Bonnat Chocolatier - Indonesia Java Milk 65% (bar) - Dec. 1, 2023

Chocolate of the Day

Bonnat Chocolatier
Indonesia Java Milk 65% (bar)
Good + - Good ++
Weight: 1.17 oz. (33.3 g.) / 3.52 oz. (100 g.) in total bar
Calories: 209 calories in 1/3 bar
Cost: $13.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order

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

Today's Indonesia Java Milk 65% (bar) was from Bonnat Chocolatier (aka Chocolat Bonnat), based in Voiron, Isere, France. The company has been making chocolate for almost 140 years.

The cacao used to make this bar was from Java (a large island in the Indonesian archipelago), located west of Bali and south of Borneo.

Aroma notes for this bar included: bold dark chocolate and cream of rice cereal with milk, sugar and butter.

This well-tempered bar broke with a hard snap, and had a satisfying, creamy, buttery texture.

Flavor notes included: dark chocolate, faint grain/cereal, and very faint brown bread. The choice of a bit more cocoa butter, sugar and milk (65% cacao vs. 70% cacao dark chocolate) seemed like a good choice. The cacao was fairly bold, and seemed well managed in this bar.

Ingredients: Cocoa (Indonesie), cocoa butter, sugar, milk powder; 65% cocoa minimum.

Allergen-related information: Contains milk. 

Chocolat Bonnat - No. 3 - Les Sirenes Philippines Chocolat Noir 75% de Cacao (bar) - Sept. 24, 2023

Chocolate of the Day

Chocolat Bonnat
No. 3 - Les Sirenes Philippines Chocolat Noir 75% de Cacao (bar)
Good ++
Weight: .88 oz. (25 g.) / 3.53 oz. (100 g.) in total bar
Calories: 150.75 calories in 1/4 bar
Cost: $18.50 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order

Welcome to Day #1 of Chocolate and The Philippines Theme Week.*

Today's limited edition, No. 3 - Les Sirenes Philippines Chocolat Noir 75% de Cacao (bar) was from Chocolat Bonnat (Voiron Cedex, France).

Cacao was transported to the Philippines from Mexico by Spanish galleon ships as far back as the early 1600s.

Aroma and flavor notes included: bittersweet, baked fudge brownie, subtle caramel, butter, fleeting berry, spice and nut notes. 

The texture for this three-ingredient chocolate was notable: a very creamy texture (small particle size) with a melt and mouthfeel consistent with a generous amount of high-quality, pure cocoa butter. (No emulsifiers/lecithins here.)

Ingredients: Cacao, Cacao butter, Sugar

Allergen-related information: (No information listed on wrapper)

*This is the second single origin week this year (2023) featuring cacao grown in the Philippines.

 

Bonnat - Selva Maya 75% cacao (bar) - Mar. 25, 2020

Chocolate of the Day:

Chocolat Bonnat 

Selva Maya 75% cacao (bar)

Good ++

Weight: 1.76 oz. (50 g.) / 3.5 oz. (100 g.) in total bar

Calories: 300 calories in 1/2 bar

Cost: $18.50 for 1 bar

Purchased from: Chocosphere.com, online order

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

Today's Selva Maya* 75% cacao (bar) had a light spice, fruit and very faint, fleeting green, aroma; and it was light and fruity and tasted sweeter than expected for a 75% cacao dark bar. It had a gentle complexity to it with very slight earthiness and cocoa flavor in the finish. 

The description on the packaging described the chocolate as "very balanced, fruity" and "intense but delicate." The latter phrase may sound contradictory, but it was accurate.

This three-ingredient** bar was made from "an ancient cacao"...that had been "rediscovered and rescued after many years of research and adventure in the deepest part of the Mayan territory in the heart of Chiapas" (in SW Mexico, north of Guatemala). The unique cacao origin story helps explain the relatively high price ($18.50 USD for this 100 gram bar).

* Selva Maya in English translates to: Maya Jungle

** Ingredients: "Bitter chocolate, cocoa butter, sugar"

Bonnat - Morenita 65% Mexico bar - Mar. 24, 2020

Chocolate of the Day: 

Chocolat Bonnat
Morenita 65% Mexico (bar)
Good +++ - Very Good
Weight: 1.16 oz. (33.3 g.) / 3.5 oz. (100 g.) in total bar
Calories: 167 calories (estimate) in 1/3 bar
Cost: $8.95 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocosphere.com, online order

Welcome to Day #7 of Chocolate and Madagascar Theme Week, and Day #1 of Chocolate and Mexico Theme Week, via France.

Today's French chocolate duo involved a re-tasting of a Madagascar bar from Chapon Chocolatier (France), accompanied by a Morenita 65% Mexico bar from Chocolat Bonnat (France).

The latter Chocolat Bonnat dark milk bar had the heavenly buttery, creamy texture, melt and mouthfeel that Bonnat bars often have. And the smooth rich flavor was lovely too with a light hint of caramel.

Chocolat Bonnat - Kaori Bresil 75% bar - Oct. 30, 2017

Chocolate of the Day:

Chocolat Bonnat
Kaori Bresil Chocolat Noir 75% bar
Good ++
Weight: 1.75 oz. (50 g.) / 3.5 oz. (100 g.) in total bar
Calories: 301 calories (estimate per label) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $16.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: The Chocolate Garage, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #9 of South American Chocolate Theme Weeks.

Today's Kaori* Bresil Chocolat Noir (Dark Chocolate) 75% bar was from Chocolat Bonnat (Voiron, France).

Bonnat bars featured in the past have all had a creamy, buttery melt and texture, and this three ingredient bar (cocoa, cocoa butter and sugar) was no exception.

