Madre Chocolate
Popped Amaranth Dark Chocolate bar
Very Good - Very Good +
Weight: .5 oz. (14.1 g.) / 1.5 oz. (43 g.) total bar
Calories: 72 calories (estimate)
Cost: $12.00 (estimate)
Purchased from: The Chocolate Garage, in Palo Alto, CA
Ah, the smell of good chocolate in the morning. I could detect rich, earthy notes even as I unwrapped this Popped Amaranth 70% dark bar from Madre Chocolate (Honolulu, HI). Made with organic and fair trade Costa Rican cacao (from a farmer's cooperative in Upala), the popped amaranth added a pleasant background texture, without interfering with the chocolate flavor arc. This is good cacao you want to be able to taste. The fact that amaranth is also a nutritionally rich grain that was also enjoyed by the Aztecs, just adds to the good story.Today was the last day of Chocolate and Hawaii/Islands Theme Week, and Day #1 of Chocolate and Cereal/Grains Theme Week. Yes, after almost 2,000 different chocolates, there are still plenty of theme weeks and chocolates to try. Thank you to ethno-botanist Nat at Madre Chocolate, for the company's attention to quality, and making excellent handcrafted, bean-to-bar offerings like this (and their famous Triple Cacao bar, which is tough to beat anywhere). Being a lover of plants and flowers, and good chocolate, I'm looking forward to continuing to work my way through their product line.
