For this chocolate it was a pasalubong (coming home token/gift) from Dir. Roberto Almonte, NCIP Region 4 Director. Together with his family they went to Singapore for a much deserve vacation. Particularly for Director Almonte, a break from all the arduous tasks of dealing with different issues like mining, dams, etc, in ancestral domains of indigenous people in his region.
I was asked what I like for pasalubong, so I told him dark chocolate from Singapore. He told me to email what particular brand and which shop to buy it from but I never did bother, hoping he forgets all about it. But lo and behold, when he came to our office, there was the dark chocolate for me. Maraming salamat po, director for being the sponsor of this chocolate.
For this Frey Classifque Dark Chocolate 72 %, it has a brittle snap (well it just came from the ref). Smell-wise, since it is dark it has a strong cocoa scent. I can’t pinpoint exactly the taste of the chocolate. And at first bite it has strong taste of the cocoa. But when it melts it produces other flavor a nutty taste, in particular. Unlike most milk chocolate and also having just 45% cocoa butter, it does not have a silky finish. There’s a feel of cocoa particles or sediments lingering in the root of the tongue the path that is more sensitive to bitter taste.
So when I looked at the label, in the ingredients it says the chocolate may contain tree nuts, milk soya and gluten. I know some people are allergic to gluten. (Gluten (from Latin gluten, "glue") is a protein composite found in foods processed from wheatand related grain species, including barley and rye. It gives elasticity to dough, helping it to riseand to keep its shape, and often giving the final product a chewy texture.). So some chocophiles are so careful when buying that they have to read the labels thoroughly. Sadly most of the commercial brands would contain gluten.
Frey chocolate is one of those famous Swiss chocolate the like of the brands such as Nestle, Lindt, Toblerone among others. These are chocolates I am familiar since tatay used to be a seaman. So everytime he comes home, he brings with him these duty-free bags of these omnipresent Swiss chocolates.
My score for this chocolate - 5/10
(snap, smell, texture,taste, & finish)
Read more here - http://www.thenibble.com/reviews/main/chocolate/frey-chocolate.asp
