Cacao Space - Bolivia Alto Beni 75% with salted pistachios (bar) - Oct. 22, 2024

Chocolate of the Day

Cacao Space

Bolivia Alto Beni 75% with salted pistachios (bar)
Good ++
Weight: 1.27 oz. (36 g.) / 2.54 oz. (72 g.) in total bar
Calories: 197 calories (estimate) for 1/2 bar
Cost: $9.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Cacao Space, online order + local pickup (Los Altos, CA)

Welcome to Day #4 of Chocolate and Bolivia Theme Week.

Today's Bolivia Alto Beni 75% with salted pistachios (bar) was from Cacao Space (Los Altos, CA). The cacao used to make this bar was grown in the Beni River Valley in the Andean foothills, in northern Bolivia.

Aroma and flavor notes included: dark chocolate (smooth, not too sweet, drinking chocolate); faint nut; and very faint, fleeting freshly toasted bread. At the very end of the finish there was a tiny blip of pleasing floral green tea (that I also tasted in the two other Bolivia bars from this same maker (featured earlier this week).

Texture: well-tempered, uniformly smooth dark chocolate with slight, soft crunch from pistachio nuts.

What I liked about this bar: bold but smooth 75% Bolivia dark chocolate, subtle pistachio accent flavor and texture; a judicious amount of both sugar and salt (thank you!); and that little bit of floral green tea in the finish.*

Ingredients: cacao nibs, organic coconut sugar, salted pistachios

Allergen-related information: (None listed)

*I'm particularly fond of naturally occurring floral and tea notes in chocolates. Floral notes are relatively volatile--easily lost in chocolates that have been heated or processed beyond a certain point. So when I can taste them I really enjoy them.

 

Cacao Space - Bolivia Alto Beni 75% with Mission figs - Oct. 21, 2024

Chocolate of the Day

Cacao Space

Bolivia Alto Beni 75% with Mission figs (bar)
Good ++
Weight: 1.4 oz. (40 g.) / 2.8 oz. (80 g.) in total bar
Calories: 217 calories (estimate) for 1/2 bar
Cost: $9.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Cacao Space, online order + local pickup (Los Altos, CA)

Welcome to Day #3 of Chocolate and Bolivia Theme Week.

Today's Bolivia Alto Beni 75% dark chocolate with Mission figs (bar) was from Cacao Space (Los Altos, CA).

Aroma notes included: dark chocolate, dried fruit (fig), and very faint (barely detectable) fresh bread/soda cracker.

Texture: smooth dark chocolate with chewy pieces of dark fig.

Flavor notes included: smooth dark chocolate, faint molasses, dried figs, and very faint fleeting floral green tea.

I enjoyed that this 75% dark chocolate was well-balanced, relatively complex (with hearty flavors that were heavenly and not harsh), and this was not too sweet (thank you).

Ingredients: cacao nibs, organic coconut sugar, Mission figs

Allergen-related information: (None listed)

Cacao Space - Bolivia Alto Beni 75% (bar) - Oct. 20, 2024

Chocolate of the Day

Cacao Space

Bolivia Alto Beni 75% (bar)
Good + -  Good ++
Weight: 1.06 oz. (30 g.) / 2.12 oz. (60 g.) in total bar
Calories: 164 calories (estimate) for 1/2 bar
Cost: $9.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Cacao Space, online order + local pickup (Los Altos, CA)

Welcome to Day #2 of Chocolate and Bolivia Theme Week.

Today's Bolivia Alto Beni 75% (bar) was from Cacao Space (Los Altos, CA).

Aroma notes included: subtle dark chocolate, and faint floral and green tea.

Texture: smooth, with a faint astringency toward the finish.

Flavor notes included: true chocolate (fudge brownies with light earth/loam, yogurt and fruit (acidity)), very subtle warm brown/coconut sugar, and a return of the pleasing floral, green tea note in the finish.

I liked that this 75% single origin dark chocolate wasn't too sweet; the floral, green tea note(s); and the short list of (just two) ingredients. 

