Monday, December 2, 2024

Kasama Chocolate - Tanduay Rum 75% Cacao Barrel Aged Dark Chocolate (bar) - Dec. 2, 2024

Chocolate of the Day

Kasama Chocolate
Tanduay Rum 75% Cacao Barrel Aged Dark Chocolate (bar)
Good ++
Weight: .97 oz. (27.5 g.) / 1.94 oz. (55 g.) in total bar
Calories: 166.5 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $19.50 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Intrigue Chocolate, online order

Welcome to Day #8 of Chocolate and Spirits Theme Week. 

Today's Tanduay Rum 75% Cacao Barrel Aged Dark Chocolate (bar) was from Kasama Chocolate (Vancouver, B.C., Canada).  

This Special Release bean-to-bar chocolate was made using cacao beans and rum from the Philippines.

These roasted cacao beans (broken into pieces, aka nibs) were aged with Tanduay Gold Philippine Rum*. The nibs were then "dried and stone ground to create a rich, dark chocolate with tropical notes of coconut, caramel cream and hints of spice and sandalwood..."

I didn't pick up all these notes, but it was still a very enjoyable tasting experience. Aroma and flavor notes I experienced included: smooth dark chocolate and subtle, sweet spirits (rum) and subtle green/botanical/floral (orchid) and very faint cookie (brown sugar, rum).

Texture: smooth, creamy chocolate-y with a pleasing melt and mouthfeel.

I enjoyed the subtle, smooth flavor and natural sweetness in this chocolate. The choice of 75% cacao dark chocolate seemed perfect. (A 70% cacao version might have tasted too sweet, and might have made the already subtle flavor notes too subtle--for a bar where I want to enjoy the taste imparted by the spirits.) 

Like yesterday's Kasama Single Malt Canadian Whisky bar (with bolder flavors), today's rum bar might be a great bar to share with friends and family over the holidays, and would be a nice winter warmer. (Both could be part of a chocolate and spirits (side-by-side) tasting flight.)

Ingredients: Tanduay Gold Rum Aged Cacao Nibs, Unrefined Cane Sugar*, Cacao Butter* (* = Organic)  

Allergen-related information: None listed, except "Made in a facility that contains nuts."

*"In 1854, a distillery was built on Isla De Tanduay, a small piece of land bordering the Quiapo & San Miguel districts in Manila." (It became most well known for its rum.)

Kasama Chocolate - Odd Society Single Malt Canadian Whisky 70% Cacao (bar) - Dec. 1, 2024

Chocolate of the Day

Kasama Chocolate
Odd Society Single Malt Canadian Whisky 70% Cacao Barrel Aged (bar)
Good ++
Weight: .97 oz. (27.5 g.) / 1.94 oz. (55 g.) in total bar
Calories: 163 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $19.50 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Intrigue Chocolate, online order

Welcome to Day #7 of Chocolate and Spirits Theme Week. 

Today's Odd Society Single Malt Canadian Whisky 70% Cacao Barrel Aged (bar) was from Kasama Chocolate (Vancouver, B.C., Canada).  

This Special Release bean-to-bar chocolate was made using cacao beans from Northern Ecuador (Costa Esmeraldas). These roasted cacao beans (broken into pieces, aka nibs) were "aged with Odd Society Distillery's Commodore single malt whisky*. The nibs were then dried and stone ground to create a...rich dark chocolate with oak and whisky notes."

Aroma and flavor notes included: smooth, dark chocolate; a bouquet of marinated fruits (ripe cherry, sweet/boozy orange, citron and sweet lime); barrel-aged whiskey; very, very faint (fleeting) vegetable (green beans + nopalitos cooked with a little lemon); and very faint herbal (licorice). In the finish: fudge brownie, whiskey, vanilla and cherry tobacco, subtle oak.

Texture: smooth, chocolate-y with a pleasing melt and mouthfeel.

I enjoyed the balanced, rich complexity and unexpected fruitiness in this bar. It was flavorful, not too sweet (thank you!), and satisfying. I liked that the complex cocktail of flavors extended into a relatively long finish with mellow, authentic, barrel-aged whiskey, vanilla and light cherry. 

This would be a great bar to share with friends and family over the holidays, or to provide a little warmth to any winter day/evening.

Ingredients: Commodore Whisky Aged Cacao Nibs, Unrefined Cane Sugar*, Cacao Butter* (* = Organic) 

Allergen-related information: None listed, except "Made in a facility that contains nuts."

*The Odd Society Commodore small-batch whisky in this bar tasted closer to Bourbon than Scotch. It was "distilled with 100% BC grown, malted barley, and aged in ex-bourbon barrels, giving it a...peppery-sweetness, along with dark fruit, clove, and toffee notes." 

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