Thursday, August 19, 2021

Fjak Sjokolade - 50% Milk Guatemala Licorice Root and Salt bar - Aug. 19, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

Fjak Sjokolade
50% Melk Guatemala Lakrisrot and Salt 
(50% Milk Guatemala Liquorice/Licorice Root and Salt (bar))
Good ++ 
Weight: 1.87 oz. (53 g.) in 1 bar
Calories: 299 calories (estimate) in 1 bar
Cost: $9.50 + summer shipping for 1 bar
Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order

Welcome to Day #4 of Chocolate and Guatemala Theme Week.

Today's 50% Milk Guatemala Liquorice Root and Salt (bar) was made, from bean-to-bar by Fjak Sjokolade (Hangerfjord, Norway). Today's bar was part of the company's Nordic Collection, featuring local natural flavors.

The aroma of this bar had rich milk chocolate with subtle green (herb, grass) and savory (salty) notes. The base (Guatemalan) chocolate was a very good partner for the milk, licorice and salt, even if it was hard to detect what its inherent nature was.

The wonderful, authentic licorice root flavor appeared gradually until it permeated the senses--in a polite and sweet manner, like the arrival of a good friend around a cozy campfire. I could almost imagine myself in Norway. I am grateful for the gift of virtual travel today with this chocolate.

Licorice root can be a bit milder than its anise and fennel cousins; all three have some natural sweetness--and some tasters detect a slight herb-y bitter taste that's difficult to describe. (I like botanicals and sweet roots, so I can't pretend to be entirely objective here.) 

The salt helped complemented the sweetness/sugar.

The texture was rich and creamy with a very slight graininess/astringency.

The finish was pleasant with creamy milk, salt, licorice and sweet chocolate, arm-in-arm, skipping down the road together, until they disappeared over a hill and merged with the glow of a nice, warm sunset.

Note of caution: Like many other well-made dark milk chocolates with bit of salt or a savory inclusion, this bar was addictive. 

Ingredients: "Cocoa beans, cane sugar, milk powder, cocoa butter, liquorice root and North Sea salt."

Allergen-related information: "Processed in a facility that handles nuts, dairy and gluten."

 

La Feverie - Guatemala Asochivite 70% bar - Aug. 18, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

La Feverie 
(Hasnaa Chocolats)
Guatemala Asochivite  70% dark chocolate (bar)
Good ++ - Good +++
Weight: 2 oz. (56.6 g.) in total bar
Calories: 319 calories in 1 bar
Cost: $9.50 + summer shipping for 1 bar
Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order

Welcome to Day #3 of Chocolate and Guatemala Theme Week.

Today's La Faverie Guatemala Asochivite 70% bar was from Hasnaa Chocolats (Bordeaux, France)--the work of "chocolate artisan," Hasnaa Ferreira.

Aroma notes included, in order: short whiff of fresh yeast bread, followed by green/green floral, then a bit of tart lemony green oxalic acid (sorrel, oxalis, sour grass). fruit (goji berry, blackberry, red grape, plum), fleeting and very faint ambrosia (orange, pineapple) salad, and chocolate (brownie, leather).

Tasting the chocolate revealed more sweet, dark "chocolatey" flavor, and bright, tart fruit notes--the kind that are especially amplified with sugar. Also present: a barely there fruit astringency (think sweet persimmon) and a faint, balanced note of dairy cream and light earth toward the end.

This was a bright, fruity dark chocolate with layered complexity. 

The cacao used to handcraft this dark bar was from a remote, mountainous area of Guatemala (near the village of San Juan Chovite) (2017 Harvest), where many Maya farmers still harvest cacao from "wild" trees.

Hasnaa's tasting/flavour profile notes read: "Tangy notes of passion fruit, plum swirls and slightly cappucino finish."

Ingredients: Organic cacao beans and organic cane sugar.

Allergen-related information:  

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