Ranger Chocolate Co.
Piura Blond Chocolate 60% Cacao (bar)
Good ++
Weight: 2.15 oz. (61 g.) in total bar
Calories: 310 calories (estimate) in 1 bar
Cost: $18.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Ranger Chocolate, online order
Piura Blond Chocolate 60% Cacao (bar)
Good ++
Weight: 2.15 oz. (61 g.) in total bar
Calories: 310 calories (estimate) in 1 bar
Cost: $18.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Ranger Chocolate, online order
Welcome to Day #2 of Chocolate and Peru Theme Week.
Today's Piura Blond Chocolate 60% Cacao (bar), from Ranger Chocolate Co. (Portland, OR), was made using cacao beans from northern Peru.
Piura is a coastal department and region in northwestern Peru. The gentler, more subtle Piura cacaos can be similar to prized heritage Criollo/Criollo blends. I loved the opportunity to try this chocolate on the blond side.*
Aroma notes included: very faint coconut milk chocolate, vanilla and caramel/brown sugar notes.
This chocolate smelled less acidic and bitter, and more like a sweet confection.
Texture: creamy smooth. (You'd be forgiven if you thought this might be a milk chocolate in a blind blond tasting, due to its buttery mouthfeel.)
Flavor notes included: velvety, warm cocoa, with vanilla, coconut, caramel and barely detectable honeyed chamomile. There was a tiny amount of sea salt added (that I couldn't taste), but it likely helped balance the inherent and layered sweetness of this bar.
I appreciated this incredibly smooth-textured, less acidic and virtually bitter-free chocolate. The lower percent (60% cacao) content made this delicate cacao-based chocolate taste like a very high-end confection with the added brown sugar, vanilla and coconut.
Ingredients: organic cacao, brown sugar (sugar, molasses), coconut, vanilla bean, sea salt.
Allergen-related information: "Contains: tree nut (coconut)"
*Blond(e) cacao or chocolate can refer to a caramelized light or white chocolate (with milk), or chocolate made with white-colored beans, making this adjective slightly confusing. Light-colored beans, especially Criollo beans in South American Amazon Basin countries, when cut open, can be white-ish, or pink-ish vs. a darker, purplish variegated hue found in bolder Forastero varieties.
