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I am still having the dreaded cold, and I can't quite trust my tastebuds at the moment! It'll be a couple of days before I can review chocolate bars, apologies!

Great news on my future plans though! I was approached by one of the gold award winners from the Chocolate Academy earlier today and at the end of the telephone conversation, I have somehow agreed to co-host a few chocolate tasting sessions in London, together with some top chocolatiers in the UK!!!

Not a bad conversation whilst I waited to have my hair trimmed! Details TBC, but the first event in a five star hotel, should be fun!!

I have to cut this short and run around screaming my head off! Back later!

Winners of the 2009 Academy of Chocolate awards

Chocolatier Paul Wayne Gregory, who made chocolates for the Queen's 80th Birthday emailed me earlier saying that he's attending the AofC awards. So I visited the AofC site and found all the expected winners (Amedei, Domori, Valrhona, Paul Wayne Gregory, Paul A. Young, you name it!).

A few surprises:

Best House Dark Chocolate Bar
Gold William Curley – House Blend 70%
Bronze Hotel Chocolat - Blend 2
Bronze Hotel Chocolat - Blend 3
Bronze Auberge du Chocolat – Auberge bar

So Hotel Chocolat made it to the chart! Well done! I once visited their factory and was impressed with the platform and technology there! Well deserved I'd say!

Best Packaging
Gold Tcho – 6 bar gift box
Silver Rococo – Round box
Bronze La Molina – The cretti book

Well done to Tcho, too!! Credits to millionaires who love chocolate, gave up their jobs to play with ideas to take chocolate making to the next level!

Amedei- Toscano Brown, 32 % cocoa, milk chocolate

One might wonder, a milk bar of chocolate? I am usually skeptical when it comes to milk chocolate, but my best friend- a milk chocolate lover- managed to get me into milk chocolate tasting, and I have to say, it's been a rather adventurous journey!

I found this review from the Chocolate Trading Company:

'Exceptionally smooth and creamy with a 32% cocoa content. The Amedei Toscano Brown is a substantially rich milk chocolate bar providing mouth filling flavours of butter fudge and caramel, with notes of malt. A splendid milk chocolate from Amedei. (Silver award of the Academy of Chocolate Awards in the Best Milk Bar category- 2008)'

The bar has a young shade of brown and a soft shiny look. A pleasant snap, considering that it's slight thicker than most bars of chocolate. The texture, in particular, is rather fudgey (a bit crystally), and it totally won me over when it smoothly melted in my mouth. A rich and creamy blend of milk, fudge and caramel sent me back to my childhood! It's a little too sweet for me now, but back then, I used to be save up my milk chocolate bars for special occassions! You definitely have to try this if you have a sweet tooth!

A little disappointment in the lack of cocoa flavour, but well compensated by the contrast between the creaminess and the mature caramel.

Amedei- Chuao, 70% cocoa, single estate bar

Apologies for the gap, I came down with a cold a couple of days ago, which to some extent, affected my tastebuds! But all is well now, a large consumption of oranges and tomatoes did the trick, and I can now taste the French oak in the 2006 Pinot Noir Dillon Point (a good red from New Zealand), which is definitely a good sign.

I reckdon 'Amedei- Chuao, 70% cocoa, single estate bar' is one of the must-try bars. There's a nice story behind it:

'The highly sought after Chuao cocoa bean is something very special producing an initial perfumed aroma and a slow release of slightly acidic red fruit flavours and an exceptionally smooth melt. Amedei has world exclusive rights to the highly prized Chuao cocoa bean from which this Chuao, 70% single origin chocolate bar is created. The Amedei Chuao bar is classed as Single origin and Single Variety chocolate.'

I have had Bonnat's Chuao bars before, and agree that the Chuao bars are the best in the Bonnat range. Having said so, I struggled to savour the traditional Bonnat thick bars, and found this Amedei Chuao bar a lot more pleasant!

It has the perfect shade of brown with a warm shine. The fragrance, although is not quite as volatile as some other bars I've had, does have a nice hint of nuttiness. Nice, sharp break as expected from an Amedei bar, and it sent me to heaven when it gently melts in my mouth! Smooth, delicate taste of roasted beans, followed by a warm flavour of nuts and completed with a fresher hint of dry cherries.

