Pralus - Indonesia Criollo 75% (bar) - Dec. 3, 2023

Chocolate of the Day

Pralus 
Indonesia Criollo 75% (bar)
Good +++
Weight: 1.76 oz. (50 g.) / 3.5 oz. (100 g.) in total bar
Calories: 292.5 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $12.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Bar & Cocoa, online order

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

Today's Indonesia Criollo 75% (bar) was made in France by Patisserie Chocolaterie Pralus s.a.s. (Roanne, France).

The Java Criollo cacao variety used to make this chocolate was grown on the Island of Java, in Indonesia. This hybrid cacao is known for nuanced, subtle heritage Criollo flavor(s), blended with the bolder dark chocolate flavors of a Forastero* cacao variety.

Aroma notes included: bold dark chocolate, gentle fruit (sweet, green grapes; faint peach), very faint sweet cracker, malt, and honey; and barely there lemon-green herb (oxalis, wood sorrel, sour grass).

This well-tempered bar broke with a hard snap, and had a smooth texture and melt. As this relatively thick bar melted, there was a subtle unfolding and undulation of flavors that I associated with chocolates made with Criollo cacao(s).

Flavor notes included: rich dark chocolate, honey, subtle fruits, and fudge brownie.

Ingredients: Indonesian cocoa (min. 75%), sugar, cocoa butter, emulsifier: sunflower lecithin.

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

*Some would call this blend somewhat counter-intuitive hybrid a "best of both worlds" that combines the subtle prized flavors of a Criollo cacao (originally transported from the Americas to the Philippines and Indonesia--via Spanish ships many years ago), with the bold flavors of a Forastero cacao. Forastero pods are larger (contain cacao beans) and are more disease resistant as well.

 

Francois Pralus - Barre Infernal Orange - Jan. 24, 2022

Chocolate of the Day

Francois Pralus
Barre Infernale Orange (bar)
Good ++
Weight: 2 oz. (56.6 g.) / 5.29 oz. (150 g.) in total bar
Calories: 310 calories (estimate) in 2 oz. (56.6 g.) of bar
Cost: $24.00 (estimate) for 1 bar 
Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order

Bonjour (good day) and welcome to Day #18 of European Chocolate Vacation. 

Today's Francois Pralus Barre Infernale Orange (bar) was from Patiserrie Chocolaterie S.A.S. Pralus (Roanne, France). Roanne is a commune in the Loire Department in central France. 

I took an (imagined) walk along the Loire River, and then headed back to a small auberge (inn) to enjoy this hometown bar. (And what a lovely thing it would be to living near the origin of Francois Pralus chocolates.)

Aroma notes for this chocolate converged into a magical blend of candied citrus (orange peel), roasted nuts, and spiked chocolate fruitcake. The ingredients in this bar were skillfully layered to showcase them in both aroma and flavor.

Flavorful (fruity) dark chocolate formed the outer layer of this of this gold bullion bar-shaped chocolate was filled with a satisfying, softer praline center: ground nuts (almonds, hazelnut), milk chocolate and authentic, ground sweet orange peel, with a touch of orange liqueur. (Think faint Grand Marnier. The spirits added a bit of "infernale" or adult sinfulness.)

Everything about this substantial and flavorful. Happily it was not too sweet (thank you!). Cut a piece of this chocolate as you would slice a loaf of bread. A great bar to bring to a dinner party, or to share with others.

Ingredients: Praline 50% (roasted hazelnuts, sugar, roasted almonds, cocoa butter, milk chocolate (sugar, cocoa butter, milk powder, cocoa: 45% minimum; emulsifier: sunflower lecithin); black (dark) chocolate (cocoa: 70% minimum, sugar, cocoa butter, emulsifier: sunflower lecithin); candied oranges 16% (sugar, oranges 57%, glucose, orange alcohol).

Allergen-related information: Contained tree nuts (hazelnuts, almonds), milk. "Contains nuts and may contain traces of milk."

Francois Pralus - Bresil Forastero 75% (bar) - May 29, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

Francois Pralus
Bresil (Brazil) Forastero 75% (bar)
Good ++
Weight: 1.76 oz. (50 g.) / 3.5 oz. (100 g.) in total bar
Calories: 292.5 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $8.60 (estimate) (+ shipping) for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocosphere.com (online order)

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

Today's Bresil (Brazil) Forastero* 75% (bar) was made by Francois Pralus (Roanne, France).

