Chocolate of the Day
Lonohana Estate Chocolate
Big Island Dark 73% (bar)
Good ++ - +++
Weight: 1.15 oz. (32.5 g.) / 2.3 oz. (65 g.) in total bar
Calories: 178 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $16.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Lonohana website, online order
Aloha, and welcome to Day #7 of Chocolate and Hawaii Theme Week.
Today's Big Island Dark 73% (bar) was made by Lonohana Estate Chocolate, LLC (Honolulu, HI) using cacao grown on the Big Island of Hawai'i. (Cacao source: Hawaiian Crown, Hilo, Hawai'i).
Aroma notes included: dark chocolate (ultra-dark chocolate fudge brownie), faint fresh baked bread, and sweet green walnuts in honey syrup.*
This well-tempered chocolate broke with a hard snap in a cool room. The texture was smooth with a gentle (balanced) tannic astringency.
Flavor notes included: dark chocolate (ultra-dark fudge walnut brownie), sweet green botanical and very faint red berry in the finish.
I liked the complexity and rich dark chocolate flavor(s) coaxed from just two ingredients.
Maker's tasting notes/description
"At Lonohana we are dedicated to exploring the concept of terroir. How might different soils and climate influence the cacao and the resulting chocolate?
This 73% two-ingredient dark comes from meticulously farmed and fermented beans grown just outside of Hilo, a full three degrees from the equator than our estate (on O'ahu). The resulting chocolate has hints of brownie and raspberry, and just a touch more tannin than our estate-grown 73% dark."
Ingredients: Big Island cacao, organic cane sugar
Allergen-related information: "Soy and Gluten free. Made in a peanut-free environment. Vegan."
*In Southern Europe (e.g. Greece, Turkey, Romania, Armenia, Azerbaijan) and in a few U.S. locations, you can find young/green walnut preserves, aka young walnut jam. These walnuts (picked before they are ripe) can also be "pickled" in honey, and used to make liqueurs (e.g. Nocino in Italy). The sweet young nut products are surprisingly tasty.
