Oxfordshire-based Aurosó Chocolate has expanded its collection of eight luxury chocolate bars with a new Somerset Cider Brandy Bar.
Keeping true to the original collection, this latest bar features a ganache filling sealed inside a shell of Raisetrade 90% Madagascan dark chocolate.
The stone-milled cashew and 80% milk chocolate ganache also incorporates 4.2% Somerset Cider Brandy.
The brandy is made by The Somerset Cider Brand Company using traditional copper stills. The company sources apples from its own 180 acres of cider apple orchards, converting a whopping seven tonnes of apples into just 500 litres of brandy, which then goes on to be aged for 10 years inside oak barrels.
Founder of Aurosó Chocolate Catrin Burr noted that the hints of prune, walnut and vanilla worked well against the fruity Madagascan chocolate flavours. She also had a desire to support small artisan producers, and so the latest luxury chocolate bar was born.
Like the other bars in the collection, the Aurosó Chocolate Somerset Cider Brandy Dark Chocolate Bar is low in sugar, at just 8.6% (3.9g per bar). The bar is made using natural ingredients too:
Aurosó Chocolate Somerset Cider Brandy Dark Chocolate Bar ingredients:
Dark chocolate coating (56%) (Madagascar cocoa beans, cane sugar, cocoa butter), Cider Brandy Ganache Filling (46%) (Madagascar cocoa beans, Madagascar cocoa butter, whole milk powder, cane sugar, coconut butter, cashew nut butter, Cider Brandy (4.2%)). Cocoa solids: 90% minimum (dark chocolate), 80% minimum (milk chocolate).
This 45g bar is free from preservatives and does not include soy lecithin. It does contain nuts and is made in a kitchen that handles peanuts, nuts, fish, sesame seeds, eggs, dairy, celery, and mustard. This bar isn't suitable for vegans although there are four bars in the Aurosó Chocolate range that are vegan-friendly.
Aurosó Chocolate sent me a chocolate bar to sample. The aroma as I unwrapped the bar was rich and fruity, with notes of red apples and the slightest hint of coconut. As I cut into it there was an immediate burst of cider and liqueur notes. In terms of taste, the bar is highly complex, with a bitter edge that runs throughout the tasting. The brandy flavour leads first but is milder than I had anticipated. It tapers off allowing a rush of rich and fruity dark chocolate notes together with a nutty background to come through. This leads into the aftertaste where the two distinct flavours harmonise, serving up a slight warmth to conclude the tasting. Overall, it's a rich bar that has a complex yet clean and balanced flavour. The brandy is clear on the palate and is pronounced but not overpowering. It cleanly allows the intricacies of the Madagascan chocolate to shine through in a carefully considered manner.
This bar is available on their website (£7.50). There's a launch offer available on the website of four bars for the price of three, available until 9th August 2020.
Aurosó Chocolate is now also available at Esters Café and Friends of Ours Café in London, as well as at The Keep and The Goring Grocer in Oxfordshire.
Artisan brandy and exquisite dark chocolate. Is there a better suited combination? Let me know below.
