Chocolate of the Day
Manufaktura Czekolady
(Chocolate Story)
Dominican Republic 70% cocoa + cranberries (bar)
Good ++
Weight: 1.94 oz. (55 g.) in total bar
Calories: 316.25 calories in 1 bar
Cost: $8.50 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order
Welcome to Day #8 of Chocolate and Hispaniola Theme Weeks, with a focus in the first week on cacao from the Dominican Republic.
Today's Dominican Republic 70% cocoa + dried cranberries (bar) was from Manufaktura Czekolady aka Chocolate Story (Lomianki, Poland).
This dark bar had an aroma with slightly tart-sweet dried fruit (Concord grape/raisin, cranberry) in a sea of true chocolate (brownie) notes.
The base 70% cacao chocolate was thick, soft and fairy creamy. Soft chewy dried cranberries added texture and sweet-tart flavor that complemented the chocolate nicely.
During the tasting, the chocolate (rich brownie) notes were more pronounced (than in the aroma). The chocolate was well-rounded with barely there nut and fruit notes--the latter was amplified a bit by the dried cranberries.
The finish was fairly clean with a faint lingering red berry (strawberry, cranberry) note.
Hats off to the bean-to-bar makers (Krzysiek Stypulkowski and Tomek Sienkiewicz) who produced this complementary melding of fine cacao flavors and the tart-sweet cranberries.
I enjoy cranberry and orange together and it seemed there might have been a trace of citrus (very faint sweet orange?) in the cacao that created a nice pairing. Faint nut and/or savory or earth notes would also have helped create what felt/tasted like a well-rounded blend.
It's more difficult to detect the underlying cacao notes when there is a flavor inclusion (fruit, nut, spice or other) item added to chocolate; but I can guess what might be there.
Ingredients: Roasted cocoa beans from Dominican Republic (70%), sugar, dried cranberry 9% (cranberry, cane sugar, sunflower oil). Chocolate: cocoa solids 70% min.
Allergen-related information: "May contain milk, nuts."
