With the nation going crazy for Willie Harcourt-Cooze’s Venezuelan Black range of 100% chocolate (cacao), I thought it was odd that one of the UK’s more mainstream chocolatiers didn’t have a similar product that was pure chocolate without all the added sugar and fats.
To my surprise, a recent browse through the Hotel Chocolat website found just the product I was looking for – Hacienda Iara Organic Dark 100%. Ok, the name is a bit long winded but if it’s like the other products in the Hotel Chocolat range, every vowel and consonant will be worth it.
So how does the product compare to the likes of Willies cacao? With the ingredients list stating just “organic cocoa” I think we’ve found a winner.
Where Hotel Chocolat chocolates are mainly for eating, Willie’s Venezuelan Black is primarily sold as an ingredient which makes me wonder if his cacao is a little more unrefined and crude than Hotel Chocolat (I’ve tried neither by the way, this is just my interpretation of the marketing for each product!). Hotel Chocolat make no mention of using their Hacienda Iara slab in cooking, although as a truly pure bar (and one that’s suitable for Vegetarians and Vegans) I can’t think of anything better to make into gorgeous chocolate truffles or a tipsy hot chocolate with about a pint of rum!
The story for the Hacienda Iara starts with “pure nacional arriba cocoa and absolutely nothing else. Conched for an extraordinarily long time for satisfyingly mellow flavours.”
“Pure cocoa mass gently conched for an extraordinarily long time to achieve a satisfying mellowness. Made with organic beans from Gonzalo Martinetti’s impeccably run plantation of nacional arriba cocoa trees in the Los Rios province of Ecuador.”
If anyone has tried the Hacienda Iara Organic Dark 100% I would love to know how you got on with it.
5 Responses to Hacienda Iara Organic Dark 100%
Darren March 24, 2008
As per my post on your Venezuelan Black thread I bought a bar purely for cooking as I don’t like to eat dark chocolate. As you rightly point out it is probably not for cooking but I thought what the hell as you could only really buy Green & Blacks 75% (IIRC) at the time.
Anyway I thought I’d try a bit just for interest but being a milk chocolate fan (maybe obviously) found it was just too deep/bitter for my tastes. However, as with all good chocolate it dissolved in my mouth the second it landed on my tongue into a silky smooth paste. Overall it has very little, if no sweetness at all, is very intense but surprisingly not that bitter. Since then I keep trying it to see if my pallette has developed and have found it best in very small quantities.
It has, however, been a fantastic ingredient and I have sucessfully used it in chilli where it goes very well with pork, chorizo and chipottle chillies (no mince beef I might add). Also fantastic in mousses and the cloud forest cake.
Personally I would like to give Willie’s cacao a try for interest but when you can get this easily in the high street I’m willing to let the hype die down and save myself some money !! Thanks
Tombentworth April 9, 2009
I just wanted to give an update, I haven’t tried the Hotel Chocolat Bar or the Stick they now sell but Willie’s is a lot cheaper than both .
Joff April 10, 2009
Good tip Tom but don’t forget the Hotel Chocolat bar is a premium “eating” product so it’s likely to be pricier. Willie’s range is more for cooking with, you can eat it “raw” out of the packet but it’s only for die hard choc lovers
No Sugar December 24, 2009
I don’t eat chocolate (no sugar etc) but I do eat both these products. The HC bar is much easier to eat but much more expensive. The Willie’s range is more palatable if melted slightly. They both of course have the effect on brain chemistry which cacao does.
Robin Bailey September 14, 2010
I recently got back from Boston where I toured Hotel Chocolat and bought a handful of yummy chocolates. One of the items I bought was 100 percent Dark Organic Hacienda Iara from Ecuador. I am a true dark chocolate lover and couldn’t resist buying this bar. It is incredibly dense, lively snap, great aroma and melts quickly. As said before, it isn’t bitter at all, but it’s not for the faint of heart. If eaten straight, it should be in very small doses. I like the idea of using it in a recipe, with some sugar. lol Worth the price.