Nirvana: 72% w/ Sea Salt & Caramel

I started this bar last night. I have never tried this maker -- Nirvana -- before. I bought it at Whole Foods in West Orange, NJ. Here are the stats:

Nirvana: 72% w/ Sea Salt & Caramel

Cocoa content: 72%

Notable ingredients: sea salt; caramel

Origin: Belgium

My interest in this bar was entirely based on the inclusion of sea salt. Caramel is a vulgar, low-brow confection. It doesn't move me. But sea salt goes wonderfully with chocolate, as the Chicago-based chocolate maker Vosges knows.

Luckily this bar doesn't taste much like caramel; it is, however, remarkably salty. I would say it's almost too salty, insofar as the intense edge interferes with the pleasure of the melt. It had a great snap to it, though. I got the sense that Nirvana actually makes wonderful chocolate, and just added too much salt to this recipe. The packaging was not special. B-.

A note about the tags on this post: I am creating a new tag for Salt, and another called "Sugars" which will include the caramel in this bar as well as other added sugars.