Chocolate of the Day:
Wm. Chocolate
India Anamalai 65% Dark (bar)
Good ++ - Good +++
Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) in total bar
Calories: 152 calories (estimate) in 1 bar
Cost: $4.95 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocosphere.com (online order)
Welcome to Day #7 of Chocolate and India Theme Week.
Today's India Anamalai 65% Dark (bar) was from Wm. Chocolate made from bean-to-bar in Madison, Wisconsin, by chocolate maker William Marx.
This (2017 Harvest) single-estate cacao was grown at the Anamalai* Farm, "next to coconut and nutmeg" in Tamil Nadu, in southern India.
The 65% chocolate was sweetened with whole cane sugar. It felt like this form may have given the chocolate more authentic sweet flavor but with less actual sugar; but this could have been my imagination.
The relatively high percent of sugar (the more sugar, the lower % of cacao by definition) can add brightness or can make fruit notes sparkle. (Or it can just make chocolate too sweet. It all depends on the cacao and the maker.) In this case this three-ingredient** 65% bar did not taste too sweet (thank you!), and it did highlight the fruit flavors.
This chocolate had concentrated fruit (jam, raisin, prune) notes and a hint of spice and true chocolate with well balanced fruit acidity/tartness and a very slight nuttiness. This was pretty consistent with the maker's notes below:
Maker's notes: "nutty and jammy"... "with notes of grape jelly, peanut and spiced tea"
*Anamalai is associated with the "Elephant Mountains" area of western Tamil Nadu and shares a border between the states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Cardamom, pepper and coffee are also grown in this area.
**Ingredients: cocoa beans, whole (unrefined) organic cane sugar, organic cocoa butter
Wm. Chocolate
India Anamalai 65% Dark (bar)
Good ++ - Good +++
Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) in total bar
Calories: 152 calories (estimate) in 1 bar
Cost: $4.95 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocosphere.com (online order)
Welcome to Day #7 of Chocolate and India Theme Week.
Today's India Anamalai 65% Dark (bar) was from Wm. Chocolate made from bean-to-bar in Madison, Wisconsin, by chocolate maker William Marx.
This (2017 Harvest) single-estate cacao was grown at the Anamalai* Farm, "next to coconut and nutmeg" in Tamil Nadu, in southern India.
The 65% chocolate was sweetened with whole cane sugar. It felt like this form may have given the chocolate more authentic sweet flavor but with less actual sugar; but this could have been my imagination.
The relatively high percent of sugar (the more sugar, the lower % of cacao by definition) can add brightness or can make fruit notes sparkle. (Or it can just make chocolate too sweet. It all depends on the cacao and the maker.) In this case this three-ingredient** 65% bar did not taste too sweet (thank you!), and it did highlight the fruit flavors.
This chocolate had concentrated fruit (jam, raisin, prune) notes and a hint of spice and true chocolate with well balanced fruit acidity/tartness and a very slight nuttiness. This was pretty consistent with the maker's notes below:
Maker's notes: "nutty and jammy"... "with notes of grape jelly, peanut and spiced tea"
*Anamalai is associated with the "Elephant Mountains" area of western Tamil Nadu and shares a border between the states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Cardamom, pepper and coffee are also grown in this area.
**Ingredients: cocoa beans, whole (unrefined) organic cane sugar, organic cocoa butter
