Chocolate of the Day
Honoka'a Chocolate
85% Cacao Hawaiian Dark Chocolate (bar)
Good ++ - Good +++
Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) / 2 oz. (57 g.) in total bar
Calories: 180 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $15.00 (estimate) (3rd of 3-bar trio for $45.00)
Purchased from: Honoka'a Chocolate, online order
Welcome to Day #18 of Chocolate and Hawaii Theme Week.
Today's 85% Cacao Hawaiian Dark Chocolate (bar) was from Honoka'a Chocolate (Honoka'a, HI).
Aroma notes included: dark chocolate (dark ganache, dark cocoa); very faint and fleeting milk/cream, marshmallow, brown sugar, and sweet green herb; and very and faint diffuse sweet green nut and floral--the latter disappeared fairly quickly after exposure to air for several minutes.
Texture: silky smooth, with a luxuriously thick mouthfeel and melt--like other bars from Honoka'a. I'm guessing the cacao(s) were naturally high in cocoa butter. (Often the case in Hawaii, located farther than 20 degrees Latitude (from the Equator).*
Flavor notes included: dark chocolate; very faint, diffuse and fleeting fruit (tropical fruit, very faint and buttery avocado); and barely detectable yogurt/earth (faint loam). Overall the flavor was very smooth for an 85%er. I was really leaning in to try to pick up the more subtle notes--not typical for most high-percentage bars with stronger, more intense flavors.
The sweetness level was relatively moderate-high and the bitterness and astringency levels were relatively low for a high-percentage cacao bar like this.
Oddly, there was less earthy flavor in this 85% cacao bar than the 65% and 70% Hawaiian cacao-based bars from this same maker, featured in the past few days.
The turbinado cane sugar added a bit of brown sugar flavor and possibly a slightly tangy note. (It was hard to tell if this was from the sugar or the cacao.) I plan to share this 85% bar with a few dark milk chocolate fans who are uncomfortable with high-intensity dark chocolates.
I enjoyed the subtle, natural complexity; the remarkable buttery texture; the use of Hawaiian cacao; and the short list of only two ingredients.
Ingredients: "100% Hawai'i island cacao, organic turbinado cane sugar."
Allergen-related information: ("dairy free")
*Hawaii is sometimes referred to as the North Pole for growing cacao. Almost all of the world's cacao is grown closer to (less than 20 degrees from) the Equator. And most of that (probably at least 70-75%) comes from less than 10 degrees from the Equator.
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