Nutsola
DAT Organic Chocolate Simply Dark Chocolate 67% Cacao data sweetened (bar)
Good + - Good ++
Weight: .625 oz. (17.75 g.) / 2.5 oz. (71 g.) in total bar
Calories: 87.5 calories in 1/4 bar
Cost: $65.00 for 8-bar variety pack (4 flavors)
DAT Organic Chocolate Simply Dark Chocolate 67% Cacao data sweetened (bar)
Good + - Good ++
Weight: .625 oz. (17.75 g.) / 2.5 oz. (71 g.) in total bar
Calories: 87.5 calories in 1/4 bar
Cost: $65.00 for 8-bar variety pack (4 flavors)
Purchased from: Nutsola, online order
Welcome to Day #13 of Chocolate, Bees and Trees Theme Week, including several chocolates with tree-based sweeteners (primarily maple sugar from maple tree sap and dates from date palm trees).
Today's DAT Organic Chocolate Simply Dark Chocolate 67% Cacao data sweetened (bar) was from Nutsola LLC (Livingston, NJ).
The company offers a variety of chocolate bars sweetened only with dates and without other added sugars or artificial sweeteners.
Aroma and flavor notes included: dark, relatively dense cacao/chocolate and very faint, diffuse dried fruit (date). The dates were fully incorporated into the chocolate; however, there was some trace of them in the texture.
The texture of this chocolate was similar to stone-ground cacao (less processed chocolate) and/or the texture from some pureed dates.
I liked the sweetness level (balanced, less sugary sweet, less sugar buzz); and the shorter ingredient list--and use of Organic ingredients.
The cacao tasted like a well-managed Forastero (cacao variety). There weren't a lot of bright, floral or fruity (acidic) cacao notes. A very faint dose of sea salt helped to balance bitterness.
Eating only 1/4 bar was satisfying. Without added sugar (other than the natural sugars supplied by the dates) it was not addictive in the same way as some other chocolates can be.*
Ingredients: "Organic Cacao, Organic Date, Organic Cocoa Butter, Sea Salt"
Allergen-related information: May (contain) occasional pits. Shares equipment with products containing Soy, Peanuts, Tree Nuts, Milk, Egg, and Wheat.
*Our taste receptors react more strongly to certain combinations of sugar, fat and salt--often triggering our brain's (dopaminergic) reward system and a craving for more.
