Willie's Cacao - Ginger Lime - Cuban Baracoa 70 Dark Chocolate (bar) - Apr. 23, 2025

Chocolate of the Day

Willie's Cacao 

Ginger Lime - Cuban Baracoa 70% Dark Chocolate (bar)
Good ++
Weight: .88 oz. (25 g.) / 1.76 oz. (50 g.) in total bar
Calories: 265 calories in 1 bar
Cost: $11.99 in total bar
Purchased from: World Wide Chocolate, online order

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

Today's Ginger Lime - Cuban Baracoa 70% Dark Chocolate (bar) was from / made by Willie's Cacao Ltd (Uffculme, UK and Copenhagen, Denmark). 

This travel inspired, bean-to-bar chocolate was made using cacao from (Baracoa) Cuba. 

Aroma notes for this bar included: lime, chocolate and very faint warm, island spice (ginger).

Texture: pleasantly smooth and fudge-y with tiny slightly crunchy bits of crystallized (I'm presuming) candied ginger and maybe candied lime peel. The overall textural blend was well-balanced, and seemed just right to release the layered flavors in this chocolate. (They all melted down together in a pleasing way.)

Flavor notes included: an upbeat blend of smooth dark chocolate, tangy sweet lime, subtly spicy ginger and faint honey.

I literally felt happy after tasting this chocolate. 

Ingredients: "cocoa mass, raw cane sugar, crystallised ginger 12% (stem ginger, sugar), cocoa butter, essential lime oil 0.1%". (Cacao solids 70%) 

Allergen-related information: "Vegan"

D. Barbero - Cioccolato Senza Zuccheri Aggiunti and Fondente Cuba (bars) - Jan. 16, 2022

Chocolate of the Day

Barbero Davide S.r.l. 

D. Barbero - Cioccolato Senza Zuccheri Aggiunti 70% (bar)
(70% Chocolate without Sugar) 
Good - Good +
Weight: 1.41 oz. (40 g.) / 2.82 oz. (80 g.) in total bar
Calories: 173.2 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $6.99 (estimate) for 1 bar
Purchased from: Mollie Stone's Market, Sausalito, CA

D. Barbero - Fondente Origine Unica Cuba Cacao 70% (bar)
(Dark Single Origin Cuba 70% Cacao (bar))
Good + - Good ++
Weight: 1.41 oz. (40 g.) / 2.82 oz. (80 g.) in total bar
Calories: 226 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $7.99 (estimate) for 1 bar
Purchased from: Mollie Stone's Market, Sausalito, CA

Welcome to Day #10 of European Chocolate Vacation Theme Week. Yesterday Chocolate Banquet (virtually) visited Milan in northern Italy; and today I (imagined) heading southeast to Asti (Piedmont Region) to enjoy a sip of Asti sparkling wine, Bunet pastry (amaretti, cocoa, eggs, milk, rum), and local Asti chocolates.

Today's two D. Barbero dark chocolate bars were from Barbero Davide S.r.l. (Asti, Italy). Both were 70% cacao single origin bars with smooth, sweet dark chocolate flavor. 

Cioccolato Senza Zuccheri Aggiunti (bar)

The first of today's two bars tasted was a sugar-free/no added sugar offering (made with Ecuador cacao). This dark chocolate had a faint chocolate cookie/biscuit note, and I tasted a very slight temperature flux (menthol note) on my palette (that I often experience with erythritol-sweetened items). However, for those who really need to limit sugar, this offering may be a welcome option.

Ingredients: Ecuador cocoa paste, sweetener: erythritol, cocoa butter, inulin, emulsifier: soya lecithin, natural vanilla flavour.

Allergen-related information: May contain traces of nuts, milk. Contains natural sugars. An excessive consumption may cause laxative effects.

Fondente Origine Unica Cuba Cacao 70% (bar)

The second 70% cacao dark bar--made from Cuba cacao--was a treat, as this Caribbean nation origin is a rare find. It had smooth, true chocolate aroma and flavor (dark chocolate cake with dark chocolate frosting/dark chocolate mousse cake) with a hint of vanilla, and a very faint sweet, fruit blend (light ripe banana, strawberry, peach, light cherry) note in the finish. 

Ingredients: Cuba cocoa paste, sugar, cocoa butter, emulsifier: soya lecithin, natural vanilla flavour. Cacao min. 70%.

Allergen-related information: "May contain traces of nuts, milk."

Haagen-Dazs - Belgian Chocolate Vanilla and Blackberry Ice Cream - July 4, 2019

Chocolate(s) of the Day: 

Haagen-Dazs
Crispy Trio Layers Belgian Chocolate Vanilla and Blackberry Ice Cream
Good +
Weight: 1/3 cup (62 g.) / 14 fl. oz. (414 mL) total container
Calories: 180 calories in 1/3 cup
Cost: $1.99 for 1 container
Purchased from: Grocery Outlet Bargain Market, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #4 of Chocolate and Island Nations Theme Week.

Happy 4th of July!—also known as Independence Day in the U.S. It was a great evening to see fireworks, on an island.

To honor the red, white and blue today, an appropriately tri-colored ice cream sundae was created and eaten, starting with Crispy Trio Layers Belgian Chocolate Vanilla and Blackberry Ice cream from Haagen-Dazs (distributed by Nestle Dreyer's Ice Cream Company in Oakland, CA).

This ice cream was topped with fresh blueberries, red raspberries, and a drizzle of Raspberry Aqua Perfecta from St. George's Distillery (based in Alameda, CA, Island #1). It was a great dessert for a backyard, pre-fireworks meal, and it was followed by a chocolate cigar.

Venchi Cuba Chocolate Cigar

Today we also celebrated Independence Day with a Venchi Cuba (Island #2) chocolate and hazelnut cigar, made with cacao from New Guinea (Island #3).