Candy Review: Aequare Ecuadorian Single Origin Chocolate

Monday, November 2, 2009 - by Linda

Aequare chocolates have an interesting story about the chef who started the company and how they’re single origin Ecuadorian chocolate and ingredients and blah blah. You can read their website for all that. What you came here to read is how they taste, right?

When asked if I wanted a sample of these to review, I checked them out and the answer was an immediate HECK YES. This is definitely my kind of thing. On the other hand, that means I’m a tough customer. Like, to start, I was not all that excited about the Dark Chocolate Cocoa Beans, because I don’t really see any reason to eat cocoa beans. I mean, there must be a reason that humanity invented the elaborate processes that turn them into chocolate, right?

But wow, they were good. I wondered if it was just because the chocolate coating was good, but upon disassembling one and eating the parts separately, I concluded that although the chocolate is indeed good, it’s the whole combination of chocolate and bean that’s “wow.” It reminds me of the taste of good strong cocoa powder. I mean the good stuff like a soft chocolate truffle might be rolled in (not your Swiss Miss in an envelope with milk powder). If you like that flavor you’ll love these.

And the texture is OK. The bean is perfectly edible, not as hard as a coffee bean.

These actually caused some domestic unrest. (“Are you finishing those? Don’t you dare finish those. I don’t care if I said I was done writing the review, PUT THOSE DOWN.”) I would definitely consider buying them again.

I also got a six piece assortment of their filled chocolates. They are large enough that six seemed like plenty, but then I discovered the heartbreak of the small collection of chocolates. The flavors I’d seen on the website that I was most excited to try – ginger, lemongrass, and passionfruit – were not included. I assume the selection is random and you have to trust to luck…

But, I know, shut up and eat your free chocolate…

Ecuador – 70% chocolate ganache filling. I didn’t like this at first. It seemed greasy and not all that flavorful. I wondered if it was affected by the trip – the package came from Florida, and in a week that was unseasonably warm for this time of year – and indeed, it was better the next day after a night in a cool dark house took the oiliness away. So, see where it says on the back of the box to store at 61-64 degrees? Take it seriously.

Le Citron – Meyer lemon – a nice herby-lemon hit at the beginning, almost like Japanese yuzu, although it kind of faded as I ate it.

Salted Caramel – This was not what I expected – not caramel inside, but “the finest caramel ganache,” which is basically a chocolate filling. I’m not sure if I would have identified a caramel flavor in this without a label, but the salt was obvious. I am not really a fan of salt-candy combinations (chocolate and pretzels strike me as an abomination) but this was surprisingly good. The bits of salt explode in your mouth here and there and then fade, making this an entertaining few moments of chewing.

Coffee – this is the mildest coffee flavor I can ever remember having in a chocolate.

Blackberry cobbler – blackberry puree and almond praline. OK, first of all, forget the whole ‘blackberry cobbler’ thing, when I make cobbler it has no praline in it. But setting that aside I still wasn’t crazy about this. Not a strong enough fruit flavor and there was some flavor in the praline part that I can’t pin down but that I didn’t like, kind of like hazelnut (although there’s no hazelnut in the ingredients list).

Amazon – “dark chocolate ganache with Ishpingo, a unique flavor from the Amazon, and a hint of cinnamon.” This was VERY good with a capital VERY. It was more than a hint of cinnamon, unless that was the Ishpingo, which, says the Internet, supposedly tastes kind of like cinnamon too. Chocolate and cinnamon is kind of old hat, but this was not boring at all. Maybe that’s the effect of the mysterious Ishpingo.

The conclusion? A couple of these were very good. The chocolate itself is excellent. The approach to flavorings in the fillings is a little restrained for my taste. I like a filled chocolate with a fruit (or something like coffee) filling to really punch me in the face with the flavor. I recognize that this is a matter of personal preference, so if you’re looking for something very high quality and you prefer not to feel like you’ve gotten a black eye from your chocolate bonbons, these are definitely worth a try.

• Aequare Website