Sunday, April 26, 2020

Mirzam Chocolate Makers - India 65% Dark Chocolate (bar) - Apr. 26, 2020

Chocolate of the Day: 

Mirzam Chocolate Makers
(Kakaw Manufacturing Co. LLC)
India - 65% Dark Chocolate (bar)
Good +
Weight: 1.23 oz. (35 g.) / 2.46 oz. (70 g.) in total bar
Calories: 193 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $10.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: missing information

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

Today's India 65% Dark Chocolate (bar) was made by Mirzam Chocolate Makers (Dubai, United Arab Emirates) from single origin cacao (beans) grown in Tamil Nadu, a state in southern India. Mirzam refers to a constellation that likely was followed by ancient mariners and spice traders who were navigating extensive Arab trade routes that would have included southern India, where cacao is now grown.

India and the geography of cacao
Cacao grows in locations from 0 degrees to approximately 20 degrees north or south (latitude) of the Equator. Most cacao from India is grown in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and/or Kerala--states in southern India, on plantations/farms located between about 8 and 17 degrees north of the Equator. Mumbai (located at 19 degrees North Latitude) would be considered at the outside edge of this zone. Delhi (at 28+ degrees N. Latitude), would be too far north to grow cacao outdoors.

Mirzam maker's notes read: spices, sweet lemon, honey.

My tasting notes were similar: sweet (honey) fruit (light citrus, candied Meyer lemon with honey and apple cider with cinnamon), roasted coffee, very faint hint of biscuit/cookie.

Ingredients: Cocoa Beans, Sugar, Cocoa Butter

Pascati Artisan Chocolate - Sea Salt Dark 60% Cocoa Organic Chocolate (bar) - Apr. 25, 2020

Chocolate of the Day: 

Pascati Artisan Chocolate
(Pascati Foods India LLP)
Sea Salt Dark 60% Cocoa Organic Chocolate (bar)
Good + - Good ++
Weight: 2.65 oz. (75 g.) total bar
Calories: 380 calories in 1 bar
Cost: $8.50 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocosphere.com, online order

Welcome to Day #5 of Chocolate and  India Theme Week.

Today's Sea Salt Dark Chocolate 60% Cocoa bar was from Pascati Artisan Chocolate / Pascati Foods India LLP (Maharashtra, India).

This Sea Salt Dark bar had a great balance between flavorful dark chocolate and sweet and salt levels. It was not too sweet or salty; it was just right. For the past four days I've enjoyed Pascati bars with fruit and other flavor inclusions. Today with just salt as a flavor inclusion* I felt I could taste more of the flavor nuances of the underlying chocolate--made using Forastero (variety) cacao beans that yielded a bold, dense dark (but also smooth) chocolate flavor experience (relatively low in bitterness) with faint, well balanced earth and slight fruit notes

The organic cacao (traded in compliance with Fairtrade Standards) was sourced from Kerala, a state on the southwestern Malabar coast in southern India; and the chocolate was made more than 750 miles further north in Palghar in the state of Maharashtra (north of Mumbai).

Cacao terroir
The maker noted that the cacao was grown as an intercrop among/between/under coconut and arecanut (betel nut) palm trees and near tropical fruit trees as well. Neighboring fruit trees that are part of the local soil (terroir) may not influence cacao fruit/seed/bean flavor, but just having more attention paid to soil pH and nutrient/mineral and water uptake in a well-tended plantation environment could be a plus.

Single origin cocoa butter 
Roughly half, depending on the variety and origin, of a cacao bean, is fat in the form of cocoa or cacao butter. This naturally high fat content is what contributes the rich, creamy smoothness to finished chocolate. Pascati also presses their own cocoa butter from Kerala cacao beans. Not every chocolate maker takes this extra step, to use single origin cacao butter, or butter from the same origin and to press/"make" this component themselves.)

*Ingredients: Organic cocoa beans, organic sugar, organic cocoa butter, sea salt.


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