"Artfully Crafted for Chocolino"
Double Dark Chocolate 55% Cacao bar
Good - Good+
Weight: 2.14 oz. (60 g.) in total bar
Calories: 330 calories in 1 bar
Cost: $2.15 for 1 bar
Purchased from: CVS Pharmacy, Palo Alto, CA
Welcome to Day #5 of Chocolate and California Dreaming Theme Week.
Today we head south to the Central Valley (Fresno, CA) where today's Chocolino* La Dolce Vita Double Dark Chocolate 55% Cacao bar had its origins.
While not mentioned on the packaging (and despite the somewhat confusing "Artfully Crafted for Chocolino" tagline), I believe G. Debbas Chocolatier, a private label manufacturer with a shop in Fresno, produced this bar.California's Central Valley is a tremendous source of agricultural food exports for the Golden State. Beautiful fruit posters drew immigrants with dreams of the good life in the past. Food is grown on a massive scale in the Valley. Not cacao perhaps. But, it is a region where food and beverages are appreciated.
The "Double Chocolate" designation refers to a blend of two dark chocolates, one perhaps a bit more flavorful. There was a trace of green (the relatively light, forest-like blend of green tea, green stalks and green floral) notes—and lots of popular, sweet dark chocolate flavor.
The overall aroma and flavor was consistent and a small step above most bulk, commercial chocolates. The chocolate broke with a snap, and had an even melt. The incorporation of whole milk powder made it slightly smoother.
The bar contained a standard disclaimer** that often appears on packaging for chocolates produced in a larger/shared facility with multiple-ingredient product lines.
*Chocolino showed up as a registered wordmark of SSI G. Debbas Chocolatier, LLC (Fresno, CA) (or at least the application showed up to be one in a google search -- filing date was March 2016)
Business was listed as chocolates, confections, chocolate bars, etc.
A Chocolino Facebook page for them showed a phone number with an 818 area code.
**May contain peanuts, tree nuts, wheat.
