I bought some quality beans from a local farmer, in Honduras. These same beans are used to make a 70% dark chocolate in the USA, which sells for $45/lb from a company I probably should not mention for fear of copyright issues.

Anyway, this is how the chocolate is described on the web site I am referring to:

"Intriguing bursts of citrus, molasses, sharp stonefruit, and woodiness. Slightly tannic with vibrant pops of flavor and a drying finish."

What we are tasting is both fruity and sour. This is for a batch of beans roasted to 130 Celsius (266F). If we roast higher than that, we get more bitter. I do not have the benefit of tasting the chocolate sold by the other shop. I am wondering if 130C is too high? What might the sour taste come from, unless it is supposed to be that way?

We ran a taste test with 12 people last week. One of them preferred the 130C over the higher roasts, while the others preferred the higher roasts. However, as a control group, we also put some milk chocolate into the sample. Everyone preferred the milk chocolate except for the one who preferred the 130C dark. Makes me think that those who prefer dark, would like a lighter roast.

updated by @mark-allan: 04/11/15 11:40:59