Note: This small-batch chocolate maker seems to have chosen not to add (additional) cocoa butter, which I appreciated. Alto Beni Bolivia beans typically contain a bit more fat (as much as 5% to 10% more cocoa butter). Being able to use the naturally occurring cocoa butter yields more single origin cacao flavor.

Added cocoa butter adds some pleasant "buttery" smooth texture, but it can also mute or dilute (both strong and desirable, mild) flavors--as the cacao butter may be from a different origin or more highly processed.

Ingredients: cacao nibs, organic coconut sugar

Allergen-related information: (None listed)

* As a general rule, cacao beans contain about half cocoa solids and half cocoa butter (fat). Cacao beans with 55% cocoa butter (fat), may require less added fat. Cacao growing in cooler regions, or further away from the Equator (e.g. in Hawaii) may have more fat. Leaner beans grown at the Equator may contain as low as 40% fat.

Solstice Chocolate - 56% Bolivia Dark Milk Chocolate (bar) - Nov. 2, 2023

Chocolate of the Day

Solstice Chocolate
56% Bolivia Dark Milk Chocolate (bar)
Good + - Good ++
Weight: 1.15 oz. (32.5 g.) / 2.3 oz. (65 g.) in total bar
Calories: 160 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $12.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Solstice Chocolate, online order

Welcome to Day #7 of Chocolate and Bolivia Theme Week. 

Today's 56% Bolivia Dark Milk Chocolate (bar) was made by Solstice Chocolate, Inc. (Salt Lake City, UT).

Aroma notes included: chocolate (fragrant, sweet warm cocoa with milk); and very faint, diffuse green mango/citrus.*

This 56% chocolate has a thick, creamy texture and mouthfeel.

Flavor notes included: rich, flavorful milk chocolate; sweet caramel and toffee; and very faint sweet green botanicals (stalks, oxalis) in the finish.

Maker's Tasting Notes: "Toffee, Salted Caramel, Mocha"

Ingredients: "Cacao Bean, Organic Cane Sugar, Whole Milk, Cocoa Butter, Pure Vanilla Extract, Non-GMO Lecithin Powder"

Allergen-related information: (Contains milk.) "May contain coconut."

*Descriptions of chocolate aroma and flavor notes may not reflect actual ingredients. (E.g. in this case, there are no mango or citrus ingredients, although cacao fruit/pulp surrounding the seeds (beans) may have these flavors.) Different cacao varieties and origins also have different flavors.

Zotter - Labooko Bolivia 90% dark chocolate (bar) - Sept. 1, 2020

Chocolate of the Day

Zotter
Labooko Bolivia 90% dark chocolate (bar)
Good +++
Weight: 1.145 oz. (32.5 g.) / 2.29 oz. (65 g.) in total bar
Calories: 175 calories (estimate) in 1 bar (of 2)
Cost: $ missing information
Purchased from: missing information (San Francisco, CA)

Welcome to Day #10 of Bolivia and Chocolate Theme Week.

Today's Labooko Bolivia 90% dark chocolate (bar) was made by Zotter in Riegersburg, Austria, using Nacional cacao (bean variety) from "Bolivian Cooperative El Ceibo." 

Zotter's Labooko line of bars is "pure chocolate," and includes single origin bars. (They also offer hand-scooped/carefully layered and filled bars with different flavor inclusions, and drinking chocolate.)

Today's ultra-dark 90% dark bar came with instructions. Do (as the small card insert instructs) savor this chocolate slowly. Tiptoe through this deep, dark forest of a bar at a pace where you can detect flavors that shift with each bite.

This package contained two gold-foil wrapped, ebony-colored bars that were just the right thickness for tasting. That is, they was relatively thin--making it easier to access and appreciate the complex and evolving flavors of the Bolivian cacao beans (from the El Ceibo Cooperative) used to make this bar.

The aroma was much subtler than I expected very faint dark chocolate, nut and forest notes. And the melt and texture were creamy, smooth (conching time was 22 hours**) with a flicker of very creamy nut butter-like consistency. So far, no scary beasts in the forest that would scare fainter hearts and palettes.

