This review is perhaps one of the nerdier ones I’ve done, though admittedly with a somewhat surprising result. It was made possible as I found the identical chocolate in two different formats. One being a thin tablet á la Lindt’s Excellence series and one in a relatively thick and compact format. So I thought it interesting to do a heads up test of these bars. Änglamark is the organic private label of COOP one Scandinavia’ largest super market chains, and is produced by S. P. A. Leccio in Italy. Since this manufacturer delivers to big supermarket chains it should be available in several countries under various labels, This 70% Dark Chocolate bar is Organic and Fairtrade certified. Both bars weigh a 100g and contain the same five ingredients namely, cocoa mass, cane sugar, cocoa butter, soy lecithin (E 322) and vanilla extract.
A priori I did expect most marked differences, if any, in the texture department, but did not think that the difference in format should affect the flavour. I was in for a small surprise.
While these are supposedly identical chocolates there are differences in terms of presentation and appearance. I, for one, like the more compact box and prefer the look of the smaller and thicker pieces as I do not find the cocoa bean engraving to be very handsome. These cosmetic issues aside I like the colour and surface of the flat bar a lot better as I think the smoother surface is more attractive even if there is no great difference, if any, in the nuance of the colour itself. I would score this as a tie. Both bars have a nice dark colour shine to them. Appearance: 8 out of 10.
I was not able to detect any great difference in aroma. Both smell of dark full bodied chocolate with only a hint of sweetness. Also, there is only a slight hint of fruit and no acidity. There is a little rubber which is not entirely pleasant. Aroma: 7 out of 10.
Both bars have good powerful snap. I think the thinner bar has a better snap when breaking of a piece by hand as the break is quite clean whereas the thicker bar has a somewhat harder snap to it. The thicker bar is tougher and one has to chew a bit more for it too melt, making the melt of the thinner bar slightly superior, though both have good melt. I find that both melt and snap in mouth feel was better in the thinner bar, so I think that texture wise the chocolate gains by being dosed in thinner portions. I would rate the flat bar’s texture as 8, 5 and score the thick as 8.
And now to what its all about: flavour. The compact bar had initially a nice sweet and not too bitter taste, followed by a little fruit though it lacks acidity. The finish is a little bitter.
I am most surprised to report that I found the compact bar to be significantly better tasting than the thin bar. While they did mostly have the same profile (sweet beginning, fruit in the middle and bitter aftertaste) the difference was easily discernable. Notably the sweetness of the beginning and the fruit in the middle was much more pronounced with the compact bar. The thin bar lacked much of the complexity of the compact bar and was somewhat bland in comparison. I would probably rate the thick bar as 8 and the thin bar as or 7, 5. If this is indeed the identical chocolate I cannot explain the difference in flavour, but would have to venture the guess that it has to do with the thin bar releasing the flavours too quickly leaving less time for the palate to “play” with the flavours. Perhaps this is an even bigger problem for the thin bar as the very slight fruit and complexity present in the chocolate dissolves too quickly due to its thinner texture.
These bars OK but definitely have room for improvement and overall would probably lie in the 7, 5 – 8 out of 10 range.
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