Chocolate of the Day
Anarchy Chocolate
85% Dark Chocolate (bar)
Good + - Good ++
Weight: 1.41 oz. (40 g.) / 2.82 oz. (80 g.) in total bar
Calories: 219 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $5.55 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Anarchy Chocolate, online order
Welcome to Day #9 of Chocolate and Thailand Theme Week.
Today's 85% Dark Chocolate (bar) was made by Anarchy Chocolate (at Anarchy (Cocoa) Farm in Trat, Thailand).
The family-owned, small-batch chocolate maker operates on their own farm, and sells a variety of Thai cacao bean-based offerings (chocolate bars, cacao nibs, cacao husk tea).
Aroma notes included: dark chocolate (dark chocolate ganache, lemony green (oxalis)); and very faint floral spice and fruit (diffuse fig, tropical fruit).
Texture: dark chocolate with a slightly uneven melt (out-of-temper) and a slight graininess/astringency (throat tickle).*
Flavor notes included: dark chocolate; natural sweetness (honeyed rice, fruit); and very faint tart lemony herb (oxalis) and spice.
This was a fun chocolate to try; and I enjoyed the relatively gentle flavor complexity. It was relatively low in bitterness for an 85% ultra-dark (high-percentage cacao) bar, and it wasn't too sweet--allowing the subtler flavors to shine through.
I'm a huge supporter of small businesses making bean-to-bar chocolate. For Anarchy Chocolate, and a handful of others, the difficulty level goes up as they're making chocolate from tree-to-bar in a cacao growing zone. They operate a farm; may be doing their own fermenting; and are making chocolate in warm and humid climates; and shipping to other countries without being able to completely control the end-to-end shipping process.*
Ingredients: Not listed.
Allergen-related information: None found.
*Note: The textural attributes mentioned were likely from a long transit time from Thailand to the U.S. (A few months elapsed between when the order was placed and when it was delivered.) I'm guessing that the package, containing three different bars, may have been held up in customs for some time, and that this time did not include storage at an ideal temperature range.
