Fu Wan Chocolate - 62% Peach Red Oolong Tea (bar) - Apr. 30, 2026

Chocolate of the Day

Fun Wan Chocolate
62% Peach Red Oolong Tea (bar)
Good ++
Weight: 1.23 oz. (35 g.) in total bar
Calories: 203 calories in 1 bar 

Cost: $17.99 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Oceana Market, Pacifica, CA

Welcome to Day #8 of Chocolate & Tea Theme Week.

Today's 62% Peach Red Oolong Tea (bar) was from Fu Wan Chocolate (Ping-Tung County, Taiwan).

Aroma and Flavor notes for this tea chocolate included: fruit (sweet peach); gentle chocolate; subtle floral, oolong tea; and barely detectable warm spice. 

Texture: very smooth dark chocolate with soft, candied peach pieces, and a barely detectable tea astringency in the finish.

I appreciated the relatively short list of quality ingredients and the subtle qualities of this bar. The sweet, honeyed peach bits had the most distinct flavor. The chocolate and tea flavors were quieter. I'd advise eating this chocolate slowly you can enjoy all three flavors.

Ingredients: Sugar, Cocoa Mass, Cacao Butter, Dried Peach (Taiwan Honey Peach, Sugar, Citric Acid), Red Oolong Tea Powder.

Allergen-related information: "This product is manufactured in a facility that also processes mango, egg, tree nuts, soy, milk, and milk products. Not recommended for individuals with allergies to these ingredients."

Fu Wan Chocolate - 62% Yuzu Oolong Tea Chocolate (bar) - Apr. 29, 2026

Chocolate of the Day

Fu Wan Chocolate
62% Yuzu Oolong Chocolate (bar)

Good ++  
Weight: 1.23 oz. (35 g.) in total bar
Calories: 203 calories in 1 bar
Cost:  $17.99 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Oceana Market, Pacifica, CA   `

Welcome to Day #7 of Chocolate & Tea Theme Week.

Today's 62% Yuzu Oolong Chocolate (bar) was from Fu Wan Chocolate (Ping-Tung County, Taiwan).

Aroma and Flavor notes for this tea chocolate included: gentle dark chocolate; tiny clumps of sweetened dried citrus fruit (very slightly peppery, yuzu*, sweet citrus peel); and faint floral oolong tea.

Texture: very smooth dark chocolate with chewy candied yuzu pieces, and a barely detectable tea astringency in the finish.

I enjoyed the dried, sweet and flavorful citrus/yuzu* bits. And I appreciated the relatively short list of quality ingredients. The candied tart-sweet citrus was stronger than the more subtle chocolate and tea flavors--likely OK as many people prefer subtle chocolate flavors. And this bar was balanced enough (if you eat it slowly) that one could enjoy all three flavors.

Ingredients: Sugar, Cocoa Mass, Cacao Butter, Diced Pomelo* (pomelo peel, sugar, starch syrup, brandy, alcohol flavoring) Oolong Tea Powder

Allergen-related information: "This product is manufactured in a facility that also processes mango, egg, tree nuts, soy, milk, and milk products. Not recommended for individuals with allergies to these ingredients."

*Note: Yuzu is different than pomelo. Both are citrus fruits. But, there is some linguistic overlap in terms of these fruit names. Apparently the yuzu and yuja citrus fruits (in Japan and Korea, respectively) has migrated to mean pomelo in modern China.

Fu Wan Chocolate Lychee Tie Guan Yin Tea Chocolate 62% (bar) - Apr. 28, 2026

Chocolate of the Day

Fu Wan Chocolate
Lychee Tie Guan Yin Tea Chocolate 62% (bar)

Good ++  
Weight: 1.23 oz. (35 g.) in total bar
Calories: 203 calories in 1 bar
Cost:  $17.99 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Oceana Market, Pacifica, CA   `

Welcome to Day #6 of Chocolate & Tea Theme Week.

