Ethereal Craft Chocolate - Organic Chocolate Bar - Uganda 70% Cacao - Aug. 22, 2024

Chocolate of the Day

Ethereal Craft Chocolate

Organic Chocolate Bar - Uganda 70% Cacao 
Good ++
Weight: .742 oz. (21 g.) / 2.25 oz. (64 g.) in total bar
Calories: 110 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $11.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Ethereal Chocolate, online order

Welcome to Day #6 of Chocolate and Uganda Week.

Today's Organic Chocolate Bar - Uganda 70% Cacao entry was created by Ethereal Confections (Woodstock, IL).

Aroma notes for this lovely, fruity, Uganda single origin bar included: chocolate (ganache) and balanced, zesty fruity notes (light sweet citrus, mango, and lightly fermented cacao fruit pulp).

Texture: This chocolate felt simultaneously light and slightly rough/grainy (stoneground). It did melt down to a smoother chocolate in my mouth after a few bites. People who prefer a deeply creamy mouthfeel may be a bit thrown by the stoneground texture; but I enjoyed the progression of the mouthfeel as it melted. (Remember, less grinding and conching time usually means more preservation of flavors and nutrients.)

Flavor notes included: chocolate (torte, ganache) with naturally tangy-sweet fruit (mango, cacao pulp, ripe sweet fig).

I liked the well-balanced, single origin chocolate and cacao pulp/fruity flavors that gave this organic bar a natural sweetness and light to it. (It also was low in bitterness and earth, letting the fruit flavors shine.)

Ingredients: "Cocoa Beans*, Cane Sugar*. (* Organic Ingredient)

Allergen-related information: "Made on shared equipment with peanuts & tree nuts."

Cacao Space - Uganda Semuliki Forest 75% with dried apricots and almonds - Aug. 21, 2024

Chocolate of the Day

Cacao Space  
Uganda Semuliki Forest 75% (bar) with dried apricots and almonds
Good ++
Weight: 1.18 oz. (33.5 g.) / 2.36 oz. (67 g.) in total bar 
Calories: 182 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $9.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Cacao Space, online order

Welcome to Day #6 of Chocolate and Uganda Theme Week.

Today's Uganda Semuliki Forest 75% (bar) with dried apricots and almonds was from Cacao Space (Los Altos, CA). The company offers several small batch, single origin bars and some with fruit, nut and other flavor inclusions--that have all tasted wonderful and fresh.

Aroma and flavor notes for the single origin 75% dark chocolate included: dark chocolate with, faint brown sugar and molasses, and faint fruit (berry, very faint banana) and warm spice.

This bar was a well-balanced blend of bold dark chocolate (faint roasted cacao, black licorice spice, brown sugar, very faint fruit) and pieces of authentic, high-quality dried apricots and almonds. 

All three flavors components were very complementary. The apricots added some bright tangy fruit flavor and a fresh dried fruit chewy texture that worked well. And the mellow, nutty almonds played nicely with the apricots and the chocolate. The apricots and almonds actually elevated and rounded out the dark chocolate flavor. That doesn't always happen.

Ingredients: "cacao nibs, organic coconut sugar" + "dried apricots and almonds"

Allergen-related information: (None listed on package)