Sunday, November 22, 2020

Lydgate Farms Kauai Chocolate - Wailua Single Estate 50% Milk (bar) - Nov. 22, 2020

Chocolate of the Day

Lydgate Farms Kauai Chocolate
Wailua Single Estate 50% Milk (bar)
Good + - Good ++
Weight: 2.2 oz. (62 g.) in 1 bar
Calories: 330 calories (estimate) in 1 bar
Cost: $15.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocolate Covered, San Francisco, CA

Aloha and Welcome to Chocolate and Hawaii Theme Week.

Today's Wailua Single Estate 50% Milk (bar) was from Lydgate Farms Kauai Chocolate (Kapa'a, HI). The company, founded by members of a family, the fifth generation to live in Hawaii.

The company emphasizes stewardship of land and local culture, via small-scale sustainable farming and educational farm tours. (A card insert in the package illustrated the story of their farm using Kapa, a traditional Hawaiian art form with symbols on bark cloth.)

This bar had an earthy, dark chocolate aroma with a faint hint of green (Genmai-cha tea with roasted rice or barley), tempered by milk and sugar. The melt and texture were smooth and substantial; and the flavor was one of rich, dark milk chocolate. There was a faint fresh green, sweet note that lingered lightly in the finish.

Lydgate Tasting Notes: "This heavy dark milk chocolate is reminiscent of sweetened condensed milk and browned butter meets toasted cashew nuts. It has a savory, cheesy character with a velvety, intense, mouthfeel that is richer than your typical flat, sweet milk chocolate."

Lydgate's suggested beverage pairing: "Pair With: Cava Brut and other dry Sparkling's like Prosecco and Champagne...Why? -- This would be an "opposite" pairing. The heavy mouthfeel of the rich dark milk chocolate is balanced by effervescent dry bubbles, lightening the load off the tip of the tongue."

Ingredients: Lydgate cacao beans, organic whole milk powder, organic sugar, organic cocoa butter.

*Wailua is a Hawaiian word that means "two waters" or two bodies of water. It's located on the east side of Kauai. And Kapa'a (aka Kapaa) means "solid" in Hawaiian. The word "chocolate" (cacao made "solid") can be traced back to the Aztec/Nahuatl word "xocolatl" meaning bitter water--from the cacao beverage that dates back thousands of years in Central and South America. The Spaniards brought cacao to Europe and the name for the solid bars and confections they developed evolved into the word "chocolate." 

And this name eventually made its way back to the us via ships bound for America. Yes, this is a long story to link a few terms like water and chocolate, but I'm willing to go the extra nautical mile to link coastal communities and cacao.


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