Chocolate of the Day
Mandala Chocolate
Appalachian Wild Chai Sugar Free Dark Chocolate with Herbs, Mushrooms and Chai Spices (bar)
Good ++
Weight: 1.15 oz. (32.5 g.) / 2.3 oz. (65 g.) in total bar
Calories: 302 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $10.00 for 1 bar (when purchased in a 3-pack)
Purchased from: Amazon.com/Mandala Chocolate, online order
Welcome to Day #7 of Chocolate and Chai Theme Week, and Day #1 of Chocolate and Mushrooms Week.
Today's Organic Appalachian Wild Chai Sugar Free Dark Chocolate with Herbs, Mushrooms and Chai Spices (bar) was handcrafted in Asheville, North Carolina, by Mandala Naturals, LLC (Barnardsville, NC), using 70% stoneground cacao--and without added sugar.*
Aroma and flavor notes included: subtle chocolate and warm spices (cinnamon, ginger, very mild clove and nutmeg), very slightly woodsy sweetness (mesquite, licorice root), and very faint citrus (orange).
This 70% cacao bar included a wild chai blend: spices, herbs and "mushrooms unique to the Blue Ridge Mountains." All these flavors harmonized very nicely. The mushroom flavors were very undetectable. (The 70% cacao and range of spices in this bar makes them easy to miss.)
Texture: nice cacao buttery melt, smooth texture (especially given the amount of added spices and mushrooms).
I loved that this chocolate had an appealing, mild, natural sweetness with no added sugar.*
This bar had more nuanced flavors and a milder taste than most 70% chocolate bars, in part due to thoughtful ingredient selection and the lack of cane sugar.* You realize the effects of processed sugar when it's not there. There are other paths to sweetness.
Ingredients: "*Cacao, *Yacon, *Ginger, *Mesquite, *Maca, *Cinnamon, *Vanilla, *Licorice, *Cardamom, **Chaga, *Peppercorn, *Clove, **Reishi, **Spiceberries, *Nutmeg, *Fennel, *Orange Oil, Celtic Sea Salt (* = Organic, and ** = Organic and Wildcrafted)
Allergen-related information: No information listed.
*And I loved that "zero added sugars" actually meant no sugars and no artificial sweeteners. Instead, sweet-tasting herbs and botanicals (like yacon, maca, cinnamon, licorice, vanilla, etc.) supplied the "sweetness".
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