Escaz? Chocolates?is another chocolatier that’s practically in my backyard. How did I not know that there were so many local chocolate makers right here in the triangle?
I’d seen them before at Whole Foods and the coffee shop by my gym, but I’d never picked them up because I already have a sizeable chocolate backlog. Fortunately, a friend decided to thank me for some pet-sitting by giving me this Chipotle Chile & Vanilla bar.
The 74% cacao bar was segmented into 24 rectangles. The chocolate broke easily but without a true snap.?Its melt was thick for a dark chocolate, velvety in texture but not tongue-coatingly thick like milk chocolate.
The dark chocolate had a fruity flavor with strong, plummy raisin and fig notes that lingered in the finish. The chipotle sting melted?into a tingling burn that also lingered on the tongue and in the back of my throat.
I loved the complex intensity of this bar and am now eager to try the rest of their line. An OM.