Saturday, January 9, 2021

Auro Chocolate - 77% Dark Chocolate bar - Jan. 9, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

Auro Chocolate
77% Dark Chocolate bar
Good ++
Weight: 1.76 oz. (50 g.) in total bar
Calories: 280 calories in 1 bar
Cost: $7.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order

Welcome to Day #5 of Chocolate and the Philippines Theme Week.

Today's 77% Dark Chocolate Filipino Origin bar was produced by Auro Chocolate (Calamba, Laguna, Philippines). The rapidly growing company was founded in 2015. Auro Chocolate branded offerings include finished bean-to-bar chocolate, single origin (Filipino) bars, as well as chocolate ingredients (cacao beans, cocoa butter) from farming partners in Mindanao.*

This relatively thick, square bar had a smooth, velvety melt and texture. It had true, uniform, bold chocolate flavor with balanced bitterness and acidity, a very faint vanilla note, and a polite finish. This chocolate was a very approachable ultra-dark bar.

Ingredients: Cacao mass, cane sugar, soy lecithin (emulsifier), natural vanilla extract.

*The Republic of the Philippines is made of more than 7,000 islands; however, the island nation is perhaps best known for the largest (and most populous) islands of Luzon (in the north) and Mindanao (in the south). The latter (home to more than 25 million people) is a geologically "younger" mountainous island with fertile, volcanic soils--ideally suited for growing cacao, coffee and many other crops. 

Southern Mindanao (especially the Davao region in SE Mindanao) is known for cacao. Cacao grows best in areas close to the Equator. And Davao City is located at an ideal 7.2 degrees latitude (just north of the Equator). 
 

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.


 

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