Amano, Hermano

Via BlakeMakes.com and their Soopz network, this week I received three Amano Single Origin dark chocolate bars in the mail.

I heart dark chocolate, but I'm very demanding and more then a little snobbish about it. I am happy to report that Amano's bars made my heart flutter and my tastebuds dance with delight. All three are lovely, shiny looking bars with a strong snap. And talking about snap, each bar can be broken (or, using my preferred method of cutting with a serrated knife) into 15 squares, making sampling all three in one sitting an easy task.

The Ocumare (70% cacao - Venezuela) is the most typical of the bars. But when I say typical, I perhaps mean traditional tasting, as it stays truest to what you would expect in a dark chocolate. But, at the same time, it brings that flavour profile to a completely different level. Deep, and dark and peppery. This is a small bite bar, for sure - which just means that the savouring and tasting can go on for days.

The Cuyagua (70% cacao - Venezuela) is the newest, and limited edition, product in the Amano line-up. Though still possessing a lovely dark chocolate canvas, it layers on sweeter berry and tree-fruit flavours to an excellent effect.

The Madagascar (70% cacao - Madagascar) is my favourite, through and through. Biting into a square was revelatory, as the dark, deep chocolate was imbued with an excellent tart, tangy and citrus-y note. It also had a lovely, lighter feeling on the tongue then the more buttery feeling Ocumare.

Heart dark chocolate. Heart Amano. The end.