Today's Lychee Tie Guan Yin Tea Chocolate 62% (bar) was from Fu Wan Chocolate (Ping-Tung County, Taiwan).

Aroma and Flavor notes for this fruit-forward chocolate included: gentle chocolate, sweetened dried fruit (authentic lychee) and faint oolong tea.

Texture: very smooth dark chocolate with chewy lychee pieces, and a barely detectable tea astringency in the finish.

I enjoyed the dried, sweet and flavorful lychee fruits. And I appreciated the relatively short list of quality ingredients. I would have loved to have tasted a bit more of the chocolate and tea flavors, but I think most people will prefer the blend of sweet, fruity and more subtle/balanced chocolate flavors in this bar.

Ingredients: Sugar, Cocoa Mass, Cacao Butter, Dried Lychee, Tieguanyin Tea Powder

Allergen-related information: "This product is manufactured in a facility that also processes mango, egg, tree nuts, soy, milk, and milk products. Not recommended for individuals with allergies to these ingredients."

Fu Wan Chocolate - Beer Yeast #3 "American Ale Style Rough Ground Chocolate" 70% dark (bar) - Aug. 27, 2025

Chocolate of the Day

Fu Wan Chocolate
Beer Yeast #3 "American Ale Style Rough Ground Chocolate" 70% dark (bar)
Good ++ 
Weight: 1.236 oz. (35 g.) in total bar
Calories: 222 calories in 1 bar
Cost: $18.99 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Caputo's, online order

Welcome to Day #4 of Chocolate, Beer and Hops Week, featuring chocolates that contain some beer/beer ingredients (hops, malt, yeast other fermented flavors), and chocolates related to beer pairings.

Today's Beer Yeast #3 "American Ale Style Rough Ground Chocolate" 70% dark (bar) was made by Fu Wan Chocolate (Ping-Tung County, Taiwan). 

Aroma notes for this bean-to-bar chocolate included: dark chocolate; fizzy/fermented fruit (orange, peach, pineapple, apple, and much more) and fruity beer. 

These remarkable notes are possible if a maker is located near cacao trees, where chocolate can be made "in-country." And today's bar is one of those cases. Once harvested, cacao seeds surrounded by sweet fermenting pulp start to develop flavor almost immediately.*

The rough, stoneground texture and mouth feel--with tiny bits of cacao nibs (with surfaces presumably undergoing layered states of fermentation)--enabled a tasty, more multi-faceted flavor spectrum.

Flavors included the fruity spectrum mentioned in aroma notes (above), only with more depth and flavor fun. There was a fleeting hop-like bitterness, but it was very balanced and overshadowed by the lighter/brighter fruit notes.

This was a well-executed ride through the land of authentic cacao + fruity, fermented beer-like flavors--flavors that continued into a long and satisfying fruity finish. 

Thank you to Fu Wan Chocolate for this chocolate. It was very tasty and educational, especially with recent news about researchers "finally cracking" how flavor development is built with cacao/chocolate using specific microbes that can be applied to cacao fermentation facilities in the field immediately following harvesting cacao pods. (Fermenters and makers were already aware of this, but good to know the rest of the world is catching up; watch for more flavorable and fruity chocolates ahead.)

Maker's Tasting Notes: Orange, Grape, Pineapple, Pear.

Ingredients: Ping-Tung Cacao Liquor, Sugar, Cacao Butter, Yeast

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

*Most makers in the U.S. and Europe may have close ties to cacao farmers and co-ops in more equatorial climates, but nothing beats being in the same location, when it comes to sampling and influencing fermentation flavor development choices. (Think wineries in California and northern Mediterranean Europe; or beer-making regions in northern Europe and the Pacific Northwestern U.S.--where ingredients are grown and fermented in the same region.) The same is true in Asia, Africa and elsewhere.

