Cacao Space - Colombia Arauca 75% (bar) - Sept. 24, 2024

Chocolate of the Day

Cacao Space
Colombia Arauca 75% (bar)
Good ++ - Good +++
Weight: 1.1 oz. (31 g.) / 2.2 oz. (62 g.) in total bar
Calories: 170.5 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $9.00 for 1 bar  
Purchased from: Cacao Space, online order, local pick-up 

Welcome to Day #12 of Chocolate and Colombia Theme Week, and Day #2 of Chocolate and Coffee Theme Week--that includes chocolates with coffee flavor inclusions, and (in today's case) a bar with coffee notes.

Today's Colombia Arauca 75% (bar) was from Cacao Space (Los Altos, CA). The maker is focusing on handcrafted, stone ground, refined sugar free, and plant-based chocolates.

I really enjoyed the pleasing and satisfying aroma and flavor notes in this two-ingredient dark chocolate. Notes included: smooth dark chocolate (that was naturally sweet, fragrant, and very balanced/low acidity and bitterness); warm spice (gingerbread); and very faint coffee latte. 

The organic coconut sugar likely contributed to the faint warm spice and latte notes.

Texture: smooth, even texture and melt.

Ingredients: cacao nibs, organic coconut sugar.

Allergen-related information: (None listed on wrapper.) 

Coco Chocolatier - Cold Brew Coffee Dark Chocolate (bar) - Sept. 23, 2024

Chocolate of the Day

Coco Chocolatier
Cold Brew Coffee Dark Chocolate (bar)
Good ++
Weight: 1.41 oz. (40 g.) / 2.82 oz. (80 g.) in total bar
Calories: 230 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $11.50 for 1 bar
Purchased from: The Phoenix Shop, Big Sur, California

Welcome to Day #11 of Chocolate & Colombia Theme Week, and Day #1 of Chocolate and Coffee Week(s).

Today's Cold Brew Coffee (61% cocoa) Dark Chocolate (bar) was from Coco Chocolatier/Coco EU (Belfast and Edinburgh). The outer wrapper was, quite literally, a work of art.*

Aroma: relatively sweet dark chocolate, roasted coffee and appealing, mysterious and hard to pin-down notes that might have been: fleeting herb, spice and savory notes (mild green pepper; roasted olive tapenade on freshly toasted bread); mild earth/clay; and slightly smoky vanilla.

The cacao origin for this bar was Colombia. 

Texture: relatively smooth, even texture and melt.

Flavor notes: well-balanced dark chocolate and coffee; not too acidic; not too bitter; naturally sweet, but not too sweet; and a polite lingering coffee finish. 

I loved the intriguing aroma and felt grateful for the relatively mellow, smooth, almost coffee flavor--likely due to the cold brew method, and added cocoa butter.

While I don't drink coffee anymore, I've featured a Chocolate and Coffee Theme Week almost every year on Chocolate Banquet. I loved drinking coffee; and the toughest part about giving it up was the lovely, seductive aromas. I'm looking forward to being intoxicated by coffee scents this week.

Ingredients: Cocoa Mass, Sugar, Cocoa Butter, Coffee (<1%), Emulsifier: Non-GMO Soya Lecithin, Natural Coffee Flavour, Natural Vanilla Flavour. (Cocoa Solids: 61% Minimum)

Allergen-related information: "May Contain Traces of Peanuts, Nuts, Milk and Gluten."

*Chocolate can be blended with thousands of flavors; it's very versatile. It also can be enjoyed with--and found swaddled in--many art styles. Packaging/labels for craft chocolate, beer, and wine have been great sources of fresh and inspired designs and entertaining surprises over time. I would have saved all of the thousands of the physical wrappers I've seen, but that would've required renting a large storage facility.