Saturday, April 29, 2017

New Barn - Banana Chocolate Chip AlmondCreme - April 29, 2017

Chocolate of the Day: 

New Barn
Banana Chocolate Chip AlmondCreme
Good +
Weight: 1/4 cup (59 g.) / 14 fl. oz. (414 mL) in total container
Calories: 80 calories in 1/4 cup serving
Cost: $missing information for 1 container
Purchased from: missing information

Welcome to Day #4 of Chocolate and Banana Theme Week.

A few years ago, New Barn (Healdsburg, CA) introduced organic "Almondmilk," a non-dairy almond-based beverage, without all the flavorings, preservatives and carrageenan found in most other almond "milks."

Sounds good. Most people where I live enjoy food items with a shorter, healthier ingredients list. But, did they have offerings with chocolate?

The company followed that up by introducing a line of AlmondCreme frozen desserts. This non-dairy alternative to ice cream takes their Almondmilk story one step further.

They took their Almondmilk and added organic sugar and egg. And, to today's Banana Chocolate Chip flavor, they also added organic banana and chocolate chips. (They also have a chocolate flavor made with TCHO chocolate.)

Today's frozen dessert had subtle natural banana flavor with tiny hints of chocolate. Garnish with a few nuts, and bon appetit.

Or, use this AlmondCreme as a basis for cold smoothie drinks or shakes. One can amp up the creaminess and fruit flavor by throwing a scoop of this AlmondCreme in the blender with a real banana or two and a few nuts and cocoa nibs.


Sprouts - Dark Chocolate Covered Bananas - April 28, 2017

Chocolate of the Day: 

Sprouts Farmers Market
Dark Chocolate Covered Bananas
Good - Good +
Weight: 1.51 oz. (43 g.) / 8 oz. (227 g.) in total package
Calories: 120 calories in 4 pieces
Cost: $missing information for 1 package/box
Purchased from: Sprouts Farmers Market, Mountain View, CA

Welcome to Day #3 of Chocolate and Banana Theme Week.

It's spring; and it's getting warmer by the day. After a few hot days, thoughts turn to cold chocolate desserts, such as today's Dark Chocolate Covered Bananas from Sprouts Farmers Market (Phoenix, AZ).

Slices of real, frozen banana were covered in dark chocolate; and the dark chocolate shell had just the right firmness. It wasn't so flimsy that chocolate shards broke off in your lap (or on your new shirt). But it wasn't too thick either.
These refreshing and rich bites could be enjoyed a la carte—or, if you're feeling fancy, paired with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, a dash of cinnamon and a drizzle of honey and some toasted walnuts.







Thursday, April 27, 2017

WholeMe - Cinnamon Banana Chip Clusters - April 27, 2017

Chocolate of the Day: 

WholeMe
Cinnamon Banana Chip Clusters
Good ++
Weight: 2 oz. (56.6 g.) / 8 oz. (226 g.) in total package
Calories: 260 calories in 2 servings
Cost: $7.99 for 1 package
Purchased from: Draeger's, Los Altos, CA

Welcome to Day #2 of Chocolate and Banana Theme Week.

I'm tempted to say that today's grain-free Cinnamon Banana Chip Clusters from WholeMe (Minneapolis, MN) were similar to a granola or cereal, but even the words granola and cereal are associated with grain-based food items.

These paleo clusters looked a bit like natural "cookie" pieces and were made with bananas (chips, dried), coconut ("meat" and oil), honey, nuts (pecans, almonds), sunflower seeds, pure maple syrup, cocoa nibs, vanilla extract, cinnamon, salt and maca.

One or two handfuls of this mix could serve as a breakfast, snack, dessert, or meal on the go.

There was no added processed sugar, preservatives, soy or gluten in this Non GMO offering. The chocolate was also in less processed form. The cocoa came from pieces of cocoa beans or nibs. One could add a few more cocoa nibs to this blend if you wanted to add more cocoa flavor and crunchy texture.








