Chocolate of The Day
Wild West Chocolate
Bear Claws - Pumpkin Spice & Pecan 50% Cacao Oatmilk Chocolate Nut Clusters
Good + - Good ++
Weight: 1.35 oz. (38.25 g.) / 2.7 oz. (76.5 g.) in total bar
Calories: 210 calories in 3 pieces
Cost: $6.75 for 1 package of 6 pieces
Purchased from: Wild West Chocolate, online order
Welcome to Day #7 of Chocolate & Bears Week.
Today's Bear Claws - Pumpkin Spice & Pecan 50% Cacao Oatmilk Chocolate Nut Clusters were from Wild West Chocolate, LLC (Missoula, MT)--and featured an image of two adorable bear cubs.
Aroma and flavor notes for these individually-wrapped bear claws included: chocolate; diffuse warm spice and pumpkin-like (flavor extract); pumpkin cookie; faint vanilla; and faint nut and oat.
Texture: The base chocolate was relatively smooth (a little oat-y in the texture, but not too much). The pecan pieces added a nice soft crunch.
The complex blend of flavors yielded interesting results. The warm spices were very subtle and seemed a little muted by the oatmilk; and the very subtle and authentic fruit blend (date, mulberry, peach and mango powders)--used to sweeten this chocolate instead of sugar--seemed to add a very slight berry/fruit tanginess (think berry and pumpkin pie oat milk smoothie).
The fruit blend worked very nicely with all other Wild West bars and bear claw flavors I tasted this past week; but the jury is still out on this one.*
I liked the individually-wrapped "claws"; the packaging made these practical for sharing with others (and portion control).
Another plus: all Wild West chocolates are made with 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+), Roasted Pecans+ (Pecans, Salt), Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Ginger, Cloves, Pumpkin Extract. (+ = Organic; ++ = Regenerative Organic Certified; Cocoa Liquor and Cocoa Butter: Fair Trade Certified 39% of Product.)
Allergen-related information: Contains Cashews. "Manufactured on equipment that processes tree nuts, peanuts, milk, wheat and soy."
*Disclaimer: I wasn't able to fairly judge today's gentle claws. I've fully converted to bold-as-a-bear spice blends--closer to chai tea spices with punchier/spicier Saigon cinnamon, fresh ginger and steeped spices. As a result traditional pumpkin pie spice blends (based on mild Ceylon cinnamon) seem bland to me.
Instead of traditional American pie and cookies, I've migrated to dark chocolate and fresh fruits sprinkled with attention grabbing spices. Apparently I've virtually moved to the tropics.