The chocolate had a hint of slightly green (light/bright green foliage, green tea), almost floral aroma; and it had uniform, "soft and sunny" smooth authentic chocolate flavor.

*Kaori is the name of a Japanese family that cultivates cacao in Brazil. In Japanese the name means scent or fragrance, and can also refer to fabric weaving. This definition may not be directly related to today's bar, but it fits.

Chocolat Bonnat - Trinite 75% dark bar - Feb. 7, 2016

Chocolate of the Day: 

Chocolat Bonnat
Trinite dark chocolate bar
Good ++ - Very Good
Weight: 1.16 oz. (33.3 g.) / 3.5 oz. (100 g.) in total bar
Calories: 176 calories (estimate) in 1/3 bar
Cost: $8.95 (estimate) for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocosphere (online order)

Today was Day #5 of Chocolate and Some Enchanted Islands Theme Week.

Today's bar was made with cacao grown in Trinidad (of Trinidad and Tobago). We're still in the Caribbean, but this two-island nation is located southeast of the DR (where we were yesterday)—closer to South America

Trinite is the French translation of Trinidad. The Trinite 75% Cacao bar was from French chocolatemaker, Chocolat Bonnat (Voiron, France).

I ordered this bar from Chocosphere. Their tasting notes for this bar included: "Bonnat Trinite 75% Bittersweet Chocolate bar... Bursting with the Antilles sunshine..., its flavor becomes more and more pronounced as the chocolate melts in your mouth. A "must" in the line of great cocoas. Kosher pareve..."

This Bonnat Trinite bar had a very pleasing chocolate aroma—with well-integrated cocoa, fruit, and island spice notes. The first taste was slightly "darker" than I expected, given the relatively light, sweet aroma, but gradually unfolded to have rounder, rich notes. Added cocoa butter gave the bar a slow, thick, creamy melt that may have made this unfolding more gradual.

Our next stop in our island-themed tour will be a few thousand miles west. So, imagine if you will that we're boarding a virtual private jet to fly over the Panama Canal, and across the great, wide Pacific Ocean, to taste two bars from Papua New Guinea over the next few days.

The content and images in this post belong to ChocolateBanquet.com.

Bonnat - Los Colorados Equateur 75% bar - July 14, 2015

Chocolate(s) of the Day: 

Chocolat Bonnat / Bonnat Chocolatier
Los Colorados Equateur (Ecuador) 75% de cacao (bar)
Good ++ - Very Good
Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) / 3.5 oz. (100 g.) in 1 bar
Calories: 152 calories (estimate) in 1 oz. (28.3 g.) piece of bar
Cost: $16.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: The Chocolate Garage, Palo Alto, CA

Today was Day #10, the last day of an extended Chocolate and Ecuador Theme Week.

Today's Los Colorados Equateur (Ecuador) tablette (bar) was made by Chocolate Bonnat (Voiron, Isere, France).

Bonnat is a business with a strong family history in chocolate. Felix Bonnat established a chocolate shop back in the1880s in the French town of Voiron. And the family tradition continues today. The current Maitre Chocolatier (head chocolatier) is Stephane Bonnat.

The company has produced at least 10 single origin chocolates, including today's Ecuador bar.*

This 75% cacao bar was made in France, with unroasted cacao beans shipped in from Ecuador -- from the Santa Domingo de Los Colorados region, so named because of the local colors there associated with the Tsachilas people, who dye their hair (and clothes) with plant materials (achiote and other natural colors).

SOMAChocolate.com

The bar's aroma was subtle and pleasing. One of the Bonnat hallmarks was apparent with the first bite of this bar -- a buttery, creamy texture and melt combined with good flavor (flavorful and balanced dried fruit, floral notes and cream). I also get a tiny whiff of floral-banana-marshmallow with many Ecuador bars, including this one. The overall flavor was quite good and without strong bitterness.

I enjoyed a similar 75% dark Ecuador from Bonnat last year, but the packaging was a different color, the bar title was different; and it's likely the harvest year was slightly earlier. So I don't think this was a repeat.

Just in case, I had a second single origin chocolate today, albeit not from Ecuador. (They were single origin truffles from SOMA Chocolatemaker (Toronto, Canada).) It was fruity and sweet and creamy and quite good. (The tasting notes mentioned wild raspberries and wildflower honey.)

*I was first introduced to Bonnat chocolate bars by Sunita de Tourreil, owner and chocolate curator extraordinaire at The Chocolate Garage (Palo Alto, CA). The creamy, buttery texture and smoother taste of these bars was a nice complement to some of the strong, bold flavors of craft bars emerging from the wave of new American makers several years ago. Thank you Sunita.

ChocolateBet: July 30, 2012

Chocolate of the Day:

Bonnat Chocolatier
(aka Chocolat Bonnat)
Surabaya Chocolat au lait bar
Good +
Weight: 1.15 oz. (33.3 g.) / 3.5 oz. (100 g.) total bar
Calories: 173 calories in 1/3 bar
Cost: $12.00 total bar
Purchased from: The Chocolate Garage, in Palo Alto, CA

Today was Day #3 of Milk Chocolate Theme Week. The choice of the day was the Surabaya Chocolat au lait (milk chocolate) bar from Bonnat Chocolatier (Voiron, Isere, France, since 1884), with cocoa from three origins: Asfarth, Java and Surabaya, Indonesia.

This attractively packaged bar was "65% de cacao." Once again, a shorter ingredient list correlated with higher quality. The four ingredients were: cocoa, cocoa butter, sugar and milk powder. The consistency was in the "European style" --  that is, possessing a pleasing, creamy smooth mouth-feel. Because cocoa was the first ingredient (ahead of cocoa butter and sugar) there was a hint of richer chocolate aroma and flavor than is often detectable in overly sweet bars. Vive le chocolat.