Auro Chocolate - Regalo Single Estate 85% Dark Chocolate Philippine Origin bar - Jan. 8, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

Auro Chocolate

Regalo Single Estate 85% Dark Chocolate Philippine Origin bar
Good + - Good ++
Weight: 2.12 oz. (60 g.) in total bar
Calories: 340 calories in 1 bar
Cost: $8.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order

Welcome to Day #4 of Chocolate and Philippines Theme Week.

Today's Limited Edition Regalo Single Estate 85% Dark Chocolate Philippine Origin bar was produced by Auro Chocolate (Calamba City, Laguna, Philippines) (dba FODC, Inc.).

This two-ingredient* chocolate starred bold, deep dark cocoa/true chocolate and faint sweet brown sugar notes, with supporting players that included: fruit/sugar acidity (dried apple, sweet pink/red grapefruit broiled with brown sugar and imagined cinnamon), slightly fermented chocolate and dried fruit notes. And, in the latter part of the tasting curve, there was a fleeting, faint smoked flavor (smoked dark tea, umami/barbecue) note.

This ultra-dark bar offered a robust and well-executed smoothness. It was a polite, polished and approachable 85% bar.

The Regalo** cacao beans used to make this bar were grown in "the lush, tropical forests of Davao" in the southeastern Philippines. The maker's tasting notes read as follows: "...the Regalo variety has notes of green apple, green tea and pine wood."

*Ingredients: Cacao mass, organic muscovado sugar.  

**The Spanish word "regalo" means gift, present or treat in English.