Chocolove Extra Strong 77%

It’s surprising how mild this bar is at 77%. It’s sweet for this percentage, and the added cocoa butter is very evident, though slightly on the waxy side. It melts smoothly but it feels a little on the hard side and take a bit of effort to really get into it. Like the strong dark 70% the bitter element is kept in check but there’s more chocolate flavor and a little more of the astringent taste. It’s not exactly fruity, but there is some sort of forbidden fruit poking its head out, but pushed right back in. It’s plenty chocolatey, but certainly not enough to floor me. Some might say that it’s a good balance, but I prefer much richer and creamier. It tastes neat and polite- not exactly the sort that a chocophile as myself would reach for.

Flowers I Would Bring

Flowers I would bring if flowers could make thee fairer,
And music, if the Muse were dear to thee;
(For loving these would make thee love the bearer)
But sweetest songs forget their melody,
And loveliest flowers would but conceal the wearer:-
A rose I mark’d, and might have pluck’d; but she
Blush’d as she bent, imploring me to spare her,
Nor spoil her beauty by such rivalry.
Alas! And with what gifts shall I pursue thee,
What offerings bring, what treasures lay before thee;
When earth with all her floral train doth woo thee,
And all old poets and old songs adore thee;
And love to thee is naught; from passionate mood
Secur’d by joy’s complacent plentitude!

Aubrey Thomas De Vere