Trader Joe's - Ecuador bar - July 11, 2015

Chocolate of the Day: 

Trader Joe's
66% Cacao Dark Chocolate Ecuador bar
Good++
Weight: .795 oz. (22.5 g.) / 1.59 oz. (45 g.) in total bar
Calories: 115 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $N/A - part of 8-bar package, cost previously recorded
Purchased from: Trader Joe's, Palo Alto, CA

Today was Day #7 of Chocolate and Ecuador Theme Week.

This 66% cacao Ecuador bar from Trader Joe's (Monrovia, CA) was part of an 8-bar tasting pack, or "Chocolate Passport" -- with 8 different single origin bars.

This complex little bar had a sweet almost spicy chocolate aroma, and a flavor arc that included caramel, fruit, hazelnut, and ended with very slightly bitter earth. The texture was pleasantly creamy, in terms of mouthfeel and melt.

There wasn't a lot of information as to where the cacao beans came from within Ecuador, i.e. which plantation/farm or province. But if I had to guess I'd say it contained at least some Arriba Nacional fine flavored cacao.

The concept of a Chocolate Passport was great. I love to travel, but I may not be able to get to every chocolate producing country in the world. Eating single origin chocolate bars gives us a way to travel "virtually" to each of the major cacao producing regions and learn about geographic differences in beans, and in some cases the difference in soil and local conditions as well as processing.