Wednesday, May 12, 2021

Belvie Chocolate - Black Pearl of the Mekong Dark Chocolate 85% Cacao (bar) - May 12, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

Belvie Chocolate Maker
Black Pearl of the Mekong Dark Chocolate 85% Cacao (bar)
Good + - Good ++
Weight: 1.41 oz. (40 g.) / 2.82 oz. (80 g.) in total bar
Calories: 288 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $10.00 (+ shipping) for 1 bar
Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order

Welcome to Day #2 of Chocolate and Vietnam Theme Week.

Today's Black Pearl of the Mekong Single Terroir Dark Chocolate (Chocolat Noir) 85% Cacao Limited Edition (bar) was made in Vietnam by Belvie Chocolate Maker (Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam). 

Belvie Chocolate founders, Jannie Ha Tran and Marc Vanborren, produce a variety of small batch, craft chocolate bars using (Trinitario variety) fine cacao from different growing regions in Vietnam, including today's 85% cacao chocolate.

The initial aroma of today's bar had a very faint savory (baked potato) note, in addition to a diffuse fruit sweetness and spice/herb notes. (After a few minutes the faint savory/vegetable note seemed to disappear.)

It was great to try this limited edition darker than usual bar from Belvie. The chocolate had an overall bold dark cocoa flavor; however, it also had a mild, friendly, natural fruit (almost marshmallow) sweetness for an 85% cacao ultra-dark bar. The flavor also included soft undulations of balanced, loamy earthiness.

The texture was smooth, with an initial very faint and balanced astringency (slight back of the throat tickle) after the first bite.

Ingredients: "Cacao 85%. Cane sugar 15%"

Allergen-related information: "Gluten free; Dairy free; May contain traces of nut"

 

Belvie Chocolate - Lam Dong Single Origin 70% Dark Chocolate (bar) - May 11, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

Belvie Chocolate Maker
Lam Dong Single Origin Dark Chocolate 70% Cacao (bar)
Good +
Weight: 2.12 oz. (60 g.) / 2.82 oz. (80 g.) in total bar
Calories: 337.8 calories in 3/4 bar
Cost: $8.50 (+ shipping) for 1 bar
Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order

Chao mung (Welcome) to Day #1 of Chocolate and Vietnam Theme Week.

Today's Lam Dong* Single Origin, Dark Chocolate 70% Cacao (bar) was made in Vietnam by Belvie Chocolate Maker (Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam). Belvie offers a variety of chocolate bars made from cacao grown in southern Vietnam, including some with Vietnam-inspired flavor additions.

The aroma of today's bar was hard to pin down but it had fruit, herby-spice (liquorice, faint star anise), and warm, mineral earth/clay/adobe notes.

This 70% bar offered an enjoyably complex and interesting flavor ride, with warm spice (Five Spice blend); generic fruit sweetness/acidity; very faint, brief light vegetable (light savory: cucumber + potato); cocoa--followed by a longer stretch with upticks of coffee, bright fruit spikes (predominantly red raspberry, but also nectarine, kiwi) and earth. 

For those who enjoy experiencing layered flavors and parfait desserts, this chocolate would be a unique addition to a chocolate tasting platter. 

Belvie chocolate maker's notes: "...Chocolate made of beans from Lam Dong has a fruity quality, but here the top notes are kiwi, raspberry and (l)iquorices (sic) aroma and an intense chocolate flavor that lingers on the palette."

Ingredients: "Cacao and cacao butter 70%; cane sugar 30%"

Allergen-related information: "Gluten free; Dairy free; May contain traces of nut."

*Lam Dong is a "Highlands region, mountainous province with temperate and mild climate all the year long."

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