Potomac Chocolate

Potomac Chocolate is a bean-to-bar chocolate from Woodbridge, VA. Find out more about it in my review of Potomac’s three current dark chocolate bars.

Ben Rasmussen, chocolate maker and owner of Potomac Chocolate, shipped me his three dark chocolate bars. Since I am always on the lookout for new products I was excited to try his chocolate after reading good reviews. The weather had just started to get hot and the chocolate almost survived intact. The nibs bar suffered some bloom on about a fifth of the bar. The 82% had a tiny bit of melting but nothing serious, no bloom. The 70% bar had a bit of bloom on one of the bottom corners.

How did Ben learn to make chocolate? He started out online, but really learned hands-on through trial and error. He adjusts to incorporate new things along the way. He’s a one-man operation, from roasting to packaging the bars.

So what did I think of his recent adventures with chocolate?

Upala 82% – glossy appearance, extremely hard to break, hard snap, dry, leathery and slightly fruity aroma, over-roasted, bitter notes hit tongue first, melt is slow and lacks creaminess, aftertaste leaves a sharp, unpleasant note in the back of the throat, like dry dirt and bile that lingers for a bit

Upala 70% – glossy appearance, hard to break, hard snap, dry, leathery and slightly fruity aroma, very mellow plain flavor no standout notes, melt is slow a bit creamier than 82% but still thick, slight acidity in aftertaste

Upala 70% Nib – glossy appearance, hard snap, earthy aroma, mellow 70% chocolate given a kick with the earthy nibs, a little more dark fruit comes through, aftertaste is nice

A good start for such a young chocolate company and much better than some things I have tasted with a longer track record. The 82% didn’t strike a chord with my taste buds, but to each their own. Good show, Ben! I congratulate you for getting these bars out there. Keep up the good work.

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