Krak Chocolate - Vietnam Anh Em B10 - Dark Chocolate

Both, but each for a different part. Vietnam refers to the origin of the cocoa beans. The bar itself is made and packed by Krak Chocolade in the Netherlands.

That is exactly what bean to bar means: the beans come from a specific origin and harvest, and the chocolate maker roasts, refines and moulds the bar himself. This bar is made with the 2021 harvest.

This dark chocolate contains 70 percent cocoa. The bar weighs 80 grams.

At 70 percent cocoa this is a bar in which you can clearly taste the bean itself: noticeably less sweet than milk chocolate, but milder than a bar without added sugar. Let a piece melt slowly and the flavour profile of this origin comes through best.

Krak Chocolade is the company of bean to bar chocolate maker Mark Schimmel. Where most chocolatiers and pastry chefs work with melted factory chocolate, he controls the whole process himself.

He selects the cocoa beans by harvest year and by origin, and does the roasting and refining in house. That gives every bar, like this Vietnam Anh Em B10 from 2021, a flavour of its own that you will not find in mass production.

Store the bar cool, dry and dark, preferably at around 15 to 18 degrees and well sealed. Do not put dark chocolate in the fridge, because moisture and temperature swings make the bar bloom white and turn grainy.

Chocolate also picks up smells easily. So do not keep the bar next to strong smelling products such as coffee or spices.