Nuance Chocolate - Single Origin Mexico Chontalpa 70% Pure Dark (bar) - July 6, 2025

Chocolate of the Day

Nuance Chocolate Company
Single Origin - Mexico Chontalpa 70% Pure Dark (bar)
Good ++
Weight: .97 oz. (27.5 g.) / 1.94 oz. (55 g.) in total bar
Calories: 150 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $10.50 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Nuance Chocolate, online and voice order

Welcome to Day #12 of Chocolate and Mexico Theme Week.

Today's Single Origin - Mexico Chontalpa 70% Pure Dark (bar) (Batch #39431) was from Nuance Chocolate Company (Fort Collins, CO). The company offers small batch, bean-to-bar chocolates and confections.

This dark chocolate was "made using "rare white Almendra Blanca* cacao from the Chontalpa region of Tabasco," in southeastern Mexico. 

Aroma and flavor notes for this bar included: dark chocolate; faint stone fruit (tart sweet cherry, apricot) and roasted coffee and nut (pecan) notes. (Note: there are no nut ingredients in this chocolate.)

Texture: smooth dark chocolate texture.

I enjoyed the balanced but certainly not boring flavors that included tart sweet fruit notes; the maker's thoughtful sourcing; the short list of quality ingredients; and the relatively thinness of the bar--allowing ready access to the flavors as they were developing my mouth during tasting.

Maker's tasting notes: "...A delicate, floral, and fruity chocolate with juicy notes of apricot jam layered over a subtley nutty foundation. A long finish, with a balanced touch of bitterness."

Ingredients: "cacao, cane sugar, cocoa butter. All natural and GMO-free."  

Allergen-related information: "Manufactured in a facility that also processes tree nuts, peanuts, milk, eggs, wheat, and soy."

*Alemendra Blanca in English means "white almond." Most cacao beans (roughly the size of a chunky brownish almond on the outside) are purplish or reddish on the inside when you cut beans open.

However, Alemendra Blanca beans from Tabasco, Mexico, are closer to ivory or white in color on the inside; and these beans have a unique and prized flavor profile--often with some boldness/fruit, while still being relatively smooth. E.g., today's 70% Chontalpa bar tasted more like a dark 60-65% cacao bar with some authentic fruit candy and roasted notes.