Tuesday, July 13, 2021

Cacao Crudo - Raw Organic Criollo 80% Dark chocolate (bar) - July 13, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

Cacao Crudo
Raw Organic Criollo 80% Dark chocolate (bar) 
Good ++ - Good +++
Weight: .88 oz. (25 g.) / 1.76 oz. (50 g.) for 1 bar
Calories: 160 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $ missing information
Purchased from: Rainbow Grocery, San Francisco, CA 

Welcome to Day #4 of Dark Chocolate Theme Week.

Today's Raw Organic Criollo 80% Dark chocolate (bar) was made by Cacao Crudo S.r.l. (Roma, Italia/Rome, Italy).

The aroma and flavor notes for this Taveletta di Cioccolato Fondente Biologico (dark chocolate organic bar) were a mix of intoxicating, naturally sweet (green molasses* if that's possible) and very clear and clean green floral (white flowers: jasmine, magnolia, orchid) and very faint, green fruit notes that lightly lingered into the finish.

This was not your typical ultra-dark (80% or above) bar. It was low in acidity, bitterness and strong fruit. (In a blind tasting I might have guessed this was a 70%-73% cacao chocolate.) 

Speaking of fruit, far from being walloped with prune, pomegranate, orange peel and/or tart red berries--which are delightful in their own right, this chocolate caressed the palette with faint green fruit notes that lay at the opposite (mild) end of the tasting spectrum. Think very faint green kiwi shading into light cucumber blended with mild green table grapes.

Will everyone love this bar? Not necessarily, if you favor bolder, heavier, roasted flavors. But, please do try this bar if you have the opportunity. (It's currently available in specialty stores or online.)

The unique green floral aroma and flavor notes for this bar were made possible by using Criollo cacao that was unroasted--a processing choice that preserves more delicate floral and flavor notes that can be lost during conventional roasting and higher temperature grinding/conching.

The Criollo variety of cacao is prized for its more delicate flavors, which can include soft, complex fruit and cream notes.

Floral chocolate lovers rejoice. You may find yourself virtually transported to a celebration of green, floral chocolate flavors inside an orchid conservatory, or in a tropical jungle filled with green vines and wildflowers.

Ingredients: Organic Criollo cacao powder, organic Criollo cacao butter, organic coconut blossom nectar, organic coconut pulp, organic vanilla.

Allergen-related information: "Gluten Free...May contain traces of hazelnuts and pistachios." 

*The coconut blossom nectar (used as a sweetener instead of cane sugar) also contributed to a gentler (lower on the glycemic index), slightly aromatic sugar experience. Various descriptions of faint flavor notes this sweetener imparts include: brown sugar, caramel--and less frequently: barely there musky (floral), and/or very faint smoke. 

It does not taste like coconut meat or milk, even though the blossoms are clustered at the top of coconut palm trees. Floral sap is collected in small buckets and then made into coconut sugar.

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