Theo Sea Salt bar - May 17, 2013

Chocolate of the Day:

Theo Chocolate
Sea Salt Dark 70% Cacao bar
Good
Weight: .5 oz. (14 g.) / 3 oz. (84 g.) in 1 bar
Calories: 66.6 calories in 1/6 bar
Cost: $4.95 for 1 bar
Purchased from: SweetE Organic, Mill Valley, CA 94306

Regular visitors to this site (Chocolate Banquet) know my penchant for theme weeks. This week I've embarked on a Chocolate and Transportation Theme Week.

While excellent chocolates do have the power to transport one to another dimension (a different, and wonderful place), the "transportation" I'm focused on this week (with the exception of today's bar) is more literal -- taking the shape of chocolate bicycles, trucks, cars, surfboards and other "chocsimiles" (chocolate facsimiles of items).

"Bike to work days" have been celebrated in many U.S. cities this month (May); and in Washington, D.C. today (May 17, '13). However, in some cacao growing countries, bikes may be a primary mode of transport.

Today's Sea Salt Dark bar from Theo Chocolate (Seattle, WA) was not in the shape of a bicycle, but proceeds do/did help World Bicycle Relief -- an organization that helps build and supply special bicycles to students, health care workers and entrepreneurs in rural Africa -- in at least a half dozen African countries (100,000 bicycles in the field, and 750 field mechanics trained, according to the bar's packaging).

This 70% dark Fair Trade, Organic (and non-GMO) chocolate bar was crafted from African cacao beans (Democratic Republic of Congo), and was rustic in flavor and texture. Tiny, gritty particles of salt infuse every other bite with a nano burst of saline sparkle.

I'd call this a "salt of the earth" bar -- with chocolate that had light dirt notes buried in the tasting arc. The term "Earthy" may be more appealing than "dirt." I really like beets and earthy-tasting foods; if you don't find yourself using terms like: loam, peat, or soil with tobacco notes, that's OK. Dirt is not meant to be a negative term here.