Notes from the brown book; Fair Trade Chocolate
Oh yes, about two months ago I made an excursion and visited Globalen, a small shop in Uppsala specialising in being good. I'm not pretty fond of people trying to lecture, but I do think a fairtrade mark on my chocolate adds to the taste. Or perhaps it's the other way around; the glamour and fun with the chocolate would be spoiled if I got to know that the farmers growing the cocoa were underpaid and suffered. That's all there is to it, and I want to eat my chocolate without a lecture.
However, I bought four dark chocolate bars to see what the fairtrade section had to offer. Here's the test results
Oxfam fairtrade
Click: Crumbles eventhough it's warm (the test was made during a day with +30* C )
Bitterness: Vague
Sweetness: High
Mouth feeling: Smooth and nice
Hot chocolate: -
Allergic friendly: Probably
Commentaries: A nice presentation, a true "bar". Probably made for a hot climate (?). The test was made on an extremely hot day. Good as a goodies chocolate, good beginners dark chocolate. TASTES GOOD.
Minus: The wrapping looks like a small political manifesto - a happy african in ragged clothes...
Green and Black's
Click: Soft
Bitterness: Low, but a clearly distinguishable level of resin (furtree)
Sweetness: Low
Mouth feeling: Crumbly
Hot chocolate: -
Allergic friendly: No
Commentary:
Presentation: Comes in one big piece of 20g. You are probably supposed to chew it from one end to the other. Very soft (hot day). Sharp aroma. Doesn't work as [goodies]
Plus: Elegant wrapping
Mascao
Click: Somewhat crumbly
Bitterness: Middle
Sweetness: Mild but distinguishable
Mouth feeling: Somewhat rough
Hot chocolate: Dissolves slowly on hot milk. Two piecies are too few for a cup.
Allergic friendly: No
Commentary: The chocolate bar looks excactly the same as Snack Eco [below]. Mostly sour. The higher percentage of cocoa do make a difference.
Plus: Elegant wrapping
Snack Eco
Click: Soft
Bitterness: More like smokey
Sweetness: Pretty high
Mouth feeling: Soft with rough afterfeeling
Hot chocolate: Works well in hot milk, but requires a high dosage
Allergic friendly: No
Commentary:
Presentation - good looking elegant bar. The taste is smokey, sour and of resin, but hardly of chocolate; do taste more of unrefined suger than of cocoa. Hardly worth it.
Minus: the wrapping looks like a small political manifesto. [The wrapping was covered with the fair trade badge, blown up to gigantic dimensions.]
To sum up: Oxfam is the true winner of the test but I do suggest that you tear off the paper wrapping as fast as you could (whatever the good intentions are behind putting workers on it the results are a chocolate that looks boring and that the chocolate in reality are sold on other peoples bad luck, ie. the cocoa workers that are not involved Oxfam programs).
However, I bought four dark chocolate bars to see what the fairtrade section had to offer. Here's the test results
Oxfam fairtrade
Fondant Negro
48%
Click: Crumbles eventhough it's warm (the test was made during a day with +30* C )
Bitterness: Vague
Sweetness: High
Mouth feeling: Smooth and nice
Hot chocolate: -
Allergic friendly: Probably
Commentaries: A nice presentation, a true "bar". Probably made for a hot climate (?). The test was made on an extremely hot day. Good as a goodies chocolate, good beginners dark chocolate. TASTES GOOD.
Minus: The wrapping looks like a small political manifesto - a happy african in ragged clothes...
Green and Black's
Organic
Dark chocolate with 70% cocoa solids
Click: Soft
Bitterness: Low, but a clearly distinguishable level of resin (furtree)
Sweetness: Low
Mouth feeling: Crumbly
Hot chocolate: -
Allergic friendly: No
Commentary:
Presentation: Comes in one big piece of 20g. You are probably supposed to chew it from one end to the other. Very soft (hot day). Sharp aroma. Doesn't work as [goodies]
Plus: Elegant wrapping
Mascao
Extra dark
Amargo Extra
70%
Click: Somewhat crumbly
Bitterness: Middle
Sweetness: Mild but distinguishable
Mouth feeling: Somewhat rough
Hot chocolate: Dissolves slowly on hot milk. Two piecies are too few for a cup.
Allergic friendly: No
Commentary: The chocolate bar looks excactly the same as Snack Eco [below]. Mostly sour. The higher percentage of cocoa do make a difference.
Plus: Elegant wrapping
Snack Eco
Ecological
Dark chocolate
at least 55%
Click: Soft
Bitterness: More like smokey
Sweetness: Pretty high
Mouth feeling: Soft with rough afterfeeling
Hot chocolate: Works well in hot milk, but requires a high dosage
Allergic friendly: No
Commentary:
Presentation - good looking elegant bar. The taste is smokey, sour and of resin, but hardly of chocolate; do taste more of unrefined suger than of cocoa. Hardly worth it.
Minus: the wrapping looks like a small political manifesto. [The wrapping was covered with the fair trade badge, blown up to gigantic dimensions.]
To sum up: Oxfam is the true winner of the test but I do suggest that you tear off the paper wrapping as fast as you could (whatever the good intentions are behind putting workers on it the results are a chocolate that looks boring and that the chocolate in reality are sold on other peoples bad luck, ie. the cocoa workers that are not involved Oxfam programs).
posted by Rosengeranium | 10:26 PM
2 Comments:
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Nice roundup of reviews on fair trade chocolate! Thanks for this :) You know, I was curious about your religious beliefs, especially in light of your political leanings. Do you find your pro-choice, pro-gay rights stance to be at odds with your Christian beliefs? I'm v. honestly interested -- Although I'm an atheist, my mother is a very, very devout Christian, and my father (he died) was a preacher and missionary. I guess I often feel that the "church" tends to be both homophobic and patriarchal. How do you mediate between the two?
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