Chocolate of The Day
Wild West Chocolate
"Grizzly" Raspberry & Hazelnut 50% Cacao Oatmilk Chocolate (bar)
Weight: .77 oz. (22 g.) / 2.3 oz. (65.2 g.) in total bar
Calories: 120 calories in 1/3 bar
Cost: $21.25 for 3-bar pack (Approx. $7.08 for 1 bar)
Purchased from: Piazzas, Palo Alto, CA
Welcome to Day #6 of Chocolate & Wild West Theme Week; and Day #1 of Chocolate & Bears* Week. (Bears were heavily represented in the Wild West/wilderness chocolate category, and have taken over for their own theme week.)
Today's "Grizzly" Raspberry and Hazelnut 50% Cacao Oatmilk Chocolate (bar) was from Wild West Chocolate, LLC (Missoula, MT)--and featured an image of a grizzly bear.
Aroma and flavor notes for this bar included: chocolate, strong berry (raspberry) flavoring, faint vanilla and very faint nut.
Texture: The base chocolate was smooth, with a touch of oat/fruit astringency (dryness). Hazelnut pieces added some crunch.
I liked how the relatively dominant raspberry fruit flavor (powder and extract) flowed into the gentler, authentic fruit blend (date, mulberry, peach and mango powders)--that Wild West uses to sweeten all their chocolates and provides balanced and attractive background fruit complexity.
Bears do love berries; and this berry-forward bar might attract one if left unguarded in a picnic basket, or on a front porch.*
I also appreciated the use of Organic and Regenerative Organic Certified ingredients.
Ingredients: Organic Oatmilk Chocolate (Organic Fruit Blend [Powdered Date++, Powdered Mulberry+, Powdered Peach+, Powdered Mango+], Organic Cocoa Liquor++, Organic Cocoa Butter++, Oatmilk+, Vanilla Extract+), Hazelnuts+, Freeze-Dried Raspberry+, Raspberry Extract+. (+ = Organic; ++ = Regenerative Organic Certified; Cocoa Liquor and Cocoa Butter: Fair Trade Certified 61% of Product.)
Allergen-related information: Contains Hazelnuts. "Manufactured on equipment that processes tree nuts, peanuts, milk, wheat and soy."
*Bear Stories
Living in the West, I have bear stories. But, none so timely as today's. As I was writing this post--to kick off Chocolate & Bears Theme Week--I received a text from a friend. A bear had shown up at her front door in Tehachapi, almost 300 miles away in Southern California. I enjoyed both the Grizzly bar and my friend's photo of a porch bear (a brown/cinnamon-colored Black Bear) simultaneously. Thank you Internet.
