Nature To Go - Dark Chocolate Brazil Nuts - Nov. 7, 2022

Chocolate of the Day

Nature To Go

Dark Chocolate Brazil Nuts 

Good ++

Weight: 1 oz. (28 g.) / 16 oz. (454 g.) in total package

Calories: 160 calories in 1 (1 oz.) serving

Cost: $8.99 for 1 package

Purchased from: Grocery Outlet Bargain Market, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #2 of Chocolate and Brazil Theme Week.

Today's Nature To Go Dark Chocolate Brazil Nuts were distributed by Food Castle Inc. (Vernon, CA).

Aroma notes for this chocolate-covered nuts included: tasty, dark chocolate fudge sauce, very faint spirits (whiskey, dark rum), and faint (imagined) vanilla. (These did not contain spirits or vanilla.)

Each piece contained a crunchy, large, nutty (whole Brazil nut) center, with faint, fleeting earth notes, and was surrounded by satisfying, authentic-tasting, quality dark chocolate.

Brazil nuts grow on tall trees in the Amazon rainforest in Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador--in some of the same regions as cacao. (They're also grown in similar climate zones in Africa and elsewhere.)

Ingredients: Dark chocolate (sugar, unsweetened chocolate, palm kernel oil, cocoa powder (processed with alkali), whole milk powder, butter fat, soy lecithin as an emulsifier, salt, and natural flavor), roasted Brazil nuts (Brazil nuts and salt).

Allergen-related information: "Contains: milk, soy, brazil nuts" "Manufactured in a facility that also processes: milk, peanuts, soy, tree nuts."

Crow and Moss - Passion Fruit Sesame Chocolate 68% (bar) - Nov. 6, 2022

Chocolate of the Day

Crow and Moss
Passion Fruit Sesame Chocolate 68% (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: $9.25 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order

Welcome to Day #10 of Chocolate and Umami Theme Week, and Day #1 of Chocolate and Brazil Theme Week.

Today's Passion Fruit Sesame Chocolate 68% (bar) was from Crow and Moss (Petoskey, MI). The company creates bean-to-bar, small batch chocolate in Michigan. 

The sesame seeds in this bar--and in (white and black) sesame crackers with blue and cream cheese--provided umami flavor. 

The passion fruit in the chocolate (and guava (feijoa) and acai fruits (and Brazil nuts)) paired with this unique chocolate kicked off Chocolate and Brazil Theme Week. 

Aroma notes for this dark bar included: authentic, smooth dark (Forastero variety) cacao (with very faint fermentation note) and subtle tropical fruit acidity.

Creamy, bold 68% dark chocolate with fleeting bursts of tart-sweet tropical fruit (passion fruit, citrus). Golden sesame seeds pressed into the back added some texture.

This tart-sweet dark bar was paired with black sesame crackers, blue and cream cheese, fruit and nuts (guava, acai and Brazil nuts).

Maker's description: "Whisk your tastebuds off on holiday with this lush combination of velvety chocolate, juicy passionfruit and the satisfying crunch of sesame. Tropical sunshine encased in chocolate."

Ingredients: Cacao blend, organic cane sugar, passion fruit, organic sesame seeds

Allergen-related information: "Processed in a facility that also handles nuts and dairy"