Geoff,

Thanks for your opinions. I've already tried the Coucher du Soleil discs,
and find them interesting - an almost waxy mouthfeel, with the flavor
restrained at first and then building towards the finish, with a distinct
banana note. I don't find any Guittard chocolate so far all that intense
(like Cluizel or Amedei), but balanced and fruity. I'll probably try them
all as time and money permit.

Thanks,
Dean

"Geoffrey Bard" > wrote in message
news:PLMvd.571240$D%.508148@attbi_s51...
> Guittard's couverture chocolate is excellent in my opinion. My favorite
> bean-to-bar chocolatiers are Domori and Pralus, so as you can tell my
> chocolate standards are not low at all. In general I find our American
> chocolate lousy, but there are exceptions, Guittard being the most
noteable.
>
> For a sweeter (61%) dark chocolate, try Guittard's Lever du Soleil - it
has
> no overpowering flavor notes, and is quite excellent. Guittard's Coucher
du
> Soleil is an excellent 72%. These are sold as couverture, though you can
> get them in 1 Kg bags of discs (not chips, but broader) from Chocosphere,
> who repackages the larger factory packages. Of course, health food stores
> sell the Guittard Bittersweet, which Alex Rast rightly raves about. Eat
> enough Guittard couverture and you'll be able to impress your friends when
> eating chocolate candy, identifying the brand and formula of couverture
> chocolate used in the coating.
>
> It's a shame the Guittard couverture isn't sold as bars, perhaps minus the
> soy lecithin for even better taste. As bars they would definitely join
the
> ranks of Amedei, Venchi, Domori, Pralus, Chocovic, etc. in popularity.
>
> Geoff
>
> "DPM" > wrote in message news0kvd.3231$Z%1.2159@trnddc03...
> >I just received a block of this from Chocosphere. Very fruity, with a
> > cherry/almond/hazelnut profile; delicious, but idiosyncratic. I'm
> > wondering what the other couverture blocs are like. Has anyone tried
the
> > others? Alex, any opinions?
> > --
> > Regards,
> > Dean Macinskas
>
>
>