Lindt - Intense Orange Dark bar - Dec. 21, 2018

Chocolate of the Day: 

Lindt and Sprungli
Intense Orange Dark bar
Good
Weight: 1.4 oz. (40 g.) / 3.5 oz. (100 g.) in total bar
Calories: 190 calories in 1 serving (4 squares) of bar
Cost: $2.50 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Safeway, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #11 of Chocolate and Fruit Theme Week.

Today's Intense Orange Dark bar was from Lindt and Sprungli USA Inc. (Stratham, NH).

This 47% dark bar had smooth dark chocolate aroma and flavor, with dutched* sweet cocoa and faint orange notes.

Bits of almond and candied orange gave the bar textural interest and tiny bursts of sweet, mild citrus (natural and artificial) flavor.

*Please note, there was no indication this Intense Orange Lindt bar contained "Dutched" cocoa with reduced acidity. Lindt has said in the past that it may use this process in its very high percentage bars, but not generally for bars below 90% cacao. (Best to check directly with them for details on individual bars.)

The following explains what the phrase Dutched cocoa means.

Dutched (aka alkilized, or European-style) cocoa or chocolate has been treated to reduce acidity through a process of adding an alkaline substance, thereby neutralizing acidity. 

This process—invented by Dutch chocolate maker, Coenraad Johannes van Houten, in 1828—is commonly used for hot cocoa mixes, ice creams, baking chocolates, and many other chocolate offerings, when natural cocoa has been determined to be too acidic. The resulting cocoa powder has a darker color and a milder flavor. 

Natural cocoa has a pH of approximately 5 or 6. (Seven is neutral, and lower numbers indicate greater acidity). Dutched cocoa generally has a value of 7. (Lemon or lime juice has a pH between 2 and 3; Tofu has a score in the low 7s. Most foods we eat fall in the range between 3 and 7; although the (logarithmic) pH scale goes all the way to 14. Substances above 10 are inadvisable for us to consume. (Calcium carbonate has a pH of approx. 9.9, Ammonia has a pH of 11, lye clocks in at 13, and sodium hydroxide, at 14, tops the scale.)