Monday, February 25, 2013

Lindt Excellence Madagascar 70% cocoa chocolate, and Koko Black's 80% dark chocolate

I don't have many words today. It's just not a word-filled afternoon, or at least not a blog-word-filled afternoon. (And no, I have no pre-written post to share. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. Today, I don't.)

I can, however, rustle up words for chocolate. Always. Both of these dark chocolate varieties have entered my chocolate rating system as reliable, enjoyable, dairy-free blocks that can be eaten alone, with tea, with coffee, as dessert, as a lunch dessert, as a snack, or just because.

In other words, they are good.


In this Madagascar 70% dark chocolate block, Lindt goes some way towards redeeming themselves for their insistence on including milk products in their 47-50% flavoured 'dark' chocolate range.


The chocolate has a simple, straightforward ingredient list: cocoa mass (70%), cocoa butter, sugar, and vanilla. As the name would suggest, the cocoa comes from Madagascar. I have never been to Madagascar, but my mental images of it (exotic, beautiful, African, tropical, lemurs) come through in the chocolate. Well, not the lemurs. That would be odd.

The vanilla is strong, the flavours warm, the cocoa deep, and the chocolate melt-in-your-mouth.


I like it a lot. Not quite as much as Lindt's 90% cocoa block, but a close runner up.


I have consumed several blocks of this 80% cocoa dark chocolate from Koko Black, but this is the first I have managed to photograph before consumption.


My experiences with the 80% cocoa range are mixed. Sometimes, the chocolate is bitter and boring and plain. Sometimes, it is joyous and deep-slightly-sweet with more flavour than seems possible. This block is definitely in the second category. In fact, there are brownies in this chocolate. I don't know how Koko Black does it, but if you close your eyes as you savour a square...definitely brownies.


Do I like this more than the flavoured Koko Black bars I talked about here? It's a tough call. Would I deem it a better everyday chocolate? Yes. Yes, I would.

What chocolate has featured for you lately? What are your chocolate 'basics'?

27 comments:

  1. aaah I wish I had some blog drafts I could call on easily - chocolate always makes everything better - I spent some time wandering the shelves of koko black a short while back and almost buying their chocolate but not being sure - this bar sounds delicious - though strangely we have fallen out of buying lindt chocolate lately - I think whittakers has become our go to chocolate instead

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    1. Whittakers is certainly better value, but I find it quite hard to find the flavours I like. Coles doesn't seem to stock it here, and Woolworths only a few flavours. The IGAs have the full range but we don't shop at them so often. Still, I am quite happy to drive around for chocolate :-)

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  2. Oh I do love chocolate, especially delicious good quality chocolate. I am a lucky girl, hubby know I love Lindt... :)

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  3. I love dark chocolate....especially Lindt.. :) I love the smoothness of Lindt a lot. :)

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    1. It is really smooth isn't it? Far more than most brands!

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  4. I love Lindt chocolate!!!! I saw a chocolate bar at a local sports store over the weekend that I kind of want to try- Chocolate Potato Chip. Sounds interesting, but I wasn't sure if the bar was worth $7. That seemed a little steep to me! My recent favorite chocolate has been a dark chili chocolate from Theo's in Seattle. It was awesome!

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    1. I recently read a review of chocolate potato chips from Hannah at Wayfaring Chocolate - and it did sound interesting! But dark chilli chocolate is probably more my kind of thing :-)

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  5. I know I'm going to sound silly but the Aldi fair trade dark chocolate is actually really good. It's insanely rich but fruity and works well in cooking as well as nibbling. Plus for a grad student budget it's a winner!

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    1. Ooh - Aldi are apparently coming to WA in the next year or so, so I will look forward to that!

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  6. I'm a lindt chocolate fan - though that said I haven't really eatten chocolate in a looooooooong time! Probably because I'm hooked on those macro bars so they suffice as chocolate for me!!!! lol
    I agree that its not dark if it has milk in it!!!! What is with that?!?!??
    Vanilla in chocolate is so yummy hey!
    Seems the perfect amount of words for chocolate ;-)

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    1. Bars never suffice as chocolate for me! But I am glad you're enjoying them :-)

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  7. Oh ho, someone's starting to join me in pretentious chocolate-speak!

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    1. Having enjoyed your tweet, I can happily respond with agreement ;)

      I'm a long way off poems though...

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  8. I haven't had chocolate in SO LONG (maybe 3 months!) argh, this post is getting some cravings going that's for sure.... anything dark is the ticket for me :)

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    1. 3 months is far too long without chocolate Lou!

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  9. I like the Koko Black dark chocolate with crystallized ginger. But they don't seem to make it any more. I've recently tried the Loving Earth Raw Dark with Agave but the Coconut Sugar one is even better!

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    1. I have to try Loving Earth chocolate! I keep meaning to and now I think it needs to be prioritised :-)

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    2. Dark chocolate and crystallized ginger is INSANE!

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  10. Oh my gosh, I love the idea of tasting brownies in a chocolate bar! You totally sold me on this. I can't seem to find many chocolate bars above 72% in the states, unless they are straight up bitter bakers chocolate. It's a bummer, because I really like the idea of higher cacao content and less sugar.

    Anyway, this post is inspiring some post-dinner chocolate for sure.

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    1. I'm always pleased to inspire post-dinner chocolate!

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  11. i love the lindt hazelnut one! so good!

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    1. I have never seen Lindt Hazlenut! I'll have to keep an eye out.

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  12. No to be TMI but it's that "time" and this post has left me seriously craving some delicious chocolate!!!
    YUM! And yes, I have not been planning many posts ahead of time which has lead to my big lack of posts. It gets so hard sometimes.

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    1. It does indeed get hard...fortunately chocolate helps with a lot of things, regardless of timing and how much time we have ;)

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  13. That Madagascar bar is so yum. Big on vanilla flavor. It's definitely better as 70% rather than the original release of 65%. I used to work for Lindt and definitely got regularly annoyed with the arrival of new dark chocolate that contained dairy (butter fat). The Creations line is an excellent example as it was their first high percentage dark truffle bar. I wrote it off as them seeing as necessary in the truffle filling (the shell was almost certainly dairy free) but after trying an AMAZING dark dairy free truffle bar I now know the ingredient is completely unnecessary.
    New flavor I recently saw in Tesco here in the UK . . . wasabi. Don't know if it's going to the US (probably) but probably tasty (although contains dairy so I won't be eating it).

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    1. I'm so impressed that you used to work for Lindt! I'm sure it's not quite as magical as my imagination would suggest, but it sounds like an amazing job nonetheless :-)

      I actually bought and tried that wasabi chocolate when we were in the UK last year! I was intrigued enough to cope with the dairy, but whilst I liked it, it had that sweet/slightly milky taste I associated with the lower cocoa bars in the Excellence range. It's not sold here in Australia but I'm keeping my eye out for other wasabi-containing chocolate now!

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