Dagoba Lavender Blueberry & Milk Chocolate
The two bars I’ve previously reviewed saw me liking the Dagoba Chai and disliking the Dagoba Seeds bar.
However, today, I had two guest reviewers, one of whom, Juliet, urged me to try Dagoba’s Lavender Blueberry and then their milk chocolate.
…and with faces like these, how could I resist? Plus, they had chocolate to try!
First up was the Dagoba Lavender Blueberry, with 59% cocoa solids. When unwrapped we could detect the faintest whiff of lavender which was rather inviting.
This time, the dark chocolate did an excellent job of perfectly pairing up with tiny pieces of organic blueberry and the subtle lavender oil. Juliet’s view was, “It first just tastes like dark chocolate, then you chew it and the lavender flavour kicks in.” Carly added, “It’s a nice mild lavender taste – any more would ruin the taste of the chocolate which is very velvety on the inside.” Not bad for nine years old, are they?
Next came Dagoba’s 37% Milk Chocolate block.
Firstly, the 37% cocoa solids impressed me for a so-called organic milk chocolate bar, especially when other, larger manufacturers of milk chocolates consider 20% enough.
This bar was a revelation. Normally I find milk bars to be very sweet first with the creamy undertones emerging as the second flavour. This time however, the creaminess was decadently dominant and there wasn’t the sickly sweet factor that can sometimes put off Dark Side Dwellers. This is a puzzle to me because the first ingredient remains cane sugar, but somehow the cacao butter and milk have combined to produce something exquisitely velvety and creamy.
Carly summed it up as, “This is much creamier than the lavender. It reminds me of Cadbury’s Eight Moments.” Juliet nodded, adding that “Being slightly melted really helps the flavour of this one because I already know that it’s always better to keep chocolate in the pantry rather than the fridge.”
Their favourites? “Oh the milk, definitely”, said Carly, “But the lavender would make a nice present that’s a bit unusual for someone.”
Juliet was torn. “It’s too hard to pick between milk and dark chocolate because they are just too different.”
Wise words from two very eager guest tasters.
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- Filed under blueberry, dagoba, dark chocolate, lavender, milk chocolate, organic, us.
Hey! Are you actually allowed to sub-contract reviews out like this?? 🙂
I still haven’t got around to trying Dagoba. Must put it on my list (especially the lavender one)
If you are impressed with the 37% milk bars, you should be trying Coppeneur’s Hacienda Lara 62% Milk chocolate bar or Michel Cluizel’s 50% Milk.
I actually know the wonderful little lavender farm where Dagona gets there lavender oil. It’s called Peace Valley Lavender inBucks County PA. I’ve used their lavender by infusing it to make a lavender honey ganache for hand dipped chocolates. Their lavender makes fabulous chocolates.
“…the first ingredient remains cane sugar but somehow the cacao butter and milk have combined to produce something exquisitely velvety and creamy.”
It’s all in the conching process. Speed and timing need to be perfectly aligned. Obviously they’ve got it right.
Love your reviewers.
Good to know not all Dagoba’s lines are horrible. I tried the chilli and chocolate nibs one last summer, and it was the foulest chocolate I’ve ever eaten. Tasted like cardboard. It’s still kicking around my room somewhere (the mark of good chocolate in my house is how short a time it exists! Eight months is not good).
i love it. It melts in your mouth its so yummy i recommend it to anyone
by Juliet(taste tester for this review
And a great and willing reviewer you were too, young Juliet!
Hey Mum! The milk was really creamy and snapped easily. The Lavender one was quite interesting. Somone like Mum (tries lots of weird varieties of chocolate) would love this for something quite different, but really nice in it’s own special way. I think Dagoba should make more flavours of chocolate now, like Lindt and Cadbury and Nestle. It’d be good to see what they’d come up with.
i totally argee with you on that one Carly they should too! by juliet fraser
I had a lovely black pepper chocolate in Scotland, spring of ’08. Seems like it was a major company but I have never seen it here.