Tcho Dark Chocolate Chocolate Squares Disappoint!

The Good: Good ingredients, Accurately captures the promised flavor
The Bad: Expensive, Bitter, with a dry aftertaste more akin to a baker's chocolate than a dessert chocolate.
The Basics: Tcho Dark Chocolate chocolates are disappointing in that they have a high cacao content with little flavor or enjoyment to be derived from consuming them.


When it comes to exceptionally dark chocolate, I find there to be a difficult balance to find in getting an accurate flavor for the dark chocolate and making a treat actually worth consuming. Far too often, I encounter dark chocolates that are far too milky and fail to live up to the promise of their dark chocolate flavor. Only once in a long while do I encounter a dark chocolate that is more like a baker's chocolate - bitter and unpleasant - than an actual consumable confection. The Tcho Dark Chocolate chocolate squares are one of the rare examples of the latter problem.

Basics

Tcho Dark Chocolate chocolate squares are one and 1/2” squares of chocolate that are 3/16” thick. Each of the squares comes individually wrapped in a dark brown and gold foil wrapper. It is worth noting that while I usually rail against the environmental impact of such things, it is hard to imagine Tcho chocolate squares not wrapped. This keeps each one clean, unmelted and intact.

Each chocolate square is a seamless square that is a milk chocolate patty with an artistic grid filigree stamped into the top.

Ease Of Preparation

These are candy, so preparing them is as simple as opening the bag and then opening one of the plastic wrappers around the actual chocolate square one wishes to eat. There is no grand secret to eating Tcho Dark Chocolate chocolate squares. That said, they do need to be kept comparatively cool or these squares will melt.

Taste

The Dark Chocolate Tcho squares smell exceptionally strongly of cacao. Anyone who loves dark chocolate will instantly recognize the aroma of strong, dark chocolate undiluted by the milk chocolate medium or additional sweeteners that most inexpensive chocolates are hampered by. The aroma is akin to baker's chocolate.

In the mouth, the Tcho Dark Chocolate squares are dry and surprisingly sweet compared to the aroma. The initial sweetness fades within seconds to an obvious bitterness that accompanies very dark chocolates with high cacao content. Unfortunately, the Tcho Dark Chocolate lack any real depth of flavor or subtlety; these are dry and bitter with little pizazz. These might as well be baker's chocolate for their flavor.

There is a heavily bitter aftertaste to the Dark Chocolate chocolate squares, which leaves the mouth dry and robs the delight from any part of the flavor experience.

Nutrition

The Dark Chocolate chocolate squares are candy, so it is tough to look at these for something nutritious and then blame them for not being healthy. Tcho chocolate squares have decent ingredients, though, which is probably why they are so expensive. The primary ingredients are cacao beans, cane sugar and cocoa butter. There is nothing unpronounceable, nor unrecognizable in these candies.

A serving of the Tcho Dark Chocolate chocolate squares is considered a single square and while there is nothing bad in them, they are not exactly loaded with nutrients.

Honestly, these are candy and anyone looking to them for actual nutrition needs to get a reality check. These are not Vegan-compliant, nor are they recommended for anyone with a nut allergy as they may contain trace amounts of tree nuts.

Storage/Clean-up

The bags of these Tcho Dark Chocolate chocolate squares remain fresh for quite some time. Ours did not have an expiration date that I could find. Given that it is chocolate, one assumes that if they are kept in a cool, dry environment they will not melt or go bad. It is hard to imagine just what it would take for these to go bad outside melting and refreezing.

As for cleanup, I applaud those who actually throw the wrappers away in socially appropriate places, as opposed to litter. Outside that, there is no real cleanup needed, unless one is eating them in a hot environment. In that case, it is likely one would need to wash their hands. If these chocolate squares melt into most fabrics, they will stain. Getting them to melt, though, is quite a task.

Overall

Tcho Dark Chocolate chocolate squares are a good example of a dark chocolate with a high percentage of cacao, but a low appeal based on their flavor and expense.

For other chocolate reviews, please check out:
Lindt Red Velvet Lindor Truffles
Ghirardelli Strawberry Bark chocolate squares
Green & Black's Pure Dark Chocolate 70% Cacao chocolate bars

4/10

For other candy reviews, please visit my Candy Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2018 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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