Raaka Chocolate
Ginger Snap Unroasted Dark Chocolate 70% Cacao (bar)
Good + - Good ++
Weight: .88 oz. (25 g.) / 1.8 oz. (50.9 g.) in total bar
Calories: 117 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $5.00 (sale) for 1 bar
Purchased from: Raaka Chocolate, online order
Welcome to Day #2 of Chocolate and Tanzania Theme Week.
Today's Organic Ginger Snap Unroasted Dark Chocolate 70% Cacao (bar) was from Raaka Chocolate (Brooklyn, NY).
Raaka makers craft their line of chocolate bars and offerings using unroasted cacao that "captures the brighter, bolder, and fruitier side of cacao."
Kokoa Kamili
The Tanzania cacao used to make today's spice-infused bar was from Kokoa Kamili (located in the Kilombero Valley)--a several hour drive from Tanzania's largest city, Dar es Salaam on the East Coast of Africa on the Indian Ocean. This important post-harvest processing facility purchases freshly harvested ("wet") cacao from many small farmers and ultimately sells to many smaller batch chocolate makers like Raaka around the globe, after they carefully ferment and dry the cacao. (The cacao variety they offer is: primarily Trinitario variety (Amelonado x Criollo) "with the slight presence of Neo-Nacional.")
Ginger Snap bar
The Raaka description for this bar: "Ginger-steamed Tanzanian cacao mixed with winter spice-infused cacao butter and decorated with sparkling brown sugar. The perfect companion for holiday spirits." This may have been designed to be a holiday bar enjoyed in the cold weather months; but it's August here in California, and this chocolate was just as delicious in summer.
Aroma notes for this "Limited Batch" bar included: faint ginger molasses cookie, chocolate, sweet potato pie, diffuse red fruit (berry, apple), spice (light star anise and warm baking spices) and green floral (mallow) notes.
Texturally speaking, the smooth dark chocolate base was accented with crunchy sparkles of brown sugar.
The relatively mild unroasted cacao may have lacked that bolder, "roastier" flavor notes of traditional roasted cacao based chocolates, but it made up for that with smooth dark chocolate flavor with natural sweetness and bright subtle mixed fruit and floral notes--i.e. the presence of flavors that may have been attenuated during a roasting process.
This Ginger Snap bar was not overly sweet (thank you!). The gentle blend of warm spices (ginger, cinnamon, allspice and nutmeg) added natural sweetness and flavor depth, as did the maple sugar.
Ingredients: Organic cacao beans, organic maple sugar, organic cane sugar, organic cacao butter, organic light brown sugar, organic ginger, organic cinnamon, organic allspice, organic nutmeg.
Allergen-related information: Vegan, gluten free, soy free, nut free. "Certified Organic and Kosher by NFC."
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