Bare Foods - Cocoa Banana Chips - April 26, 2017

Chocolate of the Day: 

Bare Foods Co.
Baked Crunchy Cocoa Banana Chips
Good - Good +
Weight: 1.35 oz. (38.5 g.) / 2.7 oz. (77 g.) in total package
Calories: 150 calories (per label) in 1/2 package
Cost: $3.00 (sale price) for 1 package
Purchased from: Safeway, Palo Alto, CA

Fruits blend so successfully with chocolate that most fruits merit their own chocolate theme week.* And bananas certainly deserve to be near the top of the list as they are, by many estimates, the most popular fruit in the world.

Welcome to the first day of Chocolate and Banana Theme Week.

Naturally Bare Co. (San Francisco, CA) offers a large lineup of healthy, simple snacks, including three flavors of banana chips. Today's two-ingredient Cocoa Banana Chips (bananas, organic unsweetened cocoa) had no added sugar and were, light, baked, crunchy, fat free and gluten free.

When I lightly shook the unopened bag, these cocoa-colored chips made a sound like impossibly weightless, other-worldly glass shards in the package. However, they were very edible and tasty.

The chips were refreshingly natural and light, with light cocoa flavor. The primary taste and texture, once gently reconstituted in your mouth, was one of natural banana.

*Over the last 10+ years Chocolate Banquet has featured many chocolate theme weeks dedicated to chocolate and...cherries, oranges, berries, pomegranates, limes, strawberries, lemons, raspberries, blueberries, figs, bananas, mangos, grapes/raisins, goji berries, and a few fruit salad and fruit cocktail theme weeks.

Tuesday, April 25, 2017

Stone Grindz Chocolate - Mint and Cashew 60% bar - April 25, 2017

Chocolate of the Day: 

Stone Grindz Chocolate
Mint and Cashew 60 percent cacao bar
Good+++
Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) / 2 oz. (56.6 g.) in total bar
Calories: 150 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $7.95 (estimate) for 1 bar
Purchased from: Stone Grindz Chocolate (Scottsdale, AZ) online order


Bienvenidos a (welcome to) Day #7 of Chocolate and Bolivia Theme Week, and we're ending Bolivia week with the closest facsimile to a Bolivian brunch that we could find.

The menu included fresh fruits sweetened with honey and topped with nuts; Amazon popping corn; potatoes; beans; egg and rice; cunape (South American cheese bread); and, last but certainly not least, a chocolate from Stone Grindz Chocolate (Scottsdale, AZ)—the company that produced a Wild Bolivia* bar featured earlier this week.

Today's Stone Grindz Chocolate Mint and Cashew bar was made with the company's house blend cacao*, so it wasn't clear whether that included Bolivian cacao or not. However, I decided this bar might pair nicely with today's Bolivian-inspired food.

This 60 percent cacao chocolate was relatively sweet and had rich caramel and chocolate brownie notes with natural, fresh tasting mint flavor. The texture was smooth; and small pieces of cashew added mild nut flavor and texture.

*In April 2017, Stone Grindz Chocolate was offering single origin bars from Bolivia and Ecuador.


Monday, April 24, 2017

Mama Ganache - Tasting Kit - Bolivia - Apr. 24, 2017

Chocolate of the Day: 

Mama Ganache Chocolates
Single Origin Tasting Kit - Bolivia
Good+++ - Very Good
Weight: .4 oz. (11.32 g.) / 2.5 oz. (75 g.) in 1 tasting kit
Calories: 60 calories (estimate) in 5 pieces
Cost: $N/A gift from family member (Thank you David!) ($8.95)
Purchased from: N/A - gift purchased from Mama Ganache, San Luis Obispo, CA

Welcome to Day #6 of Chocolate and Bolivia Theme Week.

