Chocolate of the Day
Ranger Chocolate Company
75% Haiti Nord (bar)
Good + - Good ++
Weight: 1.125 oz. (32 g.) / 2.25 oz. (64 g.) in total bar
Calories: 169 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $10.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Ranger Chocolate, online order
Welcome to Day #15 of Chocolate, Dominican Republic and Haiti Theme Weeks.
Today's 75% Haiti Nord dark chocolate bar was crafted by Ranger Chocolate (Portland, OR).
This well-balanced and even dark bar was made with cacao grown in northern Haiti. It had a gentle, light roast profile with herbal notes (green bamboo forest, lemongrass, green apple), very faint malt and buttery, warm spiced fruit (pear); relatively low bitterness and acidity; and a very slight astringency in the finish (fleeting back of the throat tickle that disappeared when the chocolate and my throat warmed up).
The maker's tasting notes read as follows: "butterscotch, cream and a hint of apple."*
If I'd been tasting this in a blind tasting, I might have guessed the cacao origin to be somewhere in the Americas, but would likely not have guessed Haiti. As commented before, there seems to be improvements in cacao beans coming from Hispaniola (Haiti, D.R.) in recent years.
This trend likely speaks to improvements in farming techniques, fermentation and an increase in the number of thoughtful chocolate makers continuing to cultivate good relationships with suppliers "in country" where cacao is grown. Vive la difference.
*Ingredients: organic cacao, organic cane sugar
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