Valrhona Andoa Lait
When I think of Valrhona, my mind usually turns to dark chocolates like Manjari and countless French chocolatiers who use their chocolate in their creations. I don’t usually think of milk chocolate bars like this.
Valrhona Andoa is an organic and fair trade brand. As well as this 39% milk chocolate, they also do a 70% dark chocolate version.
The 100g bar follows the standard format for Valrhona consumer chocolate bars; eight large chunks with the Valrhona logo at the top. For a milk chocolate, it has a nice clean snap. It’s not overly soft like some milk chocolates can be, although
There’s not much of an aroma to it, but it does have a very nice flavour. It’s warm, creamy, caramelly, and very easy to eat. There’s nothing complicated about it, it’s just a really nice milk chocolate.
The texture is smooth without being glossy, and the chocolate melts beautifully. The best way to eat this chocolate is just to break a small piece off and let it melt on your tongue. Let the flavours develop and resist the temptation to chew!
If you’re used to the confectionery chocolate that you might find in your local newsagent or supermarket, then this is probably going to be a revelation, and a great introduction to the world of fine chocolate. It’s sweet enough to keep any milk chocolate lover happy, but it’s never sickly.
It’s currently on sale at £4.65 from The Chocolate Trading Company (who sent me this sample), and at that price I’d recommend it to any milk chocolate lover looking to try something new. It’s not going to set the world of fine chocolate alight, but it is organic, fair, and a huge step up from the every day milk chocolates you might be used to.
Information
- Buy it online from:
- ChocolateTradingCo.com (Use voucher code Chocablog10 to save 10%)
- Contains milk chocolate (39% cocoa solids).
- Filed under fair trade, france, organic, valrhona.
I am unclear about the Valrhona Andoa status with the FDA. I had thought that they were in dispute with the FDA because of the soy lecithan content not being up to Organic standards and I was told that they could not market the Andoa line as Organic until they satisfied the FDA. I still see many suppliers still marketing it as Organic and Fair Traded. Does anyone know the status? I am sure that it is Organic and that it is Fair Traded, however I need that FDA “seal-of-approval” for my customers. Thoughts?