Tuesday, July 16, 2019

Xocolatl de David - Jacobsen Salt Co. 72% Cacao bar - July 16, 2019

Chocolate of the Day: 

Xocolatl de David
Jacobsen Salt Co. 72% Cacao (bar)
Good ++ - Good +++
Weight: 1.1 oz. (31 g.) / 2.2 oz. (62 g.) in total bar
Calories: 165 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $10.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: James at Home, San Diego, CA

Welcome to Day #2 of Chocolate and Sea Salt Theme Week.

Today's Jacobsen Salt Co. 72% Cacao (bar) was made in Portland, OR, by Xocolatl de David—a company specializing in chocolates with savory or umami flavor inclusions. (Confession: I love umami flavors.)

This particular bar with Oregon Sea Salt was a collaboration with Jacobsen Salt Co. (Portland, OR), a company that offers high-end salts, honey and other products to discerning home cooks and chefs.

This 72% dark chocolate (made with Ecuador cacao) had a great, complex but smooth aroma with some subtle nut butter*, fruit, savory, green and balanced, mellow, sauteed mushroom earth and spice (+ a barely-there hint of floral) notes. All good. The melt and texture were smooth and fairly creamy.

The dark chocolate taste was satisfying with the occasional, balanced (there's that word again)* light sparkle of salt. And it was not too sweet (thank you!).

*There were no nuts in this bar. Every batch of cacao can potentially bring with it many flavors that remind us of other foods, flowers and plants, fruits, etc. Chocolate makers also shape what we taste by steps they take to enhance or suppress certain flavor characteristics, as they transform cacao into chocolate.

**Balanced aromas and flavors can be subjective attributes. One person's savory picnic could be another person's umami nightmare. And one person's favorite sweet chocolate could be another's undesirable sugary candy, and so on. However, balanced and layered flavors are key characteristics of great craft chocolate, craft beer and so many other artisan foods and beverages. 



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