It’s always surprising how little the actual cocoa percentage can mean on a chocolate bar. I’ve had 85% chocolate that was fruity and mellow, and 85% that was (to me) so bitter as to be barely eatable. While they’re both technically the same percentage, that percentage includes both cocoa butter and cocoa solids. Since cocoa butter is basically the same as any other fat – it doesn’t have a chocolate flavor, as anyone using it in their personal grooming products likely knows – a bar can be a high percentage of chocolate without actually being very full of the cocoa solids that give it its deep, rich flavor.
So whenever I get a new 70% bar, I never quite know what to expect. Meadowlands’ 70% cacao from the Dominican Republic promised (in an unfortunately well-concealed description on the side) to be “dark and earthy, hints of rum, fruits and spice.”
Packaging
Opening it up, it looked great. Simple and appealing robin’s egg blue packaging, a similarly simple and useful foil wrapping, and easily breakable & snackable squares (though I do wish the flavor profile description had been easier to find).
Tasting
Where I expected a dark and earthy flavor, rum and a little bitterness, I found vibrant fruitiness. Not cloyingly fruity, but clearly so. Each bite had a smooth mouthfeel, though the texture could have been a little snappier and cleaner-breaking. And each had a clean finish, one that encouraged the next bite without demanding it (many chocolates linger, with a tactile stickiness or a regretful aftertaste that requests the next bite to cleanse the palate from the last).
In short, Meadowlands’ Dominican Republic 70% is different than described, but still delicious. Worth having again!