Today's single origin chocolate made with Bolivian cacao was part of a single origin tasting kit, that contained chocolate "tasting bits" from five different origins, from Mama Ganache Chocolates (San Luis Obispo, CA).

Inside the tasting kit box were instructions for how to taste chocolates, with a beverage: water, hot tea, hot coffee or wine (including which wines might work best with chocolates).

The bean-shaped, Bolivian chocolate tasting bits (pieces) were made from Bolivian cocoa nibs, organic sugar and organic cocoa butter. Each piece was tasted slowly and carefully with room temperature water, first thing in the morning.

Tasting notes for Bolivia: red plum, caramel

And below are my tasting notes:

  • Aroma: dark chocolate, coffee, red fruit
  • Melt, texture: buttery melt and relatively smooth, buttery texture
  • Taste: dark chocolate malt with chocolate ice cream, light caramel
  • Finish: pleasant, smooth

*The Mama Ganache Tasting Kit contained tasting pieces from: Bali, Belize, Bolivia, Peru and Uganda.








Sunday, April 23, 2017

Arete - Bolivia Wild Harvest 70% bar - April 23, 2017

Chocolate of the Day: 

Arete Fine Chocolate
Bolivia Wild Harvest 70% Dark Chocolate bar
Good+++-Very Good
Weight: 1.15 oz. (32.5 g.) / 2.3 oz. (65 g.) in total bar
Calories: 172.5 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $12.00 (estimate) for 1 bar
Purchased from: The Chocolate Garage, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #5 of Chocolate and Bolivia Theme Week.

Today's Bolivia 70 percent Dark Chocolate bar from Arete Fine Chocolate (Milpitas, CA) was crafted from wild harvest cacao.

This Arete Bolivia bar had true chocolate (brownie, chocolate malt) flavor, like other Bolivia cacao-based bars this week. However, the Arete two-ingredient bar (wild harvest Bolivia cocoa beans and organic cane sugar) had aroma and flavor with a bit more breadth and depth.

Don't get me wrong, many people will love (or prefer) the smoothness of 100 percent true chocolate flavor. However, for me, having a little extra mystery warm green in the aroma and concentrated dried fruit acidity and some mysterious baked good flavors (leaning toward raisin spice cake/hot cereal) made this bar more interesting.

There were no off notes, just intriguing and multi-dimensional ones. And that says something about the methods of the maker (thank you David Senk)—to be able tease out and develop the maximum potential of a particular batch of beans (on a remarkably consistent basis) without having anything go sideways.










Saturday, April 22, 2017

Dick Taylor - Limited Release Bolivia 70% bar - Apr. 22, 2017

Chocolate of the Day: 

Dick Taylor Craft Chocolate
Limited Release Alto Beni Bolivia 70 percent bar
Good +++
Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) / 2 oz. (57 g.) in total bar
Calories: 150 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $10.00 (estimate) for 1 bar
Purchased from: missing information

Welcome to Day #4 of Chocolate and Bolivia Theme Week.

Today's Limited Release Alto Beni Bolivia bar was made by Dick Taylor Craft Chocolate (Eureka*, CA). The 70% bar was hand-crafted in Humboldt County, made from beans wild harvested in the Alto Beni Municipality of West Central Bolivia, an area made up of several communities.










As with other Bolivia single origin chocolates this week, the beautifully designed and packaged Dick Taylor bar had true "chocolatey" flavor (chocolate, chocolate malt, roasted cacao beans, brownies), subtle sweet, ripe fresh fruit; and very mild nut (cashew) and green notes.

Company co-founders, Adam Dick and Justin Taylor earned two stars at the Great Taste Awards (UK) and a win at the 2016 Good Food Awards (US) for this two-ingredient (cacao and organic cane sugar) bar.

*Eureka is: 
A.) A city in Northern California
B.) California's state motto
C.) What someone exclaims when they've made a discovery and/or found something of value
D.) All of the Above

The answer is D.

