Domori - Land Costa d'Avorio (Ivory Coast) organic 70% dark bittersweet (bar) - Aug. 19, 2020

 Chocolate of the Day

Domori S.p.A.
Land Costa d'Avorio (Ivory Coast) organic 70% dark bittersweet (bar)
Good 
Weight: .88 oz. (25 g.) in 1 bar
Calories: 132 calories (estimate) in 1 bar
Cost: $4.50 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocosphere.com, online order 

Welcome to Day #7 of Ghana and Ivory Coast Theme Week.

Today's Land Costa d'Ivorio (Ivory Coast) organic 70% dark bittersweet (bar) was from Domori S.p.A. (None, Torino (Turin), Italy).

West African Cacao Power

Ivory Coast--the top cacao producing country in the world--supplies almost 1/3 of the world's cacao. Yes, one rarely sees "Ivory Coast" identified as the source of cacao on chocolate bar packaging. Not that often. I was happy to find three Ivory Coast bars this week.

It's easier to find chocolate made with cacao grown in Ghana (World's #2 cacao supplier). Together these two West African countries produce approximately half of the world's cacao. 

Today's organic, Ivory Coast 70 percent dark bittersweet bar had a rich dark chocolate with a trace of bitterness and a faint spice/molasses note. The melt and texture of this bar was smooth. 

The flavor was powerful with heavy roast (light singed toast*) notes with a medium, lingering acidity (acidic, concentrated/dried plums, citrus). A thinner bar made flavors more accessible.

Maker's tasting notes for this two-ingredient chocolate (70% cocoa mass, cane sugar) read as follows: "Cacao harvested in the area between the villages of Oulaidon and Lilebe" (in the Republic of Cote d'Ivoire, aka Ivory Coast). "Dominant note of cocoa, accompanied by coconut, hazelnut, bread crust and spices."

*Note: Heavy fires burning in California this week have resulted in smoke wafting across five counties including where I live. These conditions can affect taste and smell. I try to consider ambient conditions when tasting, and today was one time where a "clean" tasting environment was not possible. The faint heavy roasted, burned or singed/charcoal notes I mentioned above could have been amplified by "real" smoke.