Agostoni chocolate
Posted in:
Opinion
Thank you Ellane very much for the shipment of the 10 samples. I conducted several blind tastings and found the Agostoni chocolates consistently winners!
Here are some of my tasting notes:
The Agostoni Gianduia is truly outstanding. The blend of top-quality milk chocolate with perfectly roasted hazelnuts is a real winner. So excellent that I immediately ordered it in bulk.
(My preference is for darker chocolate, e.g. 70%, and so am more sensitive that most to chocolates being sweet)
I found the Bianca Bio (bio means organic) to have a very well-rounded and fine flavor for a white chocolate, and while I found it a little bit too sweet, my other tasters loved it.
Of the two milk chocolates, I preferred the milder Finissimo Bio (32%) for its flavor notes, but the slightly darker (Ricco) will appeal to those who like caramel notes in their milk chocolate.
Now on to the darks (in my mind, the main event):
The best of all of the Agostoni chocolate according to myself and the majority of my tasters was the Single Origin Peru (70%). It is incredibly well-rounded in flavor, with fruity, wine, raisin, and cherry notes. Lovely, lovely, lovely. (And yes, I also purchased this in bulk immediately).
Almost equally pleasing, but with more of a balanced and hearty and lush fine chocolate experience was the Tremezzo Bio(70%). One of the favorites of most of the tasters too.
The Bittra (60%) is actually amazingly fine given its slightly lower chocolate content. It too is fruity, with a creamy, rounded, and "high" notes. It was one of the taster's favorites, and liked by all.
The Las Vasquez (75%) shows its greater chocolate content with notes of licorice, burnt caramel, and bass notes, and yet remained creamy and well-balanced. It was the fourth best liked dark chocolate, nonetheless still very fine.
The San Primo Bio (60%) showed quite more sweetness, more lightly flavored and creamy, with notes of straw and milk.
Finally the Single Origin Equador (74%) had some creamy, caramel, and vanilla notes, but was judged as one-dimensional and forgettable by tasters and was surprisingly mild considering the chocolate content.
Because my favorite country of origin for chocolate is Madagascar, I purchased a kilo of Agostoni Single Origin Madagascar (70%). It is also an excellent chocolate with caramel notes and incredible richness and a top-of-the-line chocolate. However, I'm used to much more fruitiness in Madagascar chocolate than was present in Agostoni's Madagascar, and so was a little disappointed.
During the tastings, we also tried Felchler and Guittard samples, neither of which compared with the Agostoni chocolates. My tasters and I were very surprised how flat the Felchler tasted after sampling the Agostoni chocolates. That's a real testament to the superlative quality of the Agostoni product.
I recommend Agostoni chocolates to all chocolatiers.