Fu Wan Chocolate - Taiwan #9 Ping Tung Double Ferment Rough Ground Chocolate (bar) - Aug. 6, 2023

Chocolate of the Day

Fu Wan Chocolate
Taiwan #9 Double Ferment Rough Ground Chocolate (bar)
Good + - Good++
Weight: .795 oz. (22.5 g.) / 1.59 oz. (45 g.) in total bar
Calories: 143 calories (per label) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $13.50 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order

Welcome to Day #3 of Chocolate Surprise Week, including chocolates with unique ingredients, surprising back stories and some that are just plain fun.

Today's Taiwan #9 Ping Tung Double Ferment Rough Ground Chocolate (bar) was made by Fu Wan Chocolate using (2019 Harvest) cacao from the Ping Tung area. Fu Wan Chocolate makes "tree to bar" chocolate and is based in Donggang Township, Pingtung County, Taiwan (Republic of China).

Fermentation of freshly harvested "wet" cacao is a very important step in making chocolate and helps develop flavor(s). A "double ferment" initiates a second fermentation and creates additional flavors.

Aroma notes for this 70% dark chocolate included: dark chocolate; carbonated beverage (beer with fermented fruit (mango, watermelon, stone fruit (peach, nectarine), cacaco fruit pulp); and strawberry-apple balsamic vinegar)).

The "rough ground" chocolate was a bit granular, not quite gritty, in texture. It was also rich in chocolate and fruit flavor.

Flavor notes for this aromatic chocolate included: chocolate and fruit (stone fruit (nectarine, dried peach, tart-sweet cherry), tart-sweet mango, cacao fruit, tart-sweet watermelon, and banana.). The authentic fruit and acidity (yeast used) created an almost fizzy sweet and sour chocolate, with a relatively long fruity finish.

It had more of an intense fruity sweetness than a cane sugar sweetness.

Both the Fu Wan beer yeast 70% bar featured yesterday (8/5/2023) and today's Fu Wan double ferment 70% bar were very interesting bars to taste, and would be interesting to include in a side-by-side tasting with other Ping Tung cacao chocolates--where the same cacao was fermented with different yeasts under different conditions and durations. 

Maker's tasting notes: "Strawberry, Apple, Balsamico, Champagne, Nuts"

Ingredients: Cacao Bean, Sugar, Cacao Butter

Allergen-related information: "May contain traces of nuts and peanuts." 

 

Fu Wan Chocolate - Beer Yeast #1 "Armstrong" Ale Style Rough Ground Chocolate (bar) - Aug. 5, 2023

Chocolate of the Day

Fu Wan Chocolate
Beer Yeast #1 "Armstrong" Ale Style Rough Ground Chocolate (bar)
Good ++
Weight: .62 oz. (17.5 g.) / 1.24 oz. (35 g.) in total bar
Calories: 107 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $16.50 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order

Welcome to Day #2 of Chocolate Surprise Week, including chocolates with unique ingredients, surprising back stories, and some that are just plain fun.

Today's Beer Yeast #1 "Armstrong" Ale Style Rough Ground Chocolate (bar) was made from "tree to bar"  by Fu Wan Chocolate in Donggang Township, Pingtung County, Taiwan (Republic of China).

Aroma notes for this 70% dark chocolate included sweet fermenting fruit (tart-sweet red berry, sweet citrus, cacao fruit/pulp) and chocolate.

The texture and mouthfeel was slightly rough with a rapid (light cocoa butter) melt and mild fruit astringency.

Flavor notes included: chocolate (mild cocoa, cocoa butter); subtle, almost fizzy sweet fruit soda/fruit beer note that tailed off--leaving lightly roasted, slightly woody and nutty cocoa nib, and buckwheat pancake/grain/malt notes in the finish.

This was a surprisingly aromatic and light, almost effervescent, 70% dark chocolate. It was fun and well-executed. The flavorful beer yeast bar was also relatively low in bitterness; and was not too sweet (thank you!).

It was also very interesting to taste the effects of yeast* (perhaps added during in the initial fermentation process, or as part of a second/double ferment). 