The aroma notes for this dark chocolate included: cocoa, fruit (dried apple, dried persimmon), butter, faint, warm spice (cinnamon, 5-spice blend with a hint of tangerine peel), and faint herb/green (sweet lemon balm, light green grass).

The Brazil 75% chocolate had a creamy melt and texture (a luscious quality almost all Pralus chocolates seem to share). This trait may be due to longer conching/grinding times** (resulting in smaller particle size and full incorporation of cocoa solids and fats), and added cocoa butter.

The chocolate flavor was quite pleasant and subtle complexity, and relatively civilized for being made using just a Forastero cacao variety. (A longer conching time can also tame certain notes.**) 

The flavor notes included: chocolate (mocha brownie), with faint fruit (bright red apple and sweet, sun ripened blackberries) and a pleasant finish. 

The cacao was from a plantation located in Itacare along the Rio de Contas (De Contas River), in northeastern Brazil (Bahia). The river water flows from "Chapada Diamantina" (a national park, with a name that means "Diamond Plateau"). 

This water contains alluvial diamonds and "bathes the Forastero cacao trees and creates precious cacao pods." Cacao Badaro has over a century of history. Diego Badaro is a fifth generation cacao farmer who helped introduce organic/biodynamic, environment-friendly agricultural practices to the region.

Maker's tasting notes read as follows: "Single plantation chocolate. Powerful nose, well-balanced, coffee, cocoa and woody (boises) aromas."

Ingredients: "75% cocoa, sugar, pure cocoa butter, GMO-free soya lecithin"

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

*Forastero (cacao variety) is associated with bold, hearty flavor(s), and is more disease-resistant, than say, the more delicate Criollo cacao variety. The robust Forastero leads in terms of cacao production worldwide.

** I have not visited Pralus chocolate makers. My comments here (about conching/grinding times) are speculations about processes, based on knowledge I've accumulated from past tours, tastings, interviews with makers and other research.

Francois Pralus - Costa Rica Trinitario 75% (bar) - Dec. 25, 2020

Chocolate of the Day

Patisserie Chocolaterie Pralus s.a.s. - Francois Pralus 
Costa Rica Trinitario 75% (bar)
Good ++
Weight: 1.75 oz. (50 g.) / 3.5 oz. (100 g.) in total bar
Calories: 297.5 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $8.60 (+ shipping) for 1 bar
Purchased from:  Chocosphere.com, online order

Welcome to Day #9, the last day, of Chocolate and Costa Rica Theme Week. Merry Christmas to all who celebrate. 

Today's Costa Rica Trinitario 75% (bar) was from Pastisserie Chocolaterie Pralus s.a.s., founded by master chocolate maker Francois Pralus (Roanne, France). 

Francois Pralus, who came from a confection/patisserie background, was an early convert to craft, bean-to-bar, chocolate in France. And he continues to search out and find the best cacao from different countries to produce great single origin chocolate bars.

This 75% cacao dark, rich, true chocolate (dark chocolate cake), with light spice (mixed spices), fruit (berry blend), and light, clean green/floral notes (vanilla). 

The melt was creamy and the texture was velvety smooth.

The flavor had deep, smooth chocolate (brownie) notes with a balanced bitter-sweetness and authentic (cocoa nib-like) flavor. The finish was light and lingering with a faint, smooth roasted nut note, followed by a fleeting light tropical fruit (mild mango) note, interlaced with more chocolate brownie notes.

The choice to use 75% cacao (vs. 70% cacao) was a good choice. Dark chocolate lovers will enjoy this bar. And it was still sweet and smooth enough to support going a little darker, without alienating chocolate lovers with a sweet tooth.

Pralus tasting notes: "Woody and robust, fresh and vanilla"

Ingredients: "75% cacao, sugar, buerre de cacao (cocoa butter), soy lecithin (non-GMO)"

Chocolat Pralus - 75% Ghana squares - Aug. 17, 2020

Chocolate of the Day

Pralus Chocolatier
Ghana 75% squares
Good + - Good ++
Weight: .53 oz. (15 g.) in 3 squares
Calories: 80 calories (estimate) in 3 squares
Cost: $3.00 for 3 squares ($1.00 each)
Purchased from: Chocosphere.com, online order

Welcome to Day #5 of Ghana and Ivory Coast Theme Week.

