Hammond's - Espesso Martini Dark Chocolate (bar) - Sept. 7, 2025

Chocolate of the Day

Hammond's Candies 
Espresso Martini Dark Chocolate (bar)
Good + - Good ++
Weight: 1.125 oz. (32 g.) / 2.25 oz. (64 g.) in total bar
Calories: 160 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $3.99 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Ace Hardware, Mountain View, CA

Welcome to Day #8 of Chocolate & Coffee Theme Week, and Day #1 of Chocolate & Spirits Theme Week.

Today's Espresso Martini - Espresso Flavored Dark Chocolate Infused with Coffee Caramel (bar) was from Hammond's Candies (Denver, CO).

Aroma notes for this filled bar included: very sweet chocolate, and caramel, vanilla and coffee latte flavorings.

Texture: Smooth dark chocolate filled with a coffee-flavored, flowing caramel (with crunchy ground coffee bits and possibly vanilla bean specks) filling.

Flavors: smooth, uniformly flavored dark chocolate--that encased and blended with a dark-caramel hued, thick syrup-like caramel-coffee and vanilla filling. There were more sweeteners (sugars, corn syrup) and added flavorings (see ingredients list) than expected in this bar.

I enjoyed the idea behind and blend of flavors in this bar, even if it was too sweet for me. (This was like a high-end candy bar.) 

Note: there was no alcohol in this chocolate + espresso martini inspired chocolate.

Ingredients: Dark chocolate (chocolate liquor, sugar, cocoa butter, soy lecithin, natural vanilla flavor, filling (corn syrup, cream [heavy cream, milk, contains less than 0.5% of: mono and diglycerides, polysorbate 80, carageenan], sugar, butter [cream, natural flavor], mocha espresso coffee paste [coffee, canola oil, sugar, soy lecithin], ground roasted coffee beans, vanilla paste [sugar, water, vanilla extract, vanilla bean specks, gum tragacanth], sea salt, cappuccino tiramisu extract [natural flavor, sugar, caramel color], natural flavor).

Allergen-related information: Contains Soy and Milk. May Contain Wheat, Peanuts, and Tree Nuts.

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"