Taste Test: Unsweetened Chocolate

If you ever want to play a mean trick on someone, give them unsweetened chocolate.

Haha.  I kid.

Not really.  I think everyone should try it at least once to experience the taste of pure chocolate.  But in all seriousness, I had no idea unsweetened chocolate tasted so.... unique.
Taste testing unsweetened chocolate was an interesting experience (that I don't want to repeat).  So just sharing a few of my thoughts...
[On a side note, I didn't realize how difficult it is to find completely unsweetened chocolate in an actual store.  Ordering online seems to be the way to go.]

Here we go.

Started off with the easiest one to find, Baker's Unsweetened Baking Chocolate.
O.M.G.  What a way to start.
I have no way of describing this except that I literally almost spit it out.
Maybe it was my shock of having tasted unsweetened chocolate for the first time, but there was nothing chocolatey about this one.  It also had a sandy, gritty texture.  I've heard brownies turn out really well using this... but I'll save that for later.  Way later.

I was surprised to find World Market had a 99% Dark Chocolate bar.
I don't know if it was because I tasted this one after Baker's, but I was blown away by the difference that 1% made.  Or perhaps this is just simply very good cocoa.
I actually tasted depth in this one, with some kind of coffee notes in the background.  It was much smoother than Baker's and just had a very balanced taste.
Thumbs up.

Lindt.  This one was second easiest to find.
I should have taken that as a warning sign.
After the 99% World Market, I thought 90% should make a big difference.
Wrong.  This was the second worst tasting.  I felt like it was trying to be good... it really tried... but it just wasn't.  At all.  No flavor, no depth.

I've never seen Divine chocolates before, but I found this at World Market as well.  85% was the highest percentage.  The first that came to mind as soon as I tried this one was acidic.  Very acidic.  I never knew chocolate could be acidic, but there's no other way to describe it.  At this point, the 99% World Market chocolate was leaving an even greater impression.

Dagoba was the only certified organic chocolate I found, and the second completely unsweetened version.  After experiencing Baker's, I prepared myself for another similar round.
But.  This was very different.  Smooth and actually tasted like chocolate.  Very rich chocolate.
Now this is what I was expecting.  It's still hard to eat because it IS completely unsweetened.  But it's like coffee tasting- you taste different notes and flavors here and there even through the bitterness.

Last but certainly not least is Scharffen Berger- probably one of the most well-known king of chocolates.
See the gold packaging?  Yeah, it felt like I was pulling a gold bar out of the box (and probably because it's also the most expensive).  But it also deserves credit for being the largest bar at 9.7 ounces.
This was the third completely unsweetened version and also the hardest to find (but I just had to try it).
I think I now know why Scharffen Berger chocolate is often regarded in a class of its own.
It is strong.
Strong.  Very strong.
....Did I mention it was strong?
What do I mean by strong.  I'll try to explain, but you really just need to try this one to fully understand.  Yes, it's still bitter because it's unsweetened, but the depth and richness of the chocolate blows you away.  It also feels like chocolate is coating your entire mouth.  Honestly, I think it's almost too strong.  Now if you were to use this to make brownies- I most certainly bet those will be the best chocolatiest brownies ever.
This is a very very good chocolate.  I have to say that in this case, price does seem to reflect quality... oh new weapon of mine.

So, that was fun.  A very "eye-opening" experience.  Literally.
In case anyone was wondering, I was looking for a good chocolate to make a rich dark chocolate glaze for black and white cookies.  But now that I have plenty leftover, maybe we'll experiment with brownies next time.  Any taste testers?