The flavors shifted over the course of eating this bar. Faint nut (pine nut) and faint dark fruit (prune, forest berry), balanced bitterness, then a bit earthy in one or two small bites. Also detected: fleeting fresh baked bread/sweet yeast/buckwheat pancake notes, nut butter, light woodsy notes. The finish was satisfying deep, dark chocolate notes.

This was a balanced, enjoyable "pure chocolate" experience, relatively low in acidity with balanced bitterness with only a light shake of sugar. (See tasting notes below for references to fine black licorice and black coffee. These also make sense to me. Whisps of the dark notes without the heartburn.)

Ingredients: Fair trade, organic cocoa mass and fair trade organic cane sugar

The maker's tasting notes read as follows: "Fragrance notes: sublte notes of wood and fruit (hints of grape); Taste notes: nuts, (caramelized wood, lots of cream, a hint of liquorice, mild touch of coffee, lingonberries, woody finish, mildly astringent with a little bit of fructose."

*Conching time (where cacao beans/nibs are ground into a paste) varies with the cacao variety/origin, the qualities of the cacao beans, flavor profile preferences and other considerations. Longer conche times (up to a few days) might allow for smoother, creamier texture and flavor, but some flavor elements might also be lost. That may be OK if one is trying to eliminate unruly or undesirable flavors; however, with fine cacao, you don't want to lose some of what makes the bean's origins truly unique and desirable.) The conche time selected with today's bar seems to have been quite successful.

Fruition Chocolate - Wild Bolivia 74% Dark (bar) - Aug. 31, 2020

Chocolate of the Day

Fruition Chocolate
Wild Bolivia 74% Dark (bar)
Good +++ - Very Good
Weight: 2.12 oz. (60 g.) in 1 bar
Calories: 320 calories (estimate) in 1 bar
Cost: $11.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocolate Covered, San Francisco, CA

Welcome to Day #9 of Chocolate and Bolivia Theme Week.

Today's Wild Bolivia 74% Dark (bar), handmade by Fruition Chocolate (Shokan, NY), had a smooth, creamy melt and texture and offered a dreamy, uniform "Best of Bolivia" tasting experience, best savored slowly.

The bar had true chocolate, light fermented flavor with medium (sweet red fruit, rich red dried cherry and light tangerine) acidity. One bite did have a very faint, fleeting earth note. But, otherwise, the tasting experience was sophisticated, integrated and consistent...from aroma to finish. 

Normally I might prefer a more complex "flavor ride," but this Good Food Awards winner (2016) showed how impressive an excellent implementation can be. And all that with just two ingredients: cacao beans and cane sugar. Deceptively simple. Lovely and elegant.

I was so glad the maker went with a 74% cacao version of this Bolivian wild cacao bar (instead of the usual 70% cacao versions out there). I was wondering how a slightly darker version of this bright bar might taste; and it was great.

Chapon - Bolivie Tranquilidad 70% (small bar) - Aug. 30, 2020

Chocolate of the Day

Chapon Chocolatier 
Bolivie Tranquilidad 70% (small bars)
Good ++
Weight: .352 oz. (10 g.) in 2 bars / 6.35 oz. (180 g.) in total assortment box
Calories: 55.4 calories in 2 small bars
Cost: $45.00 for 1 assortment box - 36 small bars 

Welcome to Day #8 of Chocolate and Bolivia Theme Week. 

Today's Bolivie (Bolivia) Tranquilidad 70% small bars were part of a single origin chocolate assortment box from Chapon Chocolatier (Chelles and Paris, France). These tiny individually-wrapped bars were attractively-packaged miniature works of art. (The Bolivia bars were adorned with a beautiful peacock.)

Cacao beans used to make this bar were from Hacienda Tranquilidad, in northern Bolivia, known for its historic and wild cacao.

This chocolate had a creamy smooth melt and a sweet, rich dark chocolate aroma and flavor with nutty and light fruit tart astringency and malt/cereal notes, and a very faint, very balanced earthiness. 

