Chocolove - 55% Cocoa - Salted Almond Butter in Dark Chocolate (bar) - May 10, 2024

Chocolate of The Day 

Chocolove
55% Cocoa Salted Almond Butter in Dark Chocolate (bar)
Good ++ 
Weight: 1.6 oz. (45 g.) / 3.2 oz. (90 g.) in total bar
Calories: 240 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $3.49 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Piazza's, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Chocolate Banquet, and a transition day between Chocolate and Virtual Caribbean Cruise and Chocolate and Dates Theme Week.

Today's 55% Cocoa Salted Almond Butter in Dark Chocolate (bar) was from Chocolove (Boulder, CO).

Aroma notes included: dark chocolate (faint roasted, ultra-dark but smooth, Forastero-like variety cacao).

Texture: relatively thick smooth dark chocolate encasing a thick, rich, nutty almond butter filling.

Flavor notes included: ultra-dark, bold dark chocolate (rich, dark, drinking chocolate), very faint graham cracker, and lightly salted almond butter filling. It was quite "dark" for 55% Cacao chocolate, but also relatively smooth. The almond butter added mellow, nutty flavor.

So where's the Caribbean in this chocolate? I paired this bar with plantain chips and nances (small fruits that look like yellow cherries) -- two popular Caribbean fruits/foods that complemented this U.S.-made chocolate. It's back to the virtual mainland today.

Ingredients: Dark Chocolate (Cocoa Liquor**, Sugar, Cocoa Butter**, Soy Lecithin and/or Sunflower Lecithin, Vanilla), Almond Butter (Dry Roasted Unblanched Almonds), Milk Chocolate (Sugar, Cocoa Butter**, Milk, Cocoa Liquor**, Soy Lecithin and/or Sunflower Lecithin, Vanilla), Organic Palm Fruit Oil, Organic Butter Oil, Sea Salt, Sunflower Lecithin. (** Rainforest Alliance Certified. Find out more at RA.org.)

Allergen-related information: Contains: Almonds, Milk, Soy. "Made in a Facility That Also Processes Eggs, Peanuts, And Other Tree Nuts."

Venice Organics - Stress & Immunity Support - Reishi & Chaga 70% Chocolate (Dominican Republic) Bar - May 9, 2024

Chocolate of the Day

Venice Organics
Stress & Immunity Support - Reishi & Chaga 70% Chocolate Bar
Dominican Republic - Single Origin 
Good ++ 
Weight: 1.325 oz. (37.5 g.) / 2.65 oz. (75 g.) in total bar
Calories: 206 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $11.99 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Farm Fresh, online order

Welcome to the last day (Day #7) of Chocolate and Virtual Caribbean Cruise Theme Week.

This virtual cruise week has been relaxing. Today's Dominican Republic cacao chocolate even offered stress and immunity support--an appreciated dose of dark benefits before rejoining a more hectic life back on the virtual mainland next week.

Today's Organic "Stress and Immunity Support" Reishi & Chaga 70% Chocolate Bar was made from cacao bean-to-chocolate bar--by Venice Organics (Los Angeles, CA), using single origin cacao from the Dominican Republic.

Aroma notes for this single origin dark chocolate included: pleasing dark chocolate; sweet green (coconut sugar, almost floral); and very faint, herby botanicals; and slightly woodsy almost-coconut shell. (There was no shell in this bar.)

Texture: smooth, almost creamy, fully incorporated ingredients (with zero detectable graininess from any mushroom particles in case you're wondering).

Flavor notes included: rich dark chocolate (dark brownie, extra dark ganache), and some well-balanced, very faint earth-toned complexity (very faint woodsy, coconut sugar, and umami/mushroom); and all these harmonious flavor notes tapered off together into a pleasant finish.

Ingredients: *Chocolate (*Cocoa, *Coconut Sugar, *Cocoa Butter), *Cocoa Butter, *Reishi, *Chaga (* = Organic) 

Allergen-related information: Processed in shared equipment with products containing nuts.