Intrigue Chocolate Co. - Sobolo 60% Cacao (bar) - April 30, 2025

Chocolate of the Day

Intrigue Chocolate Co.
Sobolo 60% Cacao (bar)
Good ++
Weight: 1 oz. (28 g.) in total bar

Calories: 155 calories (estimate) in 1 bar
Cost: $6.00 (estimate) for 1 bar
Purchased from: Intrigue Chocolate, online order

Welcome to Day #6 of Chocolate & Uganda Week; and Day #2 of Chocolate and Warm Spices Theme Week.

Today's Sobolo 60% Cacao (bar) (Batch #000000110824) was made and distributed by Intrigue Chocolate Co. (Seattle, WA).*  

The cacao used to make this bar was from Uganda (Rwenzururu; Semuliki Forest). Harvest year was 2022. And the cacao variety/ies were: "mostly Trinitario and Amelonado."

The cacao was from Eastern Africa; but this bar also contained ingredients with West African, Caribbean and spice island roots.

Aroma and flavor notes included: balanced, slightly woodsy, chocolate-y dark chocolate with bright citrus, floral (hibiscus) and very faint, bright, sweet pineapple, warm spice (ginger) and herbal/peppercorns.

In addition to the expected bright, tart sweet hibiscus and warm spices (ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, black pepper, etc.) there were two more fun, subtle exotic spice flavors: prekese (a member of the pea family, with large woody looking pods, from Ghana that is naturally sweet), and grains of paradise (also from West Africa and that have wonderful peppercorn and spice flavors).

Texture: smooth, with a very faint, fleeting mild trace of astringency (possibly from hibiscus/sorrel/sobolo).

I really enjoyed the thoughtfully created and executed, bright, sweet and tasty bouquet of flavors in this bar. The flavor inclusions conjured up a sweet, exotically-spiced tropical drink on a magical island somewhere that was pleasingly, authentically tart-sweet--without being too tart or too sweet or too spicy. And all these flavors were very complementary with (and were grounded by) the underlying, very slightly earthy/woodsy dark chocolate.

We may not have magical time machines or teleportation devices; but sometimes chocolate can be transporting. This one belongs in the virtual travel category.

Maker's tasting notes: "An Inspired Flavor...There is a staple beverage of West Africa and the Caribbean that has many names: sobolo, zobo drink, bissap, sorrel drink, roselle, wonjo, folere, dabileni, tsobo, agua de Jamaica...All the versions feature hibiscus, with lots of fruit, spices, and ice."

Ingredients:  Roasted cacao nibs, raw cane sugar, cocoa butter, hibiscus, prekese, freeze-dried pineapple, ginger, grains of paradise, dried lemon juice, dried lime juice, cinnamon, nutmeg, black pepper, paprika, clove, peppermint leaf.

Allergen-related information: (No information on package.)

*Note: the company is planning to relocate to Chisholm, MN.