Aruntam - Caffe Latte 48% Caffe Napoletano & Latte Italiano (bar) - June 19, 2023

Chocolate of the Day

Aruntam Sensory Chocolate
Caffe Latte Dark Milk 48% Caffe Napoletano and Latte Italiano (bar)
Good + - Good ++
Weight: .88 oz. (25 g.) / 1.76 oz. (50 g.) in total bar
Calories: 145 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $13.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocolate Covered, San Francisco, CA

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

Today's Caffe Latte Dark Milk 48% Caffe Napoletano and Latte Italiano (bar) from Aruntam Sensory Chocolate (made at JoyFlor srl in Milano, Italia).

The company describes this "Italian Life Style" milk chocolate this way: "Esteemed Coffee from India with delicate chocolate notes, roasted in Naples, and united with the best Italian milk, creates a chocolate bar that will delight your palette."

Aroma notes for this bean to bar craft chocolate bar included: fresh coffee (cappuccino) blended with subtle sweet, rich cocoa; and very faint salt caramel.

The texture and melt were creamy. There was a very slight dryness (astringency) about 4 seconds in my mouth; otherwise is was quite smooth.

The 48% milk chocolate had smooth cocoa and fudge flavor with very faint nut and earth notes. This well-balanced blend was relatively complex and rich for a lower-percentage (<50%) cacao chocolate, and wasn't overly sweet (thank you!). The coffee and whole milk added authentic flavor and helped balance the sweetness.

Ingredients: "organic cacao beans, Italian whole milk, organic cane sugar, organic cacao butter, coffee (4%); Emulsifier: organic sunflower lecithin." (Cacao: 48% min.)

Allergen-related information: Contains milk and may contain traces of nuts.

Sabadi srl - Prickly Pear Peels & Marjoram (bar) - June 18, 2023

Chocolate of the Day

Sabadi srl
Prickly Pear Peels and Marjoram (bar)
Good ++ 
Weight: .88 oz. (25 g.) / 1.76 oz. (50 g.) in total bar
Calories: 120.75 calories in 1/2 bar 
Cost: $9.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocolate Covered, San Francisco, CA 

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

Today's Prickly Pear Peels and Marjoram (bar) was from Sabadi srl (Modica, Italy).

The cacao used to make this chocolate was from Ecuador. The prickly pear peels were, I'm guessing, from cactus fruits (Opuntia ficus indica*, aka fico d'india) grown in Catania (Sicily). These fruits are said to symbolize life in Catania (near Mount Etna)--a life that can include adapting to tough conditions and overcoming thorny obstacles, as well as enjoying sweet fruit.

Aroma notes for this "cold-processed organic chocolate" included: smooth dark chocolate and aromatic herbal (marjoram, thyme)** notes.

The base dark chocolate--peppered with crunchy sugar crystals--was relatively sweet (60%) and smooth.

Flavor notes for this 60% cacao chocolate included: smooth dark chocolate infused with authentic marjoram herbal flavor. I couldn't really pick out prickly pear peel flavors (perhaps a mild diffuse fruit sweetness and a few tiny fibrous botanical bits. (The peels did add some fiber, if not distinct flavor.)

I enjoyed the flavors. Marjoram was the most notable flavor inclusion, but all three elements (sweet cocoa, marjoram and prickly pear peels) were blended skillfully together.

Ingredients: Cocoa mass (organic, from fair trade producers, presidio slow food) -- origin: Ecuador -- variety: Nacional Fino de Aroma; cane sugar (organic, slow food), prickly pear peels (organic) (min. 2%), marjoram (organic) (min. 0.7%). Cocoa: 60% minimum.

Allergen-related information: "May contain traces of nuts, milk and soy"

*Rose-colored when ripe, prickly pear cactus fruits in the Americas are sometimes known as cactus pears (from the nopal cactus) in English, or "tunas" in Spanish. 

**This bar contained marjoram, but no thyme to my knowledge. As always, write-ups on Chocolate Banquet include observations about and descriptions of aroma and flavor notes (like wood, nut, herb, floral). These notes are perceived/tasted, but are not necessarily literal.