at Sat, 04 Feb 2006 11:31:30 GMT in <ms39u1lmhnvjbth01gk5jtbbf6gcq5thpf@
4ax.com>, wrote :

>I just bought a bar of Hershey's 60% Special Dark...It's pretty
>good. I don't know if it was made by Sharffenberger (Hershey's is
>acquiring Sharffenberger) but they seem to have a similar taste.

No - and I don't really think they taste that similar, really. Scharffen
Berger's 62% has a striking, fruity flavour very similar to blackberries,
extremely tart and with a bit of nuttiness. The profile stays high-strung
throughout the length.

Meanwhile Hershey's 60% is much more of a soft, coconutty flavour, with a
slight fruitiness at best, more reminiscent of cherries. It's got a much
flatter finish, dying away more quickly and with more of a thud.

IMHO the Hershey's is very slightly better than the S-B, S-B being just too
sharp and thus harsh. The flatness of the Hershey's is unfortunate, but
this isn't a fault limited to mass-market chocolate - Pralus Ghana, for
example, is flatter still.

The Hershey's 60% is a pretty creditable effort at quality chocolate. Sure,
there are far better bars, but this one isn't a disaster either, and
widespread distribution should ensure its popularity. OTOH, another bar
with widespread distribution, Ghirardelli's bittersweet, is considerably
better than the Hershey's, and is in fact better that a large percentage of
"high-end" chocolates. It's probably the best value in a chocolate
purchasable in bar form within the USA. There are better chocolates
available even cheaper, but only in break-up or bloc format - not quite so
elegant. Shows you how much you pay for the wrapper...

--
Alex Rast

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