Cacao Sampaka: Dark Chocolate Pistachio 44% (bar) & White Chocolate Roses & Strawberries (bar) - Oct. 8, 2024

Chocolate of the Day

Cacao Sampaka
Dark Chocolate Pistachio 44% (bar)
Good ++

Weight: 2 oz. (56 g.) / 2.64 oz. (75 g.) in total bar

Calories: 320 calories in 2 oz. of bar
Cost: $8.99 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Caputo's, online order

Cacao Sampaka
White Chocolate - Roses and Strawberries (bar)
Good ++

Weight: 2 oz. (56 g.) / 2.64 oz. (75 g.) in total bar

Calories: 330 calories in 2 oz. of bar
Cost: $7.99 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Caputo's, online order

Welcome to Day #5 of Chocolate and Flowers Theme Week.

Today's attractively packaged tabletas (bars): Dark Chocolate Pistachio 44% (bar) and a White Chocolate Roses and Strawberries (bar)--were from Cacao Sampaka S.L. (Barcelona, Spain). 

Both packages were adorned with images of colorful ceramic tiles designed by architect (and some would say tile-obsessed) Antoni Gaudi over a century ago.

Dark Chocolate Pistachio

Aroma notes included: pleasing dark chocolate (cocoa) and very faint nut.

Texture: smooth dark chocolate with embedded fresh-tasting, softly crunchy pistachio nuts. 

Flavor notes included: dark chocolate (dark cocoa with a hint of vanilla, fudge brownie) with perfectly salted (at least for me) green pistachio nuts. The base chocolate was low in acidity and bitterness, and had a pleasing smooth dark chocolate flavor.

I loved the pretty, mostly whole, green pistachios, the added salt, and the 44% dark chocolate that tasted more like a smooth 65% cacao dark chocolate.   

Ingredients: "Sugar, cocoa mass, pistachio (16.5%), cocoa butter, emulsifier (soya lecithin), natural vanilla flavor."

Allergen-related information: Contained pistachios. "Our products may contain traces of nuts, peanuts, lactose, milk and sesame."

White Chocolate Roses and Strawberries

Aroma notes included: aromatic sweet roses, red berry (strawberry) and very faint strawberry and vanilla milkshake/frappe. 

Texture: creamy, luxurious texture (but without being too heavy), interspersed with bits of crunchy, freeze-dried strawberry fruit. 

Flavor notes included: creamy and sweet white chocolate, lovely rose and strawberry.

Surprisingly, I did not find either one of today's chocolates--the 44% dark pistachio bar or this white chocolate bar--too sweet. The high-quality rose and strawberry inclusions helped balance the vanilla-tinged wall of authentic cocoa butter and sugar. Notably, cocoa butter was the number one ingredient and not sugar (thank you!).

Ingredients: "Cocoa butter, sugar, skimmed milk powder, strawberry crispy (12%) (strawberry, sucrose, fructose, acidity regulator (citric acid), reinforced by natural flavors), anhydrous milk fat, rose flavor (0.1%), emulsifier (soya lecithin), natural vanilla flavor, flavor. Cocoa 33% minimum."

Allergen-related information: "Our products may contain traces of nuts, peanuts, lactose, milk and sesame.