Saturday, September 19, 2015

Castronovo Chocolate - Dark 72% Sierra Nevada Colombia bar - Sept. 19, 2015

Source: Colombia-PR.com
Chocolate of the Day: 

Castronovo Chocolate
Rare Cacao Collection - Sierra Nevada Colombia
Dark Chocolate 72% Criollo and Trinitario Cacao bar
Good +
Weight: .73 oz. (20.8 g.) / 2.2 oz. (62.4 g.) in total bar
Calories: 109 calories in 1/3 bar
Cost: $12.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: The Chocolate Garage, Palo Alto, CA

Bienvenidos a (Welcome to) Day #1 of Chocolate and Colombia Theme Week.

Colombia, located in the far north of South America, is in the heart of cacao-growing territory, with neighboring countries such as Venezuela to the east, Ecuador to the southwest, Peru to the south, and Brazil to the southeast. Colombia also links South America to Central America, with a land bridge to Panama to the north.

Today's Dark Chocolate 72% cacao bar was made with Criollo* and Trinitario* cacao grown in the Sierra Nevada region of Colombia. Beans were harvested and shipped to the U.S. And the bar was hand-crafted, from bean-to-bar, by Castronovo Chocolate in Stuart, Florida.

Like many single origin bars (and chocolate makers), this one comes with its own origin story.

The beans come from a "rare cacao that grows along the slopes of Colombia's Sierra Nevada coastal mountain range. The cacao is a mix of cultivated and wild-grown, harvested by settlers and the Arhuaco indigenous people."

The chief Castronovo chocolate maker is company founder Denise Castronovo who has a background in sustainability, and geographic mapping of tree canopy areas in the rainforests.)

Today's 72% dark Colombia bar had rich flavors -- roasted coffee and mildly acidic fruit, with an earthy finish.

*Criollo beans are associated with heirloom or heritage cacao with "fine flavor;" and trees with Criollo cacao tend to bear smaller pods (fruit) with interesting, sometimes more delicate or nuanced flavors. Trinitario cacao is slightly more robust in terms of flavor and constitution. As with all cacao types, a wide variety of different flavors may be either coaxed from (or lost) with a given batch of cacao beans depending on the condition of the beans and the skills of a chocolate maker. 

The content and images on this post belong to ChocolateBanquet.com. The source of the map image of Colombia was from Colombia-PR.com.


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