Manufacturer: Scharffen Berger
Cocoa Content: 62%
Manufacturer Website
Rating: B

The first dark chocolate we have lined up from Scharffen Berger is the 62% semisweet chocolate bar. The bar is a deep mahogany with some purple and red tones noticible. The chocolate bar has a firm, crisp snap to it. The initial impression on the palate is of sweet notes such as maple and vanilla. Acidity slowly starts to build under the sweetness and gives rise to citrus notes. Chewing the chocolate leads to sweeter fruit flavors like maraschino cherries. There is a soft, smooth mouthfeel with a somewhat thin consistancy as it melts on the tongue. There is a fairly short finish with marshmallow and citrus notes.

The Scharffen Berger Semisweet Chocolate is a pretty good beginner's dark chocolate bar as there is very little bitterness of note despite the 62% cacao content. To my taste I do find that while the sweetness brings some interesting flavors, it seems to mask some deeper flavor notes.