Monday, September 7, 2020

Fu Wan Chocolate - Taiwan Charcoal Oolong Tea Chocolate (bar) - Aug. 7, 2020

 Chocolate of the Day

Fu Wan Chocolate
62% dark Taiwan Charcoal Oolong Tea Chocolate (bar)
Good ++ 
Weight: 1.59 oz. (45 g.) in total bar
Calories: 283 calories (per label) in 1 bar
Cost: $16.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocolate Covered, San Francisco, CA

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

Today's 62% dark Taiwan Charcoal Oolong Tea Chocolate (bar) was from Fu Wan Chocolate (Formosa (Taiwan)). This chocolate was flavorful, middle ground blend of cacao and tea.

Oolong teas have a flavor in between a spring green sencha and a heavier, malt-ier black Assam tea--just like a Trinitario cacao usually falls between a mild heritage Criollo cacao and a deep, dark Forastero cacao variety. In tea and chocolate, a tea master/maker or chocolate maker coaxes different notes (e.g. fruit, floral or nut) out of a batch of leaves, or cacao beans--employing different roast profiles and other steps in the process.

Fu Wan does use cacao grown in Taiwan, and cacao from other locations. (I was unable to determine the exact cacao origin(s) for this bar.) It tasted like it may have been made with Trinitario cacao.

My tasting notes are below: 

Aroma: honey, raisin toast 

Flavor: honey, raisin toast, fleeting sweet "Dragon Eye*" oolong tea notes, and a faint hint of dried fruit (date, peach, dried longan fruit) and nut. The cacao added a richness to the tea experience. 

Maker's tasting notes read as follows: "Almond, cashew, black sesame, fennel, licorice, mint"

Ingredients: Cacao bean(s), cane sugar, cacao butter, Charcoal Oolong tea.

*The tea flavors in today's Fu Wan Taiwan Charcoal Oolong bar reminded me of the "Dragon Eyes" oolong tea I've enjoyed in the San Francisco Bay Area. Dragon Eye tea is sometimes described as somewhere between a green and black tea, with light smokey and dried fruit notes. This is the closest to today's charcoal oolong tea that I've experienced here in the U.S. And, after this week's Fu Wan flavorful oolong bars, I'll be exploring more of the wonderful "middle ground" world of oolong teas soon.

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