Note: Fu Wan Chocolate is crafting tree-to-bar chocolate "in country", allowing the chocolate maker(s) to be more directly involved with the fermentation process that quickly follows cacao harvesting. 

Most chocolate makers are remote from where cacao is grown, harvested, fermented* and dried. They can work/communicate closely with co-ops, fermenteries and those performing these first chocolate-making steps; but the options for tinkering/experimenting might be more limited.

Maker's tasting notes: "Tangerine, Fig, Beer, Almond

Ingredients: Ping Tung Cacao Liquor, Sugar, Cacao Butter, Beer Yeast

Allergen-related information: "May contain traces of nuts and peanuts." (Contains yeast)

*Yeast(s) play a valuable and complex role during the days-long process of fermentation of freshly harvested "wet cacao." 

Yeasts (some natural, some lab-based) help convert the freshly harvested cacao beans and residual "wet" fruit pulp from sugar to ethanol (and CO2) in a process where flavor compounds are also developed. 

How cacao is fermented and what yeasts were involved will affect aroma and flavor notes present in the subsequent finished chocolate.

Fu Wan Chocolate - Taiwan #3 Ping Tung Black Sugar Chocolate 70% Dark (bar) - Feb. ??, 2023

Chocolate of the Day

Fu Wan Chocolate
Taiwan #3 Ping Tung Black Sugar Chocolate 70% Dark (bar)
Good ++ - Good +++
Weight: 1.59 oz. (45 g.) in total bar
Calories: 248 calories in 1 bar 
Cost: $12.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order

Welcome to Day #6 of Chocolate and Golden Sugars Theme Week.

Today's Taiwan #3 Ping Tung Black Sugar Chocolate 70% Dark (bar) was from Fu Wan Chocolate (Taiwan, R.O.C.).

The cacao (harvested in 2019) used to make this "tree to bar" chocolate was grown in (southern) Taiwan.

The rich aroma notes for this 70% dark chocolate included: flavorful deep dark sugars (molasses), thoroughly toasted marshmallow (well done, slightly beyond golden to charred territory), dark chocolate, subtle sweet, almost marshy green, dried fruit (dates), brown sugar, and faint, freshly baked yeast bread, and very faint, fleeting red wine. and savory Japanese rice cracker.

The texture of this well-tempered bar was pleasing. The melt and mouthfeel were close to being pillowy and velvety, while at the same time having a very low level of light granular astringency.

Flavor notes mirrored the rich variety of aroma notes mentioned above with dark brown sugar, date, and raisin notes. There was something almost sweet and savory about this chocolate (like small, golden brown, sweet and salty, Japanese rice crackers), and almost herbal (dark, sweet black licorice).

I loved the complexity of this chocolate and the dark, almost smoky-sweet "black sugar" flavor. This would make a great ganache, and would pair well with coffee--adding flavor depth as well as sweetness. 

In fact, one can already buy black sugar flavored (boba) teas, black sugar flavored coffee drinks, and frozen desserts with black sugar at Asian markets and other specialty markets/stores in the San Francisco Bay Area. However, these black sugar sweetened items are rarely paired with rich, single origin dark chocolate.

So why aren't we tasting more chocolates with more flavorful sugars? White cane sugar's relative blandness is why it is often selected by bean-to-bar chocolate makers--over golden (or black) sugars. More flavorful cooked sugars (or less processed sugars) can alter (or diminish) the inherent fruity, nutty, floral and other flavor present in fine, single origin cacao beans.

With today's Ping Tung Black Sugar chocolate, Fu Wan makers have shown us that some concerns about using darker sugars may have been overblown. That is, when skillfully crafted, chocolates can contain a complementary blend of flavorful sugars and flavorful cacao and can be fully enjoyed without the tastier sugars wiping out/distorting the fine cacao flavors and vice versa.

Maker's tasting notes: "Raisin, Licorice, Milk Tea, Brandy, Coffee"

Ingredients: Cacao bean, black sugar, cacao butter

Allergen-related information: "May contain traces of nuts and peanuts."

