With the world being in the mood for Valentine's Day, how are all of you doing today? Hello. I am definitely a bitter person when it comes to chocolate.

Suddenly... isn't Meiji's "Chocolate Effect 95%" too bitter?


I know some of you may be asking me this now, but again, isn't 95% Chocolate Effect too bitter? My boss gave it to me the other day and I ate it for the first time, but there was so little play in the bitterness that I thought it was casual power harassment.

--I thought it was a casual power harassment. But what is hidden is that this "bitterness" is the true nature of "polyphenol. It is that polyphenol that people who are highly conscious of beauty and health like to consume. I don't like bitterness, but high polyphenol is very attractive!

So this time, we will teach you how to take polyphenols in a tasty way without (almost) feeling the bitterness of the 95% chocolate effect! (*I like eating it as it is because it tastes good! (If you like eating it as it is, you don't need to see this.)

(If you like it as it is, you don't need to look at this article. Four delicious ways to enjoy 95% cacao

First of all, I recommend "adding cacao to curry. It tastes amazingly delicious.


Just open a plate of retort curry, add a piece of Chocolate Effect, and microwave it as is.


Stir the mixture with a spoon to blend it all together before eating, and you'll be surprised at how much it changes. First of all, the sweetness characteristic of retort-packed curry (isn't it?) disappears. The sweetness that is characteristic of retort-packed curry (isn't it?) disappears, and a deep, rich flavor is added, as if the curry has been slowly simmered. It tastes like demi-glace! Furthermore, the bitterness and sourness of the rich cacao gives the curry a sharp spicy flavor, giving it the appearance of an elaborate " secret curry from a long-established Western-style restaurant!


The second is " melted in milk cocoa. The bitterness of the chocolate gives the sweet cocoa a rich taste, making it even more delicious.


The chocolate holds back the sweetness of the milk cocoa, and the flavor of the moderately bitter cocoa not only spreads on the palate, but also adds depth to the taste. The key is to dissolve the chocolate in the cocoa to make it a little sweeter than it would be by itself. If you choose pure cocoa with no sugar or milk, you will only get a fusion of bitterness, so be careful.


The third arrangement, also using a drink, is to dissolve it in hot milk. It is a simple, unsweetened cocoa.


The standard is two pieces of chocolate to one cup of warm milk. Dissolve them with a spoon, and the unsweetened cocoa is ready. It is soft and mild in the mouth, rich in flavor, and has a cocoa-like aftertaste, but it is not sweet. It tastes like cocoa with only the "sweetness" removed.


Finally, there is the fourth one: topping vanilla ice cream with cacao. This is an arrangement in which the chocolate is used like "cacao nibs. Chop the chocolate finely with a knife, then sprinkle it over a bowl of ice cream.


When I ate it, I laughed a little because it turned out to be just like a delicious ice cream dessert. The vanilla ice cream alone is already sweet enough, so the addition of the 95% chocolate creates an exquisite harmony of sweet and bitter. The softly fragrant cacao flavor and the crunchy texture are also good accents.


Conclusion: Mix with sweet and spicy foods

In short, if you mix it with something that has a lot of "sugar" and "milk" components, the bitterness of the chocolate will work to create a good balance, and since cacao itself has a slightly sour and spicy flavor, it seems to work relatively well when added to spicy, spicy food.

If you are too lazy to even try the arrangement I mentioned, I recommend that you put it in your mouth with white chocolate, which will give you just the right amount of sweetness and bitterness. You will be taking in the calories of two pieces of chocolate at once, so don't feel like "What am I doing? But don't let that stop you.


Extra: The Bitterness of 95% Chocolate Effect in Figures

As an aside, I would like to note that I was personally interested in the "numbers" that show how bitter the 95% chocolate effect is. Please take a look if you have time.

Currently, Chocolate Effect has three products in its lineup, each containing 72%, 86%, and 95% cacao. Incidentally, "99%" was also sold in the past, but it was discontinued in October 2008, perhaps because it was too bitter for consumers to accept.


Comparing the polyphenol content per capsule...

72%→127mg
86%→136mg
95%→142mg

The numbers are very convincing. The higher the polyphenol content, the more bitter the taste.

Also, the approximate sugar content per gram is as follows.

72%→0.3g (0.11oz)
86%→0.2g (0.07oz)
95%→0.1g (0.04oz)

The higher the percentage, the less sugar is in the product. That means it becomes less sweet.

Furthermore, if we calculate the approximate calories per gram...

72%→5.7kcal
86%→5.8kcal
95%→6.0kcal

You would think that the bitter one would be lower in calories, but in fact it is the opposite. The higher the cacao content, the higher the fat content, and therefore the higher the calorie content.

72% is the level that bitter chocolate lovers will be delighted to eat, 86% is just on the edge of bitter chocolate lovers, and 95% is so bitter that only serious bitter chocolate lovers can finish it.


When I gave the staff member sitting next to me a taste of 95%, he made a face like "What... did you make me eat...! I'll post a picture for your reference. Unless you are a bitter person, please serve it with cocoa or vanilla ice cream when you share it with others.