NearyNogs Chocolate - "Salt Water Days" - Irish sea salt, cacao nibs & gold dust 60% Ecuador (bar) - Sept. 3, 2024

Chocolate of the Day

NearyNogs Chocolate
"Salt Water Days" - Irish sea salt, cacao nibs & gold dust 60% Ecuador (bar)
Good ++
Weight: 1.06 oz. (30 g.) / 2.1 oz. (60 g.) in total bar
Calories: 166 calories in 1/2 bar 
Cost: $12.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocolate Covered, San Francisco, CA

Welcome to Day #10 of Chocolate and The Sea Theme Week.

Today's "Salt Water Days" - Irish sea salt, cacao nibs & gold dust 60% Ecuador (bar) (Batch 2604) was from NearyNogs Chocolate (Mourne Coast, Ireland). 

This small batch, bean-to-bar chocolate maker is "nestled between the Mourne Mountains and the Irish Sea." And today's bar is their "ode to sunny beach days." (include parts of their description) the golden sheen off the water. 

The cacao used for this 60% dark chocolate was made using cacao from Hacienda Limon in Ecuador.

Aroma notes included: dark chocolate (ganache), very faint tart-sweet fruit (citrus, berry, dried fig), and faint roasted and caramel notes found in mocha lattes.

There were two different flavor zones in this bar: 1.) the base dark chocolate (ultra-dark, bittersweet chocolate-y tart made with non-alkalized cocoa powder); very faint diffuse fruit (citrus, berry); roasted marshmallow/toffee; and a very slightly earthy, bittersweet tang; and 2.) the bites that also included the crunchy cocoa nibs and sea salt. The latter bites tasted mellower, nuttier, and a bit more well balanced to me. 

Note: salt tends to cut bitterness a little. I liked the bites with salt and nibs a bit better. It was nice to have a wee bit of contrast though. I'm a huge fan of well-executed complexity and layered flavors. 

Someone asked me: Did the gold have a flavor? Not that I could taste. Pure gold is considered an inert substance, and doesn't spark taste sensations per se; but it can (and did today) create pretty visual effects. And appearance is part of the whole tasting experience.

Having walked on the coastal trail near Dublin, the subtle glow of the gold sheen on this bar did indeed bring back happy memories of late afternoon light on the Irish sea when I was there. Thank you to NearyNogs for the temporal transportation today and for being who they are (solar-powered chocolate factory, soulful family stories, thoughtfulness, and nature-inspired, beautiful, compostable packaging).

Maker's Tasting Notes: Caramel, Butter, Toffee, Salt

Ingredients: "60% cacao beans, unrefined cane sugar, Irish sea salt, edible gold dust. (cocoa solids 60% minimum)."

Allergen-related information: None listed on packaging.

*Edible gold has no taste; and it is "inert" so it doesn't react with anything?? and passes through the digestive system.

Chocolates Unlimited by Denise - Chocolate fishing set: Gone Fishin' sign; Fish, Sinker; Reel; Gummy Worms

Chocolate of the Day

Chocolates Unlimited by Denise
Dark Chocolate Gone Fishin' set: with sign, fish, reel, sinker, bait (gummy worms)
Good +
Weight: 1.9 oz. (54 g.) / 7.24 oz. (205 g.) in total box of 5 items
Calories: 294.5 calories (estimate) in 3 items
Cost: $16.00 (+ shipping) for 1 box of 5 items
Purchased from: Chocolates Unlimited by Denise, online order

Welcome to Day #9 of Chocolate and The Sea Theme Week.

Today's novelty chocolate gift set from Chocolates Unlimited by Denise was inspired by and designed for fishermen (and women). The five realistic looking fishing essentials/items in this box included dark chocolate versions of a Gone Fishin' sign, a fish, reel and sinker. The fifth item was a small packet of gummy worms (bait)--a fun addition to this kit, that I did not taste.

The company offers a wide variety of different novelty and different molded/shaped chocolate items.

This dark chocolate was good, with no dramatic low lights or high lights. The cocoa was alkalized and therefore not overly acidic, or bitter. I have no complaints. (It was tastier than dark chocolate syrup, which often gets a similar treatment.)

The texture and flavor were smooth. 

Though, having been spoiled by craft chocolate makers, the melt was not quite as buttery/rich as some other bars, partly because of use of less expensive oils vs. added cocoa butter. 

Ingredients: "Herkens Dark Chocolate: Sugar, Partially Hydrogenated Palm Kernel and Cottonseed Oils, Nonfat Dry Milk, Cocoa Processed with Alkali, Cocoa, Glycerol Lacto Esters of Fatty Acids, Soy Lecithin and Salt."

Allergen-related information: Contains Milk and Soy.