Dark; Milk; & White Chocolate Bars
by Chocolat Madagascar
Impact
According to Joseph-François Lambert, the royal family of Madagascar gave him the exclusive right to exploit all minerals, forests, & unoccupied land on the island in exchange for a 10% royalty payable to the crown.
With this arrangement, called the Lambert Charter, plus some crucial intervening events, he founded the Companie de Madagascar in Paris as a joint stock company. It in effect controlled public works projects (logging, road constructions, digging canals etc.), minting coins, exclusive mining rights & permanent title to the land… a sore point of contention for any sovereign & independent nation which eventually led to the Franco-Hova War that resulted in Madagascar becoming a French colony.
With a) the French spelling of chocolate & b) flavor profiles that lean in the direction of France (particularly the cocoa butter content) coupled with c) cacáo from this island in Oceania, Chocolat Madagascar in effect calls for a lasting truce.
To peace & prosperity.
With this arrangement, called the Lambert Charter, plus some crucial intervening events, he founded the Companie de Madagascar in Paris as a joint stock company. It in effect controlled public works projects (logging, road constructions, digging canals etc.), minting coins, exclusive mining rights & permanent title to the land… a sore point of contention for any sovereign & independent nation which eventually led to the Franco-Hova War that resulted in Madagascar becoming a French colony.
With a) the French spelling of chocolate & b) flavor profiles that lean in the direction of France (particularly the cocoa butter content) coupled with c) cacáo from this island in Oceania, Chocolat Madagascar in effect calls for a lasting truce.
To peace & prosperity.
Appearance 3.7 / 5
| Color: |
Dark: Madagascan orange with a drip of magenta Milk: dazzling pink-orange White: ivory peppered with vanilla shreds |
| Surface: |
Dark: active Milk: hypno-trance pattern to the molding White: a virtual stand-in for Green & Black's similarly speckled White |
| Temper: | recessed throughout the trio |
| Snap: |
Dark: weak along the scored lines / tough on the inside Milk: beats up on its Dark big brother White: mute |
Aroma 8.8 / 10
Dark
classic Madagascar
sticky seasoned tang (tart fruits underscored in dark spices)
Milk
intensely unusual for the category: mushrooms, sesame & cream -> diffuses dried honeysuckle
White
construction zone ahead… putty, spackling, & dry wall thanks to heavy casein milk proteins
once aired out, reclines into a more typical vanilla ice-cream posture
classic Madagascar
sticky seasoned tang (tart fruits underscored in dark spices)
Milk
intensely unusual for the category: mushrooms, sesame & cream -> diffuses dried honeysuckle
White
construction zone ahead… putty, spackling, & dry wall thanks to heavy casein milk proteins
once aired out, reclines into a more typical vanilla ice-cream posture
Mouthfeel 11.6 / 15
| Texture: | anything but suave (save for the White) ; dry, hard tack |
| Melt: | clumps / globs in fits 'n stats (despite lecithin) |
Flavor 40.9 / 50
Dark
halting Texture kicks up indiscriminate tarts in the dust, eventuates marula -> breadfruit & jackfruit &, alas, back mold too that spoils the young array -> frets & bides its time… settles down neatly / quietly to lower berries -> superb hazelnut-cedar -> nectarine & baobab -> thin but firm, short of gripping astringency carries trace limestone-caramel (real fine)
Milk
self-same delayed start as the Dark (above) with a moldy malt stuck in butter -> sour caramel heralds Madagascan cacáo exerting an influence & once more the progression improves toward the end but too little - too late to overcome some dirty-dairy FXs
White
milky entree -> nice White Choc mousse hit -> dancing vanilla around the orchid patch -> honey & lots of it -> cake frosting
halting Texture kicks up indiscriminate tarts in the dust, eventuates marula -> breadfruit & jackfruit &, alas, back mold too that spoils the young array -> frets & bides its time… settles down neatly / quietly to lower berries -> superb hazelnut-cedar -> nectarine & baobab -> thin but firm, short of gripping astringency carries trace limestone-caramel (real fine)
Milk
self-same delayed start as the Dark (above) with a moldy malt stuck in butter -> sour caramel heralds Madagascan cacáo exerting an influence & once more the progression improves toward the end but too little - too late to overcome some dirty-dairy FXs
White
milky entree -> nice White Choc mousse hit -> dancing vanilla around the orchid patch -> honey & lots of it -> cake frosting
Quality 14.7 / 20
Dark
Lot N 70 COV; ML 327-13
Very slow, wayward developer.
