Sunday, December 5, 2021

Raaka - French Apple Tart - unroasted dark chocolate (bar) - Dec. 5, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

Raaka Chocolate
French Apple Tart unroasted dark chocolate 67% cacao (bar)
Good +
Weight: .9 oz. (25.4 g.) / 1.8 oz. (50.9 g.) in total bar
Calories: 140 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $8.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Raaka.com, online order

Welcome to Day #14 of Chocolate and Fruits Theme Weeks.

Today's French Apple Tart unroasted dark chocolate 67% cacao (bar) was from Raaka Chocolate (Brooklyn, NY). 

The company offers a wide variety of bars made with cacao that is not roasted--a choice made to capture "the brighter, bolder, and fruitier side of cacao."

Aroma notes included bittersweet dark chocolate and diffuse fruit. The (unroasted) cacao used to make this dark bar was from Kokoa Kamili (cacao producers in Tanzania) and was relatively smooth in aroma, texture and flavor.

Flavor notes included subtle, tart fruit (apple and stone fruit (cherry) tart/pie) with floral (vanilla) and very faint (possibly implied) spice--all melded with dark chocolate that lingered a bit in the finish. It was easy to imagine sitting outside a cafe in Paris on a sunny autumn day, enjoying a luscious bit of tart apple fruit pastry--with flaky crust edges rimmed in dark chocolate.

The 67% chocolate had rich dark flavor (smooth, and not too sweet); and overall bar had a balanced, but relatively high (fruit) acidity, and low-medium (and quite smooth) bitterness.

Maker's tasting notes: "Tarte aux pommes gets a chocolatey twist in this tart, apple and apricot infused Tanzanian dark chocolate. A dash of star anise and vanilla bean nod to apple brandy."

Ingredients: Organic cacao, organic cacao butter, organic cane sugar, organic green apple, organic apricot, organic star anise, organic vanilla 

Allergen-related information: "vegan, gluten free, soy free, nut free"

 

Oodaalolly - Lina's Langka Milk Chocolate (bar) - Dec. 4, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

Oodaalolly, LLC
Lina's Langka Milk Chocolate (bar)
Good +
Weight: .88 oz. (25 g.) in total bar
Calories: 136 calories (estimate) in 1 bar
Cost: $5.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Oadaalolly, online order 

Welcome to Day #13 of Chocolate and Fruit Theme Week.

Today's Lina's Langka* Milk Chocolate (bar) was from Oodaalolly, LLC (El Cerrito, CA). 

The focus for chocolate maker and founder Hernan Lauber (and new business partner/maker Jeremy Burnich) has been on producing bean to bar chocolates made with cacao (and flavor inclusions) from the Philippines.

Aroma notes for today's jackfruit milk chocolate bar included: sweet milk chocolate (caramel), and fruit (bright, sweet mango fruit and cacao fruit pulp).

Flavor notes for this bar included milk chocolate (cream caramel, light butterscotch, faint brown sugar); tropical fruit (light pineapple, faint mango, very light citrus); and a very faint fleeting mint/pine note.

This was a sweet chocolate, but not cloying. The raw cane sugar and jackfruit added natural sweetness and flavor depth. Thank you to the maker for the opportunity to enjoy a skillfully executed and rare blend of jackfruit and chocolate.

Maker's notes: "A well-balanced and unusual flavor profile of pineapple, banana, and peanuts with minimal sweetness." (At the request of chocolate maker (Jeremy's) "mother-in-law, Lina, who loves langka, we combined it with non-traditional low-sugar milk chocolate.")

Ingredients: Cacao, cocoa butter, whole milk powder, raw cane sugar, jackfruit.

Allergen-related information: Contains milk 

*"In the Philippines, jackfruit is known as langka in Tagalog and nangku in Cebuanu." Jackfruit has a relatively strong smell and taste, and is often likened to pineapple. 



 

Zotter - In-Fusion Blackcurrant in Cacao (bar) - Dec. 3, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

Zotter
In-Fusion - Blackcurrant 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 #12 of Chocolate and Fruit Theme Weeks.

Today's Zotter In-Fusion Blackcurrant 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 subtle aroma with chocolate, diffuse fruit (dark sweet berry), bread and butter, and clean mineral notes.

Flavors included fruity, robust yet smooth, dark chocolate, with authentic dark berry and blackcurrant (pastille, fruit juice), and very faint, fleeting earthy fruit and black raspberry yogurt notes. A balanced, tangy black currant tartness lingered at the end and contrasted with a subtle, slightly earthy dark chocolate in the finish.

While nicely executed and well balanced, the milk powder added to this 70% dark chocolate muted what might have been bolder aroma and flavors.

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: "...Created, bean to bar, using fine flavor cacao and freeze-dried blackcurrants. A dark chocolate with a refreshing blackcurrant flavor--a sophisticated and very berry indulgence..."

Ingredients: Organic, fair trade cocoa mass; organic, fair trade cane sugar; organic, fair trade cocoa butter; organic dried blackcurrants (4%); dry skim milk; organic soy lecithin.

Allergen-related information: "Contains milk, soy." "Manufactured on equipment that processes tree nuts, peanuts and sesame."

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