Today's Ghana 75% individually-wrapped squares were from Chocolat Pralus (Pralus Chocolatier) in France.

Francois Pralus is the son of the original founder, Auguste Pralus, and has expanded the company's bean-to-bar and single origin chocolate offerings over the past few decades. (For example he opened a cocoa bean plantation and processing facility in Madagascar in 2000.)

These squares had an aroma with dark chocolate, spice, fruit, and very faint, fleeting molasses/brown sugar notes, and a creamy melt and mouthfeel with a subsequent very light astringency. 

Flavor notes included deep chocolate (fudge, dark brownie, fruit (light cherry) sweetness) and a soft dark chocolate finish.

Ingredients: Cacao beans from Ghana, sugar, pure cocoa butter, GMO free soy(a) lecithin.

Francois Pralus - Chuao - 10 degrees 29' N. 67 degrees 31' O. (bar) - May 14, 2020

Chocolate of the Day:

Francois Pralus
Chuao (bar)
Good ++ - Good +++
Weight: 1.476 oz. (50 g.) in total bar
Calories: 292.5 calories in 1 bar
Cost: $13.00 (estimate) for 1 bar
Purchased from: Missing information

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

Today's "Chuao" chocolate (bar) was made in France by Patisserie Chocolaterie Pralus s.a.s. (aka Francois Pralus). 

"Chuao" is a spare yet evocative one-word name for a bar. Chuao, located in northern Venezuela, is a remote village known for great cacao (and fishing). The word Chuao was accompanied by a precise set of geographic coordinates--10 degrees 29' N. 67 degrees 31' O. (West), that accentuated the importance of place. With cacao, wine and other exalted food and beverages, origin, place and terroir are reverently discussed. The rich volcanic soils, the climate and rainfall. These and other factors might contribute to great flavor, or may be characteristics that make a product more valuable.

The story printed on the packaging for this Chuao bar read (in part) as follows:

"West of Caracas,Venezuela, there is a mythical village. Accessible only by boat,* the village of Chuao is bordered North by dense tropical forests, in the South by the Caribbean Sea. For generations the cocoa grown in this region has been celebrated for its exceptional qualities. A unique terroir, an ancestral know-how, a traditional drying method makes this Criollo cocoa the most wanted worldwide..."

The Chocolate Behind the Story

OK, that's a great story; and I would like to visit this storied place one day.* But how was the chocolate?

This chocolate had an appealing, rich dark chocolate aroma with balanced molasses, tart mild dried fruit and faint fleeting green and almost smoked (maybe very faint roasted espresso) notes. The texture and melt were relatively smooth. There was a minuscule amount of astringency.

The balanced flavor profile was similar to the aroma notes. There was no harsh bitterness, in fact, there was very little bitterness at all. I enjoyed the sweet-tart, balanced dried fruit flavors (peaches, cherries). And there was enough dark chocolate complexity for an interesting flavor ride. A 70 percent version of this bar might have seemed too sweet. The choice of 75 percent cacao worked well. 

A subtle clean finish lingered politely. This chocolate was consistently (sorry to be repetitive) subtle yet flavorful and well-balanced all the way through. It was consistent in its complexity...a seeming contradiction, and a delicious truth.

Does thickness matter?

The thickness of certain chocolate bars can influence one's tasting experience and rating. A thicker bar can make it more difficult to access certain flavors, especially in a cold room/environment. I tried shaving off some shards and sampling those; and in fact the fruit flavors did seem a bit more readily accessible and identifiable. (A smaller, thinner piece also melts faster.) And with more subtle, complex bars I find my palette leaning in, wanting to more attention to subtleties. Try a thinner piece if you want to really "listen" to fine flavored cacao.

Ingredients: 75% cocoa, sugar, pure cocoa butter, GMO-free soya lecithin

*I would love to visit Chuao. It is accessible via boat but then you have to hike for another 5 km to get there, or take a wild ride in on a jeep/car/truck. There is also apparently a two and a half hour bus ride available from Caracas, Venezuela; but there are travel restrictions in place now (as of this writing in May 2020) due to Covid-19.

