David Rio - Black Rhino Cocoa Chai (+ mushrooms) - Dec. 19, 2024

Chocolate of the Day

David Rio
Black Rhino Cocoa Chai 
Good + - Good ++
Weight: 2 Tbsp. (80 g.) / 16.1 oz. (456 g.) in total container

Calories: 80 calories in 1 serving 
Cost: $14.99 for 1 container
Purchased from: Amazon.com, online order

Welcome to Day #8 of Chocolate and Chai Theme Week, and Day #2 of Chocolate and Mushroom Week.

Today's Black Rhino Chai -- black tea, exotic spices & rich cocoa -- was manufactured for David Rio (San Francisco. CA)

Aroma notes included: sweet cocoa, faint gingerbread spices and very faint spiced tea latte.

Texture: smooth texture after mixed with hot water and milks.

Flavor notes included: pleasant light cocoa, gingerbread and chai tea flavors. (Note: I put in a little extra of this powdered mix into my cocoa to get a bit more chocolate flavor. (Sugar was the number one ingredient.)

While it created an extra step to find my own milk, I also appreciated having the option to choose the milk of one's choice--hazelnut milk. It was fairly light (not thick and creamy), so I felt like I needed a bit more heft -- either whole milk or dark chocolate, to add flavor and make it a little less sugary.

I also tried mushroom jerky-infused milk. The hazelnut milk was OK, but the slightly sweet-salty mushroom jerky-infused milk didn't work as well as I thought it would. (I like savory chocolates; so I had to give it a try.)

I liked that this powdered mix dissolved into warm/hot liquids fairly easily (and completely). I'm a gingerbread fan, so I liked the ginger-forward chai spices. I also liked that the critically endangered Black Rhino got a little extra publicity with this product name. 

Ingredients: "sugar, cocoa (14%), black tea powder (5%), spices, salt."

Allergen-related information: (No information found on container.)

Mandala Chocolate - Appalachian Wild Chai Sugar Free Dark Chocolate with Herbs, Mushrooms, Chai Spices (bar) - Dec. 18, 2024

Chocolate of the Day

Mandala Chocolate
Appalachian Wild Chai Sugar Free Dark Chocolate with Herbs, Mushrooms and Chai Spices (bar)
Good ++ 
Weight: 1.15 oz. (32.5 g.) / 2.3 oz. (65 g.) in total bar
Calories: 302 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $10.00 for 1 bar (when purchased in a 3-pack)
Purchased from: Amazon.com/Mandala Chocolate, online order

Welcome to Day #7 of Chocolate and Chai Theme Week, and Day #1 of Chocolate and Mushrooms Week.

Today's Organic Appalachian Wild Chai Sugar Free Dark Chocolate with Herbs, Mushrooms and Chai Spices (bar) was handcrafted in Asheville, North Carolina, by Mandala Naturals, LLC (Barnardsville, NC), using 70% stoneground cacao--and without added sugar.*

Aroma and flavor notes included: subtle chocolate and warm spices (cinnamon, ginger, very mild clove and nutmeg), very slightly woodsy sweetness (mesquite, licorice root), and very faint citrus (orange).

This 70% cacao bar included a wild chai blend: spices, herbs and "mushrooms unique to the Blue Ridge Mountains." All these flavors harmonized very nicely. The mushroom flavors were very undetectable. (The 70% cacao and range of spices in this bar makes them easy to miss.)

Texture: nice cacao buttery melt, smooth texture (especially given the amount of added spices and mushrooms).

I loved that this chocolate had an appealing, mild, natural sweetness with no added sugar.*

This bar had more nuanced flavors and a milder taste than most 70% chocolate bars, in part due to thoughtful ingredient selection and the lack of cane sugar.* You realize the effects of processed sugar when it's not there. There are other paths to sweetness.

Ingredients: "*Cacao, *Yacon, *Ginger, *Mesquite, *Maca, *Cinnamon, *Vanilla, *Licorice, *Cardamom, **Chaga, *Peppercorn, *Clove, **Reishi, **Spiceberries, *Nutmeg, *Fennel, *Orange Oil, Celtic Sea Salt (* = Organic, and ** = Organic and Wildcrafted)

Allergen-related information: No information listed.

*And I loved that "zero added sugars" actually meant no sugars and no artificial sweeteners. Instead, sweet-tasting herbs and botanicals (like yacon, maca, cinnamon, licorice, vanilla, etc.) supplied the "sweetness".