Nobo Ltd. - Irish Sea Salt (bar) - Sept. 22, 2023

Chocolate of the Day

Nobo Ltd.
Irish Sea Salt (bar)
Good ++
Weight: .88 oz. (25 g.) in 1 bar
Calories: 159 calories in 1 bar
Cost: 2.25 Euros ($2.25 (estim.) USD) for 1 bar
Purchased from: The Loop, Dublin Airport shop

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

Today's Irish Sea Salt (bar) was from Nobo Ltd. (Ranelagh, Ireland). The company produces a variety of gluten free, plant-based treats, confections, bars and spreads.

Aroma and taste notes were a pleasing blend of gentle sweet and salty/savory flavors, that included very faint cashew coconut shortbread cookie; soft fruit (grape/raisin); and sea salt.

This chocolate bar did not break with a snap. Instead the texture was cohesive, smooth and softly creamy--with a distinctive, smooth melt. (Cocoa butter was the number one ingredient.)

A lower cacao percentage chocolate is often very sweet but may still have some detectable (diluted) sour/bitter cacao notes. This 48% cocoa plant-based chocolate bar--made with single origin Colombian cacao--was very smooth and low in bitterness, and it was not (surprisingly) too sweet. 

Nut butters (in this case cashew butter) helped mellow/dilute flavors 

Coconut sugar was the number two ingredient (after cocoa butter). It added an authentic "warm" (brown/coconut sugar) flavor, while being less "buzzy" (lower on the glycemic index) than processed sugars. 

Last, but not least, I loved the Irish sea salt. It created a very satisfying, integrated sense of healthy snack balance. 

Ingredients: Cocoa butter, coconut sugar, cocoa mass, cashew nut butter, coconut, Irish sea salt (0.5%).

Allergen-related information: Contains cashews, coconut. Made on equipment that handles milk, soya, peanuts and other nuts. (Made in the EU.)

Butlers Chocolates - Drumshanbo with Sardinian Citrus Gunpowder Irish Gin flavoured Truffles - Sept. 21, 2023

Chocolate of the Day

Butlers Chocolates
Drumshanbo with Sardinian Citrus
Gunpowder Irish Gin flavoured Chocolate Truffles
Good + - Good ++
Weight: 1.76 oz. (50 g.) / 3.52 oz. (100 g.) in total box of 8 pieces
Calories: 249 calories in 4 pieces (498 kcals in 100 g.)
Cost: 9.00 Euros or $9.00 (estimated USD) for 1 box
Purchased from: The Loop Dublin Airport (shop), Collinstown (Dublin), Ireland

Welcome to Day #5 of Chocolate and Ireland Series.

Today's Dumshanbo with Sardinian Citrus Gunpowder Irish Gin flavoured Chocolate Truffles was from Butlers Chocolates UC (Dublin, Ireland). 

Butlers was founded in 1932 by Marion Bailey-Butler. It subsequently was acquired; and in the 1980s the company name became Butlers Irish Chocolates.

. It subsequently was acquired; and in the 1980s the company name became Butlers Irish Chocolates.

The Drumshanbo Gunpowder Irish Gin with Sardinian Citrus used to animate these chocolates was "slow distilled at The Shed Distillery--located in the village of Drumshanbo, County Leitrim. Founded in 2014 by PJ Rigney, this producer of gin (including Gunpowder Irish Gin), whiskey and vodka was the first distillery in this area in over 100 years. 

Aroma notes for these filled confections included: sweet milk chocolate and faint citrus (lemon, various other citrus) and spirits (gin, botanicals).

The thick, Butlers Chocolates 32% milk chocolate* outer shell was thick, creamy and sweet. But, things got a lot more flavorful inside, after the first bite.

Botanical inclusions in the gin (that flavored the centers) included the traditional juniper, angelica root, orris root, caraway seed, coriander seed, meadowsweet, cardamom and star anise. But the flavor notes were even more multi-layered and complex, and included citrus (lemon, lemon peel, sweet grapefruit), botanicals (herbal, floral (meadowsweet), gunpowder tea, and balanced juniper in the finish)...and very faint cedar.

