Monday, November 9, 2020

Honeymoon Chocolates - Peruvian 70% Dark Chocolate with Raw Honey (bar) - Nov. 9, 2020

Chocolate of the Day

Honeymoon Chocolates
Peruvian 70% Dark Chocolate with Raw Honey (bar)
Good +
Weight: 1.25 oz. (35 g.) / 2.5 oz. (70 g.) in total bar
Calories: 188 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $9.99 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Village Market, Ferry Building, San Francisco, CA

Welcome to Day #6 of Chocolate, Honey and Citrus Theme Week, and Day #2 of Chocolate and Peru Theme Week.

Today's Bean-to-Bar Peruvian 70% Dark Chocolate with Raw Honey (bar) was from Honeymoon Chocolates (Saint Louis, MO).  

The company creates micro batch stone-ground chocolate bars sweetened with raw honey. A portion of the proceeds from this chocolate bar (and others) "are automatically donated to support honeybee research."

This chocolate had a soft, almost velvety melt and texture. The relatively robust dark chocolate with notes of cream, earth, roasted coffee, dried fruit (prune, citrus), and very faint spice and fermented cacao. The raw honey contributed a subtle sweetness.

Ingredients: Organic cacao, raw honey, cacao butter and vanilla bean.

Cacao Crudo - Siracusa Lemon PGI Zest 77% Dark Chocolate (bar) - Nov. 8, 2020

Chocolate of the Day

Cacao Crudo S.r.l.
Cioccolato Fondente Bio - Scorze di "Limone di Siracusa IGP" (barretta)
Dark Organic Chocolate "Siracusa Lemon PGI" Zests (bar)
Good ++ - Good +++ 
Weight: .88 oz. (25 g.) / 1.76 oz. (50 g.) in total bar
Calories: 149 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $ N/A - sample from Cacao Crudo
Purchased from: N/A - sample from Cacao Crudo

Benvenuta! Welcome to Day #5 of Chocolate, Honey and Citrus Theme Week, and Day #1 of Chocolate and Peru Theme Week.

Today's Organic Dark Chocolate "Siracusa Lemon PGI" Zests (bar) delivered bold flavors with just three ingredients: Peruvian cacao, coconut flower sap and Italian lemon zest. 

The makers at Cacao Crudo S.r.l. crafted this unroasted, Criollo chocolate (in their laboratory in Rome, Italy). The company offers raw chocolates made with fine cacao that are quite wonderful.

This bar had a lush green, sweet lemon tree scent. The 77% dark chocolate provided relatively intense and smooth dark flavor with faint green notes, and the lemon zest added a balanced bitter "bite." 

Not only has Cacao Crudo delivered on the promise of raw cacao, but also on potential existing with the marriage of high-quality cacao and high-quality lemon. (The few chocolate and lemon confections are almost always too sweet or made with lower quality ingredients.)

For those who also prefer less sugar,in your chocolate experience, the company's use of coconut flower sap sweetener and choice of a subtler sweetness level is also close to perfection in my opinion.

Chocolate Pairings

This bar was also a great chocolate to add to tasting plate/menu. I paired this intense 77% dark chocolate and lemon zest bar with the following beverages and foods: a hot coffee cocktail (with whiskey, honey and Frangelico liqueur); 3 varieties of tea (green, Fujian Oolong and smokey black teas); 3 varieties of honeys, cheeses; and warmed nuts today. 

The clean, almost green notes of the Fujian Oolong tea won out by a slim margin on the beverage pairing front.

The pairing with warm hazelnuts, almonds and walnuts (very lightly salted with sea salt and rosemary and drizzled with EVOO) was especially popular on this cold, windy day. But the pairing of this bar with cheeses was surprisingly successful as well.

*Ingredients: Unroasted, Organic Criollo cacao beans paste, Organic concentrated coconut flower sap, dried, Organic "Siracusa Lemon PGI" zests (3%).

PGI (in Italian IGP) is a special designation for Italian grown produce (grapes, hazelnuts, lemons, etc.) and foodstuffs tied to a specified region.


Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...