Tuesday, November 30, 2021

Alter Eco - Raspberry Blackout 85% Cacao Organic Dark Chocolate (bar) - Nov. 29, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

Alter Eco Foods
Raspberry Blackout 85% Cacao Organic Dark Chocolate (bar)
Good + - Good ++
Weight: 1.06 oz. (30 g.) / 2.65 oz. (75 g.) in total bar
Calories: 190 calories in 1 serving (4 sections) of bar
Cost: $ missing information
Purchased from: Grocery Outlet Bargain Market, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #8 of Chocolate and Fruit Theme Week.

Today's Raspberry Blackout 85% Cacao Organic Dark Chocolate (bar) was from Alter Eco Foods (San Francisco, CA).

Alter Eco packaging for this bar included images of cacao trees surrounded by a diverse mix of (taller) banana trees, hardwood timber and shade trees--with a brief explanation of the benefits of regenerative agriculture (vs. industrial agriculture), inter-cropping and shade-grown crops. "Farm like a forest," was the message "to mimic an abundant forest ecosystem." 

Farmers can benefit from planting more than one crop (less reliance on one single crop if something happens), in addition to gaining more shade for themselves and cacao trees. 

Why should chocolate lovers care? Because we want great chocolate to continue to be farmed and available in the face of climate change and other challenges, and "regenerative agriculture creates extraordinary cacao."  So, how did this chocolate taste?

Aroma
I would describe the aroma for this ultra-dark bar as very berry (raspberry jam) in a base of dark and dense, bittersweet earthy cocoa and dark chocolate cake. (Whenever I smell baked goods, I think there is likely some added vanilla. 

This bar contained a judicious amount of vanilla bean. Unlike vanilla extracts, whole vanilla beans can be a mix of aromatic floral, sweet marshmallow, earthy/woody, faint almost boozy sweet rum and maple extracts, cake/cookie, and other flavors. (Like cacao, vanilla beans contain many different flavor compounds.)

Texture 
Smooth, dense and creamy with occasional tiny, firm raspberry seeds.

Flavor 
Bittersweet, deep dark cocoa (often associated with Forastero variety cacao) with micro-bursts of authentic, tart-sweet raspberry pulp and seeds.

This bar will likely be a delight for high-percentage (80% - 100% cacao) chocolate lovers who also enjoy authentic fruit inclusions. There was plenty of rich flavor(s), without much sugar.

Ingredients: Organic cacao beans, organic cocoa butter, organic raw cane sugar, organic dried raspberries, organic vanilla beans. (

Allergen-related information: "May contain milk, hazelnuts, almonds, coconut, and soy. Individuals who are allergic to these should not consume this product."
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