301763 Mon Mar 27 01:36:49 -0800 2006 3 27 General Chowhounding Topics 0 1684524 Stuck in stop & stop traffic for 45 minutes, to amuse myself I read the little pamphlet that came with the 100% cacao Domori bar. That little insert was like an owners manual to eating the chocolate bar. These people are serious about chocolate. I was so impressed by section about how to taste chocolate I looked over the website. Domori controls all parts of chocolate from plantation to chocolate shop. The site below has pictures of every step of the process. There are beautiful pictures of the cocoa pods ... didn't know they looked so different. It is in the HSJ (Hacienda San Jose) section, the 'Role" link. You can see the beans being dried (sun drying is preferred to artifical methodsm. Who knew there were artificial methods?), fermentation, production, etc ... all with pictures. Never knew all the steps of turning the pod into the choc-o-late and eating it all up. The 100% cocoa is interesting. If you search for Puro, there is more about it. I agree with the tobacco taste. Really nice mouthfeel. Very acidic. More elegant and flavorful than baking chcolate ... which I assume is 100% cocoa, right? Anyway, tons of info on the site, that is consise and to the point and beautifully illustrated with pictures. Would be interested in other opinions and suggestions on Domoni. Link: http://www.domori.com/index.php?app=domori&domoriID=e37e23e0a40d4d314a31479a078a89a7&lng_code=&mod=chapters_explorer&chapter_id=18 Mon Mar 27 01:36:49 -0800 2006 0 rworange 1 1684525 I'd say they are all good, except I haven't tried them all. The Cristal, in the Chacao Organic line, is one of the more interesting chocolates out there. It's 90% cacao, but the sweetening is done with crystalline sugar, so it's like a 100% cacao with little oases of sweetness that your taste receptors keep bumping up against. Did you get the Domori at Chocolate Covered, or have you found another source? Link: http://eatingchinese.org Mon Mar 27 02:07:41 -0800 2006 1684524 0 Gary Soup 2 1684526 Bittersweet sells a lot of the Domori Line. I'll have to stop by Chocolate Covered the next time I'm in SF. Interesting about the 90% Cristal since Domori says the best balance is "in 65% to 85% content. Sugar is a basic flavor-enhancing substance, capable of leaving out for a moment the cacao bitterness in order to enhance its aromatic notes." Will have to try the Cristal next. Maybe I'll work my way backward from 100% ... thanks. I imagine the 100% is going to take a while to work my way through as one little square gives me my total chocolate fix. You know that businnes about a long finish ... it's been a couple of hours and the flavor is still lingering. Mon Mar 27 03:06:44 -0800 2006 1684525 0 rworange 3 1684535 I haven't known anything about long finishes for about twenty years now.... Mon Mar 27 11:32:46 -0800 2006 1684526 0 Gary Soup