Tasting and recommending chocolate is something I’ve been doing for a few years now. And while I try to think of what others might or might not like, and keep an open mind, it would be naive to think that personal taste doesn’t play a huge part.
Regular readers will know that this year I’ve become a big fan of Lumi chocolate, started up by Peta Leith, a former pastry chef (I think you’re always a pastry chef though…), and have recommended its bars a few times in this column and bought it as presents. It’s quite a regular go-to for ‘off duty’ me.
I hadn’t, by some stupid oversight, tried the Single Origin (Ghana) 40% Milk (£6.75, 100g), but when I did I was underwhelmed. I tried it a lot, hoping a different day would yield different results, but it just didn’t do it for me. I did something I very rarely do (my ethos is if you don’t really like something just don’t write about it; this little column is about spreading joy, not gloom). I contacted Peta, with some trepidation, and told her this. For me the bar didn’t have enough cocoa backbone.
But then I put it into secondary testing, which means getting others to test it (I have a small team of perfectly ordinary people who nevertheless know their chocolate) and the responses went like this: ‘This is amazing; can I keep it; what is wrong with you not liking this; it’s so creamy; OMG.’ I’ve never felt so wrong. The scrabble for keeping the bar – frenzied, like throwing a carcass to a pack of starving lions – told me that it’s always worth asking a second, third, fourth opinion. So why don’t you let me know what you think? Buy it and tell me: annalisa.barbieri@theguardian.com.
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