Disidente, Colombian Craft Chocolate - Nibs (bar) - Sept. 2, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

(Cacao) Disidente 
Colombian Cacao Taxonomy (Manufactured by El Colaboratorio)
Nibs dark chocolate (bar)
Good + - Good ++
Weight: 1.41 oz. (40 g.) in total bar
Calories: 191 calories in 1 bar
Cost: $6.50 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order

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

Today's Disidente Nibs Colombian craft chocolate (bar) was manufactured by El Colaboratorio (Bogota, Colombia). 

(Cacao) Disidente creates bean-to-bar chocolates that celebrate the agricultural biodiversity of Colombia. They use Colombian-grown cacao(s)--sourced from cacao co-operatives and organizations/fermenteries in different regions of Colombia. 

Aroma notes for this Nibs bar (in order of appearance) included: faint fruit (berry, apple), herbal citrus (tart lemony green, found in sorrel, sour grass, oxalis*), dark chocolate cookie, and maple/brown sugar. 

Cacao nibs (pieces of cacao seed or bean) added a soft crunchy element and this bar a boost of authentic cacao flavor (unsweetened, true chocolate with brownie, nutty, mild earth, faint green and leather notes). All this flavor in a bar made using just three ingredients: cacao beans, sugar and cocoa butter. This chocolate and nibs blend offered true chocolate notes that lingered into the finish.

Ingredients: "Cocoa beans, organic cane sugar, cocoa butter."

Allergen-related information: (No information listed on label.)

*Oxalic acid is a naturally occurring compound found in many plants, including greens (notably: spinach, rhubarb and beet greens), cacao (and other seeds), and nuts. Edible forms of wood sorrels,"sour grass" and other forms of oxalis have a tart, almost lemony green flavor--similar to what can be detected in some dark chocolates.

  

Disidente, Colombian Craft Chocolate - Maranot (bar) - Sept. 1, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

(Cacao) Disidente 
Colombian Cacao Taxonomy (Manufactured by El Colaboratorio)
Maranot (cashew) (bar)
Good ++
Weight: 1.41 oz. (40 g.) in total bar
Calories: 206 calories in 1 bar
Cost: $5.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order

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

Today's Disidente Maranot* (Cashew) (bar) was manufactured by El Colaboratorio in Bogota, Colombia. 

(Cacao) Disidente creates bean-to-bar, craft chocolate(s) that celebrate the agricultural biodiversity of Colombia. They use Colombian-grown cacao(s)--sourced from cacao co-operatives and organizations/fermenteries in different regions of Colombia. Many bars also contain fruit and/or nut flavor inclusions. 

My favorite quote on the company's website read:

"The best certification is taste. It means that behind, there are people working together, there are relationships, there is collaboration and respect for the environment." 

This Disidente "Maranot" (cashew) bar offered a great bouquet of of scents. Aroma notes (in order of appearance) included: fruity (apple jelly mixed with fig and red berry jam), nutty (peanuts** and cashews), fresh cut flowers (faint marigold, poppy, dressed with sweet greens) and chocolate (brownie, dark chocolate cookie with lightly smoked sea salt, and a barely there whisp of faint leather). 

The texture was incredibly buttery, with a luxurious melt and velvety ganache-like mouthfeel. (It really felt like eating light, freshly churned butter.)

The flavor was relatively mild and a bit more uniform than the aroma--conveying the essence of cashew and cacao in hushed, creamy tones. Faint, fleeting muffled notes of cream/milk/yogurt and light earth came and went.

U.S. distributor, Bar and Cocoa, offered this description: "If the great master chocolatiers of the old world had the idea of combining chocolate and hazelnut to conceive the famous Gianduja, Disidente has developed their own tropical version that brings together cocoa and cashew from the Orinoquia in a harmonious creation."

Ingredients: "Cashews, cacao beans, organic cane sugar"

Allergen-related information: "May contain traces of milk or nuts."

 **While searching for the origin of the bar's name "Marinot" (which I did not find), I did enjoy reading about the different meanings of the word maranon. 

The Spanish word for cashew is maranon--a word that can also refer to the poppy/paprika red color of the cashew "fruit/apple" from which the nut hangs. 

On a related note, one of the most significant rivers (Amazon tributaries) in South America is the Maranon River. The Maranon River joins the Uyacali River to form the Amazon that continues its journey east through Brazil and toward the Atlantic Ocean.

And it is a name associated with a variety of cacao in Peru (including the Maranon River Valley) and surrounding areas. 

**Note: There were no peanut ingredients in this bar.