Chocolate of the Day
Fresco Artisan Chocolate
Ghana 68% Recipe 260 - Light Roast, Subtle Conche dark chocolate (bar)
Good ++ - Good +++
Weight: .9 oz. (25 g.) / 1.8 oz. (50 g.) in total bar
Calories: 136.5 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $9.00 (+ summer shipping) for 1 bar
Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order
Welcome to Day #6 of Chocolate and Ghana Week.
Today'a Ghana 68% (Recipe 260) Light Roast, Subtle Conche (bar) was made by
Fresco Chocolate (Lynden, WA).
Fresco offers single origin bars with different roast (light to dark) and conche* (subtle to long) profiles that can be tasted side-by-side. There's no better way to learn what you really like, and to better understand what choices support your preferences.
This approach makes it easier for customers to create chocolate flights and tastings--for a group of friends, or just for one. (These bars are created using recipe numbers, that are also included on the labeling.)
The subtle aroma notes for today's 68% Ghana (light roast) bar included (in order of appearance) dark chocolate with subtle tangy, sweet acidic green and fruit (dried persimmon), very faint vegetable (potato bread), faint brown sugar and very faint warm spiced fruit (peaches and pears heated with cinnamon and other spices).
The texture was smooth and relatively buttery.
Flavor notes for this single-ingredient bar included: rich, "warm," sweet dark chocolate, bread and butter, and a sustained current of true chocolate (fudge, dark chocolate torte and frosting). This dark chocolate had a mild fruit acidity (sweet, tart red berry (lingonberry** jam with a hint of sweet persimmon) that lingered/sparkled a bit into the finish. The chocolate was very low in bitterness.
This bar had a relatively subtle aroma, but was filled with bright, full, sweet and true chocolate notes. The light roast and subtle conche likely helped to preserve or highlight some of these bright, light, sweet flavors.
Ingredients: Cocoa beans, cane sugar, cocoa butter
Allergen-related information: "Free from: gluten, dairy, nuts, soy"
*Conching follows the initial grinding of cacao. Fresco describes conching as "heat, motion, aeration and time producing chocolate's final flavor." And "adjusting these variables can produce dramatically different flavors."
**Lingonberries, also known as mountain cranberries and cowberries, are popular in Scandinavia and have a sweet, tart, red berry flavor. Lingonberry jam is generally just a bit mellower (naturally a bit sweeter and less acidic) than our cranberry jam/sauce.