Trader Joe’s Chocolate Passport – São Tomé 70%
March 27, 2017
Chocolate of the week: São Tomé
The island nation of São Tomé & Príncipe is located in the Gulf of Guinea off the western coast of Central Africa. It is one of the smallest countries in Africa.
The main language is Portuguese, having been settled by Portugal throughout the 1600s. The rich volcanic soil is ideal for sugar, coffee, and cacao. São Tomé became independent 1975.
The Portuguese brought cacao from Brazil to Principe and Sao Tomé in the early 1800s.
The crop flourished until they became known as the "the chocolate islands." They don’t export the same volume of beans any more, but the quality remains high.
Passport São Tomé - The Taste Experience
Today’s tasting review is a 70% dark chocolate made from cacao grown in São Tomé.
The aromas are of wood, leather, and tobacco. The color is a deep, slightly reddish-brown, and the snap is crisp.
This chocolate tastes much more of cocoa than fruit. This is different from all the previous single-origin chocolates I’ve tasted so far in the Trader Joe’s Passport Collection. If you like strong, persistent chocolate throughout the entire mouthful, this is the chocolate for you!
Although the São Tomé bar is very long and deep in chocolatey notes, it’s not bitter or harsh. It’s almost creamy because it’s so smooth. And I don’t just mean smooth as in not gritty, I mean it tastes smooth.
There’s a bit of sour fruit, maybe cherry, somewhere in the middle. The finish is excellent, with a hint of spice. The whole bar is has a nicely roasted flavor profile that provides a steady stream of rich cocoa throughout the chew.
Final Thoughts
I really enjoyed this bar. It’s going to be hard to decide where to place this chocolate among the others in the series.
So far, no chocolate has been able to un-seat my top vote, the single-origin from Venezuela. This one is close, but I’m still going to rank the Venezuelan 70% as numero uno. I will, however, slide São Tomé into second place, pushing Ghana to third. Tough call though.
Next up (and final!): Tanzania.
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