Chocolate of the Day: Escazu Artisan Chocolates
Single Origin Guapiles Costa Rica 65% bar
Good++
Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) / 2.82 oz. (80 g.) in total bar
Calories: 150 calories (estimate) for 1 oz. (28.3 g.) serving)
Cost: $ lost information (approximately $7.00)
Purchased from: Escazu Artisan Chocolates (at an event)
Today was Day #2 of a theme week highlighting single origin chocolates from three countries in Central America: Guatemala, Costa Rica and Panama. (I featured chocolates from Nicaragua last month, and will be writing about Belize next week.)Central American cacao culture and history stretches back thousands of years, to the Olmec, Aztec, Maya, and others, to regions with boundaries that pre-dated today's countries. The "birthplace" of cacao lies in the equatorial forests of South and Central America.
Today's 65% cacao dark chocolate bar from Escazu* Artisan Chocolates LLC (Raleigh, NC) was crafted using Rainforest Alliance Certified cacao beans from Guapiles, Costa Rica.
This single origin bar had a pleasant aroma and well-balanced, pleasing chocolate flavor profile. The bar was also lactose-, soy-, and gluten-free.
*Escazu is the name of a capital city, and also a district (San Miguel de Escazu, or simply San Miguel, district) in the province of San Jose in Costa Rica. It is also the name of today's chocolate maker based in the U.S. Guapiles is located in the province of Limon, further east (closer to the Caribbean coast).
Note: This bar is currently (April 2015) unavailable on the Escazu website.