Californians may recognize this expression from the mid-1800s when gold was discovered in California. However, the term's origin stretches back much further. It's famous first use is often credited to Greek mathematician and inventor Archimedes, who is said to have uttered this phrase (while running down the street dripping and naked, no less) after making an important realization about the displacement of water that would help the (Greek) king to fight the Romans—who were encroaching by land and sea.

This may be the Eureka decade for craft chocolate, food and beverages. People have re-discovered great chocolate. So, Eureka is an apt location for Dick-Taylor Craft Chocolate. As boat builders, Dick and Taylor have an understanding of the displacement of water, as well as the alchemy of design, technical skills and great chocolate. Eureka; we're glad to have found them.








Friday, April 21, 2017

Sirene Chocolate - Bolivia 73% Cacao dark bar - April 21, 2017

Chocolate of the Day: 

Sirene Artisan Chocolate Makers
Bolivia 73 percent Wild Foraged bar
Good +++
Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.)/ 2 oz. (56.6 g.) in total bar
Calories: 150 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $7.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: The Chocolate Garage, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #3 of Chocolate and Bolivia Theme Week.

Today's relatively thick, well-tempered Bolivia bar from Sirene Chocolate (Victoria, BC, Canada) broke with a well-tempered, hard snap made very easy with even scoring between segments. In fact, everything about this bar was even and well-made.

The chocolate was made from wild cacao that grows under rainforest canopy in the Bolivian Amazon. The wild cacao beans* (like those used to make yesterday's Wild Bolivia bar from Stone Grindz) were foraged by "intrepid harvesters."

The bar's packaging contains a good explanation of how this is done, i.e. by "boats, canoes, motorcycles and trucks over both land and water..."

And, after making the journey north, these beans were skillfully tamed and crafted into today's chocolate at Sirene's workshop in Victoria, BC.

The aroma and flavor of the Bolivia bars this week has been true chocolate, with an occasional secondary note or two. The aroma for this bar was also very chocolatey (cocoa, fudge, chocolate malt) with very slight green and sweet cream of tomato soup** notes.

The flavor was dark chocolate (homogeneous, not too sweet) all the way through with mild dried fruit and very mild nut (cashew), evenly incorporated. The relatively mild finish lingered a bit longer than expected, with a very slight hint of fruit acidity. There were no off notes in this bar.

*Cacao beans are, or at least start out to be, "seeds" (that can reproduce) from a fruit (or a drupe). During fermentation and processing these seeds lose their ability to grow, and the term cocoa bean makes more sense. 

People in the U.S. and Canada have been referring to the core plant parts inside the cacao fruit as "beans" for many years now. (I've seen the term "semillas" (seeds) used in parts of Latin America; but very rarely in the U.S.) So we may be stuck with the bean origin nomenclature; especially since people (including me) keep writing about cacao or cocoa "beans." In French also, the term used most often is feve (bean).

**Sounds odd, I know. But, it was pleasant. I've had one or two chocolates with tomato as a flavor inclusion in past years, but this was the first time I remember any plant- or green-related aroma with a tomato soup note.


Thursday, April 20, 2017

Stone Grindz Chocolate - Wild Bolivia 70% bar - April 20, 2017

Chocolate of the Day:

Stone Grindz Chocolate
Wild Bolivia 70 percent Cacao bar
Good+++
Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) / 2 oz. (56.6 g.) in total bar
Calories: 150 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $8.95 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Stone Grindz Chocolate, Scottsdale, AZ (online order)

Welcome to Day #2 of Chocolate and Bolivia Theme Week.

Today's Wild Bolivia 70 percent Cacao dark chocolate bar from Stone Grindz Chocolate (Scottsdale, AZ) was crafted from cacao beans from the Amazon River Basin in Bolivia.

This three-ingredient* bar had pure chocolate aroma and flavor and a pleasant chocolate aftertaste, with a very occasional (very faint) slightly bitter earth blip late in the tasting experience. The 70 percent bar with a bit of added cocoa butter also had a nice, buttery melt and texture.

