In the beginning, there was milk chocolate, and mankind saw that it was good.
Then came dark chocolate, and mankind saw that it was also good.
And then came premium high cacao dark chocolate, high in flavinoids, and mankind saw that not only was it good, it was healthy.
Finally, there came single origin premium chocolate, with beans from one specific location being used to make superior varieties of chocolate for the cognoscenti. And that is where we are today: Sampling the three varieties of single origin chocolate in the Hershey's Cacao Reserve Single Origin Collection.
The package contained 17 pieces of chocolate ("tasting squares"), 4.2 oz. In my package, there were five of the Java premium milk chocolate (37% cacao), five of the Arriba premium dark milk chocolate (50% cacao) and seven of the Sao Tome premium dark chocolate (70% cacao). I tried one of each, starting with the lightest and going to the darkest, as I would if sampling varieties of beer.
The Java milk chocolate uses a rare, hand-picked form of Criollo cacao beans from the Indonesian island of Java. This is very, very good chocolate, very smooth, creamy and sweet.
The Arriba dark milk chocolate uses "a native strain of Forastero cacao beans from the natural rainforest region of southern Ecuador." This is also very good, but more bittersweet than the milk chocolate.
The Sao Tome dark chocolate is made from Sao Tome Forastero cacao beans. Very dark and robust.
You can probably find the sampler package at your local supermarket, and the individual varieties can be bought as bars as well.
There also was a Hershey's "Whole Bean" chocolate bar which uses the whole cacao bean, is 40% lower in sugar than regular chocolate and as an added bonus, has fiber! Yes, not only will you get your healthy flavinoids, but it'll keep you regular as well.
There also was an 86% cacao bar from another company, Lindt. I think that I would be afraid to try a chocolate bar with that high of a cacao content, because it would probably be so bitter. I'm willing to go to great lengths for my readers, but that might be a bridge too far.
