Thursday, May 25, 2017

Guittard - L'Harmonie 64% Cacao bar - May 25, 2017

Chocolate of the Day: 

Guittard
L'Harmonie 64% Cacao bar - Blend No. 29
Good ++
Weight: 1.06 oz. (30 g.) / 2.65 oz. (75 g.) in total bar
Calories: 160 calories in 2/5 bar
Cost: $missing information for 1 bar
Purchased from: Piazza's Fine Foods, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #4 of Dark Chocolate Blends Theme Week.

Today's L'Harmonie 64% Cacao bar (Blend No. 29) from Guittard (Burlingame, CA) was an upbeat* dark bar with subtle floral and fruit (apple, banana, apricot, light tropical) and with a faint hint of floral green tea.

Tasting notes printed on the packaging read: "Semisweet chocolate with floral aromatics and tart fruit notes."

The L'Harmonie bar incorporated cacao from Central America, South America and the Caribbean. The varieties of cacao that were selected from these three regions included the three primary members of the cacao holy trinity: Forastero, Trinitario and Criollo beans.

*This dark chocolate bar was lighter, sweeter and more carefree (if dark chocolate can be carefree) than most of this week's ultra-dark bars. Stands to reason, as there was more sugar in this bar than other dark blends sampled so far this week.


Guittard - Clair de Lune 85% bar - May 24, 2017

Chocolate of the Day: 

Guittard
Clair de Lune 85% bar - Blend No. 49
Good + - Good ++
Weight: 1.06 oz. (30 g.) / 2.65 oz. (75 g.) in total bar
Calories: 160 calories in 2/5 bar
Cost: $missing information for 1 bar
Purchased from: Piazza's Fine Foods, Palo Alto, CA


Welcome to Day #3 of Dark Chocolate Blends Theme Week.

Today's bar was the first of several dark chocolate blends created by Guittard (Burlingame, CA). Guittard has been making chocolate in the San Francisco area* since the 1800s.

This Clair de Lune 85% bar (Blend No. 49) was described as "bittersweet chocolate with subtle cherry notes," and was prepared with no added cocoa butter. I also found this to have bittersweet, tart and sour cherry/red fruit or berry notes. For an ultra-dark bar, it was well balanced overall.

While we don't know the exact origins, we know that this Guittard blend contains Forastero, Trinitario and Criollo varieties of (non-GMO) cacao beans that were grown in Central America, South America and the Caribbean.


"The art of chocolate making begins on the farm." This sentence was printed on inside of the wrapper/packaging. So true.

Many steps are involved in making great chocolate, but without the right beans to begin with from the farmer, great chocolate is all but impossible. Blending may help tone down sharp notes or balance "flaws" but even blending techniques have their limits.

Guittard has years of experience arriving at the right flavor profile(s) for wholesale and retail chocolatiers as well as consumers; and this line of blend bars will be interesting to taste.

*Guittard has a distinguished history in the San Francisco Bay Area. The founders of Guittard—and Ghirardelli Chocolate Company (now owned by Lindt and Sprungli)—came from Europe to the Bay Area in the 1800s. Many people were drawn to San Francisco in the mid-1800s after the discovery of gold. Fortunately, company founders at both companies found it more profitable to sell chocolate than to pan for gold themselves. Wise choice. Guittard is also still being managed by descendents of 


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