Pacific Resources International (PRI) - Orange Dark Chocolate Patties with Manuka Honey - June 18, 2024

Chocolate of the Day

Pacific Resources International (PRI)
Orange Dark Chocolate Patties with Manuka Honey
Good ++
Weight: 1.16 oz. (33 g.) / 5 oz. (141.5 g.) in total package
Calories: 120 calories in 1 serving (3 pieces)
Cost: $9.99 for 1 package
Purchased from: PRI, online order 

Welcome to Day #2 of Chocolate & Honey Theme Week.

Today's Orange Dark Chocolate Patties with Manuka Honey were distributed by Pacific Resources International (Carpinteria, CA). The company imports Manuka honey from New Zealand and Australia--to enjoy a la carte, or as inclusions in chocolates and other offerings.

Aroma notes for these orange foil-wrapped patties included: faintly earthy dark chocolate and slightly spicy orange. 

The 99% cacao dark chocolate shell had a slightly crunchy (in a cool room) texture and a thick, creamy melt and mouthfeel. Inside was a soft, almost velvety honey filling.

I enjoyed the contrast between the ultra-dark, very slightly earthy and roasted flavors of the 99% cacao chocolate coating and the bright, sweet, complex (slightly floral/herbal) orange-infused honey filling. The well-executed and layered flavors (vs. a homogeneous blend found in a bar or ganache) made this more interesting and enjoyable.  

Made with only three ingredients, all three had their turn to shine. The spotlight on center stage belonged to the very slightly spicy orange and complex honey (floral, spice, herbal, etc.) flavors. And that filling was surrounded by 99% cacao dark chocolate around the edges. The more down to earth dark chocolate was the first taste, and then came back again to linger in the finish. 

Ingredients: "Manuka/Honey, 99% cocoa Dark chocolate, Orange Oil"

Allergen-related information: None listed. (Certified Kosher)

*Manuka honey comes from the nectar of flowers that grow on the Manuka (Leptospermum scoparium) shrub-like tree. It is native to New Zealand and parts of (coastal) Australia, but is also cultivated in other areas of the world.

Lindt - Almond with Honey Dark Chocolate 47% (bar) - June 17, 2024

Chocolate of the Day

Lindt
Almond with Honey Dark Chocolate (bar)
Good ++
Weight: 1.75 oz. (50 g.) / 3.5 oz. (100 g.) in total bar
Calories: 266.6 calories for 1/2 bar
Cost: $1.99 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Grocery Outlet Bargain Market, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #1 of Chocolate and Honey Theme Week, including chocolates with honey as well as a few chocolates with honey-like tasting notes.

Today's Almond Honey Dark Chocolate (bar) was manufactured by Lindt & Sprungli USA) Inc. (Stratham, NH). 

Aroma notes for this Swiss-inspired chocolate were true to the description and included: floral honey, dark chocolate and faint nut.

Texture: smooth dark chocolate with crunchy bits of almond.

Taste: relatively bold, yet smooth, dark chocolate, honey, very faint floral (mostly in the aroma), and subtle almond.

What I liked: flavorful, honey notes; no off notes; dark, without being too acidic or bitter. 

While it tasted darker than 47% cocoa (more like 60%--which I liked), it was also fairly sweet (sugar was the number one ingredient). The sugar gave this a dark chocolate and honey candy-like flavor.

Ingredients: Sugar, Chocolate, Caramelized Almonds (Almonds, Sugar, Honey, Cocoa Butter), Cocoa Butter, Milk fat, Soy Lecithin (Emulsifier), Natural Flavor.

Allergen-related information: Contains Almonds, Milk, Soy. May Contain Other Tree Nuts. 

American Heritage Chocolate - Dark Chocolate with vanilla, orange & cinnamon (bar) - June 16, 2024

Chocolate of the Day

American Heritage Chocolate
Dark Chocolate with a hint of vanilla, orange & cinnamon (bar)
Good: ++
Weight:  1.27 oz. (36 g.) in 1 bar
Calories: 190 calories in 1 bar
Cost: $2.99 for 1 bar (+tax and shipping)
Purchased from: (Online Shop at Colonial Williamsburg, Online order)

Welcome to the last day of Chocolate and Mexico Week.

Today's American Heritage Chocolate Dark Chocolate with a hint of vanilla, orange and cinnamon 57% Cacao (bar) was made in Henderson, Nevada, and distributed by Mars Wrigley Confectionery US, LLC (Hackettstown, NJ). 

I found this historically-inspired chocolate on the Colonial Williamsburg website. Cacao was ground and consumed in the U.S. by newly arrived Europeans as far back as the 1700s. Williamsburg, Virginia, was using recipes that had their roots in Mexico/Central America. 

Chocolate houses (similar to today's coffee houses) were also in vogue in parts of Europe in the 1600s-1700s; and would have been known to some of the early colonists. These early, water-based, chocolate beverages contained exotic spices and were typically sweetened with sugar.

This bar was full of rich aroma and flavors that reminded me a lot of Mexican chocolate (especially drinking chocolates). This chocolate contained a subtle warm cinnamon and spice blend, and a subtle spicy, kick--consistent with chocolate(s) with chili peppers in Mexico--and possibly in some early chocolate recipes/beverages adopted/adapted by Europeans.

The smooth, thick and creamy-textured dark chocolate had prominent cinnamon and spice (red pepper) notes that were rounded out with orange and vanilla. It had a pleasing, warm quality to it.

