Amedei Toscano Brown

An unusually tasty milk chocolate of high quality and almost perfect texture.

Producer: Amedei

Produced in: Italy

Chocolate type: Milk chocolate

Cocoa content: 32 %

Ingredients: Cane sugar, cocoa butter, whole milk powder, cocoa mass, vanilla

More information: Homepage of Amedei

The grading system in short

We are using a grading system of our own that is similar to those used by many professional chocolate tasters.

Maximum is 100 % which corresponds to a perfect chocolate. Many factors add to the result:

10 % Appearance - the look of the surface, snap and design.

20 % Aroma

20 % Texture - how it melts and feel in the mouth

45 % Taste - how tasty it is, how much it tastes, how long it tastes, how the flavors develop and changes

5 % Bonus - certifications, the packaging, the price, if it is produced bean to bar etc.

The appearance

A fine chocolate should be completely smooth and shiny. The colour varies with type of bean and cocoa content. If you try the chocolate at the right temperature; ca 18- 20 ° C / 64- 68 ° F, a dark chocolate has a characteristic breaking sound - a snap. It is not as obvious for milk chocolates. I also think that the design of the chocolate bar and chocolate square affects the experience.

Surface: glossy

Color: Light brown

Snap: Evident, arid, muted.

Design:  Good thickness and size of the square (as most napolitains have)

Score: 8/10

Aroma

A really good chocolate should have a complex aroma with many scent impressions. Of course the chocolate has to smell nice. The aroma should be deep and intense.

Opinion: The chocolate smells nice and intense. The aroma is not very complex and doesn´t evolve.

Scents: I felt a distinct and sweet scent of caramel, vanilla and cream.

Score: 7/10

Texture

A good chocolate should feel completely smooth and soft in the mouth, and a bit buttery. It should melt easily and become completely runny.

Opinion: The chocolate melts easily. It is totally smoth and buttery, but somewhat gooey.

Score: 9/10

The taste

The flavor of the chocolate should be present immediately when you put it in the mouth. The flavour should last long and be strong. A good chocolate should have many dimensions and evolve while you are eating it. A really good chocolate has a complex taste with a lot of different flavor notes. The taste is affected a lot by the nose and therefore often reminds of the aroma.

The cocoa beans has a bitterness which should be felt a little bit. If the best beans have been used you should also feel a subtle acidity.

Opinion: The taste of the chocolate appears directly. The taste is strong. The flavours are pretty much the same the whole time. It is a bit complex with many falvor notes.

Flavours:  A sweet taste of caramel, vanilla, butter cream, condensed milk and a hint of salt.

After taste: The delicious taste lingered for a long time after I finished the chocolate.

Score: 9/10

Bonus points

A lot of chocolate makers buys ready-made chocolate without knowing what quality beans have been used. Then they make chocolate bars from it. But to make a really good chocolate they need to oversee all steps during the manufacturing process and select their own beans.

Amedei conducts all steps themselves and importes their own beans from selected plantations.

Points: 1

Result

Amedei Toscano Brown is really to sweet for me. I normally prefer dark/bitter chocolate to milk chocolate. But this one is deliscious. It is also really high quality.

10 % Appearence: 8 x 1 = 8

20 % Aroma: 7 x 2 = 14

20 % Texture: 9 x 2 = 18

45 % Taste: 9 x 4.5 = 40.5

Bonus points: 1

In total: 81.5 %