Cocolo Overview
I recently wrote about buying a fridge for storing chocolate [1].
Jason Lewis (the co-founder of Organic Trader [2]) read that post and sent me some free samples of Cocolo chocolate [3] (Cocolo is an Organic Trader product that is made in Switzerland).
It’s interesting to note that Cocolo seem very focussed on a net presence [3], their URL is printed on the back of the packet in an equal size font to the main label on the front (although the front label is in upper case). The main web page has a prominent link to their Twitter page which appears to be updated a couple of times a month.
Cocolo makes only organic fair-trade chocolate. Every pack lists the percentage of ingredients that are Fairtrade (presumably milk and some other ingredients are sourced locally in Switzerland and Fairtrade doesn’t apply to them). Their chocolate packages have the URL www.fairtrade.com.au printed on them and their web site links to an international Fairtrade organisation. The packages also list the organic and Fairtrade certification details and state that they are GMO free. The final geek data on the package is advise to store the chocolate at a temperature between 16C and 18C (I have now set my fridge thermostat to 17C). The above picture shows the front of a pack of Dark Orange chocolate and the back of a pack of Milk chocolate.
Reviews
One thing that is different about Cocolo is that they use only unrefined evaporated organic cane sugar juice to sweeten their chocolate. This gives it a hint of molasses in the flavor. Children who like white sugar with brown coloring might not appreciate this, but I think that the use of natural cane sugar juice will be appreciated by most people who appreciate products with complex and subtle flavors.
The Milk chocolate contains a minimum of 32% cocoa solids, this compares to the EU standard of a minimum of 25% for milk chocolate and the UK standard of a minimum of 20% for “Family Milk Chocolate”. The EU standard for dark chocolate specifies a minimum of 35% cocoa solids, so it seems that Cocolo milk chocolate is almost as strong as dark chocolate. If you are used to eating dark and bittersweet chocolate then the Cocolo milk chocolate is obviously not that strong, but it is also significantly more concentrated than most milk chocolate that is on the market. The high chocolate content combined with the evaporated cane sugar extract gives a much stronger flavor than any of the milk chocolates that I have eaten in recent times.
The Dark Mint Crisp chocolate has a minimum of 61% cocoa mass. The mint crisp is in very small pieces that give a good texture to the chocolate with a faint crunch when you bite it. It has a good balance of mint and chocolate flavors.
The Dark Orange chocolate contains 58% cocoa solids and has a subtle orange flavor.
The white chocolate tastes quite different from most white chocolate. While most white chocolate is marketed to children the Cocolo white chocolate will probably appeal more to adults than children. This is one of the few white chocolates that I’ve wanted to eat since the age of about 14.
They also have many other flavors, most common types of chocolate (such as with almonds or hazelnuts) are available.
I highly recommend Cocolo products!
Just curious to know if you’ve ever run across packaged Dark Chocolate with Hazelnuts (outside of specialty chocolate shops like Koko Blacks in Carlton). It’s easy enough to find dark w/ almonds, but all hazelnut varieties seem to be milk chocolate – (and often absurdly sweet with way too much sugar)
Hi Russell,
Great to meet you today and I’m glad you like the chocolate!
Craig: Cocolo milk chocolate is stronger and less sugary than most milk chocolate. So while it doesn’t meet your stated criteria you may like it anyway. I’ve signed up to be a retailer of Cocolo chocolate so I can ask for a sample bar of Hazelnut chocolate to be included with my next order if you’d like to try it.
I generally only plan to stock Milk, White Almond, and Dark Mint Cocolo chocolate at this time. For the other types (Dark, Dark Almond, and Milk Hazelnut) I’ll only stock them when I get an advance order for 10+ bars. This is to decrease the cost of my stock for the types of chocolate I don’t plan to eat at the moment.