I went to a Lindt store a while ago and picked up a Lindt Excellence 99% dark chocolate. I love dark chocolate. To me, the darker, the better. Not to say that the only chocolate I will eat is dark. I had Lindt Swiss Bittersweet, and I would love to have it again. But between the 60% Ghirardelli, 70% Lindt, 72% Ghirardelli, 80% Lindt, 85% Lindt, and 97% of some brand from Peru I don't remember, 85% and 97% were by far my favorite. I thought the jump between 97% and 99% would be unnoticeable, so I took the plunge.
Since it was about 4 or so months since I last had dark chocolate, I also got a bar of 85% Lindt. Most people keep the square in their mouth and let it melt, which is the appropriate way to enjoy it. But when I really need the intense taste, I just chew on it. It was nice to know I could still eat 85% dark like it was milk chocolate.
So tonight was the first time I opened the 99% dark. Packaging is a lot nicer than any other dark chocolate I've ever seen. The squares are also a lot smaller. I ease myself into it by first smelling it, already I have a tangible sense of how intense it will be. I increase the intensity by breaking the square in half and smelling it. Finally I stick the half square in my mouth, but it won't melt because it's been sitting in the fridge, so I took a bite. Still nothing, so I took another bite, and another; eventually I'm just chewing. Then it finally hits me, all at once. I was too hasty and man, was it hard to eat.
I decided since I already ruined the experience, I might as well just stick the other half in my mouth and chew on that as well. Just a bit disappointed with how impatient I was with it. Next time I'll be sure to give it time to melt (and keep it out of the fridge).
Since it was about 4 or so months since I last had dark chocolate, I also got a bar of 85% Lindt. Most people keep the square in their mouth and let it melt, which is the appropriate way to enjoy it. But when I really need the intense taste, I just chew on it. It was nice to know I could still eat 85% dark like it was milk chocolate.
So tonight was the first time I opened the 99% dark. Packaging is a lot nicer than any other dark chocolate I've ever seen. The squares are also a lot smaller. I ease myself into it by first smelling it, already I have a tangible sense of how intense it will be. I increase the intensity by breaking the square in half and smelling it. Finally I stick the half square in my mouth, but it won't melt because it's been sitting in the fridge, so I took a bite. Still nothing, so I took another bite, and another; eventually I'm just chewing. Then it finally hits me, all at once. I was too hasty and man, was it hard to eat.
I decided since I already ruined the experience, I might as well just stick the other half in my mouth and chew on that as well. Just a bit disappointed with how impatient I was with it. Next time I'll be sure to give it time to melt (and keep it out of the fridge).
