Chocolate of the Day
Firetree Chocolate Limited
Single Estate Philippines Mindanao Island 73% Cocoa (bar)
Good ++ - Good +++
Weight: 1.145 oz. (32.5 g.) / 2.29 oz. (65 g.) in total bar
Calories: 178.4 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $9.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order
Welcome to Day #9 of Chocolate and the Philippines Theme Week.
Today's Single Estate Philippines Mindanao Island 73% Cocoa (bar) was from Firetree Chocolate Limited (Peterborough, UK).
The company highlights cacao grown on Pacific island nations with rich (volcanic) soils, and offers a line of "rich volcanic chocolates." Their attractive packaging features the fiery and dark palette of lava colors.
Aroma notes for today's 73% Single Estate dark chocolate included: dark chocolate; sweet green (botanical/floral); faint brown sugar; and faint, diffuse, dried fruit (dried peach, fig, and a few drops of rum). (There were no alcohol ingredients in this chocolate.)
Flavor notes included: rich, deep, chocolate-y flavor (ultra-dark chocolate brownie w/ cocoa nibs); faint spiced rum-soaked fruit (fig, stone fruit (plum), dark cherry, orange); and faint brown sugar. The "fruit" acidity had a mellow quality--an almost smokey, whiskey barrel aged cacao taste, but not quite. (Again this chocolate did not contain alcohol.)
All but one or two of the Philippine cacao chocolates featured recently have been 70% cacao or higher. The flavors seemed naturally sweet and less dark and dense, allowing for darker percentage bars -- i.e. a 74% chocolate might taste more like a 70% chocolate.
Flavors were balanced and harmonious in this very tasty, sophisticated dark chocolate.
Maker's tasting notes: Cocoa, Honey, Caramel
Ingredients: Cocoa mass, unrefined sugar, cocoa butter, emulsifier: sunflower lecithin.
Allergen-related information: "The product is made in a no nut factory. Dairy free."