(Photo courtesy of Chocablog)

Another day, another Dolfin bar. This particular bar hails from Guatemala. “Finding yourself in a place overflowing with the history of the Mayan civilisation stirs a certain kind of emotion. White pepper and cardamom, cardamom and white pepper, two flavours intertwined”.

So, Dolfin seem pretty sure of this particular variety. They seem certain that the two flavours not only mix well together, but also with the dark chocolate (60% cocoa solids), but first off…what is cardamom? Well, cardamom is a herb within the ginger family, that can come in two types. Green cardamom, the most common type, is used as a flavouring for coffee and tea. Elettaria cardamomum, is what is used as a spice, and so I assume that is the type here. Don’t say I never teach you anything!

Cardamom is indentified by its strong, unique taste and aromatic fragrance. It isn’t bitter and has a mint-like coolness, and is often used in Indian cooking, obviously such as curries and the like. Personally I’ve never knowingly had it, but it sounds nice enough. And it is nice too.

Like all Dolfin bars, it’s well blended and crafted, cardamom is not the main flavour here, it’s an accompanying flavour along with the white pepper and the dark chocolate. So like the other bars, what you get here is a combination of flavours and sensations, with each taste bud being stimulated – sweet, savoury and spicy all at once, with cool and yet warming flavours all intertwined. It’s an interesting bar, the idea of a spice flavour being mixed with chocolate might repulse some, but I challenge you to try it. It’s not for everyone, but it was for me, I don’t think you’ll ever see a bar like this in England because it’s something chocolate manufacturers would be too scared to do, unless any Asian chocolate manufacturers pop up, so if you can find a bar like this, give it a go, it’s worth it for the experience alone.