Ingredients: Pate de cacao (cocoa mass/liquor), cane sugar, cocoa butter.

Markham and Fitz Chocolate Makers - Sea Salt & Almond (Bolivia) bar - Aug. 29, 2020

Chocolate of the Day

Markham and Fitz Chocolate Makers
Sea Salt and Almond (Bolivia) bar

Good ++ - Good +++
Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) / 2 oz. (57 g.) in total bar
Calories: 140 calories (per label) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $11.00 for 1 bar

Purchased from: Chocolate Covered, San Francisco, CA 

Welcome to Day #7 of Chocolate and Bolivia Theme Week. 

Today's Sea Salt and Almond (Bolivia) bar was from Markham and Fitz Chocolate Makers (Bentonville, AK).

This chocolate had a pleasing rich, dark chocolate aroma with faint savory (nut and salt) notes. The texture was a blend of smooth, well-tempered dark chocolate and crunchy, toasted almond bits (on the back side of the bar).

The 60 percent chocolate, made with cacao from Alto Beni, Bolivia, had light fermented notes and faint fruit, accented with just the right amount of salt (flakes). I experienced a very fleeting hint of pleasant, licorice spice in the finish with the first bite of this bar, but it was absent in subsequent bites. 

Ingredients: Cacao, organic cane sugar, almonds, organic cocoa butter, salt flakes.

Arete Fine Chocolate - Bolivia Beniano 70% Dark Chocolate (bar) - Aug. 28, 2020

Chocolate of the Day 

Arete Fine Chocolate
Bolivia Beniano 70% Dark Chocolate (bar)
Good +++
Weight: 1.15 oz. (32.5 g.) / 2.3 oz. (65 g.) in total bar
Calories: 173 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $ missing information
Purchased from: Arete Fine Chocolate

Welcome to Day #6 of Chocolate and Bolivia Theme Week.

Today's Bolivia Beniano 70% Dark Chocolate (bar) was made by David Senk and Leslie Senk at Arete Fine Chocolate (formerly located in Milpitas, CA, and now in Spencer, TN). 

Beniano cacao (formerly also referred to as Amazonian Forastero) has been called the Nacional/national cacao of Bolivia, and is often associated with wild cacao with fine flavors. It is a bit more resistant (than delicate heritage varieties) to diseases like "Witches Broom" but still yields complex fine, nuanced flavors, making it desirable for small batch, artisan chocolate makers who can highlight and feature these qualities.

This chocolate had a delicious, well-balanced complexity with chocolate, spice, faint green (green tea, sweet young green peas/shoots, or steamed celery hearts with sweet greens), cereal/malt and dried sweet fruit (plum/prune) notes. All this from just two ingredients.

Ingredients: Cocoa beans (Bolivia Beniano), organic cane sugar.

Nuance Chocolate - Bolivia Alto Beni 2015 70% (bar) - Aug. 27, 2020

Chocolate of the Day

Nuance Chocolate
Bolivia Alto Beni 2015 (harvest) 70% cacao (bar)
Good +
Weight: .97 oz. (27.5 g.) / 1.94 oz. (55 g.) in total bar
Calories: 146 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $8.50 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Nuance Chocolate, online order 

Welcome to Day #5 of Chocolate and Bolivia Theme Week.

Today's Single Origin Bolivia Alto Beni 2015 (harvest) 70% (bar) was from Nuance Chocolate (Fort Collins, CO).

Maker's notes read as follows: "A rare criollo/trinitario cacao from the Plurinational State of Bolivia. An extremely creamy mouthfeel, with a complex, but subtle profile. Initial savory layers quickly evolve into fruitier notes, before finishing with hints of dry oak."

My tasting notes: This bar had a bold, complex and shifting, aroma and flavor profile, including bitter and sweet, fermented fruit, cream, faint spice/molasses and fleeting loamy earth and mineral highlights. For those who enjoy an interesting flavor profile, you might appreciate this one.

