Palets Les Grands Crus – Chocolate Discs

Palets Les Grands Crus. Eight origins, twenty coins, one tasting.

Palets Les Grands Crus is a box of 20 dark chocolate coins from Chocolat Bonnat, each containing 75 percent cocoa from one of the house's eight historic Grand Cru origins. No pralines, no filling, no blending—just eight single-origin chocolates in coin form.

Palets Les Grands Crus is a tasting set from Chocolat Bonnat in Voiron, bringing together the house's eight Grands Crus Historiques as individually wrapped coins weighing around six grams each. Anyone who had previously wanted to try the Bonnat origins as whole bars would have had to buy eight bars and end up with 800 grams of chocolate in the cupboard. This box solves that problem: 120 grams, eight origins, two or three coins of each variety—enough for an evening for two or a coffee with six. Each coin bears the house's embossed B and is wrapped in gold foil, visible through the box's viewing window.

From honey and flowers to smoke and earth

The eight origins range from the light, honey-sweet Equateur and fruity Madagascar to the powerful Chuao from Venezuela, and all eight share the same recipe of cocoa, cocoa butter, and sugar. The only difference is the bean. Equateur smells of orange blossom and tastes rounded; Côte d'Ivoire offers the classic, light cocoa taste; Madagascar brings red fruit and a fine acidity. Ceylon from Sri Lanka is spicy and dry, while Trinité is sunny with a long finish. Side by side, the differences in acidity become striking: Madagascar lingers on the palate, Côte d'Ivoire remains soft, and Ceylon ends almost bitter.

The three Venezuelan origins form the pinnacle of the range. Puerto Cabello is fine and invigorating, Hacienda El Rosario layers aroma and power, and Chuao, the flagship of the Grands Crus Historiques since 1983, tastes warm, deep, and earthy. Anyone who tries the eight in succession will understand why Bonnat borrowed the term Grand Cru from wine: cocoa behaves like a grape variety, tasting different in every soil.

Anyone expecting milk chocolate or a filling will find the coins too bitter. 75 percent cocoa without milk or vanilla is a clear statement. And anyone who does not want to taste the nuances while snacking will find eight origins wasteful; a single bar will do just fine. This box is made for people who want to know the difference between Madagascar and Chuao.

How to properly taste the eight origins

A tasting is successful if you try the coins at room temperature in order from lightest to most intense and take a sip of still water between varieties. Start with Equateur and Côte d'Ivoire, move on to Madagascar and Ceylon, then Trinité, and finish with the three Venezuelan origins: Puerto Cabello, El Rosario, and finally Chuao. Let each coin melt on the tongue rather than chewing it; the origin only reveals itself after ten seconds. For a tasting evening with four people, place one coin of each origin on a plate for each person, write down the order on a slip of paper, and have each guest guess which variety is which. The remaining coins can be used for comparison the next day.

A small espresso without sugar or a glass of water is all you need to accompany them. The three Venezuelan origins pair well with a matured rum, while the fruity Madagascar suits a port. After dinner, a single coin per guest is enough for dessert, placed in its foil on the edge of the saucer. If you discover an origin you like, it is available as a whole bar, such as the Chuao 75% or the Madagascar 75%.

Good to know: For people with nut allergies, the coins are one of the few Grand Cru chocolates guaranteed to be manufactured free from traces of nuts; Bonnat does not process nuts in the origin line. However, the box is not intended for baking or melting; for that, there is the 75% couverture from the same house.

Why Bonnat only needs three ingredients

Chocolat Bonnat has been based in Voiron near Grenoble since 1884 and is now run by Stéphane Bonnat in the fifth generation. He personally visits the cocoa plantations and roasts and grinds the beans in the house. The Grands Crus Historiques date back to his father, Raymond Bonnat, who was one of the first in Europe to bring bars made from cocoa from a single origin to market in 1983, long before the term single origin became fashionable.

Bonnat omits vanilla, lecithin, and milk powder from its dark varieties. Vanilla would mask the origin, lecithin smooth the texture, which Bonnat deliberately makes denser and less silky than industrial chocolate. The result is a chocolate that melts more slowly in the mouth and has a longer finish.

The coin is therefore a better form than the bar. It is thin and round, melts evenly from the outside in, and releases the aroma all at once. Confectioners have long used palets for tempering because they can be dosed without breaking. Bonnat has turned this into a tasting form that contains only as much chocolate as a discerning palate can process at once.

The gift for the person who has tried everything

The box is a gift for people who take chocolate as seriously as wine and who already know that 75 percent does not mean the same as 75 percent. It fits in an envelope, a jacket pocket, or next to the espresso machine. With its viewing window and golden coins, it needs no additional packaging. If you want to include a card, write the eight origins on it in the recommended order; that is worth more than any greeting. Store the box at 16 to 18 degrees Celsius, in a dry place away from the refrigerator, and the coins will last until the printed date without losing their shine.

Brought to a dinner party, it can be passed around after dessert, and each guest can find their origin. As an introduction to the Bonnat range, it is more affordable than any selection of individual bars and answers the question of which bar to buy next. Those who know the range can use it as a refresher to compare Chuao and El Rosario once again.

Eight countries on twenty coins, and in the end, you will know which origin is yours.