Chocolate of the Day
Qantu
Bagua, 70% - Amazonas, Peru (bar)
Good ++ - Good +++
Weight: .88 oz. (25 g.) / 1.76 oz. (50 g.) in total bar
Calories: 143 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $10.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order
Welcome to Day #10 of Chocolate and Peru Theme Week.
Today's Bagua, 70% Amazonas, Peru dark chocolate (bar) was from Qantu Cacao et Chocolat Inc. (Montreal, QC, Canada).
Aroma notes for this dark chocolate bar included: warm diffuse chocolate, cream and faint caramel (there was no milk in this three-ingredient bar), fruit, spice, nuts and very faint lemon blossom.
Flavor notes were similar albeit a bit richer with true chocolate (dark chocolate torte), gentle fruit (faint red fruit, ripe melon, ripe blackberry, and a very brief flicker of sweet watermelon candy), diffuse warm spice, and nut brittle. A barely detectable, balanced earth note in the background (behind the cream/butter notes) helped ground this naturally sweet, softly complex chocolate.
The well-executed 70% dark bar broke with a hard snap (in a 65 degree F (cool) room) and had a smooth, satisfying melt and texture. This polite, sophisticated dark chocolate--made with (what tasted like fine heritage Criollo-like) Peruvian Bagua, Amazonas* cacao--was enjoyable to taste and easy to like from aroma to clean finish. Do savor this bar slowly to appreciate the subtle aroma and flavor(s).
Maker's tasting notes: "caramel/toffee and orange blossom"
Ingredients: Cocoa beans, cane sugar, cocoa butter
Allergen-related information: "May contain traces of milk and nuts"
*Bagua is a province in the Peruvian Amazon/Amazonas region. The word "Bagua" comes from the native Quechua language and the translation (into English that I found online) was close to "unity and hospitality." The Bagua cacao used to make this bar from this has been described as having Criollo-like qualities. I agree with this description. The gentle cream, fruit and other notes in this Qantu Bagua bar were very much what I would associate with the best of Criollo cacao varieties (and chocolates).
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