Raaka Virgin Chocolate – Bourbon Cask Aged
March 21, 2018
Virgin chocolate. Bourbon cask aged. Tanzania. 82% cacao. Good Food awards winner.
Okay, this has my attention. But wait, what’s virgin chocolate? And, what’s this about - aged in bourbon casks?
First things first. Let’s eat!
This dark chocolate contains 82% cacao and is made from Tanzanian beans sourced from Kokoa Kamili. The aromas are full of earth, ripe fruit, wood, and jute. The texture is smooth, and the snap is crisp. The flavors are complex and can be confusing. There are so many flavors that fly around the mouth, your brain has a hard time keeping up!
Right away you notice that there are no soft or deep roasted flavors. Instead, the chocolate is primitive, harsh, and acidic. The fruity notes are ripe berries and dried fruit, such as blueberry and prune. There’s a hint of earth with woody notes (oak from the cask?), and burlap bag (a “raw” note).
Then comes the essence of bourbon – it tastes the way a bourbon warehouse smells with the Angel’s Share floating in the air. Then there’s caramel, honey, and vanilla notes toward the end. And at the finish, a bit of sour fruit.
This isn’t your run-of-the-mill chocolate bar. You have to keep an open mind while eating this one. Don’t worry about the first bite. You might think the flavor is “off” or that there’s something wrong with it. You might not think you like it because it’s so different. My advice is, take the next bite. It grows on you. And then you’re hooked. It’s other worldly!
Now, back to my questions...
What is virgin chocolate? According to Raaka, virgin chocolate means unroasted. Silly me, I thought unroasted meant raw. However, Raaka points out that there could be a difference between virgin and raw on their website, www.raakachocolate.com.
“There is some controversy over whether a truly raw bar of chocolate can be crafted, since the beans often reach temperatures of 130 F at the origin level, before even reaching the chocolate maker, either in the fermentation or drying stages. Before the beans are packed and shipped to chocolate makers, they are fermented in wood “sweat boxes,” where they often surpass 118 F, disqualifying them as a raw food.”
I guess it makes sense that, technically, there’s a difference between virgin and raw. But, in my opinion, the spirit of the meaning is interchangeable. Even Raaka can’t claim it to be black and white since the word “raaka” is Finnish for “raw.” In any case, right now unroasted is the “in thing.”
Bourbon cask aged? This Raaka bar is not only made from virgin cacao beans, but also from beans that are cracked into nibs and stored in previously used, empty bourbon barrels for four weeks. The nibs absorb the bourbon aromas as they age in the cask. Then, after the four weeks are up, the nibs are ground and mixed with sugar and molded into bars.
I have two more Raaka bars to review. I haven’t tasted them yet, but I’m guessing they’ll be wild, exciting and… dare I say… raw. Okay, I’ll say wild, exciting, and virgin. Either way, I’m a chocolate lover that’s just been taken to a new level of chocolate pleasure!
You can buy chocolate bars directly from Raaka Chocolate's website. Or, if you want to try a 3-pack at a discount, check out this link from Amazon.
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