Saturday, January 28, 2023

Leith Chocolate - Earl Grey Tea Dark Chocolate (bar) - Jan. 28, 2023

Chocolate of the Day

Leith Chocolate
Earl Grey Tea Dark Chocolate (bar)
Good + - Good ++
Weight: 1.41 oz. (40 g.) / 2.82 oz. (80 g.) in total bar
Calories: 218 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $4.67 (sale) for 1 bar
Purchased from: Cost Plus World Market, Mountain View, CA

Welcome to Day #4 of Chocolate and Tea Theme Week.

Today's Earl Grey Tea Dark Chocolate (bar) was from Leith Chocolate (South Queensferry, Scotland, with an EU office in Belfast). 

Virtual Travel via Tea and Chocolate

Like most chocolate bars, this tea chocolate had a multi-layered international supply chain and story to tell. Leith Chocolate is named after Leith, a port in north Edinburgh, in Scotland. 

The company sources cacao to make their chocolates from South America. The cacao used to create this bar was from Colombia. 

The black tea in this bar was also grown in a more tropical/equatorial locale. And the bergamot oil used to flavor said tea may have come from a Mediterranean country.*) 

This citrus-floral forward international chocolate also evoked bergamot oil scented tea memories from visits to relatives in Europe and the U.K. And, finally, this bar was shipped to U.S. locations. And I was able to purchase this chocolate in California at a World Market store location. The scent alone was uplifting and transporting.**

Aroma notes for this attractively packaged (a plum colored field covered with pale purple blossoms) dark 61% chocolate included: dark chocolate, aromatic citrus (bergamot, Earl Grey tea) and very faint vanilla.

This well-tempered bar broke with a snap and had a smooth creamy melt and texture.

Flavor notes included: smooth, relatively sweet dark chocolate, bergamot oil flavored Earl Grey tea, and very faint vanilla.

Overall these flavors were appealing and well-balanced. The sweetness (sugar) level for this 61% tea chocolate was a little too high for my taste, but it was quite good otherwise.

Ingredients: Dark chocolate (cocoa liquor, sugar, cocoa butter, non-GMO soy lecithin, natural vanilla extract), Earl Grey tea, bergamot oil.

Allergen-related information: Made in a factory that handles dairy, peanuts, soy and tree nuts.

* Bergamot orange (Citrus bergamia) is a hybrid citrus fruit (sour orange + lemon) cultivated in southern Italy. (Almost all citrus fruit originated from Asia/SE Asia, but various cultivars and crosses developed elsewhere over time.) Its aromatic rind, and the essential oil extracted from the peel, are what gives Earl Grey black tea its unique flavor. Bergamot is also used in perfumes, fragrances, lotions, and for other uses.

**Yes, it is sobering to think about the carbon emissions/energy involved in international agricultural and packaged goods supply chains; but, fortunately, the virtual travel imaginings and memories this tea chocolate triggered were almost 100% carbon free. 

 

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