Chocolate of the DayRitual Chocolate
Belize Toledo 75 percent cacao bar
Good ++
Weight: 1.5 oz. (42.5 g.) in total bar
Calories: 225 calories (estimate) in 1 bar
Cost: $8.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: The Chocolate Garage, Palo Alto, CAToday was Day #6 of Chocolate and Belize Theme Week.
The label on this Belize 75% Cacao dark chocolate bar from Ritual Chocolate indicated the company was based in Denver, Colorado.
However, the craft chocolate industry moves quickly, and by the time of this write-up, company founders Robbie Stout and Anna Davies had relocated their factory to, and opened a cafe in, Park City, Utah. So, Ritual Chocolate bars are now considered "Utah Craft Chocolate."Ritual Chocolate's Belize bar (Batch #004, Harvest Year 2014) was made with two ingredients: organic cacao (a blend of indigenous heirloom and Trinitario cacao beans from the Toledo district of Southern Belize) and organic cane sugar.
Tasting notes on the packaging let us know that we could expect a "balanced chocolate with notes of dried fig, cherry and a hint of tobacco."
I thought this bar had a pleasant chocolatey, dried fruit, almost smoky aroma. It wasn't too sweet, which I very much liked. The bar had a relatively balanced, complex flavor profile with hints of tart dried sour cherry -- so, in other words, the taste mirrored the tasting notes. The chocolate had a shine to it, and a smooth, cocoa buttery texture and mouthfeel.
The company has attractive packaging and each bar is adorned with an illustration of an animal that resides within the country of cacao origin. In today's case, the animal looks to be a young Tapir, a large endangered herbivore that lives in Central and South America.
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