Millcreek Cacao Roasters - Espresso 70% Dark Chocolate (bar) - Sept. 6, 2025

Chocolate of the Day

Millcreek Cacao Roasters 
Espresso - 70% Dark Chocolate (bar)
Good ++ 
Weight: .88 oz. (25 g.) / 1.75 oz. (50 g.) in total bar
Calories: 140 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $7.99 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Caputo's, online order

Welcome to Day #7 of Chocolate & Coffee Theme Week.

Today's Espresso - 70% Dark Chocolate Arriba Nacional Hacienda Limon Farm, Ecuador (bar) was from Millcreek Cacao Roasters (Salt Lake City, UT).

The family-owned company began their journey as "Farm to Bar Chocolate Makers" in 2011. They've focused on direct sourced heirloom cacao(s) from equatorial regions (Ecuador, Nicaragua) and "meticulous processing" of beans in their factory in Salt Lake City to create fine flavored chocolates.

The certified heirloom cacao used in today's Espresso bar was Arriba Nacional cacao from Hacienda Limon Farm in the Guayas Province of Ecuador--a region that contains views of the Pacific Ocean as well as lush forests in the interior.

Texture: smooth dark chocolate base, with a very faint (barely detectable) astringency and very tiny,  crunchy bits of espresso (finely ground coffee beans). The coffee was pleasant, not too harsh.

Aroma and flavor notes were balanced, with subtle complexity, and included: smooth, chocolate-y, dark chocolate; a very faint (agreeable) green botanical mix that included: a barely detectable, fleeting salted potato chip note at the very beginning (when bar was first unwrapped) that then shaded into delicate, authentic lush green forest; and last, but not least, smooth coffee notes. 

There were also very faint/diffuse red fruit (cherry, berry) and very faint roasted (almost nutty) notes--that could have come from the coffee or the cacao. It wasn't clear. I enjoyed them all the same.

This was a very pleasing bar. It was relatively low in acidity and had an agreeable, hearty quality to it. I loved the shy-er, almost-hidden aroma and flavor notes from start-to-finish; it was like following a rabbit through a forest.

Ingredients: "Cacao, Pure Cane Sugar, Cocoa Butter, Roasted Coffee Beans"

Allergen-related information: "May contain traces of tree nuts and milk"