Working for these Bolivia Alto Beni cacao beans may have required extra skill. Roasting profiles and conching times and overall balance would have been key, especially with this cacao, to maintain the complexity and balance. This was not a flat, dense dark Forastero (cacao variety) boldness where one roast profile might do, but rather a shifting blend of subtle Criollo and Trinitario, that yielded a wide flavor range. And the wider the range, the more interesting opportunities (and decisions) one may have as a chocolate maker. And the more exacting one must be when making the chocolate.

Too much roasting and/or conching and subtle fruit and cream (or any more delicate green or floral notes that would have been present) would be lost. Not enough and a loamy earth and/or latex/rubber note might not be brought into mellowed balance.

The texture and finish were smooth with a mild astringency.

Ingredients:  Cacao, cane sugar, cocoa butter. 

Solstice Chocolate - 70% Palos Blancos Bolivia (bar) - Aug. 26, 2020

Chocolate of the Day

Solstice Chocolate
70% Palos Blancos Bolivia (bar)
Good +++ - Very Good
Weight: 1.15 oz. (32.5 g.) / 2.3 oz. (65 g.) in total bar
Calories: 160 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $10.00 (estimate) for 1 bar 
Purchased from: Chocolate Covered, San Francisco, CA

Welcome to Day #4 of Chocolate and Bolivia Theme Week.

Today's 70% Palos Blancos Bolivia (bar) was from Solstice Chocolate (Salt Lake City, UT).

Today's bar had a soft, almost velvety melt and texture, in part due to added to just the right amount of cocoa butter--enough to create a great creamy, nutty texture, but not enough to dull bright, sweet red fruit (dried red cherries with sugar/honey) and true chocolate notes, with a hint of cream and very faint malt.

This is one of the best implementation of Bolivian cacao I've tried yet. The cacao beans used to make this bar were from Palos Blancos, a "wild harvest cacao from the damp, rainy Beniano region (of Bolivia). This climate results in a cacao bean that produces a deep, rich chocolate with subtle notes of nuts, honey and fresh cream."

Ingredients: Organic cacao bean, organic cane sugar, organic cocoa butter.  

Tabal Chocolate - Bolivia 70% Cacao Fairly Traded (bar) - Aug. 25, 2020

Chocolate of the Day

Tabal Chocolate

Bolivia 70% Cacao Fairly Traded (bar)

Good ++

Weight: 1.5 oz. (42.5 g.) / 3 oz. (85 g.) in total bar

Calories: 270 calories in 1/2 bar

Cost: $12.00 for 1 bar

Purchased from: Chocolate Covered, San Francisco, CA

Welcome to Day #3 of Bolivia and Chocolate Theme Week.

Today's Bolivia 70% Cacao Fairly Traded (bar) from Tabal Chocolate (Wauwatosa, WI) had a pleasing bold, smooth chocolatey flavor with sweet, fruit-like brightness, and faint, fleeting nutty flavor at the beginning.

I compared today's 70% cacao Bolivia bar with yesterday's 58% cacao Bolivia sibling, also from Tabal Chocolate. Yesterday, I wondered how much of the bright, fruity flavor from the 58% bar was due to the relatively high sugar content. But, after tasting today's darker version--that had had some of the same bright flavor--it was clear that brightness was from the cacao itself.

Ingredients: Organic cacao, organic cane sugar, organic cocoa butter, organic vanilla bean.

Tabal Chocolate - Bolivia 58% Cacao (bar) - Aug. 24, 2020

Chocolate of the Day

Tabal Chocolate
Bolivia 58% Cacao (bar)

Good +

Weight: 1.5 oz. (42.5 g.) / 3 oz. (85 g.) in total bar

Calories: 390 calories in 1/2 bar

Cost: $12.00 for 1 bar

Purchased from: Chocolate Covered, San Francisco, CA

Welcome to Day #2 of Chocolate and Bolivia Theme Week.

Today's Organic Bolivia 58% Cacao (bar) was made bean to bear with stoneground cacao by Tabal Chocolate  (Wauwatosa, WI).