I enjoyed this chocolate with some (gluten free) Cinnamon Churro chips from Get Mindright Inc. (Beverly Hills, CA). I felt I'd been transported to Mexico/Latin America.

Ingredients: Chocolate, sugar, cocoa butter, cinnamon, anise, nutmeg, salt, natural flavors, red pepper.

Allergen-related information: "May contain milk, peanuts, tree nuts, egg and soy."

Oaxacan Chocolate 100% Cacao (pieces) - June 15, 2024

Chocolate of the Day

(Vendor unknown)
Oaxacan chocolate 100% cacao (pieces)
Good ++
Weight: .6 oz. (15 + 2 g.)/ 2.4 oz. (69 g.) total bag of 2 pieces
Calories: 93 calories (estimate) in 1/2 of 1 piece
Cost: N/A - gift from neighbor
Purchased from: N/A - gift from neighbor (Thank you Nallely and Gomez family)

Welcome to Day #6 of Chocolate and Mexico Theme Week, featuring two chocolates.

The first chocolate, from Oaxaca, was very special; it was part of a Mexican chocolate gift bag from my neighbors. 

Aroma notes for this single-ingredient, full-strength (100%) cacao included: deep, rich, authentic cacao (beans, nibs), faint olive, dark brownie, and diffuse wine/fermentation and acidity. 

I was expecting a strong taste; but this cacao was very well-behaved for a 100% cacao item (no sugar). This was not a shiny tempered chocolate that broke with a hard snap, but rather it was easy to break off pieces--making it well-suited for making hot chocolate or adding to other dishes/beverages/desserts.

Full of authentic cacao flavors, it created a relatively smooth drinking chocolate; and I enjoyed it sprinkled over nuts and fruit for breakfast. 

It also would be a great addition to a blander, sweeter hot chocolate, to punch up the taste a bit. 

Javier Confectionery
Velvet Dark Drinking Chocolate with marshmallows
Good ++
Weight: 2 oz. (56.6 g.) / 15.75 oz. (444 g.) in total package
Calories: 375 calories (estimate) in 1 serving 
Cost: N/A - gift from neighbors
Purchased from: N/A - gift from neighbors (Thank you Nallely and Gomez family)

Today's Velvet Dark Drinking Chocolate Mix (with Marshmallows) was from Javier Confectionery* (Burlingame, CA).

This mix had a pleasing drinking chocolate (cocoa) aroma and flavor. Cocoa butter and butter oil gave this mix a creamy flavor and texture. The marshmallows added some sweet and light, lofty texture.

I also tried this chocolate with milk and a pinch of 100% cacao to make this blend slightly richer on the cacao bean side, and to make it taste a little less sweet.

Ingredients: Semi-Sweet Chocolate (chocolate liquor, sugar, cocoa butter, butter oil, soya lecithin, emulsifier, pure vanilla). Marshmallow (sugar, corn syrup, invert sugar gelatin).

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

*Javier Confectionery is located in/co-located with the Preston's Candy and Ice Cream store in Burlingame, CA

Chocolate Mayordomo - Drinking Chocolate - June 13, 2024

Chocolate of the Day

Chocolate Mayordomo 
Premium Drinking Chocolate (Tabletas)
Good+++
Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) (part of a larger package)
Calories: 155 calories (estimate) for 1 oz. piece
Cost: N/A - gift from neighbor
Purchased from: N/A - gift from neighbor (gracias a Nallely y la familia Gomez)

Welcome to Day #5 of Chocolate and Mexico Theme Week.

Today's Drinking Chocolate/Hot Chocolate (en tabletas - bar form) was from Chocolate Mayordomo  (Oaxaca, Mexico). This was generously shared with me by my neighbors.*

Mayordomo is known for its mole sauces and "table chocolate" (drinking chocolate in scored tablet form and other chocolates).

Aroma notes included: rich chocolate and cinnamon, and very faint, fleeting stone fruit (ripe peach).

This chocolate was very tasty. It produced the kind of warm beverage that makes you want to sit back and relax and savor each sip with a good friend or a book.

I also found it to be great, all by itself -- to eat out of hand; as a chilled drinking chocolate with milk (or at temperature); and grated over desserts or ice cream. 

If you do taste a square or two of a tablet by itself, the initial texture will seem a bit crumbly/grainy (like the first cut of stone-ground cacao with sugar and cinnamon). This is an opportunity/reminder to savor (this and other) chocolate slowly, as you let it dissolve in your mouth.

This was a less processed, flavorful authentic cacao that was low in bitterness. I found this much more tasty than the alkali-processed cocoa we normally find when we're served hot chocolate here in the U.S.--which is also lower in bitterness, but in flavor as well as it has been processed to remove all potential bitter and sour notes that might be present. This process also takes away some of the better flavors as well.

I loved the authentic cacao flavors, and the short list of ingredients. The warm, spicy-sweet cinnamon flavor was almost intoxicating.

Ingredients: Roasted cacao beans, almonds and cinnamon, sugar

Allergen-related information: None listed on gold foil packaging (part of a larger package).

* I live in the San Francisco Bay Area and the brands of hot chocolate we see from Mexico most often in specialty stores are Ibarra and Abuelita. So this Oaxacan chocolate gift was a real treat. (For those that live in the U.S., you may be able to find Mayordomo chocolate on Etsy.)