Amedei I Cru Napolitains

This was a gift from picture book author extraordinaire, Ame Dyckman. Ame is a generous soul with extremely good taste in chocolate.

But what is inside that box? you want to know. Well, let's take a peek.

It contains little boxes of single-origin 70% napolitains! There are six little boxes total, and each one contains six little pieces of chocolate.

I conducted a taste test with David and another friend-of-chocolate, Austin. We all agreed that our favorite was the Venezuelan bar. That is often David and my favorite. David says that Venezuelan chocolate has a certain brightness to it, and that's why we like it so much.

For those in the know, you will see a rare origin here -- Jamaica! We were all excited to try it, but we quickly discovered why it's so rarely seen -- all three of us agreed that it was standards of deviation worse than any of the other origins. (Austin's reaction was best.  After David and I expressed our displeasure, he uttered the following: "I kind of like this one! Oh.... oh no... then I swallowed. It was okay; then it wasn't okay.")

But we were very glad foe thr Jamaica bar's presence, because it was a truly educational experience for us all. And that is what we are all about here at Chocolate NYC -- education. You know. For the children.

The Madagascar origin provided the most dissent, as it often does between David and me.  I love it, like Austin and most normal humans, but David finds it too raisen-y or cherry-like or something.  (He can never make up his mind.)

Each of the varieties was unique, though. It's extraordinary how much of an impact beans' origins can have. All of these bars are 70%, but they are incredibly easy to distinguish, even blind. In any case, if you've never sat down with six single-origin bars and appreciated the range of chocolate tastes that are out there, I highly recommend this Amedei box.

Also, if you like opening up little colorful boxes to discover what is inside.

BOTTOM LINE: A great way to explore the range of tastes that are available at 70%.