To'ak - Alchemy Salprieta Peanuts 65% (bar) - July 29, 2024

Chocolate of the Day

To'ak 
Alchemy Salprieta Peanuts (bar)
Good++ - Good +++
Weight: 2 oz. (56 g.) in total package of 4 smaller bars
Calories: 336 calories in 1 package
Cost: $16.00 (estimate) for 1 bar
Purchased from: To'ak, online order

Welcome to Day #3 of Chocolate and Peanut Theme Week--a week that includes a variety of chocolate and peanut/peanut butter offerings--ranging from ultra-high end bean-to-bar chocolates to casual snacks.

Today's Alchemy Salprieta* Peanuts (bars) were made by To'ak (Tierra & Arbol S.A.S.; Quito, Ecuador). The company started "from a rainforest conservation project in Ecuador and has become"...a global pioneer in the world of "luxury dark chocolate."

Aroma notes included: roasted nuts (peanuts), chili pepper and warm spices (nutmeg, cinnamon, coriander/cilantro), and a very faint, fleeting menthol note that disappeared after re-tasting.

Texture: The flavor inclusions were almost all fully incorporated, leaving just tiny bursts of welcome flavor(s); although there were a few very hard, very tiny light-colored bits. (Corn perhaps?)

Flavor notes included: complex, almost sparkling flavors (like light streaming through a forest) that revealed themselves a bit at a time. Tiny salt crystals, tiny grains of nut, tiny atoms of spice, and dark chocolate nuances that included chocolate and tropical fruit. (The heirloom cacao used to make this bar was from Piedra de Plata, Manabi, Ecuador.)

What a beautiful ride. I loved the intriguing range of complex and subtle flavors in this bar. And, like all great rides, it was over too soon.

Ingredients: "Dark chocolate (65% heirloom cacao, 35% cane sugar), peanuts, salprieta (peanuts, achiote, cilantro, sea salt, and ground heirloom corn), achiote paste (achiote, sea salt), cilantro, cacao butter"

Allergen-related information: (Contains Peanuts.) "May contain traces of milk, soy, or nuts."

*Salprieta is a mix of ground (usually toasted) peanuts, corn and spices. It is used as a condiment in Ecuador.