Ulker 60% Cacao with Pistachios Review

I had a bit of dark chocolate cravings last week and went out and bought quite a few brands  I tried a 99% bar which has become my new favorite, but that's for another post. There is this amazing Mediterranean grocery store near me, Phoenicia Specialty Foods, and it's a foodie heaven. Their bakery has unique desserts and so many different varieties of baklava! I'll need to devote one full post to all the goodies in this shop soon so you can see how amazing it is. Last comment on the store, they have sooooooo many different brands and varieties of halva!

Okay, on to the review. I was browsing their extensive chocolate collection and happened upon Ulker Bitter 60% Cacao with pistachios  Pistachios is one of my favorite nuts (especially as flavors for cakes and ice cream) and since it was embedded in dark chocolate, I had to try it!

So apparently, Ulker is a Turkish brand. Phoenicia carries a lot of imported goods from Turkey and surrounding areas; they also carry a lot of German baked goods and panettone year round! I've tried a lot of German and French dark chocolates, but was curious as to how this Turkish imported chocolate would fare. Upon opening it, I noticed the sections were built a little differently from usual chocolate bars' squares. It was fun seeing this:

I flipped it over and was delighted to see how many pistachios were embedded in the bar, although it was a little uneven. This was a good amount of pistachios for a bar that was around $3 - $4.

The way it was shaped did make it break a little unevenly, but that didn't really matter since I ate the whole thing anyway.

My first bite... was amazing! It was so smooth and even though it is 60% cacao, it was not overly sweet at all, just perfect. It almost tasted like a dark hot cocoa with a slight hint of espresso, but no smoky flavor and to my surprise, I didn't taste any vanilla notes either. No sour notes (I hate sour notes on dark chocolate!), no harsh bitterness, and no chalkiness. I could taste the pistachio and the chocolate really complemented it.

If you come across this bar of chocolate, you should definitely try it! The only other variety I found was a plain 60% bar at Phoenicia. I've not seen this elsewhere (Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, Central Market, etc.) so you might have issues finding it at any of the chain grocery stores.