Chocolate of the Day
Cacao Sampaka
Chocolate Negro Pipa De Calabaza
(Dark Chocolate Pumpkin Seeds)
Good ++
Weight: 1 oz. (28 g.) / 2.65 oz. (75 g.) in total bar
Calories: 160 calories in 1 oz. serving
Cost: $8.99 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Caputo's, online order
Welcome to Day #6 of Chocolate and Seeds* Theme Week. This week includes chocolates with seeds--as well as seeds that we call beans or nuts.
Today's Dark Chocolate Pumpkin Seeds (bar) from Cacao Sampaka S.L. (Barcelona, Spain), and was imported into the U.S. by Forever Cheese.
The attractive outer packaging was adorned with a close-up image of colorful tiles from Barcelona.
Aroma notes included: dark chocolate, sweet seeds and vanilla.
Flavor notes included: smooth dark chocolate and satisfying crunchy whole pumpkin seeds--with authentic, fresh and relatively mild seed flavor.
I appreciated that the 43% dark chocolate used to make this bar was balanced and not too sweet. It was smooth and dark; and it tasted more like a higher percentage 55%* dark chocolate. It wasn't too bland or sugary.
I found myself wanting to add a tiny pinch of salt; as I often do with a la carte seeds and nuts. (But, I resisted.) I taste chocolates first without any additions or pairings, to honor the choices of chocolate makers, and to prevent adding something I'll regret or that may obfuscate flavors.
Ingredients: "Sugar, cocoa mass, pumpkin seeds (14.6%), cocoa butter, emulsifier (soya lecithin), natural vanilla flavor. Cocoa 43% minimum"
Allergen-related information: "Our products may contain traces of nuts, peanuts, lactose, milk and sesame."
*Percentages can serve as guidelines when buying chocolates. But, it's not my top metric when it comes to flavor and preference. If you taste a lineup of 70% dark chocolates from different makers and origins, and made with different cacao varieties, some will taste lighter, and others darker, than their advertised percentages.
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