You'd think it might be difficult to make and distribute chocolate in Arizona, where temperatures soar in the summer, but there are a growing number of fine chocolate providers in the state. And Stone Grindz sells their chocolates at a few local, Phoenix-area farmers markets as well.

The packaging for the Wild Bolivia 70 percent Cacao bar (Batch 235) included a brief tasting description: "notes of malt and cashew."

 *Three ingredients: Cacao beans, Organic Cane Sugar and Organic Cacao Butter






Wednesday, April 19, 2017

Raaka - Pink Sea Salt DR and Bolivia 71% dark bar - Apr. 19, 2017

Chocolate of the Day: 

Raaka Chocolate
Pink Sea Salt 71 percent Dominican Republic and Bolivia bar
Good ++
Weight: .9 oz. (25.5 g.) / 1.8 oz. (51 g.) in total bar
Calories: 135 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $7.95 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Raaka Chocolate, online order

Welcome to Day #1 of a Chocolate and Bolivia Series.

Today's bar was made with a blend of ingredients from at least three countries: Dominican Republic, Bolivia and Peru. The Pink Sea Salt 71 percent Dominican Republic and Bolivia bar was made by Raaka Chocolate (Brooklyn, NY).

The cacao in this dark blend bar came from two specific regions: Reserva Zorzal in the Dominican Republic and Alto Beni in Bolivia. (The pink sea salt was harvested from Salinas de Maras in Peru.)

Today's bar had a sweet, green, floral aroma and flavor that I associate with chocolate made using un-roasted cacao chocolate.  (In fact developing fine flavored chocolate from un-roasted cacao is a specialty of today's chocolate maker, Raaka Chocolate.)

The bar was covered with a constellation of salt crystals. When I see this much salt, I sometimes worry that it will be too much. However, in the bites that I sampled, the salt added a well-balanced counterpoint to the sweet, floral profile.

I love little nested surprises. Open this wonderfully designed Raaka packaging and in addition to a gluten-free, vegan pink salt dark bar (that also has a great geometric graphic pattern) you'll find an illustrated Raaka bean-to-bar story (printed on the reverse side of the outside wrapper).



Tuesday, April 18, 2017

Fruition Chocolate - Hispaniola bar - April 18, 2017

Chocolate of the Day: 

Fruition Chocolate
Hispaniola Dark 68 percent bar
Good +++ - Very Good
Weight: 1.06 oz. (30 g.) / 2.12 oz. (60 g.) in total bar
Calories: 159 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $ missing information ($10 estimate)
Purchased from: The Chocolate Garage, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to the last day (Day #7) of Chocolate and Dominican Republic Theme Week.

This week has been full of so many great bars that it's almost sad to see the week end. Today's Hispaniola* Dark 68 percent bar was made by Fruition Chocolate (Shokan, NY). It was described on the packaging as: "A lightly roasted dark chocolate, balanced, bright and lingering."

Chocolate maker Bryan Graham and team started with "flavorful, ethically-sourced cocoa beans (from the Dominican Republic)" and brought them to fruition at the company's workshop in the Catskill Mountains in New York.

Today's bar had a rich chocolatey aroma with light hints of green, light earth/smoke, dried fruit and spice; in other words, a full spectrum somewhat similar to other bars made from Dominican Republic cacao featured this week.

The very edible, well-tempered bar had a smooth buttery melt, and satisfying true chocolate, hot cocoa flavor notes, with a mild, lingering and buttery finish.

As with most high-quality, bean-to-bar craft chocolate, the ingredients list** was short. This bar was also awarded First Place for Best Origin Bar at the 2015 Northwest Chocolate Festival.

*The name Hispaniola dates back to 1492 when explorer Christopher Columbus claimed the Caribbean island (comprised of present-day Haiti and the Dominican Republic) for Spain. He dubbed it: La Isla Española. 

