The London-based company Artisan du Chocolat has a number of exciting products. We have this time tried two of there recent limited edition high-quality chocolate bars containing a minimum of 72 % cacao solids. The Congo chocolate bar is intensely chocolatey with notes of wood and molasses. The Bali bar has notes of sweet bananas and spices.
Both chocolate bars are of high quality reflecting the flavor of their origins. However, the aromas do not match the best dark chocolates from other areas.
Editor’s Rating:
Type: Specialty chocolate bars.
Flavor: 
Hal Chocolate brands, Chocolate tasting, Specialty chocolates
Nugali Chocolates was founded by chocolatière Maitê Lang in 2004. The factory is located in the state of Santa Catarina in southern Brazil. In addition to a series of chocolate bars, Nugali also produces other types of chocolate candies.
One of Nugali’s best known products is the Serra do Conduru, with 80 % cocoa. The chocolate is made from cocoa beans grown exclusively at Fazenda São Pedro, at the foot of the Conduru range in Bahia. This chocolate has a fruity flavor with citrus notes, and it is remarkably sweet in spite of its high cacao content. A very good chocolate bar!
We also tried their milk chocolate with Brazil nuts. The cacao content of this one is 45 %.
Both chocolate bars were made with natural vanilla extracts, cacao solids including cacao butter, lecithin and sugar; no other vegetable fat had been added.
Editor’s Rating:
Type: Specialty chocolate bars.
Flavor: 
Hal Chocolate brands, Chocolate tasting, Specialty chocolates
Rococo Chocolates was founded in 1983 by Chantal Coady, who has written three books about chocolate. Rococo Chocolates has three shops in London. She and Rococo were awarded a special price for “Changing the way people think about chocolate” by Academy of Chocolate in 2008. In 2007 Rococo and Grenada Chocolate Company started a joint venture in Grenada to produce fair traded ethical chocolate. Now, Rococo’s organic products contain beans from this production.
Rococo Chocolates produces a number of different chocolate gift boxes, chocolate bars, gift bags, confectionaries, and sugar free products. We decided to try some of their Artisan Bars which are made with their special blends of organic chocolate: dark 65%, milk, or white chocolate, and are available with 22 flavors. We decided to try the Orange & Geranium, Basil & Lime, Lavender, and Cranberry & Nutmeg bars; the tree first ones are made with dark chocolate (65%), the latter one with white chocolate.
All bars have delicate spiced flavor and smell, we especially enjoyed the flavored dark chocolates. The lavender bar was unexpected; the delicious fragrance reminded me of perfume. These dark chocolates are absolutely recommede for those who like bittersweet chocolate and would like something different than normal, unflavored chocolate bars.
Editor’s Rating:
Type: Specialty chocolate bars.
Flavor:
Hal Chocolate brands, Chocolate tasting, Chocolatieres, Specialty chocolates grenada, uk
The chocolate manufacturer L’Artigiano di Gardini, which is located in Forli, Italy, is producing a number of single origin chocolate bars, chocolate praline collections, nougats, and high-quality chocolate bars with pistachios, raisins, puffed rice, almonds, pine nuts, ginger, candied oranges, cocount, pearls of chocolate, dried fruit, or almond sweetmeat.
L’Artigiano is also producing eight types of chocolate with “sweet salt of Cervia”, one with olive oil, and one with liquorice. I love the combination of chocolate and liquorice, and this chocolate bar was excellent. It was composed by a milk chocolate containing 38% cacao solids, liquorice root, and some salt.
Editor’s Rating:
Type: Specialty chocolate bars.
Flavor:
Chocolate tasting, Specialty chocolates italy
Åre Chokladfabrik is a small chocolate factory in a small town in central Sweden. They produce a large number of different chocolate truffles and pralines.
I decided to try their cloudberry truffles (“hjortrontryffel” in Swedish). Cloudberry is a yellow-colored berry which grows in northern hemisphere between 78°N and about 55°N, sometimes further south. It is popular in countries like Finland, Sweden, Norway, Russia, Canada and Alaska. It is mostly used for making jam, but also for making liqueur, wine, juice and cakes.
The cloudberry truffles are made with a filling based on white chocolate and covered with milk chocolate. The filling is sweet and salty, and the flavor is somewhat fruity. It is difficult to recognise the distinct aromas of cloudberries, and the added salt makes it taste like salted butter. I thought, after my first bite, that the filling was a mixture of salted butter and cloudberry jam. So, in my opinion, the end product is not very successful. It should be possible to obtain a stronger cloudberry flavor.
Editor’s Rating:
Type: Chocolate truffles.
Flavor: 
Chocolate tasting, Specialty chocolates sweden