(Orange & Geranium) ?
(Sea Dog) Kcal 580 Fat 42g Fat (Sat) 25g Carbs 36g (per 100g)
After recently revisiting Montezuma’s after its extended
absence from the Chocolate Mission spotlight, I’m making up for lost time with
two bars this week. Today I am looking at Orange & Geranium and the Sea
Dog, which are 73% and 70% cacao respectively. Both are recognisable by
Montezuma’s snazzy logo, but otherwise they look quite different. I think the colour
choice for Sea Dog works very well as it connotes the flavour combination of
lime and sea salt. The name is also clever, as I get a salty sensation in my
mouth before taking a bite. What I can’t do, however, is smell the sea. I do
get the intense smell of lime, but perplexingly a hint of mint too. No mint in
the taste; the chocolate has a strong bitterness to it, as does the lime, which
is more akin to lime peel than the refreshing sharp and zesty fruit inside. At
first I detected no hint of salt except through its grainy texture, but it
later came as an aftertaste, giving the bar a medicinal sickly feel overall.
I thought black packaging dominated Orange & Geranium
too much; it made me think of an 80%-90% cacao content. It might be more
inviting if the orange and black colours were inverted. Once opened, the
chocolate gives off a mellow dark aroma with non-sweet orange notes. Woody
tones combine with a slightly bitter taste, but the orange and geranium merge
to form a subtle and natural sweetness. This is rather short lived as the
bitterness then comes back as an aftertaste.
I was disappointed with both of these bars, to be honest, as
they offered flavour combinations that usually work very well. The bitterness
of the two chocolates did not sit well, and it might have been preferable if
they were a high percentage milk chocolate instead.
Sea Dog
Presentation: 8.5
Aroma: 7
Taste: 5
Sustenance: 10
Texture: 5
Overall: 7.1
Orange & Geranium
Presentation: 7
Aroma: 7
Taste: 7.5
Sustenance: 9.5
Texture: 7
Overall: 7.6