy chocolates with bits of crunch is that many such bars also have cacao nibs in them. In contrast, this is a very smooth bar, quite subtle to my taste, and therefore could be a good introduction for someone interested in moving into the realm of spiced chocolates.