Chocolate of the Day
Tosier Chocolatemaker
PISA Haiti 70% Dark Chocolate (bar)
Good ++ - Good +++
Weight: 1.05 oz. (30 g.) / 2.1 oz. (60 g.) in total bar
Calories: 164.7 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $10.00 (+ summer shipping) for 1 bar
Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order
Welcome to Day #11 of Chocolate and Hispaniola Theme Weeks. The focus: single origin chocolate bars made from cacao grown in the Dominican Republic (last week) and Haiti (this week)--the two nations that occupy the Caribbean island of Hispaniola.
Today's PISA Haiti 70% Dark Chocolate (bar) was from Tosier Chocolatemaker (Gipping Valley, Suffolk, UK).
To create this bar, the makers used cacao from Produits des Iles S.A. (PISA), an organization that works directly with farmers in Haiti. The bar's packaging included information about how the cacao was grown,* and a beautifully illustrated explanation of steps involved on the journey that starts with sourced cocoa beans and culminates in finished chocolate bars.
Aroma
The aroma included: subtle herbal-berry flavored lozenge; diffuse fruit (dark, ripe berries: black raspberry, sweet elderberry, currant pastille); barely there, faint and fleeting tart green (lemon, oxalis, wood sorrel); and background chocolate (chocolate torte with red raspberry jam) notes.
Flavor
This well-tempered bar had a glossy sheen and broke with a satisfying snap. The texture and flavor were both uniform and pleasing with notes of dark chocolate cookie/cake. There were no harsh or off notes in this chocolate.
The natural sweetness of this cacao (including bright red fruit/ripe berry notes) made this 70% bar taste slightly brighter and sweeter than the average 70% dark bar. The fruit complexity also seemed to have some nice potential depth to it. (I'm guessing a slightly darker, 75% cacao version of this bar (with more cacao and less sugar) would be good as well.)
There was a very faint trace of astringency (dryness that you might find in some red wines) in the finish after enjoying a few bites; but it was not off-putting.
Maker's tasting notes: "Complex, with hints of fig, sour cherry and red fruit."
Ingredients: Cocoa beans, organic unrefined cane sugar, ethically sourced cocoa butter
Allergen-related information: "May contain traces of nuts." "Gluten free, dairy free, palm oil free...plant-based product"
*The cacao was intercropped with yam, avocado, citrus and plantains. After the cacao fruit was harvested the batch(es) of wet cacao (cacao seeds (aka beans) with fruit pulp) were "centrally fermented...in wooden boxes for around seven days..." before being "sun-dried and turned at regular intervals" (to ensure even moisture content (and flavor) and to prevent mold). The maker also notes: the cacao was "certified organic at origin."
