Vintage Plantations: St. Martin, Peru

Vintage Plantations really does do some pretty packaging. The artsy green, purple, red-brown, and yellow shades of this paper envelope excite attention and bring that same attention back to the source of this chocolate, the cocoa plantation. You can see the purple pods growing off of the tree there on the right. 

I believe this is my third bar from Vintage Plantations. It's a standard cocoa content at 75%; the origin is St. Martin, Peru. Given what I have said before about the store where I've been buying these bars, I should have opened this one up as soon as I bought it: they tend to sit on those shelves for a while. But I guess I was so busy with other chocolate products that I let this one sit even longer, so that it is, sadly, now far from its prime. So no comments on texture or melting: it has turned kind of stiff with age, as chocolate does. But the flavors are still in there, so that is what I will turn the focus toward. 

This chocolate tastes exactly like the packaging. Bright and bold, yet with a deeper subtlety. I always describe cacao nibs as having a blue or purple taste--that's very similar to what I'm getting from this bar. That deep fruit richness, as opposed to the bouncier fruity notes of chocolate made with cocoa beans from Madagascar. It isn't bitter at all, which makes its depth smooth and tranquil. After you've had a few pieces, maybe you start to get just a hint of sugar sweetness (the only sweetener, of course, is organic evaporated cane sugar). The only other ingredients, I might add, are cocoa beans and some additional cocoa butter. No vanilla, which is a testament to how well Vintage Plantations can bring out flavor: most companies add vanilla.

Honestly, I wasn't too excited on starting this bar (despite the pretty packaging) because I knew it was probably getting a little old. But I find that I'm still enjoying it: there is still so much more depth of flavor than so many dark chocolates have. I'm beginning to wonder why I don't see or hear more about Vintage Plantations; maybe it's because they're on the East Coast. Because, otherwise, they have so many factors right: organic, bean-to-bar, attention to the plantations, nice packaging, and depth of flavor. 

Vintage Plantations: Rice Milk

You know, I'm sure, that chocolate has a long shelf life. So when you buy a chocolate bar whose expiration date is two months away, you know that it has been sitting on the shelf for a very long time. And you pity the lonely chocolate. 

I am speaking of the Rice Milk bar from Vintage Plantations, for yes, I did enjoy their 90% bar enough that I picked up another of their products the next time I was near the same candy store. I looked past the flavored bars and thought that milk chocolate would be good this time--except that this almost is a flavored bar. It is milk chocolate made with rice milk powder instead of regular milk products. Naturally, then, the rice does add its own flavor. 

As you can see, the poor chocolate does look like it's close approaching its due date. The fine face is turning white. And alas, the mouthfeel is poor. I do believe this is due to the chocolate's age and not to VP's chocolate processing methods. And if that is true, then I am all the more sad for this chocolate because, let me tell you, it smells delicious. Red and warm like rich fudge and chocolate come together, almost nutty from the rice, and just slightly sweet. It smells like a very deep milk chocolate, maybe a 46% cacao. But the thing is, I think this must be a very light milk chocolate. There is no mention of the cocoa percentage, but the only added chocolate product is cocoa butter. 

Let me try to ignore the loose texture that doesn't come together in a single melting the way chocolate, under the right circumstances, does. Let's move over to flavor instead. For all my comments about the light cocoa percentage, I get a taste of cocoa nibs that usually only comes with very dark chocolate. You know, that cool blue taste that sometimes flirts with bitterness. But it isn't bitter at all here, just unexpected. Then you get in the sweetness of the sugar and vanilla. And there is the distinctive rice taste, familiar to anyone who has ever had rice milk. Or horchata. I find myself thinking of horchata after the chocolate melts; I can just picture a hint of cinnamon added in. It's a warm finish, very comforting.

I don't think I've ever had chocolate like this. It's sweet milk chocolate with every bit of cloying, greasy nonsense taken away until all you have is tender chocolate with warm flavor accents. It has as much depth as dark chocolate--well, it has even more depth than some dark chocolates. For something unique and yet also simple, this is a lovely bar of chocolate. 

