Amedei Single Origin Chocolates

Amedei Chocolates are among the best things you can put in your mouth. When I sampled the Italian company's Porcelana bar, it blew me away, so I was very happy to receive a set of their cru series of single origin chocolates to sample. All of Amedei's bars are 70% cacao and contain only cacao, sugar, cocoa butter and vanilla. All of the chocolates are made from trinitario beans, a hybrid, though the Venezuela and Madagascar beans are made from a different strain of trinitario which has a higher percentage of criollo beans in its genetic makeup.


Ecuador

Creamy, pure and dark chocolate case. There is not much to say about this, except that it is wonderfully straight forward dark chocolate; almost text book in its purity.


Grenada

The Grenada has a strong dark, nose which is much milder than most of these. It takes a while for the flavor to kick in. Mid way through the first bite, the sweetness hits, and then the chocolate tones, which are still quite subtle and carries on into the finish. If you are doing a sampling, try this first as the others will overwhelm its subtle flavor.


Jamaica

The Jamaica has a strong chocolate scent. The flavor is rich and deep, with some olive brine and other savory notes. It is very low in acid.


Madagascar

Great, powerful flavors. Deep and dark, some salt and even garlic notes; lots of umami with some burnt qualities on the finish. Lovely and unique.


Trinidad

Very herbal nose with cinnamon scents. Herbal qualities continue on in the flavor, along with some Cognac/liqueur qualities. Another great one with really interesting flavor.


Venezuela

A bit more fruity than the others; smooth and creamy; sweetness comes in mid-palate but with lots of balance. One of my favorites of the lot.


All of these chocolates were excellent. Interestingly, I found them to be more similar to each other than other single origin collections I've sampled, such as Michel Cluizel. or Pralus. Amedei chocolates tend to eschew acidity and go for very pure chocolate flavors. It's a style I like very much, but it means that the distinctions between the different chocolates are more subtle than I've found with other chocolates. Of course, some other chocolates use a wider variety of beans as well, which would likely account for some of the differences.

The Amedei I Cru Sampler is available in several sizes on Chocosphere.com.