Mission Chocolate - Escuro 90% Fazenda Vale Potumuju bar - Oct. 17, 2019

Chocolate of the Day: 

Mission Chocolate
Escuro 90% Fazenda Vale Potumuju bar
Good ++
Weight: 1.06 oz. (30 g.) / 2.12 oz. (60 g.) in total bar
Calories: 168 calories (per label) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $10.00 (estimate) for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocolate Covered, San Francisco, CA

Welcome to Day #7 of Chocolate and Brazil Theme Week.

Today's Escuro 90% Fazenda Vale Potumuju bar was from Arcelia Gallardo, founder of Mission Chocolate (Sao Paolo, Brazil).

This three-ingredient,* ultra-dark chocolate was creamy and quite mild given its very high percentage of cacao solids. It had a very faint, pleasant, fleeting vegetable aroma note (cooked potato and greens), with light fruit and true chocolate flavor.

The melt, as mentioned was creamy and the texture was quite smooth throughout. This will likely be one of the least bitter 90%er that you'll ever sample. It was slightly bittersweet in the finish.

Both the 80% Fazenda Leolinda and today's 90% Fazenda Vale Potumuju bars from this maker were quite friendly, well balanced and enjoyable bars without a lot of sugar. (Thank you Arcelia!)

*Ingredients: Cacao, Organic sugar, cocoa butter

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Mission Chocolate - Escuro 80% Fazenda Leolinda bar - Oct. 16, 2019

Chocolate of the Day: 

Mission Chocolate
Escuro 80% Fazenda Leolinda bar
Good ++
Weight: 1.06 oz. (30 g.) / 2.12 oz. (60 g.) in total bar
Calories: 163.5 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $10.00 (estimate) for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocolate Covered, San Francisco, CA

Welcome to Day #6 of Chocolate and Brazil Theme Week.

Today's Escuro 80% Fazenda Leolinda bar was from Mission Chocolate (Sao Paolo, Brazil).

This bar had a relatively light aroma with true chocolate and a mild fruit acidity notes. The chocolate flavors in this Single Estate (Fazenda Leolinda, Atlantic Rainforest biome) bar differed slightly from the bars made with cacao grown at Fazenda Camboa (where cacao was grown/sourced for other Mission Chocolate bars featured this week).

One must trust in the maker's judgment when it comes to cacao batch/farm decisions for ultra-dark chocolate (80% and higher), as these choices are not made lightly. Cacaos that works very nicely with more sugar, don't always fare as nicely when sugar levels drop from 30% to 10%. (Some cacaos require added fat or cacao butter to smooth away rough edges or to muffle bitter notes.)

Chocolate maker Arcelia Gallardo's choice to go with this cacao for this 80 percent dark bar resulted in a balanced ultra-dark bar that chocolate lovers who normally stick to 70 percent bars will find approachable. The chocolate had a lingering, balanced finish with traces of even, balanced fruit acidity, a very faint roasted note, and a faint hint of astringency toward the end. (There were no bitter or off notes in this ultra-dark chocolate.)

Reno Chocolate Day Trip - Sugar Love Chocolates

And speaking of women chocolate makers and chocolatiers...

Thank you to Katie at Sugar Love Chocolates (Reno, NV) for her tasting assistance with today's Brazilian bar (and help with lunch and chocolate confection choices at Sugar Love).

This cafe and chocolate shop (discovered in the basement of the Old Post Office in downtown Reno, Nevada), was founded by chocolatier Krysta Bea Jackson, and offered a variety of filled chocolates that I sampled and enjoyed.

The European-style chocolates I purchased (including Raspberry Rose, Earl Grey, Cherry Black Pepper, Urfa Biber and Peruvian Golden Berry) were made using couverture chocolate imported from France and Colombia. The fillings were fresh, natural-tasting and delicious. I look forward to featuring some of these flavors (and bars) on Chocolate Banquet in the future.

Copyright 2019. Unauthorized use of the text and/or images from this site, www.ChocolateBanquet.com, is a copyright violation.