Frederic Blondeel - Tablette VII - 75% Peru Dark Chocolate bar - Nov. 14, 2017

Chocolate of the Day:

Frederic Blondeel
Tablette VII - 75% Peru Dark Chocolate bar
Good +
Weight: .636 oz. (18 g.) / 1.59 oz. (45 g.) in total bar
Calories: 97 calories (estimate) in 2/5 bar
Cost: $6.95 (estimate) for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocolate Stars USA, online order

Welcome to Day #24 of South American Chocolate Weeks. This week, we're virtually visiting Peru—via bars made with cacao grown there.

Today's Tablette VII* 75% Peru Dark Chocolate bar had an aroma with notes of chocolate, dried fruit (raisins, plums, fig jam) and a hint of tropical fruit (guava, passion fruit) and green.

The thin chocolate bar allowed immediate access to a cocoa buttery-soy lecithin texture and rapid melt—showing once again that bar thickness or thinness can influence the tasting experience. There were occasionally, in contrast to the buttery-ness, tiny crunchy particles (of either cocoa nib or sugar?) but they weren't off-putting.

It was a pleasant and surprisingly light bar.

*The Frederic Blondeel line, manufactured in Belgium, includes a single origin series of at least 10 different tablettes (bars numbered from I to X).

Zak's Chocolate - 70% Cacao Peru San Martin bar - Nov. 13, 2017

Chocolate of the Day: 

Zak's Chocolate
70% Cacao Peru San Martin bar
Good ++ - Very Good
Weight: .9 oz. (25 g.) /1.8 oz. (50 g.) in total bar
Calories: 140 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $9.75 (estimate) for 1 bar
Purchased from: Zak's Chocolate, Scottsdale, AZ

Welcome to Day #23 of South American Chocolate Theme Week.

Today's 70% Cacao Peru San Martin dark bar was hand-crafted by the makers at Zak's Chocolate (Scottsdale, AZ).

I really liked this bar. It was well-crafted, and consistently good. It had an aroma with green, spice (the tasting notes suggest cinnamon/autumn spice, mild nutty) and chocolate notes. The texture was smooth and a creamy* throughout.

This 70% dark Peru bar was a finalist at the 2016 International Chocolate Awards. The single origin bar was gluten free and made with organic cocoa beans, organic sugar and organic cocoa butter.

*Zak's Chocolate is one of a small handful of bean-to-bar craft chocolate companies making single origin bars that also incorporate single origin cocoa butter, that they press themselves. (Arete Fine Chocolate in Milpitas, CA, also does this.)