Friday, November 4, 2022

Qantu - Reves de Cachemire Goat Milk (bar) - Nov. 4, 2022

Chocolate of the Day

Qantu
Reves de Cachemire (Goat Milk) 55% (bar)
Good ++
Weight: .88 oz. (25 g.) / 1.76 oz. (50 g.) in total bar
Calories: 143 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $11.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order

Welcome to Day #8 of Chocolate and Umami Theme Week. 

Today's Reves de Cachemire (Goat Milk) 55% (bar) was from Qantu Cacao et Chocolat Inc. (Montreal, QC, Canada).

Aroma notes for this 55% goat milk chocolate bar included: dark milk chocolate, caramel,  very faint fruit (pear), and barely detectable goat.

The texture was dense and creamy with a very slight graininess--in a cool, 65 degree F. (18 degrees C.) room.

The flavor had a lightness to it. Notes included: subtle, dark milk chocolate; caramel; very faint and fleeting goat; and mild, diffuse fruit.

This gently complex chocolate was even and smooth, but not dull. The goat notes were very subtle. Some may not notice a very mild gaminess. Others will. The caramel sweetness level was just right--comforting, almost fruit-floral in spirit) but not cloying. The fats in the milk and cocoa butter helped buffer any sharpness or over-sweetness. 

Umami pairing
Qantu's goat milk bar contained a low amount of glutamate (umami indicator); but it inspired a robust, high umami lunch that included a salad with Humboldt Blue goat milk blue cheese (high on the umami scale) and spaghetti squash with tomato sauce, mushrooms and parmesan cheese (pushing the umami scale score even higher). This meal was enjoyed after I sampled today's lovely, dreamy goat milk chocolate. This umami lunch pairing was satisfying and delicious.

I'm glad I ate today's delicate cashmere dream goat milk chocolate first. By eating chocolate for breakfast...or before lunch, I'm better able to still taste cacao nuances. Heavier, spicy foods can overwhelm the taste buds temporarily.

Maker's tasting notes: "Eye: silky light brown; Nose: mild goat milk caramel; Mouth: slightly fruity, reminiscent of pear; Finish: floral as c(h)amomile."

Ingredients: Bagua cocoa beans, cane sugar, goat milk powder, cocoa butter.

Allergen-related information: Contains milk (goat milk). "May contain traces of nuts."




Zotter - Seaweed Caramel Pineapple (bar) - Nov. 3, 2022

Chocolate of the Day

Zotter
Seaweed Caramel Pineapple (bar)
Good + - Good ++
Weight: 1.23 oz. (35 g.) / 2.47 oz. (70 g.) in total bar
Calories: 190 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $4.99 (sale) for 1 bar
Purchased from: Zotter, online order

Welcome to Day #7 of Chocolate and Umami Theme Week. 

Today's Seaweed Caramel Pineapple (bar) was made in Austria and distributed by Zotter Chocolates US LLC (Cape Coral, FL).

Edible seaweeds can be good examples umami flavors. Today was a rare opportunity to taste a chocolate that included seaweed as a flavor inclusion.

Aroma notes for this bar included: cocoa, slightly savory, graham cracker, fresh sweet green, and very faint fleeting sweet fruit (pineapple), and dark chocolate cake.

A thin crispy dark chocolate shell enclosed a soft, substantial, two-layered filling - one layer was ivory colored and one layer was more caramel in color.

Flavor notes were similar to the aroma notes (above) with fleeting sweet, chewy pineapple fruit bits. The flavors and the sweetness level were well balanced and complementary. The dulse* seaweed flakes offered a satisfying, very soft and subtle, umami flavor presence.

Ingredients: Organic cane sugar, organic cocoa mass, organic cocoa butter, organic almonds, organic pineapple concentrate, organic dried pineapples, organic rice syrup, milk, dry skim milk, caramelized dry milk (dry skim milk powder, sugar), butter (cream), organic dulse seaweed flakes, organic lemon juice concentrate, dry whole milk, organic soy lecithin, organic dark brown cane sugar, salt, dry sweet whey, organic lemon powder (organic lemon juice concentrate, organic corn starch, organic sugar), organic vanilla bean powder, organic rose petals, organic cinnamon.

Allergen-related information: "Contains: Almonds, milk, soy." "Manufactured on equipment that processes other tree nuts, peanuts, eggs and sesame."

*Dulse (Palmaria palmata) is an edible (red algae) seaweed (think red sea lettuce) that grows on the northern coasts of the Pacific and the Atlantic Oceans. 


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