Francios Pralus - Tobago Estate 70% Trinitario bar - July 9, 2019

Chocolate of the Day: 

Francois Pralus
Tobago Estate  - Single Estate Trinitario bar 70% bar
Good ++ - Good +++
Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) / 3.5 oz. (100 g.) in total bar
Calories: 155 calories (estimate) in 1 oz. of bar
Cost: $14.50 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Cacao at The Heathman, Portland, OR

Welcome to Day #9 of Chocolate and Island Nations Theme Week.

Today's Tobago Estate  - Single Estate Trinitario bar 70% bar was made by French chocolate maker Francois Pralus (Roanne, France).

The Tobago Estate is in "the lush green hills of Roxborough...overlooking the Atlantic Ocean." Tobago is part of the twin island country, Trinidad and Tobago, in the West Indies region of the Caribbean Sea/Atlantic Ocean—a region long considered the birthplace of the popular Trinitario* variety of cacao.

This bar had a warm, rich dark chocolate aroma with a hint of spice cake. The texture was creamy and had an almost whipped lightness. It had a natural sugar sweetness, but was not too sweet, with hints of fruit (light berry, faint dried fruit).

The (Pralus) maker's tasting notes read: "Powerful and aromatic nose with layers of raisins, brown sugar and blackberries followed by a long creamy finish."

*Trinitario cacao is often described as a cross between the more delicate, complex Criollo heritage cacao variety and the more robust, bold flavored Forastero variety. There are interesting nuanced differences in flavors between these three varieties, as well as the other, less commonly discussed strains. Flavor is also influenced by the type of soil where cacao is grown, or terroir, and during steps taken to make/process cacao, such as fermentation, bean handling and sorting, and roasting.

SOMA - Birch branch filled with hazelnuts, cherry jam - Dec. 2, 2016

Chocolate(s) of the Day: 

SOMA Chocolate
Birch Branch with Hazelnut Crunch, Montmorency Cherry Jam
Very Good
Weight: .25 oz. (7 g.) / 11.3 oz. (320 g.) in total box
Calories: 37.5 calories (estimate) in 1 small piece
Purchased from: N/A - gift from Megan (Thank you!)

Welcome to hazelnut heaven, and Day #7 of Chocolate, Almond and Hazelnut Theme Week.

Today's chocsimile* of a birch branch from SOMA Chocolatemaker (Toronto) looked very much like the real thing, because it was carefully crafted from a real birch branch.

A mold was made from a special branch, and the mold is carefully "lined" with chocolate, and stuffed with a soft hazelnut crunch filling with Montmorency Cherry Jam in the center.

The result was magical—the envy of every squirrel and snowman in the forest I'm sure. And it tasted as wonderful as it looked. This very special treat would be great for a holiday party or sharing with others. It's likely to be seasonal, so check with SOMA (and/or their website) about availability.

Where's the Almond you say?
Funny you should ask. I also enjoyed another slice of heaven found in a Barre Infernal (Dark) from Francois Pralus** (France). I tasted the first of these Infernale bars (there's a milk and a dark version, and the dark version has hazelnuts and almonds) five years ago in 2011 at The Chocolate Garage (Palo Alto, CA).

This substantial Pralus bar reminded me of today's hazelnut Birch Branch from SOMA. This dark Pralus bar was large enough to be sliced and contained a hazelnut (and almond) filling. (Picture of bar at right is from the Francois Pralus website.)

*Chocolate facsimile
** Francois Pralus is a Master Chocolatier and chocolate maker based in France who makes single origin and bean-to-bar chocolate.

***Note: This item was not gluten-free. There was some flour involved in making the hazelnut filling crunchy. And while the type of flour was not specified, I'm assuming it was conventional (wheat) flour. 

Francois Pralus - Vanuatu bar - July 30, 2014

Chocolate of the Day:

Francois Pralus
Vanuatu Amelonado bar
Very Good
Weight: .875 oz. (25 g.) / 3.5 oz. (100 g.) in total bar
Calories: 130 calories (estimate) in 1/4 bar
Cost: $11.00 (estimate) for 1 bar
Purchased from: The Chocolate Garage, Palo Alto, CA

Today was Day #6 of Smoke and Savory Theme Week.

Smokey Dark Bar
Today's Vanuatu Amelonado single origin, dark chocolate (75%) bar from Francois Pralus (Roanne, France), was made with cacao grown in the South Pacific.

