This one is a white chocolate special! A little treat that allows us to enjoy a gourmet pleasure without feeling guilty. Indeed, even if it is “only” white chocolate, it has a delicate flavor and the cocoa beans, adding crunch and a little body, give it the legitimacy to be part of the Republica Del Cacao collection. A good idea to change a little!
This chocolate is one of my favorites. It has a little buttery taste and a cozy, warm feeling. It must be the color of the Amazon cocoa: it’s Sacha cocoa, not arriba. I feel surprising notes of fresh mint at the end of the tasting. Let it melt on your tongue, and give yourself the time to enjoy all the phases and nuances it can bring!
Salt is known to have several effects.
Quinoa is a cereal from Latin America that comes in small circular grains. While some put puffed rice in their chocolates, Republica del Cacao chose to stay local. So in this chocolate, we find dried quinoa seeds. Since quinoa has a rather weak taste, especially when it is dry, the interest is more in the texture than in the flavor. The taste of this chocolate is very classic Republica del Cacao, it’s probably their “basic” dark chocolate, the one used for chocolates with other ingredients. That doesn’t mean it’s not good! With a high concentration of cocoa, it’s a pretty aggressive chocolate, with a woody taste and a touch of bitterness at the end. The quinoa is mostly there for the texture, which adds crunch when you start a square, and stays in your mouth once the chocolate has melted on your tongue, to make the pleasure last by bursting those little grains between your teeth.
The hierbaluisa is an aromatic plant of South America, also called verbena of Peru whose taste resembles very much the citronella. In this chocolate, the taste of cocoa rather intense at the beginning quickly settles in the background. It then complements the tangy and lemony taste of the aromatic herb. The interactions between the two flavors make for complexity, to the detriment of the cocoa taste. I have a mixed relationship with hierbaluisa. On the one hand, it reminds me of the citronella candles we used when I was a kid to chase away mosquitoes. Not the best memory. On the other hand, it takes me back to Vilcabamba, Ecuador, when to warm up in front of the sunset, we drank a tea with hierbaluisa directly from the garden, with a little sugar; the drink was delicious, and the moment unforgettable.