**Ingredients: Organic cocoa beans, organic cane sugar, cocoa butter and organic vanilla beans.




Monday, April 17, 2017

SOMA Chocolatemaker - Easter Carrots - April 17, 2017

Easter Chocolate Item
April 2017

SOMA Chocolatemaker
Easter Carrots
Good
Weight: .918 oz. (26 g.) in 2 carrots
Calories: 138 calories (estimate) in 2 carrots
Cost: $7.00 for 1 carrot
Purchased from: The Chocolate Garage, Palo Alto, CA

This post is a special post-Easter holiday entry.

These diminutive, foil-wrapped "carrots" from SOMA Chocolatemaker (Toronto, Canada) were flavored/colored with real carrots and blood orange—giving this Easter confection the advantage of having small amounts of Vitamin C and Vitamin A.

The sweet cocoa butter/white chocolate based carrots were cone-shaped and tasted like the real thing. They were even seasoned with a generous pinch of salt...raising an age old question. If this is made out of plants, can I count this as a vegetable?

Probably not, but these little orange beauties were beautiful to look at and fun to taste.

LetterPress Chocolate - La Red Dominican Republic 70% Dark bar - Apr. 17, 2017

Chocolate of the Day: 

LetterPress Chocolate LLC
La Red 2014 Harvest Dominican Republic 70% Dark Chocolate bar
Very Good
Weight: 1.15 oz. (32.5 g.)/ 2.3 oz. (65 g.) in total bar
Calories: 172 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $11.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: The Chocolate Garage, Palo Alto, CA


Welcome to Day #6 of Chocolate and the Dominican Republic Theme Week.

The spectrum of chocolate flavor notes in this week's group of Dominican Republic bars has been impressive, and shows what's possible when the best beans are artfully cultivated and processed at every step in the supply chain.

And today's La Red 2014 Harvest Dominican Republic 70% Dark Chocolate bar from LetterPress Chocolate LLC (Los Angeles, CA) was no exception. (La Red in English means the net, or the network. It was also the name of a co-op of family farms in the Dominican Republic that, until recently, supplied cacao to several chocolate makers in the U.S.)

The LetterPress Dominican Republic chocolate had notes of chocolate, molasses, and faint umami** as well as hints of green, fruit and nut. The bar had an even buttery melt with an uptick of satisfying butter flavor at the end.

While LetterPress Chocolate is a "new" maker to Chocolate Banquet, like almost all makers featured on this site, they've been honing their talents for years. It takes both left and right brain skills to be a successful chocolate maker. One needs to have discipline and heart; technical skills to optimize and fix machines; and packaging and design skills, to name a few.

In addition to hard work at farms, co-ops, fermentarys and makers, chocolate curators, retailers and other professionals give valuable feedback to makers. The end result was today's bar, another example of immaculate quality and packaging.

Thank you also to Sunita de Tourreil at The Chocolate Garage (Palo Alto, CA) for her continued high standards and helping to expand the availability of "happy chocolate" offerings.

**I love umami or savory flavors. I detected a very buttery, faintly smokey, sauteed mushroom note in this chocolate. And, while this may sound odd to some, the combined flavors including this one may make this a new favorite bar for me.

Sunday, April 16, 2017

Arete - OKO Caribe 70% Organic Dark Chocolate bar - Apr. 16, 2017

Chocolate of the Day:

Arete Fine Chocolate
OKO Caribe 70 percent Organic Dark Chocolate bar
Very Good
Weight: 1.15 oz. (32.5 g.) / 2.3 oz. (65 g.) in total bar
Calories: 172 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $12.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: The Chocolate Garage, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #5 of Chocolate and the Dominican Republic Theme Week.

Today's OKO Caribe 70 percent Organic Dark bar from Arete Fine Chocolate (Milpitas, CA) follows hot on the heels of yesterday's Arete bar from Finca Elvesia (another farm/plantation in the Dominican Republic), and that invited some side-by-side comparison tasting.

