Chocolate of the Day
White Label Chocolate
India Anamalai 74% (bar)
Good ++
Weight: 1.15 oz. (32.5 g.) / 2.3 oz. (65 g.) in total bar
Calories: 189 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $13.00 (guesstimate) for 1 bar
Purchased from: Mutari Chocolate, Santa Cruz, CA
Welcome to Day #5 of Chocolate and India Theme Week.
Today's India Anamalai 74% (bar) was from White Label Chocolate (Santa Cruz, CA).
Aroma observations included: bold, acidic fruit (plums, red fruit, dates), chocolate-y, and nutty/nuts.
This well-tempered broke with a snap, and it had a smooth texture with buttery melt and flavor. There was, initially, a very slight fruit astringency toward the finish--a throat tickle that disappeared with subsequent bites.
Flavor notes overlapped closely with the (above) aroma and texture descriptions. The base (single farm, Anamalai, Tamil Nadu, India* cacao) chocolate was relatively bold and full with a notable, balanced red fruit-acidity (think red wine grapes and faint tart cherry notes in a fine red wine), tempered by a faint buttery quality/taste, and faint, fleeting nutty and tart green notes.
Also present was a barely there, natural, caramel warm spice sweetness (ginger cookie, brown sugar). The maker's choice to bump up the cacao percentage in this bar from 70%, to 74% cacao (i.e. more cacao, less sugar) seemed wise. A 70% cacao version might have seemed too sweet for some dark fans. The choice to add cocoa butter may have muted some of the stronger notes, making it more palatable for those who prefer less intense flavor(s).
The end result was a satisfying, flavorful and balanced, bold dark chocolate.
Ingredients: Cacao beans, organic sugar, organic cocoa butter
Allergen-related information: (No information found on packaging.)
*Maker's notes included a cornucopia of information about the (Forastero and Criollo) cacao used to craft today's bar. Like the previous two 70% Anamalai Estate bars this week, the cacao was grown in the Anamalai hills (aka Elephant Mountains) of southern India. However, this expansive hilly range spans two Indian states. The cacao in today's bar was from a farm in Tamil Nadu (rather than Kerala).
No comments:
Post a Comment