KanVela Craft Chocolate - 72% Dark Chocolate Klong Loi Origin (bar) - Apr. 3, 2024

Chocolate of the Day

KanVela Craft Chocolate
72% Dark Chocolate Klong Loi Origin (bar)
Good ++ - Good +++
Weight: 1.06 oz. (30 g.) / 2.12 oz. (60 g.) in total bar
Calories: 240 calories in 1/2 bar (per package)*
Cost: $7.50 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order 

Welcome to Day #4 of Chocolate and Thailand Theme Week.

Today's 72% Dark Chocolate Klong Loi Origin (bar) was from KanVela Chocolate (Thailand).

Intriguing, subtle aroma notes included: soft and gentle cacao; very faint (diffuse, light tropical) fruit; and very faint (imagined) coffee and spice.

Texture: smooth, creamy texture; almost undetectable, friendly astringency.

Flavor notes included: mild but flavorful dark chocolate (low in acidity and bitterness); with a gentle bouquet of diffuse fruit(s); very subtle warm spices (cinnamon); very faint sweet green, fresh coconut; and unrefined sugar. 

I really enjoyed the heritage criollo-like** flavors in this bar. It was quite gentle for a 72% dark chocolate. It was subtle enough that I found myself leaning in and paying careful attention to what I was tasting, for fear that I might miss something that was gently unfolding. 

I recommend including today's Thai bar in a chocolate tasting flight. Try tasting this 72% cacao Klong Loi Origin chocolate side-by-side with a few other 72% cacao bars, just to enjoy the contrast.

Maker's tasting notes: "Indulge...in the softness of KanVela Klong Loi Origin and bite into a symphony of cinnamon, toasted coconut, caramel and red fruits."

Ingredients: "Cacao nib 67%, Sugar 28%, Cocoa butter 5%"

Allergen-related information: "Made in a facility that processes milk, wheat, sesame, soy and tree nuts."

*This kcal number sounds high, even accounting for the possibility that it contained more added cocoa butter. It may be an error on the packaging.

**A reference to heritage criollo cacao varieties that originated in the Amazon Basin regions of South America. The fruits (pods) are slightly smaller and more delicate--and the flavors are subtle and often gently complex with notes of stone fruits and caramel. Criollo-based chocolates are rare, representing 5 percent or less of what you'll typically find for sale. Definitely worth tasting if you haven't already.

KanVela - 58% Dark Milk Mocha with Crispy Rice (bar) - April 2, 2024

Chocolate of the Day

KanVela Chocolate
58% Dark Milk Mocha with Crispy Rice (bar)
Good ++
Weight: 1.06 oz. (30 g.) / 2.12 oz. (60 g.) in total bar
Calories: 240 calories (per label) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $9.50 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order 

Welcome to Day #3 of Chocolate and Thailand Theme Week.

Today's 58% Dark Milk Mocha with Crispy Rice (bar) was from KanVela Chocolate (Thailand).

Aroma notes included: smooth, dark milk chocolate, vegetal (tart green herb (oxalis) and faint chopped green (jalapeno) peppers); faint coffee; even fainter floral (honey, jasmine rice), and very faint (likely imagined) warm spices (faint spiced latte).

Texture: creamy dark milk chocolate interspersed with whole grains of light, crispy rice. (These Thai Jasmine Rice Puffs were visible from the back of the bar.)

Flavor notes included: dark milk chocolate, faint almost fruit-floral, spice and coffee. The rice added subtle flavor depth. The coffee was very subtle and a bit more gently complex than what is often the case in other coffee/mocha bars. 

Ingredients: "Cacao nib 40%, Sugar 21%, Cocoa butter 18%, Milk powder 14%, Crispy rice 5%, Ground coffee 2%" 

Allergen-related information: "Contains milk. Made in a facility that processes wheat, sesame, soy and tree nuts."

KanVela Chocolate - Honey Milk Chocolate with Riceberry Cracker (bar) - April 1, 2024

Chocolate of the Day

KanVela Chocolate
Honey Milk Chocolate with Riceberry Cracker (Thai) (bar)
Good ++ - Good +++
Weight: 1.06 oz. (30 g.) / 2.12 oz. (60 g.) in total bar
Calories: 180 calories in 1/2 bar 
Cost: $9.50 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order 

Welcome to two overlapping theme weeks. Today was Day #6 of Chocolate, Flowers and Honey Week, Day #2? of Chocolate and Thailand Theme Week.

Today's Honey Milk Chocolate with Riceberry Cracker (bar) was from KanVela Chocolate (Thailand).

Organic riceberry crackers (made with a unique purple Thai rice) from Chang Rai--a famous rice-producing city in Northern Thailand-- and Chiang Mai Longan* flower honey provided wonderful, subtle and very complementary aromas and flavors.

Aroma notes included: chocolate; faint aromatic rice/cracker; and faint floral (honey) and spice (similar to white pepper).

Flavor notes included: mellow, yet subtly flavorful 50% cacao dark milk chocolate infused with honeyed, crispy/crunchy rice cracker spirit. The Chang Mai Longan flower honey yielded some very pleasing honey-ed sweet notes. There were also very faint cracker and white pepper notes. (Think white pepper taste, without the heat).

