Auro Chocolate
Don Papa Rum 70% Dark Chocolate (bar)
Good ++ - Good +++
Weight: 1.06 oz. (30 g.) / 2.12 oz. (60 g.) in total bar
Calories: 163.5 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $12.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order
Welcome to Day #9 of Chocolate and Spirits Theme Week--a series featuring both holiday spirits and distilled/fermented spirit-infused chocolates. This was the first of two chocolates enjoyed today. (See next post for The Apres Chocolate Sparkling White Wine-infused 70% bar with raspberries from Ritual Chocolate.)
And, you may have noticed it's Day #9 of this week...Fueled by the spirit of abundance (and a little theobromine*), theme weeks on Chocolate Banquet often extend beyond the conventional 7-day week.
Don Papa Rum 70% Dark Chocolate
Today's Don Papa Rum-infused 70% Dark Chocolate (bar) was created ("from tree to bar") by Auro Chocolate (Calamba City, Laguna, Philippines) in collaboration with Bleeding Heart Rum Company.
This small batch (limited edition) dark chocolate with spirits was well-crafted (well-tempered (broke with a nice hard snap) and nicely balanced). It offered sophisticated subtle flavor--from just four high-quality ingredients including cacao beans from Saloy Estate, Davao (Philippines), and a (Filipino) premium aged, single-island rum.
Aroma and flavor notes included a simple, elegant combination of sweet, dark chocolate with traces of a warm, golden** aura (the rum). Very faint background aroma notes also included: tart green lemon herb (oxalis), implied warm spice.
The rum added subtle warmth and flavor depth. It had a very pleasant lingering middle and finish. This professionally-executed chocolate (with no off-notes) was sweet and smooth, but certainly not boring.
Ingredients: Cacao mass, cane sugar, cacao butter, rum
Allergen-related information: "This product is manufactured in a facility that processes other products which may contain milk, soy, tree nuts, and peanuts."
*Theobromine is a naturally-occurring, plant-produced alkaloid that acts like a stimulant in humans and other animals.
Like caffeine (also a plant alkaloid and stimulant)--that is also present in smaller amounts in cacao/chocolate--theobromine is processed and tolerated differently, depending on the individual.
Personally I am more sensitive to caffeine than most, but am not affected as much by theobromine. (Others may experience the opposite effect.)
So I can eat all the chocolate I want (wheeee!). Not true. There is still sugar in chocolates to consider. After eating more than 2-3 ounces of dark chocolate at one sitting...it's just not as much fun. I start to experience diminishing returns after about 2 oz. of 70% dark chocolate.
Caution: if you dabble in truly great chocolate(s), especially more than 1 kind/bar a day (like today)...the recommended theobromine levels may be exceeded. And you run the risk of becoming a chocolate-fueled chatterbox. (Proven fact: Good chocolate + higher amount of chocolate = longer posts and digressions/footnotes here on Chocolate Banquet.)
** Auro Chocolate's name in the Philippines: doing business as (dba) Filipinas Oro de Cacao, Inc....Loosely translated, golden cacao of the Philippines.
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