Fu Wan Chocolate - Taiwan #10 Ping Tung 53% Dark Milk Chocolate (bar) - Jan. 31, 2023

Chocolate of the Day

Fu Wan Chocolate
Taiwan #10 Ping Tung 53% Dark Milk Chocolate (bar)
Good ++ 
Weight: .795 oz. (22.5 g.) / 1.59 oz. (45 g.) in total bar
Calories: 130 calories in 1/2 bar 
Cost: $14.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order 

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

Today's Taiwan #10 Ping Tung 53% Dark Milk Chocolate (bar) was created by Fu Wan Chocolate (Pingtung County, Taiwan, R.O.C.).

This single origin bar offered a uniquely special and very subtle bouquet of chocolate aroma notes, including: chocolate (subtle milk chocolate), faint fleeting malt, faint clean mineral (clay), faint diffuse fruit (apple, raisin, peach), faint warm floral spice (soft vanilla and very faint cinnamon), very faint nut/seed, and very faint green tea floral.

The texture of this 53% dark milk chocolate was uniformly smooth and relatively creamy.

The flavor notes closely mirrored the aroma notes (above). This dark milk chocolate was filled with a very subtle array of fruit flavors. The milk (powder) softened/muted any strong fruit acidity and possibly other more subtle flavors. The chocolate was very low in bitterness. And it had a very mild, but long finish. In that finish were hidden whispers of nut (very fleeting lightly roasted peanut), and fruit (peach and light osmanthus blossom tea).

I paired this chocolate with small cups of osmanthus* oolong tea and jasmine green tea.

Some 53% cacao dark milk chocolates and confections can be very sweet. This bar was not. (Thank you!) The choice of less sugar (less than is often present here in the U.S.) made it much easier to detect the subtle flavors that were present.

I recommend trying this bar, or including it as part of a chocolate tasting flight. (Try this one first before stronger tasting chocolates, so you can still taste the softly complex notes.)

Maker's tasting notes: Apple, raisin, toffee, nuts, vanilla

Ingredients: Cacao bean, sugar, milk powder, cacao butter, vanilla pod

Allergen-related information: (Contains milk) 

*Osmanthus are aromatic flowering evergreen large shrubs/small trees native to China, Indochina and Japan. 

There are some that grow in a park near my house in California. I walked by a row of tall bushes with small clusters of tiny, fragrant, ivory-colored flowers last November; and I immediately recognized the smell as the flavoring in an Chinese tea I'd enjoyed. 

I've since been able to make my own flower-infused tea from local osmanthus blossoms, since it grows here as well as Taiwan, R.O.C.--where today's chocolate originated; and where osmanthus-infused tea is also popular.

My experience with osmanthus is that is has an apricot/peach scent and light citrus/stone fruit-floral, lightly herby flavor.

 

Fu Wan Chocolate - Taiwan #1 Ping Tung Chocolate 85% (bar) - Jan. 25, 2023

Chocolate of the Day

Fu Wan Chocolate
Taiwan #1 Ping Tung Chocolate 85% (bar)
Good ++
Weight: .795 oz. (22.5 g.) / 1.59 oz. (45 g.) in total bar
Calories: 130 calories in 1/2 bar 
Cost: $13.50 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order

Welcome to the first day of Chocolate and Tea Week.

Today's Taiwan #1 Ping Tung 85% (bar) was from Fu Wan Chocolate (located in Ping Tung (aka Pingtung) County, in southern Taiwan, R.O.C.).

The company makes a variety of bean-to-bar chocolates featuring local ingredients. These include tree-to-bar chocolates made using local cacao from southern Taiwan. Other chocolates have infused tea or spice flavor inclusions.

Aroma notes in today's single origin (tree-to-bar) chocolate included: chocolate (cocoa, lightly roasted coffee), faint brown sugar/molasses, fruit (goji berry, faint raisin), and green (very light algae) notes. 