Most expensive bar I've bought (£5.50/50g from the Chocolate Trading Company), but it's totally worth it!

Michel Cluizel- Los Ancones, 67% cocoa, single estate bar

If you like oaked wine, you'll like this Michel Cluizel bar! It has a nice fragrance that immediately reminds me of a good Pinot Noir, very farmy and fresh. Lovely colour, a nice shade of red. Good, clean snap!

The first bite was perfect, it has a warm tone with a touch of wood and mushroom. The taste was very rich in berries (perhaps dried cherries), and a light touch of yellow fruits. The bar melt smoothly on the tongue, with a wonderful finish that lingered for a good five 5 seconds. If I get to pick the perfect bar of chocolate for the winter, this is the one!

I would pair this with the 2006 Chateau la Jaugue, an excellent award winner vintage wine with soft berry fruit flavours. The drink is of a classic Bordeaux style, the fragrance is not overwhelming and would compliment the fruitiness and spiciness in the chocolate bar.

Note from the Chocolate Trading Company:

'The Michel Cluizel Los Ancones, single origin chocolate bar is created from an exquisite blend of Trinitario cocoa beans grown at the Los Ancones plantation, on the island of Santo Domingo in the Caribbean. The Los Ancones dark chocolate bar holds a deliciously complex assortment of fresher fruit flavours including apricot, peach and even green olive. Los Ancones is one of seven, single estate chocolate bars created by the renowned Michel Cluizel.'

Pralus- Cuba, 75% cocoa, single origin bar

This is probably a classic bar of dark chocolate, very rich in berry flavours with a rather strong note of rainsins.

Lovely colour, beautiful mirror shine, very well tempered. Good snap, although the chocolate looks a bit grainy where the bar breaks. However, it melts well, with the hint of nutty cocoa in the first instance, followed by the liquourice and the berries, before the rainsins start coming through. This chocolate actually has a ginseng finish, with a hint of sweetness, which I think is a little unusual.

I wasn't too impressed with this Pralus bar at first, but after about 4 squares, I start to like it better. I will probably pair this with a tropical fruit, perhaps, either a sharron fruit or a dragon fruit- something full-bodied and not too sweet.

Comment from The Chocolate Trading company:

'This single origin chocolate is created solely from Trinitario, fine flavour cocoa. Peppery, spicy notes to begin with then mellowing into a more caramel flavoured chocolate with bitter cocoa notes.'

Valrhona- Ampamakia, vintage 2008, 64% cocoa, single estate bar

I found this review from the Chocolate Trading Company:

'The 2008 vintage Ampamakia from Valrhona is again full of exotic fruit, tart flavours with that distinct sherbet edge. A fine blend of beans from the Millot plantation in Madagascar provide the plum, mango and citrus fruits. A very fruity and refreshing, single origin dark chocolate with an additional sharp edge on the finish.'

It sounded like a must-try bar of chocolate, and so I placed an order. To my surprise, this made its way to the top of my list, and is currently my new favourite bar.

The first thing that I noticed was the complex fragrance coming out from the bar, which was well complimented by the nice, dark, shiny appearance. The snap was neat, despite the relatively low cocoa content (64 %). I took the first bite, and it really was a drop of heaven! A smooth, and yet vibrant combination of the slight roasted liquorice-like bitterness, followed by the most pleasant lingering of passion fruit and citrus fruits! A little sweeter and more sour compared to most other dark bars, this is by far, the most complex bar I've ever had.

Savouring the bar is probably as close to wine tasting as possible, with the beans coming from a single estate, and the bar is indeed, a vintage bar. In addition, the fresh citrus note in this bar reminds me of the blend of floral/citrus flavours commonly seen in white wines. I don't usually pair chocolate with wine, but if I have to, I'd probably pair this with the 2004 Monterey Chardonnay, Hess Select, which as a tropical fruit nose of pineapple/guava/ripe fruit.

The only thing I don't like about this bar is that it is so pleasant to savour! I struggled to save the five bars I ordered for the tasting, and was sad when I 'had to' eat the last square!!