A 70% cacáo-content clearly endowed with the DNA but the post-harvest handling & storage fail it... at the start. By the end the bar conforms to the Aroma & origin but what a struggle getting there. Attribute that to an overly buttered track. Determined resolve leads to a wondrous resolution however.
INGREDIENTS: cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter, lecithin
Milk
Lot L 50 COV; ML 325-13
Oh, yes, a percentage to recall the original Dark-Milk gold (errrr…. lemon-lime) standard from Madagascar (or anywhere): Cluizel's Mangaro Lait. The 2 brook no comparison as this presents no contender.
Murky like its Dark sib. Once more butter obscures the works, & possibly rancid at that. With added butter & lecithin, Chocolat Madagascar should've gone full monte on the make-up kit & added vanilla to go along with them. It probably would cover for some of the defects.
INGREDIENTS: cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter, whole milk powder, lecithin
White
Lot BL 34 COV; ML 327-13
Ahhh, prayers offered in the Milk Choc (above), answered in this White Choc.
Judicious use of the Bourbon vanilla spice, what Chocolat Madagascar labels, beg your pardon, "vanilla caviar". Who can blame the elevation for a) this island nation of course tops the world in vanilla production & b) the interplay here rises to the best of this 3-bar set. Just enough to lift the milk off the sweaty mat & buttress the cocoa butter which needs the seasoning since it lapses a bit vacant; quite mild (despite un-deodorized) except for that early hit.
Considering its relatively subtle nature, Chocolat Madagascar might do well to increase the cocoa-butter content from 34% to 40% to top the world in yet another way: among the weightiest Whites around.
INGREDIENTS: sugar, cocoa butter, whole milk powder, lecithin, vanilla
Capsule Summary -- Another all-in in-country play ala Menakao and Madécasse (the former the leader of the trio). Of secondary (the Dark) or even tertiary quality (Milk Choc) salvaged by a worldly White.
Reviewed March 6, 2015
Lot N 70 COV; ML 327-13
Very slow, wayward developer.
A 70% cacáo-content clearly endowed with the DNA but the post-harvest handling & storage fail it... at the start. By the end the bar conforms to the Aroma & origin but what a struggle getting there. Attribute that to an overly buttered track. Determined resolve leads to a wondrous resolution however.
INGREDIENTS: cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter, lecithin
Milk
Lot L 50 COV; ML 325-13
Oh, yes, a percentage to recall the original Dark-Milk gold (errrr…. lemon-lime) standard from Madagascar (or anywhere): Cluizel's Mangaro Lait. The 2 brook no comparison as this presents no contender.
Murky like its Dark sib. Once more butter obscures the works, & possibly rancid at that. With added butter & lecithin, Chocolat Madagascar should've gone full monte on the make-up kit & added vanilla to go along with them. It probably would cover for some of the defects.
INGREDIENTS: cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter, whole milk powder, lecithin
White
Lot BL 34 COV; ML 327-13
Ahhh, prayers offered in the Milk Choc (above), answered in this White Choc.
Judicious use of the Bourbon vanilla spice, what Chocolat Madagascar labels, beg your pardon, "vanilla caviar". Who can blame the elevation for a) this island nation of course tops the world in vanilla production & b) the interplay here rises to the best of this 3-bar set. Just enough to lift the milk off the sweaty mat & buttress the cocoa butter which needs the seasoning since it lapses a bit vacant; quite mild (despite un-deodorized) except for that early hit.
Considering its relatively subtle nature, Chocolat Madagascar might do well to increase the cocoa-butter content from 34% to 40% to top the world in yet another way: among the weightiest Whites around.
INGREDIENTS: sugar, cocoa butter, whole milk powder, lecithin, vanilla
Capsule Summary -- Another all-in in-country play ala Menakao and Madécasse (the former the leader of the trio). Of secondary (the Dark) or even tertiary quality (Milk Choc) salvaged by a worldly White.
Reviewed March 6, 2015