The Organic House - Movie Night Caramel Corn 60% Cacao Nicaragua (bar) - Nov.30, 2025

Chocolate of the Day

The Organic House
Movie Night 60% Cacao Nicaragua O'Payo (bar)
Good ++
Weight: 1.94 oz. (55 g.) in total bar
Calories: 293 calories in 1 bar
Cost: $13.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Bar & Cocoa, online order 

Welcome to Day #7 of Chocolate, Movies & Entertainment Week.

Today's Movie Night 60% Cacao Nicaragua O'Payo (bar) was from The Organic House (Burlington, ON, Canada). 

The bar was hand-crafted with care--as was the animated film "The Man Who Planted Trees" (1987) by Frederic Back* that I "paired" with this chocolate. 

The film features the story of a man who planted Oak, Birch, Linden (and possibly Maple) trees, across miles of land, over decades, completely transforming a once barren landscape. 

This hand-crafted story seemed like a good match with today's "Proudly Canadian" chocolate bean-to-bar chocolate, sweetened with sugar from maple trees. 

Aroma and flavor notes for today's bar included: dark chocolate; caramel and caramel corn; faint fruit (berry, faint date); and uplifting warm spice and maple sugar.

The caramel corn (made from scratch) was ground into the O'Payo** Nicaragua cacao beans -- resulting in a smooth, relatively creamy chocolate with no detectable popcorn texture. (A faint, pleasant popcorn flavor did surface in some bites.)

I enjoyed the dark, satisfying caramel flavors and gentle fruit and maple complexity. Some of these notes certainly came from the use of a single origin cacao. Many thanks to the creative Canadian animators and chocolate makers who made tonight's special "Movie Night" possible.

Ingredients: Organic cacao beans, Ontario maple sugar, Organic popcorn, Organic cacao butter, Organic maple sugar, Organic almond butter, Sea salt, Organic coconut oil. 

Allergen-related information: "Contains Almonds. May contain: Cashews, Hazelnuts, Oats, Pistachios"

*The "Man Who Planted Trees" is an award-winning, 30-minute long, animated film created from more than 20,000 drawings. It was adapted from a French story, created and directed by Frederic Back, and narrated by actor Christopher Plummer. The team also included Academy Award winning Canadian sound editor + composer Normand Roger and several other talented folks who worked to complete this film over a five-year period. The story was (and still remains) an inspiring tale of how one person can make a difference.

**The O'Payo Nicaragua cacao used in this bar was from Ingemann, a family-owned company in Nicaragua.

 

Compartes - Old Hollywood with Smoked Salt (bar) - Nov. 29, 2025

Chocolate of the Day

Compartes Chocolatier
Old Hollywood Dark Chocolate Smoked Salt 75% Cacao (bar)
Good ++
Weight: 1.5 oz. (42.5 g.) / 3 oz. (85 g.) in total bar
Calories: 180 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $9.95 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Compartes Chocolatier, online order

Welcome to Day #6 of Chocolate, Movies & Entertainment Theme Week.

Today's Old Hollywood Dark Chocolate Smoked Salt 75% Cacao (bar) was from Compartes Chocolatier (Los Angeles, CA)--a company with chocolate roots in L.A. that began in 1950.

Compartes offers a wide selection of chocolates with different flavor inclusions, including several with references to Hollywood, movies and/or entertainment. 

Aroma and flavor notes for today's Hollywood-themed bar included: smooth, rich and relatively sweet dark chocolate; very faint, diffuse fruit (berry) and even fainter wood and smoked salt. The salt was not obvious in the aroma, but it complemented (and helped balance) the relatively sweet 75% dark chocolate.

I liked the slightly darker chocolate with a smooth, barely there bitterness and the use of smoked salt. The very faint, dark berry note rounded out the flavor profile.

I enjoyed the bar's attractive packaging--with a dark ebony wood (or marble) background adorned with slightly faded, gold, bird-like art deco shapes. A good fit with today's Old Hollywood theme + smoked salt. (While you'd be hard-pressed to find as many smokers in Hollywood venues today, I'm sure there were many smoky bars and Hollywood hang-outs back in the day.)

I "paired" this chocolate with two movies: "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" (2019) and "The Artist" (2011) as well as an animated short "Hollywood Steps Out" (1941) from Leon Schlesinger Productions (pre Warner Bros.); and Disney's "Once Upon a Studio" (2023)--a short reunion of the studio's historic range of animated characters. 

A balanced, albeit eclectic, 4-course classic movie meal to enjoy with today's Old Hollywood chocolate.

Ingredients: Dark Chocolate (Cocoa Mass, Sugar, Cocoa Butter, Soy Lecithin as an emulsifier, Vanilla), Smoked Sea Salt

Allergen-related information: "Made in a facility that handles Dairy, Peanuts, Wheat, Egg, Soy, Tress Nuts"