This dark chocolate had a pleasing green (green tea + green fruit) aroma laced with the promise of something sweet.

The well-tempered bar broke with hard snap and had an even melt. And it tasted like a deep, dark and well-rounded, satisfying fruit cake or Boston brown bread* with a new satisfying note in every bite: a uniform, dried fruit flavor (prunes, apricots with a touch of red fruit). The sweetness was almost that of brown sugar, very light molasses and root beer.

Both yesterday's and today's Arete bars made with DR cacao were very well executed two-ingredient bars, crafted from organic cocoa beans and organic cane sugar. They were similar, yet had some subtle differences.

Yesterday's bar may have had more raisin notes vs. other dried or "brown" fruit notes. They both had pleasant green notes. Yesterday's bar seemed to have a slightly more spice-forward aroma. Today's bar tasted a bit "darker." You can't go wrong with either one.

The OKO Caribe fermentary is located near the city of San Francisco de Macoris in N-NE Dominican Republic. The owners work with different farmers in the region to produce a high-quality product. (Finca Elvesia is also on the north side of the island.)

*Boston brown bread is a dense, dark brown "bread" steamed (usually in a can), that contains molasses, buttermilk, cornmeal, rye or wheat flour and raisins, that is as much a cake as it is a bread. I used to love eating thick, round slices of this bread with butter or cream cheese.



Saturday, April 15, 2017

Arete - Dominican Republic Finca Elvesia 70% Organic bar - Apr. 15, 2017

Chocolate of the Day: 

Arete Fine Chocolate
Dominican Republic - Finca Elvesia 70% Organic Dark Chocolate bar
Very Good
Weight: 1.15 oz. (32.5 g.) / 2.3 oz. (65 g.) in total bar
Calories: 172 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $12.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: The Chocolate Garage, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #4 of Chocolate and the Dominican Republic Theme Week.

This artfully-balanced and well-tempered Dominican Republic 70 percent organic bar from Arete Fine Chocolate (Milpitas, CA) had a rich green* aroma (a combination of green wood, green fruit and light green floral) with some faint hints of spice, aromatic/floral black pepper and dried fruit thrown in.

With the first bite, the organic chocolate—made with cacao beans grown at Finca Elvesia (farm/plantation in the Dominican Republic)—bloomed into a rich chocolate tasting arc with dried fruit (raisin, apricot), fine smooth coffee, nutty, chocolate, and baked cherry pie flavor notes.

The fine finish continued at a very low level for a minute, with mild bittersweet notes. (I've been told that shorter, in-country** fermentation times can result in (a deliberate) slight bitterness.)

What a great ride. And all from just two ingredients: organic cocoa beans and organic cane sugar. Thank you to David and Leslie Senk for embarking on their journey to excellence.

*I'm working on better words to describe my perception of "green." There are a wide range of smells and tastes associated with edibles that fall under this category: green wood, green plants, green fruit (e.g. green bananas), green floral or at the far end of this spectrum, green forest (that may also include some jungle loam and earth elements). 

The green I'm picking up this week with chocolates made from DR cacao fall somewhere between green wood and green floral, with occasional hints of green fruit. However, I've found all these "green" elements to be well-balanced, delicate and well-balanced. It's a more subtle green than one might find, e.g., in some Ecuador bars.

** Fermentation is one of the first steps in chocolate-making. Almost all fermentation takes place "in-country", or in the country where the beans have been grown and harvested, and not where the final beans will be shipped for further steps (roasting, winnowing, conching, and ultimately tempering and molding, etc.).




