The Tien Giang 80% is the darkest of the Marou bars. It’s a challenging bar for a more adventurous chocolate eater. The tactile and visual elements are pretty standard of Marou’s fine quality: dark brown, velvety smooth, woody snap, fine melt. The aroma is where things get interesting. My first instinct is to call the aroma “herbaceous” but the word I’m really leaning towards is “green”. The tasting notes published on their site include “spice, tobacco and nutty flavours”. I didn’t get this at all! For me, the bar is super vegetal…think green grass. I also picked up honeysuckle, Jasmine tea and lime pith. Overall, the flavours were bright and floral as opposed to dark/roasted.

Marou bars are made with Vietnamese cacao. The acidity of this bar reminds me of many Madagascan bars I’ve tried. Would I buy this bar again? Yes and no. I would buy it to share in a tasting group; some bars are great conversation starters. I wouldn’t buy it for myself as “eating chocolate”. It’s not my favourite in the Marou Collection. I’d rather have the Treasure Island Bar. That being said, it’s a well crafted bar and certainly worthy of a try. Since it was originally introduced as a collaboration with Wallpaper* Magazine, I don’t know if it will be around for ever. I hope it sticks around because I’d love to try a different harvest of the same  beans and see how they compare.