Pecan Orange Spice 70% dark & Mint Mocha 50% dark milk by Sted Foods

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Picked up some interesting-sounding inclusion bars earlier this year by @stedfoods , previously called Terroir Chocolate (same owners, rebranded to nod to their Norwegian heritage; Sted = “place” in both Norwegian & Danish).

Review of these two specific bars below, with thoughts in the next post…

Pecan Orange Spice 70% dark
There’s an immediate off smell: burnt and off notes that remind me of dirt.
The cinnamon comes first competing with the strong bitterness. Orange takes the baton in the fight against bitterness, and salt helps to distract the palate. Alas, none of it works, the obvious poor beans are not masked by the abundance of distracting inclusions.

Mint Mocha 50% dark milk
With the teaming up of two bold inclusions, it’s no surprise this bar smells strongly of mint & coffee. However I can pick up some slight burnt chocolate notes under the minty coffee.
The mint has a surprising fragrant eucalyptus dimension, almost reminiscent of a perfume note. The coffee comes second, equally strong. I found it interesting and a good inclusion pairing but my mom disliked it.
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Have you tasted these bars? What did you think?