Amma - Brazil's Prize-winning chocolate

In a recent issue of Brazilian food magazine Prazeres da Mesa, a number of well-known brands of chocolate were subjected to a blind taste-test. Six brands were chosen for the test, and in each case the brand's 70% cacao chocolate bar was subjected to the tasting. The juedges were some of Brazil's most pre-eminent food educators, chefs, chocolatiers, pastry chefs, and food journalists.

The result, which apparently surprised even the judges once they had removed their blindfolds, was that a Brazilian chocolate, Amma, was the unanimous first-choice among the six jurors.

Here are the complete results of the test, along with my translation of some of the judges' critiques of each brand.
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1. Amma - score 8.1
Produced in Brazil. "Well-rounded flavor, with a sweet aroma and the right proportion of cocoa butter."

2. Casino Bio - score 7.9
Produced in Belgium. "With a nice amount of acidity and light tannins."

3. Lindt - score 6.96
Produced in Switzerland. "Has an agreeable aroma, but is very sweet."

4. Valrhona Guanaja - score 6.95
Produced in France. "Well-rounded, but has a weak aroma which doesn't last long."

5. Nestlé Gold - score 5
Produced in Switzerland. "Rough texture and residual taste of fat."

6. Kopenhagen - score 3.6
Produced in Brazil. "Too much cocoa butter."
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The story of Amma chocolate, the winner, is very interesting and will be covered in the next post here on Flavors of Brazil. It is a new joint venture between a fifth-generation chocolate grower from the Brazilian state of Bahia and the American founder of the largest-selling brand of organic chocolate in the USA.