The bar was rich, dark and velvety smooth, with a smokey finish. According to notes on the bar's wrapper, the hint of smokey flavor comes from drying cacao beans on copra mats.

I love the opportunity that chocolate has given me to learn new things about the world. This chocolate was made from cacao beans grown on the West Coast of the island of Epi. (Epi is part of the island nation of Vanuatu, about 1,000 miles east of Northern Australia and west of Fiji.) I enjoyed learning a bit more about Vanuatu and Epi when researching today's post. Apparently "85 farmers produce 3 tonnes of cacao per year, primarily Amelonado."(Amelonado is a variety of Forastero cacao.)

Savory Milkshake
And, for a savory addition to today's smokey Vanuatu dark bar, I sipped a chilled chocolate + salted caramel milkshake, that = quite good, at The Fremont Diner in the Sonoma-Napa countryside, north of San Francisco. It was so country, that I found myself illegally feeding a chicken some cornbread under the patio table. (It's hard to resist a begging chicken.)

Pralus - Barre Infernale - Sept. 11, 2013

Chocolate of the Day:

Francois Pralus
Barre Infernale - Lait (bar)
Very Good - Yum!
Weight: .8 oz. (22.64 g.) / 5.64 oz. (160 g.)
Calories: 124 calories (estimate) for .8 oz. (22.64 g.) serving
Cost: $25.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: The Chocolate Garage, Palo Alto, CA

Great chocolate seems to attract adjectives that involve angels and devils in equal measure. Heaven in a bar. That's a good way to describe slices of today's chocolate bar. Each piece of this bar tasted like a high end truffle with a creamy* chocolate hazelnut center. Or, one could call this French bar devilishly good -- as the name (Barre Infernale) suggests. Either way, this filled milk chocolate bar from Francois Pralus (France) was memorable and extremely good.

*Note: "Creamy" doesn't quite cover it. Think buttery, only better.

The Barre Infernale (that comes in both milk and dark chocolate versions) is a bar you take to a dinner party with very good friends, or one you save for a special occasion. (This week I reached my seventh year of eating a different chocolate every day this week; and also celebrated my birthday.)

Francois Pralus Caracas bar - Sept. 8, 2013

Chocolate of the Day: 

Francois Pralus
Caracas Trinitario 75% bar
Good ++
Weight: .4 oz. (12.6 g.) / 3.5 oz. (100 g.) in total bar
Calories: 66 calories (estimate) in 4 small squares (1/8 bar)
Cost: $10.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: The Chocolate Garage, Palo Alto, CA

There is a lot to like about the smooth, European-style, chocolate from Francois Pralus (Roanne, France). Unlike some, more rustic (cocoa beans + sugar) single origin dark chocolate bars, today's bar had a buttery mouthfeel - thanks to a bit of added cocoa butter and non-GMO soy lecithin.

Other contributing factors to a smoother texture lie in decisions made in the chocolate-making process.  Conching chocolate for long periods, yields a smaller ground cacao bean particle size. However, this extra processing may also allow certain volatile flavor compounds to escape, so care must be taken.

Today's Caracas 75% bar made with beans from Venezuela, had both smoothness and relatively robust flavor that I associated with Trinitario cacao beans from South America.

Today was Day #6 of Chocolate and Venezuela Theme Week. 

Francois Pralus - Fortissima 80% bar - Feb. 15, 2013

Chocolate of the Day:

Francois Pralus
Fortissima - 80% cacao bar
Good + - Very Good
Weight: .875 oz. (25 g.) / 3.5 oz. (100 g.) total bar
Calories: 131 calories (estimate) in 1/4 bar
Cost: $12.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: The Chocolate Garage, in Palo Alto, CA

Fortissima (in Italian and French) means strong. It's also a term applied to music. I found that to be a fitting analogy for this Fortissima 80% cacao bar from Francois Pralus (Roanne, France).

Tasting Experience - Music

A tasting experience for a chocolate can be 20 or 30 seconds long -- and might be compared to a short piece of music. The prelude in this case (following the hard snap (a sign of a well tempered bar) when I broke off a piece of bar to taste) was a very mild smell, compared to the strong, unified "chord" of three flavor(s) that dominated throughout this experience. Somewhere in the middle of this chord there was also a pleasant roasted flavor note, then the strong chord resumed. The finish melted away to nothing.

