Sunday, April 4, 2021

Duffy's Chocolate - Nicaragua Juno (Chuno) 70% (bar) - Apr. 4, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

Duffy's Chocolate
Nicaragua Juno (Chuno) 70% (bar)
Good + 
Weight: 1.06 oz. (30 g.) / 2.11 oz. (60 g.) in total bar
Calories: 176 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $9.50 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order

Buenos Dias and welcome to Day #5 of Chocolate and Nicaragua Theme Week.

Today's Duffy's Chocolate Nicaragua Juno (Chuno) 70% (bar) from Red Star Chocolate Ltd (Cleethorpes, England) was made from bean-to-bar using directly traded Xoco* single origin criollo (cacao variety) cocoa beans.

This 70% dark bar had a uniform, sweet dark chocolate aroma and flavor, with a hint of savory (roasted vegetable, potato, nut) and a sweet, faint fruit tartness (red fruit, berry jam). 

Initially, there was a very mild fruit astringency toward the end of the finish. And a moment after the last bite there was a hint of tart, red cherry. The optimal flavor seemed to arrive after the bar was unwrapped for about 15-20 minutes (after three successive bites/tastes). And as I re-tasted this bar, more complexity and faint notes appeared and disappeared (red raspberry jam), and the very faint, roasted veg/potato chip note diminished a bit. 

Duffy's Chocolate maker's notes reads as follows: "A complex mix of fresh hay, mellow red fruit and a roast chestnut aftertaste."

Ingredients: "Cocoa beans, organic cane sugar, cocoa butter and sunflower lecithin"

Allergen-related information: "soya free, gluten free...Vegan-friendly"

*Directly traded cacao implies that cacao beans were purchased directly from a farmer(s), rather than going through a third-party. The implication/hope is that more money goes directly to small family farms and farmers, most of whom are paid very little. 

Xoco, a private company, owns and operates its own farms in Nicaragua and other Central American countries, and offers high-quality, fine flavor cacao beans to makers. The company works with local farmers (partnership contracts with several hundred "out growers") and offers guidance on desired cultivation techniques and fine cacao flavor traits.



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