Vintage Plantations - 90% Cacao

The universe has answered my plea. I was, you will recall, complaining about the lack of fine chocolate available to purchase where I live. There is still very little variety, but I did happen on a good find. I am in Prescott quite often; while there, I ducked into a candy store seeking a lollipop (I've been obsessed with lollipops lately for some reason). Well, it isn't so much a candy store as a praline store, but I have learnt not to buy the chocolate products they make themselves. And it was there that I found a few pleasant looking bars from Vintage Plantations. 

I glanced at the ingredients (just the cocoa beans, cocoa butter, and sugar) and decided to take a nice plain, dark one--the 90%. If the 90% was good, I figured the brand would be good: there's no chocolate test like the very dark chocolate test. If a brand can't pull off a dark, dark chocolate and still keep in good flavor and texture, then that brand just isn't on par. 

As it turns out, Vintage Plantations sounds like just what a chocolate company should be. The company began in 1997 from the observations and plans of Pierrick Chouard and Allen Suarez. They wanted to bring back focus on the quality and flavor of cocoa beans instead of just volume, and they wanted to work directly with the plantations and farmers. Vintage Plantations was the first chocolate company to be part of the Rainforest Alliance. The chocolate used to be made in Ecuador, but the company had to move production over to the U.S. in 2008. Everything up to the pre-grinding, however, takes place in the country where the cocoa was grown. If you'd like to read up more, I'd highly recommend the articles on their website. Although the text could use a bit of grammar type of editing, it's full of good information. I particularly like that their tasting steps include Your Opinion. That's what I'm always trying to explain: there are certain traits of better and lesser chocolate, but ultimately the best kind is the kind you enjoy the most. If I understand correctly, Vintage Plantations sources their beans in Ecuador, Peru, and Nicaragua. 

So. You've already seen the pretty wrapper. The painting is by Charlotta Janssen; if you look closely, you can see that the bottom half shows cacao trees growing. Inside the paper envelope is a sealed wrapper that protects the chocolate. Mine had a very thin coating of bloom, but that's nothing out of the ordinary for a 90% chocolate bar that was sitting in a random candy store in Arizona. Other than that, it looks good. Nice reddish color and molding, along with perfectly sized pieces. 

After I break off one piece, I like to put it in my mouth and give it two soft chews. You definitely want to let the chocolate melt, but sometimes a soft chew or so helps, especially with a very dark chocolate. Guittard's 91% bar (the Nocturne) is probably one of my favorite chocolates and I've sampled at least three different 100% bars, so I'm not coming to Vintage Plantations with no experience in darkness. What I've noticed is that it isn't just flavor that's difficult to get right. We all expect a chocolate with this high of a cocoa content to be bitter; we're prepared for that possibility. Texture is the one, I think, less people think about beforehand. If you don't have a careful chocolate making process down, the texture suffers. Lindt can't handle very dark chocolate: their 99% bar feels like it's almost falling apart in your mouth, rather than simply melting. Vintage Plantations handles it all better. 

For all my talk about experience, I do usually have to have a piece or two to get my mouth used to the chocolate and akin to any bit of bitterness; it reminds me of taking a first sip of a mixed drink, where all you can taste is the alcohol, and then by the second sip you can appreciate all the flavors. This bar's aroma is blue, like cacao nibs. In fact, the first taste was like putting a few nibs into my mouth. It definitely felt bitter. But by the second or third piece, the bitterness faded and I was left with luxurious chocolate slowly melting in my mouth. The texture is just a tad on the dusty side, not quite as smooth as some chocolates of this percentage that I've had; I wouldn't, however, consider this an issue. Instead of the bitterness on my tongue, I was ending up with just the slightest bite on the edges of the flavor, which became increasingly warm and red. The heart of the chocolate, that last lump left before it melts all away, is soothing and soft. It leaves you with a gorgeous richness in your mouth that is terribly enchanting. Take me away, my dear; I'll go where you go (I'm mimicking the lyrics to "My Reason" by Keedie). 

Although I paid $6 for this bar, it's $4.95 online straight from Vintage Plantations. Do note, that's five or six dollars for a 100 gram, good quality, bean to bar chocolate. Definitely not the most expensive chocolate out there. I don't know if Vintage Plantations is my absolute favorite chocolate company, but I am very glad to have made their acquaintance and am enjoying this bar. I may return to the shop to buy the other varieties.