Yes, this chocolate was sweet, but the honey, rice cracker and a faint almost fruit-floral note, managed to balance the sugar sweetness and add flavor depth. This was the best use of rice in chocolate I've tasted in a very long while.

Ingredients: Cacao nib 50%, Milk powder 18%, Sugar 18%, Honey 8%, Riceberry cracker 6% 

Allergen-related information: "Contains milk. Made in a facility that processes wheat, sesame, soy and tree nuts."

*Longan are small oval shaped, pleasing, almost delicate, sweet fruits with light-colored, almost tranlucent, flesh (similar to a lichee) with a dark-colored pit at the middle. These fruits are covered with a thin beige-to-brown skin/shell that can be peeled off. The fruit is pleasant to eat, and it is also used to flavor teas. Native to Southern China and near Myanmar, longan fruits are widely cultivated in Southeast Asia (including northern Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam). You can also find them in markets in Hawaii as well as in Chinatown districts and small Asian markets in the U.S., e.g. in San Francisco and elsewhere in the SF Bay Area near where I live).

 

Dude, Sweet Chocolate - "A Holiday In Cambodia Bar" + Elements Truffles - Rose Cardamom Dark 70% bar - Mar. 31, 2024

Chocolate(s) of the Day

Dude, Sweet Chocolate 
"A Holiday in Cambodia Bar"
Good ++
Weight: .775 oz. (22 g.) /1.55 oz. (44 g.) in total bar
Calories: 120 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $7.50 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Dude, Sweet Chocolate, online order

Welcome to Day #6 of Chocolate, Flowers and Honey Week, and Day #1 of Chocolate and Thailand Week. 

There are two Thai-related chocolates today. 

The Rose Cardamom bar with ingredients from Thailand from Elements Truffles I tasted five years ago, but wanted to enjoy the lovely rose smell and taste again. The primary chocolate involved crossing the Thai border to try this "Holiday in Cambodia" chocolate bar. Not Thailand; but the two neighboring countries share a 500-mile border(s) and many culinary and cultural traditions.*

Today's unique "A Holiday in Cambodia Bar" from Dude, Sweet Chocolate (Dallas, TX) contains SE Asian inspired flavors (Palm Sugar, Cambodian Black Pepper)--and Pop Rocks (popping candy) that relate to holidays celebrated with fireworks in Cambodia (Independence Day in Nov.) and Thailand. (New Year's Day in Thailand (Songkran) is April 13th.) 

A Holiday in Cambodia Bar

Aroma notes included: dark chocolate (roasted cacao), pleasant sweetness (coconut or unrefined sugar) and very faint spice.

Texture: The Pop Rocks created little crunchy, sweet candy explosions in my mouth. About the closest thing one could get to culinary fireworks (other than chili peppers perhaps). 

Flavor notes included: dark chocolate; unrefined/coconut palm sugar; and faint warm spice and coconut. (The palm sugar was nice; not quite as buzzy and dominant as refined (white) cane sugar.) Overall, a fun bar to try, and well-executed and creative take on a southeast Asian international experience. 

Pairing suggestions: Tea, wine, or blue butterfly pea flower tea** with coconut milk and honey or palm sugar, if you can make or find it (or ingredients) in your area. Think Thai iced tea...in a lovely shade of blue.

Rose Cardamom Dark Chocolate 70% (bar)

Elements Truffles
Rose Cardamom Dark 70% (bar)
Good ++
Weight: .9 oz. (25 g.) / 1.8 oz. (50 g.) in total bar
Calories: 140 calories in 1/2 bar 
Cost: $9.50 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order 

Today's second chocolate: a Rose Cardamom Dark 70% (bar) was from Elements Truffles (Union City, NJ) and contained Thai-inspired rose elements. (As indicated above, I had tasted this bar before, in 2018.)

Aroma notes included: smooth dark chocolate; fragrant rose/rosewater; and faint cardamom.

Flavor notes for this gentle (cocoa butter prominent) but flavorful 70% bar included: smooth dark chocolate; rose, rose, and more authentic rose; and a trace of cardamom spice. If you enjoy floral and honey flavors, you'll love the sweet, soft authentic rose aroma and flavor.

This bar was well balanced and relatively low in bitterness/acidity--in part due to cocoa butter (#1 ingredient).

Ingredients: "Organic Cacao Butter, Raw Honey, Organic Cacao Powder, Rose Essential Oil, Cardamom Essential Oil."

Allergen-related information: "Made in a facility that processes nuts"

* Cambodia and Thailand are two of the oldest kingdoms in Southeast Asia. Both were once part of the Khmer civilization (when the empire included all of Cambodia, and parts of Thailand and Laos). The two countries have many similar cultural and culinary traditions, some language overlaps. In recent centuries, the relationship between the two countries has been influenced by French colonization in SE Asia, cultural influences from India and China, and many other factors. (It's complicated.) 

Both countries are worth visiting and are in a climactic zone where cacao, palm sugar, flowers and spices (ginger, lemongrass, peppers) grow. Both have lovely cuisines, traditions, and at least one holiday involving fireworks. A Thai version of this Holiday in Cambodia bar might have a little more (spicy) heat; both countries offer complementary flavors that can be (continue to be) successfully blended with cacao.