Chocolate(s) of the Day
Gnosis Chocolate
The Golden Brick (small filled bar)
Good ++
Weight: 1.02 oz. (29 g.) in total bar
Calories: 160 calories (estimate) in 1 bar
Cost: $6.50 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Gnosis Chocolate, online order
Welcome to Day #5 of Chocolate and Mexico Theme Week -- featuring two chocolates.
The first chocolate was: "The Golden Brick" (inside a shiny gold bar box) from Gnosis Chocolate (Astoria, New York). This bar was listed as having a "vanilla turmeric creme filling."
Aroma and flavor notes for this filled bar included: chocolate cookie, and faint sweet botanicals and spices--with a soft, very slightly more substantial light caramel-y, chocolate-y coconut-vanilla spice filling. Both the almost velvety 70% raw chocolate covering and the sweet flavorful filling were very tasty.
The Spanish were looking for gold in the New World. But, arguably, some of the most valuable items found in Mexico were cacao, vanilla and blue agave. This Golden Brick (bar) contained all three--as well lucuma, maca and cashews--also from the Americas (Peru).
Ingredients: "70% raw chocolate (raw cacao beans*, coconut sugar*), raw cashews*, virgin coconut oil*, raw blue agave*, lucuma*, fleur de sel salt, turmeric*, eleuthero*, maca*, burdock*, Love (*organic)"
Allergen-related information: (Contains cashews, coconut)
Chocolate Mayordomo
Hot Chocolate/Drinking Chocolate (disc)
Good++ - Good +++
Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) (part of a larger package)
Calories: 155 calories (estimate) for 1 oz. piece
Cost: N/A - gift from neighbor
Purchased from: N/A - gift from neighbor (Muchas gracias a Nallely y la familia Gomez.)
Today's Drinking Chocolate/Hot Chocolate (disc) was from Chocolate Mayordomo (Oaxaca, Mexico). This was generously shared with me by my neighbors.
Mayordomo is known for its mole sauces and "table chocolate" (drinking chocolate in scored tablet and disc form and other chocolates).
Aroma notes included: rich chocolate and cinnamon, and very faint diffuse fruit (raisin, peach).
This chocolate was very tasty. And like yesterday's tablets from the same company, this chocolate was good for eating (by itself) and grating over desserts and lattes--as well as producing a warm beverage (with either water or milk of choice) that makes you want to sit back and relax and savor each sip with a good friend or a book.
The initial "grainy" texture (think sugar crystals ground with roasted cacao beans and cinnamon) gave way to a rich chocolate-y texture as it dissolves in my mouth. It reminded me to slow down and savor chocolates to enjoy them fully.
This less processed cacao was full of authentic flavors; and it was low in bitterness. I found this much more tasty than the alkali-processed hot cocoa mixes that are the rule in the U.S. The hot cocoa in the U.S is also lower in bitterness (and in natural cacao flavors as well) as it has been processed to remove bitter and acidic/sour elements that might be present. Unfortunately this process neutralizes objectionable as well as prized flavors.
I liked the smaller sized discs and tablets -- making it easier to make 1-2 person servings. And I loved the authentic cacao flavors, and the short list of ingredients.* The warm, spicy-sweet cinnamon flavor was lovely.
Ingredients: Roasted cacao beans, almonds and cinnamon, sugar (*Note this list of ingredients was obtained online and may not be 100% correct.)
Allergen-related information: May contain almonds. I gratefully received these discs without packaging (They were part of a larger package that had this information that I did not see.)
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