About the Company
Pergalė comes from Vilnius, Lithuania and was started in 1922. The brand now sells over 290 products (including chocolate boxes, chocolate bars, pralines, liquor chocolates, chocolate truffles, confections, and biscuits). Their products are available all over the world and come in some really delicious flavors.
About the Bar
Product Description: Dark chocolate with smooth bergamot oil & caramelized bits of almond. This flavor is exquisitely British. Dark chocolate is brightened by refreshing flavors of bergamot.
Ingredients: Dark chocolate 85% (sugar, ground cocoa, cocoa butter, emulsifiers: soy lecithins, polyglycerol polyricinoleate; flavouring), crushed caramelized almonds 15% (almonds 70% sugar), natural bergamot flavouring 0.08%, bergamot extract 0.01%.
Review of Chocolate
General Thoughts
I generally have good experiences with Pergalė chocolates, and I love that the company comes from a country that does not normally come to mind when thinking about fine chocolate (at least in the United States). The packaging particularly attracted me to this chocolate.
Sight
Chocolate is a darker brown color with what appears to be some fat bloom. The flat bloom seems to have happened before I even bought the chocolate, but it did not appear to impact the flavor or texture of the chocolate noticeably. Almonds can clearly be seen embedded inside the chocolate.
Sound
Breaking the chocolate did not produce a strong snapping sound.
Smell
The chocolate has a sort of a sharp nutty and lime like citrus smell (I initially assumed the image on the package was a lime as I was not familiar with bergamot so my brain may have been looking for lime smells).
Taste
The taste is mainly sour with slight bitter and salty notes which probably comes mainly from the bergamot.
Mouthfeel
The chocolate balances a warm, sharp astringency with a creamy and soft mouthfeel. It made my tongue tingle, and the tingle lasts for a while. The almonds give a slight coarseness to the texture. Overall, the chocolate texture feels high-end and smooth.
Conclusions
This chocolate has a very powerful combination of flavors and tastes with a nice mouthfeel. I like it and would definitely purchase it again!
