Chocolate of the Day:Santosha Chocolate
Single Origin Peru bar
OK + - Good
Weight: .5 oz. (14.1 g.) / 1 oz. (29 g.) (per packaging)
Calories: 65 calories for 1/2 bar
Cost: $3.99 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Piazza's Fine Foods, Palo Alto, CA
Bienenidos a Day #1 of Chocolate and Organic Theme Week.
I'm continuing last week's Chocolate and Peru Week Theme with today's Organic, Single Origin Peru bar from Santosha* Chocolate (Asheville, NC).
A Word About Organic...
Back in 2006, when I started ChocolateBanquet.com, it was harder to find organic chocolate. Now, happily, there are more organic offerings, even in large chocolate company product lines.
It should be noted that many craft chocolate bars may be made with organic cacao, but certifications are expensive, and some makers choose to do without -- meaning bars aren't labeled as organic; and no certification seals appear on packaging. It's good to ask about the maker's cacao sources if you have questions. Regardless of their answer, you'll learn more about their practices and their supply chain.
Back to today's bar...
The first bite of today's raw 85% cacao bar was relatively flavorful and smooth. It sweetened with organic, low-glycemic coconut palm sugar and was fairly sweet for an 85% dark bar. However, subsequent bites went a bit funny in terms of texture (a little grainier feel) and flavor (a bit of sourness). I'm not sure what caused this. When making chocolate (organic or not) from scratch, many things can happen during the dozen or more steps that are part of the process.
My hat is off to all chocolate-makers; it's a craft that's always as challenging as it is rewarding. Santosha founder, Don Rowe, started by selling his organic, raw bars in local farmers markets several years ago, and the business grew from there. His raw, vegan and certified organic bars are free of nuts, soy, dairy and gluten, and are made without emulsifiers.
*"Santosha" roughly translates as being content in the moment with what you have; not requiring more than you have in the moment to achieve contentment.