This relatively thick 85% bar had smooth, uniform texture and a very light, faint (fruit) astringency. Each bite yielded rich, deep cacao flavor, and notes that mirrored aroma notes mentioned above. There was also a faint, fleeting spice note (star anise). 

This ultra dark bar had interesting, balanced complexity; and a relatively low(er) sugar percentage content enabled more direct, clear access to the natural range of cacao flavors. It was full of subtle aroma and flavor and low in bitterness.

I paired today's chocolate with a small cup of warm "Iron Goddess"* tea, a relatively straight-forward tea blend that was low in bitterness, and had pleasant green tea floral, and very faint grassy and clean mineral notes.

Ingredients: Cacao bean, sugar, cacao butter

Allergen-related information: (No information found on label.)

*Iron Goddess Oolong tea is frequently associated with Fujian province in southeastern China--that borders the China Sea coast (across from Taiwan), where this tea is also grown. Iron Goddess tea is a tea that has typically been oxidized. (Although the degree of oxidation may range from 50 to 25 percent, depending on where it is made.)

Fu Wan Chocolate - Taiwan Magao (Wild Pepper) Chocolate (bar) - Dec. 15, 2020

Chocolate of the Day

Fu Wan Chocolate
Taiwan Magao (Wild Pepper) Chocolate 62% dark (bar)
Good ++
Weight: .795 oz. (22.5 g.) / 1.59 oz. (45 g.) in total bar 
Calories: 135 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $ missing information
Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order

Welcome to Day #7 of Chocolate and Spices Theme Week(s). We're moving from chocolate and spice offerings created in northern Europe to featuring a chocolate from a slightly warmer place, Taiwan, that is also closer to the spice hub that is southeast Asia.

Today's Taiwan Magao (Wild Pepper) Chocolate 62% dark (bar) was made from "tree to bar" by Fu Wan Chocolate (Taiwan, ROC). "Crafted in the Island of Formosa," this bar contained Magao pepper. Old world pepper varieties have served as prized spices for centuries. Most people are familiar with black pepper, but there are many other "pepper" varieties out there from other plants, seeds and berries.

Magao pepper (Litsea cubeba), also known as a "mountain pepper," grows on evergreen trees native to Taiwan. Its seeds have been harvested and used as a spice/flavoring and a natural medicine by indigenous tribes (Atayal people) in Taiwan for centuries. It's used as an ingredient in traditional Magao pineapple cakes. And it's being explored by culinary explorers looking for unique taste experiences. It is closer to black pepper in flavor; and is not a chili or capsicum pepper. 

This spice gave the chocolate bar a very unique aroma. The bar's aroma had an earth meets water (lagoon/bay/grassy) note followed by fruit (goji berry tea, earthy tropical fruit), and black pepper sweet tea and faint graham cracker notes.

The melt and mouthfeel was very light and creamy (almost a whipped chocolate/cocoa butter feel). The sweet flavor had notes of ginger and lemongrass and faint oolong tea leaf notes, followed by a mild, balanced tea astringency. 

I was so busy enjoying and ferreting out the complex, Taiwan Magao wild pepper flavors that I had to re-taste it again for chocolate (cacao) nuances I might have missed. The relatively mild, sweet 62% dark chocolate base complemented the wild pepper, but it was hard to tell what spice, fruit, nut or earth notes the cacao contributed (apart from the pepper). The cacao (bean and butter) could have even mellowed the pepper flavors. More research is needed.

"Tasting Notes: Lemongrass, Ginger, Citrus, Nuts"

Ingredients: Cacao bean, sugar, cacao butter, Magao (Wild Pepper).

Fu Wan Chocolate - Taiwan Charcoal Oolong Tea Chocolate (bar) - Aug. 7, 2020

 Chocolate of the Day

Fu Wan Chocolate
62% dark Taiwan Charcoal Oolong Tea Chocolate (bar)
Good ++ 
Weight: 1.59 oz. (45 g.) in total bar
Calories: 283 calories (per label) in 1 bar
Cost: $16.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocolate Covered, San Francisco, CA

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

Today's 62% dark Taiwan Charcoal Oolong Tea Chocolate (bar) was from Fu Wan Chocolate (Formosa (Taiwan)). This chocolate was flavorful, middle ground blend of cacao and tea.