This chocolate had a sweet, dark chocolate aroma (with very faint bright fruit and spice notes) and a smooth, stoneground* texture. It was hard to tell whether the "brightness" in this thick, sweet (58% cacao) chocolate bar was due to fruit notes or sugar, or both. There was a pleasant, chocolate cake like taste, encouraged by a faint hint of vanilla in addition to a relatively high sugar level.

Ingredients: Organic cacao, organic cane sugar, organic cocoa butter, organic vanilla bean.

*Stoneground cacao often has a rustic, thick, almost grainy texture. But, the stoneground process (using a granite/stone wheel or mortar) may also help to maintain cacao flavors--as the smaller the cacao bean particles become (as they are ground into a smooth paste in chocolate-making), the more particle surfaces are exposed to air and oxidation (and potential flavor loss). Grinding cacao longer may offer smoother texture, but more delicate (e.g. floral) notes may attenuate with longer grinding times. Today's stoneground chocolate was slightly thicker in texture, but still smooth (i.e. not rough or coarse), in part due to added cocoa butter. 

Crow and Moss - Bolivian Rose Salt 67% (bar) - Aug. 23, 2020

Chocolate of the Day

Crow and Moss
Bolivian Rose Salt 67% (bar)

Good ++

Weight: 1.235 oz. (35 g.) / 2.47 oz. (70 g.) in total bar

Calories: 185 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar

Cost: $8.75 for 1 bar

Purchased from: Chocosphere.com, online order

Welcome to Day #1 of Chocolate and Bolivia Theme Week.

Today's Bolivian Rose Salt Chocolate 67% bar was from Crow and Moss Chocolate (Petoskey, MI). The firm specializes in hand-crafted bean-to-bar chocolate bars. 

This bar was made from Colombian Aruaca cacao beans and Bolivian Rose Salt from the Andes, and the chocolate had an aroma with dried fruit (nectarines, peaches) and pleasant sweet notes.

Last week's Ghana and Ivory Coast bars were full of bold, deep dark Forastero and Forastino cacao flavors. Today marked a change to lighter and brighter chocolates. 

This bar had a flavor with mild stone fruit; fleeting cream/faint fermented milk notes; a light array of savory salt sparkles (with a fleeting pepper note as well); and a relatively subtle finish. The sweetness was nicely balanced with the salt.

Ingredients: Cacao blend, Bolivian rose salt, organic cane sugar.

Taza Chocolate - Bolivia 87% Dark bar - Nov. 18, 2017

Chocolate of the Day: 

Taza Chocolate
Bolivia 87% Dark bar
Good + - Good ++
Weight: 1.25 oz. (35 g.) / 2.5 oz. (70 g.) in total bar
Calories: 230 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $7.50 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Draeger's Market, Los Altos, CA

Welcome to Day #28 of South American Chocolate Theme Weeks.

Today's single origin bar was made with cacao grown in Bolivia. The 87% Dark bar was crafted by Taza Chocolate in Somerville, MA.

This chocolate had a very pleasant hot chocolate/chocolate malt aroma with very faint, but again pleasing, sweet green, fruit and nut notes. This aroma was considerably more upbeat and friendly than one would expect for 87% cacao chocolate, in part due to the addition of what smelled like high-quality vanilla* beans. And the taste was very approachable as well.

Taza has worked hard to perfect the taste and texture of their stoneground drinking chocolate, bars, snacks and confections over the years to balance the benefits of more rustic stoneground beans and a smooth buttery chocolate experience that some desire. Sounds good, but it takes precision and skill to know just how long to (or not to) process/grind/blend cacao beans for the optimal result.

The company used traditional Mexican stone mills (molinos) to grind their beans. And today's bar was described as "perfectly unrefined."

Indeed the resulting chocolate maintained good flavor and was both smooth and slightly crunchy, with tiny sparkles of what felt like cane sugar crystals or vanilla* rather than weedy cacao or vanilla bean flecks—the likely result if I tried to make bean-to-bar chocolate in my kitchen with a coffee or nut grinder. (One also needs to know when to put in the sugar and vanilla bean so the right components sparkle and shine.)

