Pralus - Indonesie 75%

Price $14.80 for 100g

Comparative Price $14.80 per 100g

Origin Indonesia

Rating 1.5 stars (revised rating 3 stars - see comments below)

Buy again No.  Others may enjoy but the flavour is all wrong for me

This was my first real foray into Pralus and I had heard great things about them as a chocolate house (and I do favour the French in chocolate) so I am going into this with high expectations - always a worry, will it be able to live up to these expectations?  But this had also been recommended to me so it didn't seem unfair to harbour hopeful thoughts.  Besides, I hadn't tried cocao from Indonesia which I understand is an emerging producer on the market.

Sight

I love the packaging of the Pralus single origin blocks (I had purchased several in my sense of anticipation). Simple but it speaks of both its French pedigree and its exotic origins.  The packaging is brown paper with the country of origin (Indonesie) and the bean type (the Criollo) proudly taking centre state. But there is of course the unmistakable signature of Francois Pralus, adding a touch of the personal.  

This chocolate itself has a distinct red tinge to it that provides a very warm and inviting visual.  Otherwise this is a smooth chocolate but non-descript.  There are no further embellishments upon the chocolate.  The pieces are somewhat small in size but they do make up for it in thickness.

Snap

A good solid snap that suggests this may be a great chocolate.

Smell

The aroma is good, strong and distinctly chocolate.  It very much makes me want to start my tasting.

Taste & Texture

The very first thought on this chocolate is the flavour.  It begins a little odd in a way I cannot describe but soon I capture a very heavy flavour profile; bitter, smokey and earthy - with all being present as distinct flavours. And whilst the flavour does develop more fruity sharpness I cannot get away from this flat bitter taste.

And that bitterness just increases until at the end I actually grimace a little - it reminds me, in terms of sensation rather than taste, of those childhood memories of taking medicine that leaves a distinctly unpleasant after taste.  

Where this flavour comes from I am not sure.  It may of course be a natural flavour of the bean, but I was once told that Indonesian chocolate is often smokey as using the principle of 'terroir' a lot of the land that produces cocao had experienced fires hence the smokiness.  It could also be the method used to dry the beans, but either way I guess some people may like this but for me it isn't a flavour I will be seeking out.

The texture is not bad, not the smoothest chocolate I have had however it does offer a certain softness in the mouth and it melts quite nicely however this is a little gritty which does no justice to the earthy notes I am struggling with.  

Summary

This doesn't occur often but I really don't like this chocolate.  It took me repeat tasting to fully come to terms with this judgement as I was expecting it to be good so kept doubting myself, but I now concede I won't even be finishing the bar.  

For me, it is bitter and smokey and so heavy on my palate it doesn't offer any of the discreet or subtle flavour development I enjoy in chocolate. Don't get me wrong, I love strong flavours in my chocolate and I like to be challenged, but not to this bitter extent.  And it isn't even the bitterness of dark chocolate that I am tasting, you know the type you get it with cheaper chocolate where there is no flavour to the bean as such and you just taste bitterness - well this bitterness is the flavour of this bean.  And the texture doesn't do it any favours.

Despite the fact that I paid $14.80 for this and hoped for better I am going to rate it as 1.5 out of 5.  There is nothing redeeming here for me, save maybe the packaging.

Although in the interests of balance and acknowledging that Pralus is a chocolate house of excellent renown, I would love to hear other people's experience with this chocolate.  Certainly it was recommended to me from where I purchased it (Monty's in Brisbane) and I have read favourable reviews from people whose opinion I respect - but for me it is a decided no!

Reviewer: Shari
2 January 2010 

Comments

[Shari]

I think my palate must have changed, I couldn't stand this chocolate to begin with and kept going back to it wanting to like it, but it eluded me. I think I persisted because I know several people who really rate it and something, somewhere changed for me, so that once I happened to venture towards this again some time after the original review I discovered a new appreciation for it.

It is still a very bitter chocolate, and it makes no apologies for that and the earthy tones continue. At times the bitterness hits rather hard but it quickly fades into something more subtle. And whilst I have decided I rather enjoy this, I am not sure I could recommend it for those who struggle with bitterness. But those who like a punch and don't shy away from bitterness, you will love this, including the very strong and long linger.

I can't say this is my favourite chocolate yet, but I did enjoy it and liked the challenge. As such I have revised my rating to 3 and from that I really look forward to reviewing more Pralus bars (I still have quite a few to partake of).