Marsatta Chocolate - Maple Pacifica

Company: Marsatta Chocolate

Bar: Maple Pacifica

Type: 89% Chocolate (dairy free) bar

Price: $9.75

Available here: https://marsatta.com/products/maple-pacifica-89-bean-to-bar-chocolate

Scores:

Taste: 9.4

Texture: 8.2

Richness: 6.1

Value: 7.3

About Marsatta Chocolate

Founded in 2003 by Chef Jeffray Gardner, Marsatta Chocolate started as the first bean-to-bar company in Los Angeles. But before Marsatta’s founding, it honestly started as a hobby, ~30 years ago, Jeffray began his shift from being a professional hockey referee to making high-quality chocolate that didn’t need to be diluted by sugar. Since then the love and craftsmanship has only improved. They not only have bars, which I'm writing about because they travel better, but they have bonbons which are to-die-for. They are definitely on the expensive side, but perfect for when you want that high quality treat.

Their mission is to help people discover and appreciate the art of craft chocolate and make it accessible and enjoyable for everyone.

You can learn more from this video:

Taste: 9.4

The first thing you will notice is the salt flake as it primes your taste buds for the 89% chocolate. This melds into the maple sugar which surprisingly beats the chocolate in terms of order, but not power. The maple sugar is a bit reminiscent of caramel, but with a subtler, less sweat flavor, which is perfect for how dark the chocolate is. Then the cacao nibs kick in, and it is incredible, there's well roundedness with the chocolate that doesn't directly lead to bitterness. In fact, the bitterness, while there, is extremely mild, especially given that it's 89%. Because there is no milk, the flavor is rounded of by the sugar and maple sugar, bringing an incredible balance and grounding to the chocolate. The after taste circles back to a not-so-sweet chocolate caramel in flavor and texture, leaving you wanting more in both mouth play and flavor notes as you take another bite to experience the circles of flavor.

Texture: 8.2

Because there is no milk, and it's primary cacao nibs with sugar, the chocolate feels a bit drier at first, but it sits in your mouth, the maple sugar makes a bit of maple syrup mixed with the cacao nibs, which is an absolute joy to experience the transition from a solid bar to a chocolate sauce that gets thicker into a syrup.

Richness: 6.1

It is rich, you will not want to eat too much, but not as rich as you might think. I can definitely eat a lot more than I expected, and the salt plus maple sugar is a huge part of that.

Value: 7.3

Because the cost is so high, it's hard to give this a higher value, but it is one of the best dark chocolates I've had. The taste is incredible, and I still can't believe it's an 89% chocolate bar. Definitely a bar to cherish instead of demolish, but no one is judging if it's gone within 5 minutes.