Dr. Bronner's
Magic All-One Chocolate
Cool Peppermint Cream Dark Chocolate 70% Cocoa (bar)
Good ++ - Good +++
Weight: 1.93 oz. (54.78 g.) / 2.93 oz. (83 g.) in total bar
Calories: 340 calories (per label) in 2/3 bar
Cost: $ N/A - company supplied and sent samples
Purchased from: N/A - company supplied samples
Welcome to Day #2 of Chocolate and Botanicals Theme Week.
Today's Magic All-One Chocolate - Cool Peppermint Cream Dark Chocolate 70% Cocoa (bar) was made in Switzerland and distributed by Dr. Bronner's (Vista, CA).
Dr. Bronner's is a U.S.-based, family-owned company ("family soapmakers since 1858"), best known for their organic soaps, that (full disclosure) I have used at home for many years. One of their most historically popular soap scents was peppermint.
In 2021 the company introduced a line of six Organic, fair trade (fair for life) certified chocolate bars, with an emphasis on regenerative farming and ethical supply chains. (Cocoa is from Ghana and the Ivory Coast.)*
But, there was no mint, specifically peppermint, flavor in the initial Dr. Bronner's 2021 Magic All-One Chocolate line-up. This fall (2022), an eagerly anticipated Peppermint bar has become available; and it was worth the wait.
Peppermint Cream Dark Chocolate 70%
Aroma notes for this organic, gluten-free bar included: a harmonious blend of rich, chocolate (fudge brownie, very faint lemon herb (oxalis)), very faint coconut and maple (tree sap), and menthol (peppermint).
The aroma immediately put me at ease that this was not going to be an overly sweet chocolate bar with a blast of amped up, sugary mint flavoring. Nor was the relatively bold 70% chocolate going to be overly sharp/bitter. And these first impressions were all true.
The smooth, but relatively flavorful dark chocolate (made with what tasted like a milder, well-balanced Forastero variety of cacao) held a natural caramel-colored filling that was judiciously sweetened (with organic coconut sugar). And, it was infused with the perfect amount of authentic peppermint--enough to impart a little warmth and authentic botanical mint glow-- without the after-dinner-mint or mint toothpaste-level of sweetness.
The gentler, harmonic flavor complexity showed what more subtle, authentic mint can offer. And the judicious use of the less buzzy (lower glycemic) coconut palm sugar reminded me why I've used Dr. Bronner's soaps all these years. They offer all of what I do want, and none of what I don't want or need. (Thank you!)
Ingredients: Fair trade organic cocoa beans, fair trade organic coconut sugar, fair trade organic cocoa butter, organic sunflower oil, organic peppermint oil, fair trade organic bourbon vanilla bean.
Allergen-related information: "Made on equipment that processes almonds, hazelnuts, milk, coconut and soy."
*The company's work with cocoa farmers in West Africa was a natural extension of work already underway with sustainably harvested palm oil (used in soaps). The current Bronner management team also continues in honoring their grandfather's (founder Emanuel Bronner's) philosophy--bits of which are printed on Dr. Bronner soap and chocolate labels.
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