Friday, April 14, 2017

Dandelion Chocolate - Zorzal, Dominican Republic bar - April 14, 2017

Chocolate of the Day: 

Dandelion Chocolate
70% Zorzal, Dominican Republic bar
Very Good
Weight: .66 oz. (18.6 g.) / 2 oz. (56 g.) in total bar
Calories: 99 calories (estimate) in 1/3 bar
Cost: $8.00 (estimate) for 1 bar
Purchased from: Dandelion Chocolate, San Francisco, CA

Welcome to Day #3 of Chocolate and Dominican Republic Theme Week.

Some chocolates are more eagerly anticipated than others. Today's 70% Zorzal Dominican Republic (DR) bar from Dandelion Chocolate (San Francisco, CA) had been squirreled away in the Chocolate Banquet Chocolate Vault until last week—when there were finally seven bars made with cacao from the Dominican Republic ready to go.

This bar, made with cacao harvested in 2015, was eagerly enjoyed and shared throughout the day.

Earlier this week, we featured a Raaka Chocolate DR bar also made from Zorzal cacao. The Zorzal name refers to a cacao growing spot co-located with a wildlife/bird refuge in the Dominican Republic, that serves to preserve habitat for wildlife including an endangered species of songbird.*

The makers used different roasting and flavor profile techniques. Raaka uses un-roasted beans to make their "virgin chocolate" DR bar. And Maverick Watson at Dandelion helped to test and develop the optimal roast/flavor profile for their batch of 2015 Zorzal beans that were made into a bar (first released in early 2016).

A group of different artists painting the same still life will create different finished works of art. Similarly, no two chocolate makers will produce exactly the same chocolate bar, even if the two companies start with the same beans from the same region. That makes life interesting, and tasting fun.

Today's 70 percent bar had a sweet, pleasant aroma, with faint green wood, floral, light tropical fruit-to-sweet banana notes. It had an almost buttery melt with fleeting hints of nuts, fruit, earth and chocolate; and the finish was delicate and lingering. Tasting notes on the Dandelion wrapper read: walnut, caramel and brandied cherry.

The Zorzal Dominican Republic bar tasted sweeter than I expected, compared to 70 percent bars I've been sampling in past few weeks (that contained a longer list of ingredients).

One reason, in addition to the ingredients themselves, for this perceived sweetness: Dandelion bars are made from scratch (bean-to-bar) with just two ingredients: cocoa beans and sugar. No other additives, emulsifiers or stabilizers or inclusions were used that might have muted or altered the bright, more intense cocoa bean and cane sugar flavors.

*Zorzal is Spanish for a type of songbird, a Bicknell's Thrush. The Zorzal de Bicknell Reserve was co-founded by Charles Kerchner, PhD who has developed a relationship with Dandelion Chocolate.




Thursday, April 13, 2017

Cachet - 39% Milk Organic Chocolate DR bar - April 13, 2017

Chocolate of the Day:

Cachet
39% Milk Organic Chocolate (Chocolat Bio) bar
(Belgian chocolate, Dominican Republic beans)
Good +
Weight: 1.75 oz. (50 g.) / 3.5 oz. (100 g.) in total bar
Calories: 293 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $3.99 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocolate Stars USA, LLC (online order)


Welcome to Day #2 Chocolate and Dominican Republic Theme Week.

This Cachet 39 percent Milk Organic Chocolate bar was made in Belgium, with fairly traded, organic cocoa beans from the Dominican Republic.

This relatively creamy, organic (or bio) bar was a little more three-dimensional than most milk chocolate bars. Lots of sugar and milk can mute, or even extinguish, cacao flavors.*

It had an interesting aroma and flavor with some depth (faint roasted coffee, milk, earth, tart fruit) not normally found in chocolate bars with less than 40 percent cacao solids.

*Ingredients list for today's bar: (organic) sugar, (organic) cocoa butter, (organic) whole milk powder, (organic) cocoa liquor and natural vanilla flavoring...Today's five-ingredient* bar was 39 percent cacao solids, and 20 percent (minimum) milk solids, meaning a relatively large percent would be sugar.
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