Wednesday, December 1, 2021

Zotter - In-Fusion - Sour Cherry in Cacao Dark Chocolate (bar) - Dec. 1, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

Zotter
In-Fusion - Sour Cherry in Cacao Dark Chocolate (bar)
Good + 
Weight: 1.23 oz. (35 g.) / 2.47 oz. (70 g.) in total bar 
Calories: 200 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $7.99 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Zotterusa.com, online order

Welcome to Day #10 of Chocolate and Fruit Theme Weeks.

Today's Zotter In-Fusion Sour Cherry in Cacao (bar) was made in Austria and distributed by Zotter Chocolates US LLC (Fort Myers, FL). 

This dark chocolate was part of a line of fruit "in-fusion" bars made with fine cacao and flavored with freeze-dried fruits that in many cases mirror naturally occurring fruit notes in cacao--a wonderful concept.

The bar had a very subtle aroma (chocolate, diffuse fruit, french bread); a creamy, even texture; and a smooth chocolately flavor with notes of subtle cherry and fleeting, very faint, earthy fruit.

While nicely executed and well balanced, the added milk to this 70% dark bar may have muted aroma and flavors somewhat. I was expecting stronger cocoa and brighter tart cherry notes until I spotted "dry skim milk" in the ingredients list.

Adding milk to dark chocolate can even out flavors and give them a mellow, homogeneous continuity; however the sharper and stronger notes (for better or for worse) may be neutralized in the process.

Maker's tasting notes: "...intensely chocolatey with a sublime cocoa butter melt and charming sour cherry flavor."

Ingredients: Organic, fair trade cocoa mass; organic, fair trade cane sugar; organic, fair trade cocoa butter; organic dried sour cherries (4%); dry skim milk; organic soy lecithin; organic lemon powder (organic lemon juice concentrate, organic corn starch, organic sugar)

Allergen-related information: "Contains milk, soy."

Chocolate Naive - 61% Dark Milk Chocolate with Golden Berries and Banana (bar) - Nov. 30, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

Chocolate Naive 
61% Dark/Milk Chocolate with Golden Berries and Banana (bar)
Good + - Good ++
Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) / 2 oz. (57 g.) in total bar
Calories: 158 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $10.00 (+ summer shipping) for 1 bar
Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order

Welcome to Day #9 of Chocolate and Fruit Theme Weeks.

Today's 61% Dark Milk Chocolate with Golden Berries* and Banana (bar) was from Chocolate Naive (Vilnius, Lithuania).

Aroma notes for this bar included: chocolate, slightly earthy, aromatic fruit (sweet berry), dairy (yogurt, butter), and faint cake/cookie.

The texture was thick and relatively creamy.

This bar had milk-muted yet complex fruit notes (tart-sweet berry, banana) and rich, creamy dark milk chocolate flavor. Because the fruit inclusions were so well incorporated (organic golden berries were freeze dried and ground into the milk chocolate), it was difficult to pick out individual cacao notes. 

The fresh golden berries I've tasted have a flavor a bit like a very sweet yellow cherry tomato. So, the combination with chocolate--the pairing of the golden berries with a bit of sweet, creamy banana, with the tartness mellowed/diffused a bit with grass-fed milk powder, made sense to me; and the blend worked quite nicely.

This 61% bar was a well-balanced dark milk chocolate bar with creamy sweet-tart fruit and cocoa flavors.

Maker's tasting notes: "Initial sourness followed by a creamy aftertaste. Very pleasant combination with pronounced flavor and long-lasting taste." (Notes: "Dried banana-like, honey-like, citrusy, caramely.") Suggested beverage pairing(s): sparkling wines (demi-sec champagne...slightly sweet prosecco); and still wine(s) "such as a pinot noir, merlot or zinfandel." 

Ingredients: "Specialty cacao*, cane sugar*, pure cacao butter*, grass-fed milk powder*,  golden berries*  (5%), banana* (2%). *wild or all-natural farming"

Allergen-related information: "May contain traces of treenuts, peanuts, wheat."

*Golden berries (Physalis peruviana) are covered in a very thin, green-beige, papery husk. They are part of the nightshade (Solonaceae) family (as are tomatoes, tomatillos, potatoes, eggplant and peppers). The bright yellow fruits, native to South America (Colombia, Ecuador and Peru), are also known as aguaymanto, uchuvas, uvillas ("little grapes"), Inca berries, Aztec berries, Peruvian groundcherries, Poha berries, husk cherries, Pichu berries, and Cape gooseberries. (They are not gooseberries.)

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