Tuesday, July 20, 2021

Not Your Sugar Mamas (NYSM) - Almond Crunch Organic Dark Chocolate 75% raw (bar) - July 20, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

Not Your Sugar Mamas - NYSM
Almond Crunch Organic Dark Chocolate 75% raw cacao bar
Good + 
Weight: 2.2 oz. (62 g.) in total bar
Calories: 380 calories in 1 bar
Cost: $7.59 (estimate) for 1 bar
Purchased from: Country Sun Natural Foods, Palo Alto, CA

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

Today's Pure and Simple Organic Dark Chocolate (bar) was from Not Your Sugar Mama's (NYSM) (Vineyard Haven, MA). 

The company produces chocolates made with less processed ingredients (e.g. raw cacao, less processed sugars/no refined sugar, no emulsifiers). Founder, chef, mother and food entrepreneur, Kyleen Keenan (see also eathappyist.com), is currently focused on plant-based chocolates and cheeses.

Today's organic Almond Crunch bar made with raw cacao had a quiet, natural taste. It was more mild, less wild than most other 75% dark chocolate bars.

Aroma notes included a hint of warm sugar (maple), sweet and clean dark chocolate, gentle fruit (very faint ripe, mild red plum), implied warm spice (not quite cinnamon, probably from the maple), and faint coconut and light green and nut notes.

This Almond Crunch chocolate had a smooth, almost creamy texture with a progressively, slightly rapid melt--while still maintaining a well-tempered, firmness. The almonds and coconut pieces added crunchy and chewy texture and mild (unroasted) flavors.

The raw cacao base offered even, very mild dark chocolate flavor with hot chocolate, very faint, fleeting earth notes and a clean finish. A barely there lemon/tart green herb (sorrel, oxalis, sour grass) note detected in the aroma was all but gone but for a very faint flicker of green (fruit) astringency.

Maple sugar contributed a natural sweetness--and some of the subtle aroma notes mentioned above. And the overall taste wasn't too sweet. (Thank you. I do not miss the sugar buzz.)

A very faint trace of Himalayan sea salt (I didn't even taste it) balanced out the sweet with a barely detectable touch of savory.

Ingredients: Organic raw cacao, organic maple sugar, Himalayan sea salt, organic vanilla bean.

Allergen-related information: "Vegan + Paleo;" No soy, gluten or dairy; and "Processed in a facility that uses tree nuts: almonds and cashews." 

Cacao Crudo - Mandorlato Almondy Nougat Aux Amandes - July 19, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

Cacao Crudo
Mandorlato Almondy Nougat Aux Amandes 
Good ++ 
Weight: 1.76 oz. (50 g.) / 7.06 oz. (200 g.) in total bar
Calories: 319 calories in 1/4 bar 
Cost: $ N/A - free sample
Purchased from: N/A - free sample 

Welcome to Day #1 of Chocolate and Almonds Theme Week. 

Today's vegan, gluten-free Mandorlato Almondy Nougat Aux Amandes was from Cacao Crudo (Palestrina, Roma, Italia).

The 64% bar was made with fine, unroasted Criollo cacao, resulting in a subtle chocolate aroma and flavor with soft, clean, green notes. 

The easy-to-slice, smooth chocolate (large nougat style bar) was full of fresh, crunchy almonds in almost every bite. The generous serving of almonds also may cause slices of this bar to gently fracture when you pick up a slice to eat it. (I ate my slices on (and over) a small plate, so as not to lose any of the goodness.) 

Almond paste was the number one ingredient (36%) and gave this nougat bar an extra "almondy" flavor (faint almond extract note) that complemented--and did not overpower--the mild Criollo cacao flavor. (Even the cacao butter was made with Criollo variety cacao beans.)

Unlike most sugary "nougat" confection bars, this subtle, nutty bar was not too sweet. (Thank you!) This might have been my favorite thing about this bar. The coconut flower sap used to sweeten the bar was understated and left me without the hard sugar buzz I feel with conventional confections.

The chocolate had a very light/gentle, clean finish and was almost without any bitterness or acidity.

Ingredients: "Organic (not roasted) almonds paste (36%), organic (not roasted) almonds, organic not roasted cacao Criollo beans paste, organic concentrated coconut flower sap, organic cacao Criollo butter from not roasted beans.

Allergen-related information: Contains almonds. "May contain hazelnuts and walnuts."

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