Hi Karstens,

I've tried all the 99%+ bars and I agree, Domori is hands-down the best. I
should qualify this and say that I believe there is a good reason the
introduction of chocolate to Europe was not successful until sugar was
added. Even a slight amount of sugar makes it edible.

That being said, if there is a 100% bar that comes close to being enjoyable,
Domori makes it. Either the Puro or the 100% Pasta Di Cacao bars are
pleasant. And of course, there is no chocolate maker that approaches the
heavenly smell of the Domori line of chocolates.

> But the nutritional information says 53.2 gms of fat per 100 gms of
> product. So if they put in 53.2 gms of cocoa butter (which as far as I
> understand is pretty tasteless) then there can be only 46.8 gms of
> "taste."

I think you're a bit misled - the fat is not from added cocoa butter. It's
already there from the roasted and pulverized bean. Yes, you can actually
make a chocolate bar from the smashed cacao bean with no other ingredients.

> I can't really describe how it tastes but it reminded me a lot of a very
> "fatty" milk chocolate like Terra Nostra.

Ouch, it pains me to hear a comparison with Terra Nostra. I know Alex Rast
likes their bars, but to me their very strong fruity and woody/earthy flavor
notes led me to rate them among the absolute worst chocolate I've ever
tasted. On the other hand, Domori is worthy of comparison to Pralus at the
high end of the "awesome" scale.

> Now my theory is that you could call pure cocoa butter 100% cocoa "mass"
> but it would have almost no taste. So in a way is Domori getting away with
> a different interpretation of 100%?

Pure cocoa butter would be just that. "Mass" refers to the natural result
of processing a roasted cacao bean: you roast the bean, smash it up, and
you get cacao mass. Use hydraulic presses to smash the cacao mass and you
will separate the cocoa butter out, leaving (mostly) dry cocoa powder.

> The other reason Im questioning this is that to me even 72% Valhrona
> tastes "darker" than either the Puro or 100%. Possibly even the 60 or so
> Callebaut's taste "darker" but then I question what we all mean by "dark."
> The point is that even though the 100% and Puro are 100% is that they
> don't taste what I would call "dark." Whereas the MC 99% tastes like the
> darkest of darks. So can someone explain what I'm tasting here?

Taste is pretty individual - as for me, there are 60% bars that taste darker
than some 70%, but personally I have not found a lower-percentage bar that
tastes like 100%.

> p.s. if you only get one, I prefer the 100% to the Puro, but the packaging
> on both is so cool that its worth getting both.

Yes indeed. Even better, keep these bars sealed and open them now and then
for a "smell hit"! :-)

Geoff