D. Barbero Italian Chocolates Review – Part 2
August 27, 2018
Last week I broke into my variety pack of D. Barbero chocolate Mixed Napolitains and discovered a nice surprise – 70% Cuban chocolate! I wonder what’s in store for me today?
Here’s what's left in the package for me to choose from:
- No Added Sugar Dark Chocolate – sweetened with Erythritol (70% Ecuador)
- Caramel Chocolate (30% Milk Chocolate)
- White Chocolate
- Milk Chocolate (45% Ecuador)
Hmmm, what should I have next? It’s nice to see a “dark milk” among the mix (45% Ecuador milk chocolate). An alternate sweetener in a 70% dark is fairly uncommon. White chocolate made with cocoa butter is always better than one made with a hydrogenated vegetable oil. And who doesn’t like chocolate and caramel?
Since this is going to be too difficult to narrow down, I’m taking the chocolate lovers’ way out – try them all!!
White Chocolate
The white chocolate is smooth with a slow melt. There are notes of cream and butter with a pleasant milky aftertaste. I can taste the cocoa butter. I’m happy that the sweetness level is diminished by milky flavors. I surprised myself by kinda, sorta liking this one.
Caramel Chocolate
This is a solid bar. There is no caramel filling surrounded by milk chocolate. It actually doesn’t taste like chocolate, it tastes more like a confectionery coating. The tablet is the color of butterscotch and tastes like it too. It is very sweet, with milk and butter flavors coming through at the finish. No chocolate flavor to speak of. I don’t like this one.
Dark Milk Chocolate
Yummm. This is delicious. The chocolate notes come off first with fruity and slightly nutty notes. Some coffee notes, too. The dairy notes follow with flavors of honey and a light toffee. I like this one!
Sugar-free Dark Chocolate
This bar has a very hard snap and is dry and chalky in the mouth. It’s definitely low on sweetness due to the alternative sweetner, erythritol. It takes a long time to melt and therefore a long time to release any flavor. It truly starts out tasteless. Then, bitter cocoa notes (akin to “raw” flavor, not refined) come through. This chocolate isn’t horrible, but it’s strange. I don’t care for this one.
After today’s tasting, it feels like I hit the jackpot last week when I had the single origin chocolates from D. Barbero. Today, I wasn’t so lucky. I did like the Dark Milk, but the rest were a either so-so or a complete disappointment. That’s okay, though. I found hidden gems in this variety pack!
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