The citrus, tea and herbal notes really helped to counter the inherent sweetness of these milk chocolates. 

Ingredients: Sugar, whole milk powder, cocoa butter, cocoa mass, Drumshanbo Irish Gin with Sardinian Citrus(R) (6.9%), sweetened condensed milk (milk, sugar), invert sugar syrup, glucose syrup, lemon compound (lemon 47%), sugar, nature flavouring, acidity regulator: sodium citrate, anti-oxidant: ascorbic acid), emulsifier: soya lecithin, glycerol, citric acid, natural flavouring. (Milk chocolate contains: 32% cocoa solids minimum, 20% milk solids minimum. White chocolate contains: 26% cocoa solids minimum, 20% milk solids minimum). Alcohol by volume: 3.15%

Allergen-related information: Contains milk, soy. "This product may contain nut traces."

*The cacao origin listed: "West Africa."

Teeling Distillery - Whiskey Chocolate Truffles - Sept. 20, 2023

Chocolate of the Day

Teeling Distillery
Teeling Whiskey Truffles - Dark Chocolate
Good +
Weight: Missing information
Calories: Missing information
Cost: 6.00 Euros ($6.00 (estim.) USD) for 1 box of 4 pieces
Purchased from: Teeling Distillery, Dublin, Ireland

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

Today's Teeling Whiskey Dark Chocolate Truffles were purchased at Teelings Distillery, in The Liberties (Dublin, Ireland). These chocolates were made for Teeling by Skelligs Chocolate (St. Finian's Bay, County Kerry, Ireland). 

Teeling Distillery offers a lively tour and tasting on-site; and the chocolates in the gift shop were a fun find/take-away. 

Aroma notes included: dark chocolate, and faint spirits (whiskey).

A firm, outer dark chocolate shell surrounded a flavorful, sweet dark chocolate ganache (center) that was infused with attractive whiskey notes.

Ingredients: Dark Chocolate (cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter, Emulsifier (Soya lecithin), natural vanilla flavouring), Dark Chocolate Compound Vegetable Fat, sugar, fat-reduced cocoa powder; Whey powder, Emulsifier (Soya lecithin), creme, Teeling Irish Whiskey. 

Allergen-related information: "Produced in a factory that handles nuts."

 

The Fumbally - Hot Chocolate and Gluten Free Chocolate Cake - Sept. 19, 2023

Chocolate(s) of the Day

The Fumbally

Hot Chocolate
Good ++
1 Cup
Calories: Unknown
Cost: 4.10 Euros ($4.10 (estim.) USD) for 1 cup
Purchased from: The Fumbally, Dublin, Ireland

Gluten Free Chocolate Cake
Good ++ 
1 Slice
Calories: Unknown
Cost: 4.90 Euros ($4.90 (estim.) USD) for 1 slice
Purchased from: The Fumbally, Dublin, Ireland

Welcome to Day #3 of Chocolate and Ireland Theme Week. Sometimes the best way to explore chocolate is to sit in a cafe.

Today's two chocolate items were from The Fumbally, located in The Liberties area of Dublin, Ireland.

This community cafe was a wonderful place to have breakfast, and watch the world go by. As the weather shifted from light showers to dry pavement and back again, I enjoyed eating fresh eggs and sipping a cup of hot chocolate. I also tried the Fumbally gluten-free chocolate cake. 

The cocoa was warm, sweet, chocolate-y and inviting, with a decorative dash of cocoa powder across the top.

The gluten free chocolate cake was silky smooth, authentic and chocolate-y with a very thin flaky layer on top (like you'd find on a brownie or tort).

Both items were a bit on the sweet side; but portions were enjoyable (not too big/heavy, or too small), and were very satisfying as a dual dose of chocolate on a rainy day. 

I don't have a list of ingredients or potential allergens for these two gluten-free chocolate offerings, but The Fumbally's food tasted healthy and made from scratch to me.