DISTINGUISHED BEANS
Reviewing the best in craft chocolate
Map Chocolate
Located in Oregon's lush Willamette Valley, Map Chocolate makes wildly fun and inventive inclusion bars with combinations like pine bud syrup, fir tips, and Norwegian sea salt, brown butter salted caramel with black garlic, and crispy olives and lemon za'atar. They also make monthly nano-lots with seasonal flavors - these get snapped up right away! Occasionally, they will offer a stunning single-origin bar like the one below.
Mexico Tabasco Nano-lot 66%
Aroma: umami, dried fruit, soy sauce , leather, smoked meat
Flavor: Complex with lots of naturally sweet and delicate flavors! Grape, dried apple, floral, honey, vanilla, caramel, molasses, leather, starchy a little, sweet, some nuttiness, peanut butter, cream, cooked milk. They saw peach, coffee, and cream and I think that is apt. Soft fruit – raspberry, stone fruit. Lovely.
Recommendation: Highly recommended. Complex and beautifully balanced.
Batch info: 9/19