As often, Conexión greets us with a chocolate whose intensity strikes from the first second and carries through the entire tasting. It is a deeply fruity chocolate — blackberries, cherries, raspberries, currants. It also transports us to the warmth of the Manabí coast: one can almost catch the scent of hot, humid plantations, even from an air-conditioned apartment in Montreal.
Kamm seeks originality. I hadn’t enjoyed some of their other creations, but this one is frankly interesting. Chocolate, salt, avocado, and olive oil — what an unlikely combination. Don’t expect a treat: this is more of an experience. The low-sugar chocolate holds its own against the character of the olive oil. The avocado is freeze-dried: granular and surprising on the palate, it brings unexpected texture and a rounded flavor. The salt comes not in crystals but as a presence — accompanying everything, like a salad enjoyed on a terrace on a summer afternoon. A chocolate that invites you out of the ordinary, because sometimes the discovery is worth it.
This is a rather raw, lightly sweetened chocolate that seems to delegate the work of appreciation to the taster. It’s worth the effort — with patience and imagination, one understands the “woody” label, well chosen for this bar: notes of pine, eucalyptus, and boreal forest after the rain. Discreet, but with character.
From the name on the label — “Grand Cru” — to the packaging — band, case, and four well-sculpted individual bars — Durca is a brand aiming to convey luxury, elegance, and exclusivity.
This is an odd chocolate. At 70% you’d expect a dark bar — and milk is nowhere to be found on the label. Yet it appears in the ingredient list, and you can taste it. The quantity is small, placing this chocolate on the boundary between the two types. Power, bitterness, and a touch of fruitiness are all there. But so is that milk cloud — the kind the English pour into their tea — a comfortable, sweet haze that settles over everything, at the cost of depth and precision. It’s neither milk chocolate nor true dark chocolate. A blend of both, but not one that draws the best from either world. One gets the impression this chocolate has lost its way a little.