Review: Green & Black's Organic Maya Gold
Up on the review block today we have Green & Black's Organic Maya Gold chocolate bar. The first time I had tried Green & Black's chocolate I tried their Espresso bar and found it a bit too strong for my tastes but not being a big coffee person I figured that it was my fault and they were due a second chance. I must say that this bar is much more to my liking than the last.
I don't have the developed nose of a chocolate connoisseur and won't pretend I do. I will say that upon opening the bar I was greeted with a variation on the slightly sour, earthy chocolate aroma I have come to associate with organic chocolate. The aroma was a little spicy and had just a hint of citrus about it. The taste is very nice. The orange flavor that was hinted at in the aroma really comes through without being overpowering and the spices complement it and the chocolate nicely. The chocolate itself is a nice dark chocolate - smooth, not very bitter and pleasantly sweet. The spices keep me scratching my head, though. Tasting the chocolate and smelling the bar I keep thinking of making pumpkin pie cake - I come back to nutmeg and cinnamon. Green & Black's describe the bar having nutmeg, cinnamon and a hint of vanilla (which I missed entirely) so I'm apparently not too far off the mark. I think a little ginger in the mix would be amazing, but that's just me. Possibly the nicest thing about the bar is the fact that while it has the orange flavor it doesn't have a strong orange aftertaste.
Both the spices and orange are a nice complement to the chocolate and don't overpower it. The bar, like all good flavored bars, is very well balanced. The flavors are all complementary of each other and not overwhelming. On top of it all the bar is organic and Fair Trade certified - both important selling points for me. I have to say I really like this bar a lot and figure it to be about an 9 out of 10. Highly recommended.
Comments
cybele Said:
I really liked that bar too, I'm curious to try their white chocolate bar (though not one of their fair trade ones). I'm not a big white chocolate fan but I've heard good things about theirs.
Posted by: cybele | January 4, 2006 1:11 PM
Bryan Said:
I think I've seen this bar at a store somewhere and was eyeing it because I really dig the chocolate and oranges combination. But you're right, in general most companies seem to really overdo it when it comes to the orange flavor. The orange taste is usually blastingly strong and lingers for quite awhile afterwards.
TJ's has these Chocolate Orange finger bars that basically taste like orange jelly with a coating of chocolate around it. I used to eat them (because family bought them all the time) and then I realized that I really disliked that orange jelly paste. I'd definitely like to try a bar where the orange is more subtle and less artificial.
How much was it?
Posted by: Bryan | January 13, 2006 2:47 PM
William Said:
*EDIT*
I lied. Stopped at Whole Foods on the way home and they are $2.99 each there. Also found something special I need to be blogging about =D
*EDIT*
I think it's over $4 so it isn't cheap, but organic chocolate never is.
I'm pretty new to the oranges and chocolate combination but I think that the easiest route to get the orange flavor would be via orange oil and that stuff is strong and very easy to overdo.
I think that the idea with this bar is that the orange is part of a flavor ensemble so they toned it back accordingly.
Posted by: William | January 13, 2006 3:36 PM
Lyra Said:
Hi there, I just found your blog now and spent about 2 hours reading your reviews. There is a Whole Foods two blocks from my work and lately I have been buying a nice gourmet chocolate bar about once every couple weeks and having one or two little pieces every afternoon at work (right about 3 PM when everyone else has coffee). So these reviews are very helpful because you have covered a lot of chocolates that Whole Foods carries...Ill definitely refer to them.
But the main point! Is that my family is from Belize and we grow organic cacao for Green and Black's, specifically for the Maya Gold chocolate bar. So when you have one again, you can think that maybe a couple molecules of that chocolate came from my childhood farm.
Posted by: Lyra | July 3, 2007 8:46 PM