Taitau - 82% Dark Chocolate (bar) - Aug. 31, 2023

Chocolate of the Day

Taitau (Tai Tau)
82% Dark Chocolate (bar)
Good ++
Weight: 1.41 oz. (40 g.) / 3.5 oz. (100 g.) in total bar
Calories: 240 calories in 2 servings (6 squares) of bar
Cost: $3.39 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Crossroads Specialty Market, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #6 of Chocolate and Lithuania Theme Week.

Today's 82% Dark Chocolate (bar) from Taitau (Tai Tau) Exclusive Selection (Lietuva, Lithuania) was imported into the U.S. by B&I Overseas Trading Inc. (Van Nuys, CA).

This bar was made using "premium quality Granada, Ghanian and Arriba cocoa beans." 

Aroma notes for this bar included: dark chocolate (rich cocoa, ganache); sweet green/botanical (sugar cane/brown sugar/maple, sweet tart lemon herb - oxalis); caramel macchiato; and very faint (barely detectable) dried fruit.  

Flavor notes were similar to the aroma notes, and included: bold, balanced, deep, dark cacao (Forastero cacao from Ghana); sweet green botanicals, including green floral, light marshmallow (perhaps from Arriba Nacional cacao and a hint of vanillin); caramel; coffee; and very faint, fleeting (and very diffuse) stone fruit and red berry jam (perhaps from Trinitario-related varieties of cacao in Grenada).

The makers have done a great job at balancing and blending cacao varieties from three different cacao growing regions of the world in their chocolate bars. I felt I could almost taste each contribution and cacao variety in their bars featured this week that varied from 46% - 99% cacao content. My favorites were the 72% and 82% cacao chocolates; but it was educational and fun to taste all of them within days of each other. 

The information provided on the packaging was much appreciated and the tasting experiences were much enjoyed. 

Ingredients: "Cocoa mass (made from premium quality Grenada, Ghanian and Arriba cocoa beans), sugar, cocoa butter, emulsifier - rape (canola) lecithin, flavoring vanillin."

Allergen-related information: "This product may contain traces of peanuts, hazelnuts, gluten and milk."