*The Bolivia 87% Dark bar contained just three ingredients: Certified Direct Trade organic cacao beans, organic cane sugar, organic vanilla beans

Arete - Bolivia Wild Harvest 70% bar - April 23, 2017

Chocolate of the Day: 

Arete Fine Chocolate
Bolivia Wild Harvest 70% Dark Chocolate bar
Good+++-Very Good
Weight: 1.15 oz. (32.5 g.) / 2.3 oz. (65 g.) in total bar
Calories: 172.5 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $12.00 (estimate) for 1 bar
Purchased from: The Chocolate Garage, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #5 of Chocolate and Bolivia Theme Week.

Today's Bolivia 70 percent Dark Chocolate bar from Arete Fine Chocolate (Milpitas, CA) was crafted from wild harvest cacao.

This Arete Bolivia bar had true chocolate (brownie, chocolate malt) flavor, like other Bolivia cacao-based bars this week. However, the Arete two-ingredient bar (wild harvest Bolivia cocoa beans and organic cane sugar) had aroma and flavor with a bit more breadth and depth.

Don't get me wrong, many people will love (or prefer) the smoothness of 100 percent true chocolate flavor. However, for me, having a little extra mystery warm green in the aroma and concentrated dried fruit acidity and some mysterious baked good flavors (leaning toward raisin spice cake/hot cereal) made this bar more interesting.

There were no off notes, just intriguing and multi-dimensional ones. And that says something about the methods of the maker (thank you David Senk)—to be able tease out and develop the maximum potential of a particular batch of beans (on a remarkably consistent basis) without having anything go sideways.

Xocolatl de David - Foie Gras 68% Bolivia bar - Oct. 17, 2016

Chocolate of the Day: 

Xocolatl de David
Foie Gras Chocolate 68 percent cacao Bolivia bar
Good ++
Weight: .55 oz. (15.5 g.) / 2.2 oz. (62 g.) in total bar
Calories: 82.5 calories (estimate) in 1/4 bar
Cost: $ for 1/4 bar
Purchased from: Fog City News, San Francisco, CA

Welcome to Day #5 of And Now for Something Completely Different Theme Week.

Today I tried a Foie Gras 68 percent Bolivia chocolate bar from Xocolatl de David (Portland, OR).

This bar had a very slight foie gras aroma, and a creamy melt. The texture was smooth. The bar had a slightly salty, savory flavor; but the actual flavor inclusion (foie gras) may be difficult to guess for tasters.

Xocolatl de David, known for its creative stable of savory bars, also offers a "Foietella" spread with chocolate.

Thank you to Adam and the team at Fog City News (San Francisco, CA) for their curated selection of chocolates and for their help in finding unique bars for this week.

*Foie gras is a savory spread made from goose or duck liver and sometimes includes chopped pistachio nuts. Foie gras made by traditional methods (that involve "force-feeding" birds to fatten up their liver) is outlawed in California.

ChocolateBet: July 6, 2010

Chocolate of the Day:
1 truffle
Monique's Chocolates
Bolivia - Dark 68% truffle
Very Good  - Very Good +
Weight: .45 (12.7 g.) (estimate)
Calories: 65 calories (estimate)
Cost: $2.00 for 1 truffle
Purchased from: Monique's Chocolates, in Palo Alto, CA

My choice for Day #7 of Chocolate and Single Origin Week (with an emphasis on chocolates from South America) was this 68% dark truffle from Bolivia. It had clear and pleasant notes for a dark chocolate, and was apparently made from a strain of wild cacao trees that had been fenced in and allowed to grow. There are many interesting stories that come with single origin and/or single plantation chocolates. And, the more ingredients that are mixed together, the more stories. Thank you also to the (more local) cows who contributed the nice cream for these truffles, and to Monique's Chocolates for skillful blending of ingredients from so many different parts of the world.