Shattel: Kimbiri Peru 70%

Goodness, I didn't realize it had been over a year since I looked at that first bar from Shattell. Maybe it's just as well that they ended up spaced out: they're both fantastic bars of chocolate, each worthy of getting their own spotlight. This one has more of a flavor journey going on, though, a journey through different seasons, too.

I admit, I like this packaging less than with the other. Maybe simply because I prefer green to pink. The design still has the look of Peru, though, which is nice (reminder, Shattell is a Peruvian company). Both bars are made with chocolate grown in Peru, but this one is specifically from Kimbiri. I love that Shattell is showcasing their cocoa to the world. The chocolate's aroma here simply gives a deep chocolate scent. The layers don't really begin until you start tasting.

The start is dark and cloudy, like a storm is about to start brewing. The texture, like with the other bar, is almost dusty. Then everything smoothes out and the chocolate becomes a little sweeter. I begin to think that Shattell must use a less processed type of sugar than what American and European chocolate makers use; their sweetness tastes completely different and much nicer.

Some tang begins that's lightly floral. The flavor that I call silvery works in. Then some banana begins, nice and mellow. Here the weather changes and we're on a walk through a pretty little park on a sunny day. Picturesque and cute, like in a movie. The banana flavor strengthens. As the chocolate melts, it leaves a delightfully full and yet light aftertaste.

I love a good flavor journey. I used to always make comparisons between the flavor of chocolate and the weather (I love talking about the weather, by the way--it isn't small talk to me, it's intense talk). Then I stopped. Maybe I got stagnant creatively (or didn't want either to just keep repeating myself or to force it); maybe I stopped tasting as much inspiring chocolate. So its nice to start again.

I'm also all about the metaphors. This chocolate bar is hope. The sun breaks through the clouds.

Shattell: Peru 70% Cocoa

While World Market did have a few bars from Shattell, I decided to just start with one--and now probably they don't even have the rest anymore. If that's the case, that's kind of a shame: this has turned out to be a gorgeous bar of chocolate.

I chose the 70% Cacao bar, marked as Single Origin Pucacaca - Peru. The cool thing is that this chocolate is both sourced from Peru and made in Peru. Shattell is based in Lima. So we're continuing our trend here of trying chocolate made in a greater variety of countries--and it's even better that besides just being from a country whose chocolate I don't come across often, this chocolate is made in the country in which it was grown. (That was not a wordy sentence; I don't know what you're talking about.) And it's organic, which is great, as well.

The packaging hits that trendy mark that gives a sense of the natural world, artisan products, etc. Inside the blue, llama-bedecked card box is a matte gold wrapper, which makes for a nice change from the usual gold/silver foil or clear wrap. The bar is quite beautiful. Even though the design is simply rectangles, there is a subtle curving to them that enhances the look. The surface, too, comes across as rich and red and more than usually appealing. Because the aroma is both pleasant and bitter, I worried that the chocolate might taste overly bitter.

That, however, did not end up being the case. The first phrase that came to mind initially was cherry bark. I guess the flavor was halfway between sweet and zingy. The texture, from the start, was slightly dusty. Quickly, the flavor developed into that specific taste belonging to cocoa nibs; this is a flavor that can be potentially bitter but in this case didn't register at all as such. There is definitely some sweetness to this chocolate; it's the sweetness of unrefined cane sugar, though, along with warm cocoa flavor. So simple, that's how this chocolate's flavor comes across--and yet it is so specific that it feels quite artful. It hits that line where it tastes of chocolate but is also sweet and yet not in that weird "sweet dark chocolate" way at all.

And that slight dusty texture? It continues throughout, but it works here and somehow goes beautifully with the flavor. I don't know, it makes me feel like someone just made this chocolate in their home in front of me and then offered it to me and I ate it like a piece of gingerbread. There truly is something stylistically different about this chocolate compared with the usual chocolates made in the U.S. or U.K. or Europe. So I'll repeat what I said earlier: this chocolate is gorgeous.