The Melt

And speaking of melting, most Pralus bars have a deliciously smooth mouth feel or texture, similar to that of some other Swiss, German, French, Belgian and other European makers, in part due to cocoa butter, soy lecithin -- and, perhaps most important, longer conch times where particle sizes are ground down to smaller sizes, resulting in a more silky smooth texture. The trade-off with longer conching time can be loss of flavor (off flavors as well as interesting ones).

Criollo, Forastero, Trinitario

This Fortissima 80% bar was made using the beans from three types of cacao pods: Criollo, Forastero, and Trinitario. This classification is, in fact, an oversimplification (a subject of a future post), but if all three were musical notes on a piano, and you played all three notes at the same time -- you'd get a very strong flavor chord, especially if you used a stronger percent of cocoa solids. Not unlike this 80% cacao bar. So, Fortissima it is.

As a handy reference (to origin) on this Pralus "Les Tropiques du Chocolat" bar, there was a map with a dot roughly where Ecuador is located in South America, with the following coordinates: 2 degrees 18' S 76 degrees 38' 0.

Chocolate Math, Cartoon Physics, and a New Daily Format

Today was Day #10 of Chocolate and Ecuador Theme Week. Frequent visitors to this site will note that Chocolate Math does not always correlate with reality. Just as there are principles of Cartoon Physics where humor can alter perceptions of time and space, so it is with Chocolate Math here on Chocolate Banquet. A week may stretch from seven days to ten or eleven days in length. And, when you are enjoying chocolate, this is not such a terrible thing.

Note: Today, I'm changing Post titles to reflect the name of the Chocolate of the Day, rather than preface every post title with "ChocolateBet:" followed by the date. The daily chocolate "bet" continues; however, after more than six years I think I've already conveyed this point.

ChocolateBet: Sept. 5, 2011

Chocolate of the Day:

1/8 bar
Francois Pralus
Barre Infernale Noir
Very Good - Very Good +
Weight: .705 oz. (20 g.) / 5.64 oz. (160 g.) total bar
Calories: 106 calories (estimate)
Cost: $16.00 (estimate)
Purchased from: The Chocolate Garage, in Palo Alto, CA

This unique, elegant bar from Patisserie Chocolaterie s.a.s. Pralus (Roanne, France) can be cut into rectangular pieces and shared with friends. Think sliced truffles.

Covered in dark chocolate, and filled with hazelnut praline and toasted almonds from Valencia, this delicious confection is one of two "infernal" bars (there is also a milk chocolate version with toasted hazelnuts) from chocolatier Francois Pralus. Despite being transported in warm weather, it was still very good.

Today was Day #7 of Chocolate and Almonds Theme Week, and Day #3 of Chocolate and Hazelnut Theme Week.

ChocolateBet: January 1, 2010

Chocolate of the Day:

1/8 bar
Patisserie Chocolaterie Pralus s.a.s.
Le 100% Criollo
Very Good
Weight: .437 oz. (12.5 g.)/3.5 oz. (100 g.) total bar
Calories: 63 calories (estimate)
Cost: $8.99 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Bi-Rite Market, in San Francisco, CA

Why not start 2010 with a full commitment to cacao? This 100% cacao bar, known simply and factually as "Le 100%," does not waste space on any added sugar or other sweeteners, milk products or fancy flavorings or fillers. Here you simply get to taste what Criollo cacao beans are all about. A little bit of olive and earth, and a slightly acidic taste. Or, as my sister said about a preview taste during Christmas dinner last week: "It tastes like dirt." Yes, but in a good way.

ChocolateBet: July 3, 2009

Chocolate of the Day:

1/2 bar
Patisserie Chocolaterie Pralus s.a.s.
Cuba Trinitario 75% cacao
Very Good +
Weight: 1.75 oz. (50 grams)/3.5 oz. (100 g.) in total bar
Calories: 260 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $11.00 for total bar
Purchased from: Chocolate Covered, in San Francisco, CA

Nice, smooth flavors, especially if you have the discipline to warm the chocolate a bit first. Once again, I am traveling vicariously through chocolate...eating chocolate from more places than I have actually visited in this world. Maybe I'll catch up one of these days. Until now, I feel fortunate to be able to sample such a great variety of chocolate near where I live.