This tasting was a bit of a challenge for the panel; Shirley described it as “rang[ing] from unremarkable to bad”, and other tasters made similar comments. (At least we’re done with the Taza, which only David liked. Maybe I’ll give the rest of the leftovers to him!) That said, there was a consensus winner; unfortunately, it was one of our “reference” chocolates, Whole Foods Costa Rican Dark Chocolate 71%, with four first-place votes and four second-place votes (including one tie for second). Xocolata Aynouse L’Artesà Amarga came in second, despite receiving no second-place votes, on the strength of three first-place votes. Valrhona Noir 68% “rond et chaleureux” received three second-place votes but was nobody’s favorite, and Somerville Chocolate CSA Hawaiian 70% received two first-place votes and one second-place vote. Taza 80% Dark Stone Ground Chocolate received the one remaining first-place vote and also one second-place vote.

For the tasters’ comments and more detailed information about each chocolate tasted, see our wiki page for week 4.