Chocolate of the Day
To'ak Chocolate
Palo Santo Aged 75% (2019 Harvest)
Good ++ - Good +++
Weight: .106 oz. (3 g.) for 1 square / 1.9 oz. (54 g.) in total bar/package of 18
Calories: 21 calories in 1 square
Cost: N/A - holiday gift from family
Purchased from: N/A - holiday gift from family (thank you Megan and Tony!)
Welcome to Day #4 of Chocolate and Ecuador Theme Week.
Today's "Palo Santo Aged" (2019 Harvest) 75% Ecuador cacao individually-wrapped square was part of a six-flavor, tasting square assortment--made from tree-to-bar in Ecuador by To'ak Chocolate (Quito, Ecuador). To'ak specializes in high-end, Ecuadorian cacao-based chocolates.
The makers use Ecuador's famed "Nacional" cacao variety, an historically prized cacao that was almost lost in the 1900s due to disease and other factors.*
Aroma and flavor notes for today's 75% dark chocolate included: subtle dark chocolate; herbal/menthol (green mint), coconut; faint nut/seed; and very faint clean, refreshing mineral(s), citrus and aromatic wood.
The texture of this tasting square was well tempered, uniformly smooth, thick (in a cool room) and relatively creamy.
This unique 75% dark chocolate was bittersweet (with a lot of natural, almost dried fruit (date) sweetness). It tasted sweeter than 75% cacao chocolate in the beginning, and ended with some bitter and earthy notes in the finish. In between we enjoyed a wonderful, balanced and complex flavor ride.
Maker's tasting notes: "Coconut, mint, citrusy pine, dates"
Ingredients: Organic Heirloom Cacao Beans, Organic Sugar
Allergen-related information: "May contain traces of milk, soy or nuts."
*The disease was Witches Broom, a plant gall disease (caused by fungus and other contributing causes) that disfigures plants. It also significantly affected cacao harvests in Brazil in the 1980s.
In the maker's words: "As of 2009, pure Nacional cacao was believed to be extinct. Our journey led us to the secluded valley of Piedra de Plata, where we found some of the last surviving trees..."
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