Monday, May 23, 2022

Exquisito Chocolates - Produits Des Iles SA, Haiti 73% bar - May 23, 2022

Chocolate of the Day

Exquisito Chocolates
73% Haiti Organic - Produits Des Iles SA (Haiti) bar
Good + - Good ++
Weight: 1.25 oz. (35 g.) / 2.5 oz. (70 g.) in total bar
Calories: 194 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $9.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Exquisito Chocolates, online order 

Welcome to Day #7 of Chocolate and The Sea Theme Week, involving for the most part chocolates with varying forms of sea salt, and sometimes other marine-related elements.

Today's 73% Haiti Organic Produits Des Iles SA (bar) was from Exquisito Chocolates (Little Havana, Miami, FL). The company offers a range of bars and confections and makes bean-to-bar, and single origin chocolate.

This bar was wrapped in a maritime-themed red paper with navy (boat) anchors. The packaging relates to an origin story that is close to the sea. The cacao was grown on a Caribbean Sea island nation (Haiti) and was made--not that far away by chocolate making standards--in southern Florida, close to the Atlantic Ocean/Biscayne Bay.*

The subtle aroma of this bar was one of dark, sweet chocolate. The melt was even and texture was smooth. The taste was uniform with balanced dark flavor. The cacao used to make this bar was from Produits des Iles SA (PISA), a Haiti food products company that supplies cacao to several specialty chocolate makers.

I ate this bar with a Japanese style (savory) "breakfast" that included a small side dish of roasted almonds, nori (seaweed) and sea salt. I found this savory, sea-related pairing brought out a subtle fruitiness in the dark chocolate that was not noticeable when the dark chocolate was tasted alone. (When tasted alone, the chocolate had a faint earth note, but not bright, diffuse sweet-tart fruit--that arguably was a sweet-salt contrast effect.)

Ingredients: Cacao beans, unrefined cane sugar, cocoa butter

Allergen-related information: (No information listed on package.)

*Arguably, Exquisito Chocolates (Little Havana, Miami, FL) is one of the closest U.S. bean-to-bar chocolate makers to Caribbean cacao growing nations.

Exquisito Chocolates - "Don't Be Salty" 73% Dark Chocolate with Sea Salt (bar) - May 22, 2022

Chocolate of the Day

Exquisito Chocolates
"Don't Be Salty" - 73% Dark Chocolate with Sea Salt (bar)
Good +
Weight: 1.25 oz. (35 g.) / 2.5 oz. (70 g.) in total bar
Calories: 194 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $9.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Exquisito Chocolates, online order 

Welcome to Day #6 of Chocolate and The Sea Theme Week.

Today's "Don't Be Salty" 73% Dark Chocolate with Sea Salt (bar) was from Exquisito Chocolates (Little Havana, Miami, FL). The company offers a range of bars and confections and makes bean-to-bar, and single origin chocolate.

Wrapped in white paper with "cartoon" black mustaches, this chocolate had a fun look. It was made in Miami--an important port city in the southeastern U.S. where the Miami River empties into Biscayne Bay and the Atlantic Ocean.

Today's salt-forward bar had a relatively uniform sweet, dark chocolate aroma with very faint salt caramel notes. A generous sprinkle of sea salt resulted in a fairly salty dark chocolate flavor, that also balanced the sweetness. 

Ingredients: Cacao beans, unrefined cane sugar, cocoa butter, sea salt

Allergen-related information: (No information listed on package.)

Exquisito Chocolates - Sea Salt Caramels - May 21, 2022

Chocolate of the Day

Exquisito Chocolates
Sea Salt Caramels
Good + 
Weight: .975 oz. (27.5 g.) / 3.9 oz. (110 g.) (estimate) in total box of 8 caramels
Calories: 151 calories (estimate) in 2 caramels
Cost: $20.00 for 1 box of 8 caramels
Purchased from: Exquisito Chocolates, online order 

Welcome to Day #5 of Chocolate and The Sea Theme Week.

Today's Sea Salt Caramels were from Exquisito Chocolates (Little Havana, Miami, FL). The company offers a range of bars and confections and makes bean-to-bar, and single origin, "farm to table" chocolates.

I was a bit of a sugar hunter when young. (Less so now.) Trips to the beach included childhood memories of sea salted confections--primarily a wonderful range of salt water taffy flavors, and salt caramels. 

Today's sea salt caramels had an aroma with faint, sweet chocolate and caramel notes.
The caramel filling had a creamy melt and an almost fluffy soft, slightly flowing caramel chew, and very sweet caramel taste. 

The soft, velvety sweet caramel was enrobed in 73% cacao dark chocolate; and this dark chocolate added richness and depth. Tiny crystals of sea salt helped provide balance and contrast to the sweetness.

Ingredients: (Information taken from Exquisito website) "Cacao, unrefined cane sugar, cocoa butter, cream, butter, evaporated milk, glucose." 

Allergen-related information: (Information from Exquisito website) "Contains cow's milk. Processed in a facility that also processes milk, peanuts, tree nuts and wheat."
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