Sweetduet - Mango - Organic 83% Dark Chocolate Enrobed Mangos - Aug. 11, 2023

Chocolate of the Day

Sweetduet
Mango - Organic 83% Dark Chocolate Enrobed Mangos
Good ++
Weight: 1 oz. (28 g.) / 3 oz. (85 g.) in total package
Calories: 110 calories in 1 serving 
Cost: $9.00 for 1 package
Purchased from: Provision, San Francisco, CA

Welcome to Day #8 of Chocolate Surprise Theme Week. Today's chocolate was a pleasant surprise, because of where I found them--in the middle of downtown San Francisco in a relatively new retail store.

These Organic 83% Dark Chocolate Enrobed Mangos were manufactured in a designated gluten and nut free facility, packed by Earth Source, Inc. (Vista, CA), and distributed by Sweetduet, LLC (Los Angeles,  CA). 

Aroma notes included: fermented cacao/sweet dark chocolate, dried fruit (mango), molasses fig/date cookie and very faint sweet, green floral-banana. (These did not contain any banana.)

The dark chocolate tasted surprisingly dark with a creamy texture and balanced bitterness. (I'd forgotten it was 83% cacao chocolate when I took the first bite.)

This ultra-dark chocolate offered a strong, but complementary, contrast to the pieces of fruit it covered. Inside the chocolate coating were chewy, tart-sweet dried strips of mango with bright tropical fruit and green tea flavor notes.

This bold and flavorful blend had lingering mango fruit and dark chocolate finish notes.

Ingredients: "Organic Mango, Organic Cacao, Organic Cacao Butter, Organic Date Nectar."

Allergen-related information: "Manufactured in a designated gluten and nut free facility."

Chimes Herbal Chews - Calmer Cacao - Aug. 10, 2023

Chocolate of the Day

Chimes Herbal Chews
Adaptogenic Chews - Calmer Cacao Ashwagandha Reishi + Dark Cacao, Ginger
Good + - Good ++
Weight: .282 oz. (8 g.) / 2.5 oz. (72 g.) in total package
Calories: 30 calories in 2 chews
Cost: $3.99 for 1 package
Purchased from: The Market at Edgewood, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #7 of Chocolate Surprise Theme Week.

This "Surprise" week includes chocolates with unique ingredients, insights about food, farmers and/or culture, and/or found in interesting places. 

Today's Calmer Cacao Ashwagandha Reishi + Dark Cacao, Ginger Chimes Herbal Chews were a product of Indonesia, and manufactured for Roxy Trading, Inc. (Pomona, CA).

The creators indicated on the packaging that they were influenced by "Ayurvedic wisdom."    

Subtle aroma notes for these small, chewy, individually-wrapped bites included: rich, spiced cafe mocha; chai tea blend (ginger, very faint, fleeting black pepper); and very faint herbal-mushroom (reishi) hot chocolate.

Spicy ginger bloomed when I took a bite, and tickled the back of my throat on the way down. I liked the surprisingly strong ginger. (The heat subsided fairly quickly.) The cocoa was subtle and helped balance the spiciness.

I also was pleasantly surprised by the information provided about the approximate amount of theobromine: 4 mcg of theobromine (from cacao) in each chew. (Each chew also contained 80 mg. of KSM-66 Ashwagandha, and 120 mg. of Reishi mushroom/extract.) Not everyone will care about these details; but I appreciate them.

Ingredients: Cane sugar, tapioca starch, ginger, cacao powder, reishi, ashwagandha root.

Allergen-related information: "Made on equipment that processes peanuts." "Gluten Free" "Vegan"