It’s a bold statement. But read through the article and let us know what you think.
What is a chocolate? Well, the chocolates that most of us know of contain a blend of cacao, sugar, milk solids, infusion of real nuts, fruits if you please and all sorts of synthetic flavours, preservatives & what not. A real chocolate or Theobroma (Latin for ‘food of Gods’) is this: Cacao + Sugar (from sugarcane / coconut) and nothing else!
Yes, Marou is one of those real chocolates but that’s not the only reason why The New York Times called it ‘the best chocolate you’ve never tasted’. Marou has a gorgeous looking packaging that makes you feel regal; however, we want to talk about the amazingly special feature of single-origin cacao of which Marou is a master.
In simple terms, single-origin cacao means cacao sourced from just one region. Each of the Marou bars are single-origin and that means that a Đắk Lắk 70% bar is made only from the cacao sourced from the Đắk Lắk region of Vietnam. The same applies to each of the other Marou bars! Just like coffee from Brazil tastes different from that of Indonesia, the cacao from each of these regions tastes different from one another. The unbelievable thing is that while Brazil and Indonesia are thousands of miles apart, these regions lie in the same tiny but biodiverse country of Vietnam. Imagine tasting cacao with liquorice tones in Đắk Lắk and then traveling to Lâm Đồng experiencing cacao which tastes like coffee & deep caramel, all within a hundred kilometers.
Each Marou bar has a distinct flavour profile.
Tiền Giang 70%: mocha aroma with hints of cherry, rum raisin
Đắk Lắk 70%: spicy aroma with a touch of tobacco, liquorice
Đồng Nai 72%: malt aroma with tones of honey, wood
Lâm Đồng 74%: earthy aroma with tones of malt, deep caramel
Bà Rịa 76%: fruity aroma with touch of raspberry, apricot
Bến Tre 78%: woody aroma leading to hints of ginger, cinnamon
Remember there are no added flavours in any of the Marou bars; the flavours that you experience are the inherent flavours of the cacao obtained from their respective regions. There are no middlemen involved in the sourcing of cacao and each lot of cacao bought is ‘hunted’ by the founders of Marou themselves. And this is what makes Marou unlike any other chocolate in this world!
If you have already tried Marou, you know what we are talking about. If you haven’t, maybe it’s time.
Lastly, is Marou pricey? Yes, but so are caviar, Kashmiri saffron and real leather.
Marou chocolate bar photo credit: The New York Times
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