Sulpice Chocolat had a booth at Sweets and Snacks with some gorgeous samples laid out. I was trying to limit how much sugar I actually consumed on the show floor, so I was happy when Sulpice agreed to mail me a free sample bar to review at home.
I got the Gingembre, which was “crystallized ginger, lemon essence, toasted and salted macadamia nuts” in 55% dark chocolate. Like all of their bars, it came molded into fifteen connected?capsules handpainted with pretty splatters of colored chocolate.
I expected it to be a filled chocolate bar, due to the way it was segmented into pods. Instead, those pods were solid chocolate. Though the bar broke cleanly along its segments, the thicker pods had a softer break when I bit into them.
The chocolate had a smooth and spicy melt that finished with a nice cocoa duskiness. Its flavor was?dominated by strong ginger notes. The bite of ginger flavor was there without the painful burn that can come with true ginger.
The lemon essence added a bright, sunshiney overtone. Had I not known that it was in the ingredients, I would have chalked its flavor up to extra fresh ginger. It really serves just to amp up the ginger flavor.
The macadamia nut bits were tiny and sparsely scattered throughout the bar. They added a light crunch and toastiness that cut through the sweet chocolate. I didn’t notice any textural differences that would have been caused by physical bits of crystallized ginger.
I found this bar to be quite enjoyable – lovely on the eyes and the palate. The physical presentation would make it good for gift-giving. An OM.