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Flavoreds

by Middlebury Chocolates
Info Details
Country USA   
Type (various)
Strain Blend   
Source (multiple)
Flavor Crossover   
Style Rustic      
lo
med
hi
CQ
Sweetness
Acidity
Bitterness
Roast
Intensity
Complexity
Structure
Length
Impact
REDUX REVIEW The following summarizes Middlebury Chocolates' Flavored releases that fill the slot between a bar & a bombone (the shape of the former & usually the taste of the latter). In the Flavor Section below, individual bars are listed with a brief synopsis & rating of each. Middlebury sent a new 2015 release which appears first in that section: The VerMonty -- wood-roasted, sweetened / flavored with maple + a splash of coffee -- definitely a homestand. The general rating (at the upper right) reflects their composite average.
Appearance   3.9 / 5
plain mould scored into 3x4 tiles
Color:
Surface:
Temper:
Snap:
Aroma   7.9 / 10
pretty individuated depending on the bar
Mouthfeel   11.7 / 15
Texture: on the dry / granular side, especially those in the Semi-Dark range (60 percentile)
Melt: gummy
Flavor   42.9 / 50
VerMonty 2015 -- 62% Dark-Milk
hy(per)genic mold of good color tone & temper
intensely smoky aroma in a wood chip & cigarette way… evokes a gastropub aura full of single-barrel bourbons pouring peat everywhere + a pot of coffee brewing in the back
past the lips it tastes of sweet smoke (perhaps a first in the annals) -> raisin -> maple -> cider 'n beer, yeast & the pub works really take on from there including a tiny wurst at the rear -> festive spiced-pecan clearing -> coffee, so well tucked in the fold -- only emerges significantly in the aft-linger
ING: cocoa mass, Vermont maple sugar, cane sugar, cocoa butter, whole dry milk, coffee, sea salt
RATING: 8.74

Habañero -- stunningly warm & antique oak scent presages salted caramel on the tongue, then some maple goodness sweetening a kindling pepper at the back... never raging though never shy either... as much flavor as heat, especially since abundant butter cools whatever flames threaten to get out of control; a masterful production of thermo-chocodynamics on the edge; 8.61

The Red Bar -- fireworks blow the wrapper off... gunpowder, smoke trails & flintstone in what Middlebury labels a "77% > sweet > sour > salty > bitter > spicy"; all true axcept it forgot 'sapid' as the tongue shines up antique fruit into a mini-móle driven initially by anise to a treacly-molasses warmed by mulling spices braided together in chocolate (actual ingredients: cocoa mass, palm sugar, cocoa butter, achiote, hibiscus, allspice, aji chili, black salt, anise, vanilla, clove); flash flame only at the very tail (thanks to the aji &, to a lesser degree, clove); a cupboard in a mouth, including a worthy young-bourbon nightcap; 8.22

Vanilla Bean -- pure candy-porn for lil kiddies… the Tahitian variety of vanilla (tends toward fruit more than the Madagascan bourbon type, presented here with a caramelized-maple top on the scent) which translates to outstanding caramelization + orchid integration on the tongue, the latter expands quite heady with sticking power from a rather gummy Texture even as it breakdowns into a molasses-fruit paste before pounding home into a dark cake with sea salt… an unusually good bitter-butter toffee seals it; arguably Middlebury's best bar to date in any category (Flavored or unflavored), as all components sit well together; 8.49

Sea Salted -- 67% cacáo dominated by palm sugar that galvanize a salted-caramel reinforced with dry-gum Texture; 7.23

Dark Maple -- gets the sugars on... dry Texture leads to a sticky tractor pull on the teeth but the tongue wags in merriment as MIddlebury's house base saps it up against this tree sugar; palm sugar then joins the party & cleans up with caramel overtones; 8.01
Quality   14.8 / 20
Flavor additives give a boost to Middlebury's underlying bar work & provide a bridge til it can abandon them for purer chocolate that can stand up without the need for any.

Elite chocolate, after all, optimally sourced & crafted contains manifold flavor compounds that make it the greatest edible on Earth.

Unfortunately the mass market -- raised on Cocoa Puffs®, cupcakes, & chocolate milk -- has yet to wake up to this reality.

Reviewed July 22, 2013
Revised February 18, 2014
Refreshed January 27, 2015

  

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