Oolong teas have a flavor in between a spring green sencha and a heavier, malt-ier black Assam tea--just like a Trinitario cacao usually falls between a mild heritage Criollo cacao and a deep, dark Forastero cacao variety. In tea and chocolate, a tea master/maker or chocolate maker coaxes different notes (e.g. fruit, floral or nut) out of a batch of leaves, or cacao beans--employing different roast profiles and other steps in the process.

Fu Wan does use cacao grown in Taiwan, and cacao from other locations. (I was unable to determine the exact cacao origin(s) for this bar.) It tasted like it may have been made with Trinitario cacao.

My tasting notes are below: 

Aroma: honey, raisin toast 

Flavor: honey, raisin toast, fleeting sweet "Dragon Eye*" oolong tea notes, and a faint hint of dried fruit (date, peach, dried longan fruit) and nut. The cacao added a richness to the tea experience. 

Maker's tasting notes read as follows: "Almond, cashew, black sesame, fennel, licorice, mint"

Ingredients: Cacao bean(s), cane sugar, cacao butter, Charcoal Oolong tea.

*The tea flavors in today's Fu Wan Taiwan Charcoal Oolong bar reminded me of the "Dragon Eyes" oolong tea I've enjoyed in the San Francisco Bay Area. Dragon Eye tea is sometimes described as somewhere between a green and black tea, with light smokey and dried fruit notes. This is the closest to today's charcoal oolong tea that I've experienced here in the U.S. And, after this week's Fu Wan flavorful oolong bars, I'll be exploring more of the wonderful "middle ground" world of oolong teas soon.

Fu Wan Chocolate - 62% Taiwan Red Jade Tea Chocolate (bar) - Aug. 5, 2020

Chocolate of the Day

Fu Wan Chocolate
62% Taiwan Red Jade Tea Chocolate (bar)
Good +++ - Very Good
Weight: 1.59 oz. (45 g.) in total bar
Calories: 283 calories (per label) in 1 bar
Cost: $16.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocolate Covered, San Francisco, CA

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

Today's 62% Taiwan Red Tea Chocolate (bar) was from Fu Wan Chocolate (Formosa (Taiwan)). The tea used in this bar is a hybrid black tea developed in Taiwan that has red branches (and color), thus the name.

This bar was made from a blend of (Trinitario) cacao sources. (Fu Wan does use cacao grown in Taiwan, and some from other locations.)

My tasting notes are below: 

Aroma: dried fruit (goji berry)

Flavor: dried goji berry, delicate black oolong tea with rose petal and very subtle herbal/warm spice (star anise) notes. Well balanced, lightly layered flavor complexity. There was a faint, nicely balanced, tannic tea astringency in the finish, and perhaps a ghost of red raspberry leaf.

Please do to sit down with this chocolate and savor slowly, as one would a cup of of high quality tea. Elegant floral fruit tea notes from this blend of dark chocolate and Taiwan Red Jade Tea. The choice of a 62% cacao chocolate base (dark, but not too dark) allowed the subtle tea flavors to shine through, and yet it was not too sweet (thank you).

Maker's tasting notes read as follows: "Bayleaf, bergamot, cinnamon, star anise"

Ingredients: Cacao bean(s), cane sugar, cacao butter, Red Jade tea.

Fu Wan Chocolate - Taiwan No. 5 - 62% Nibs Chocolate (bar) - Nov. 15, 2019

Chocolate of the Day:

Fu Wan Chocolate
Taiwan No. 5 - 62% Nibs Chocolate (bar)
Good ++ - Good +++
Weight: .795 oz. (22.5 g.) / 1.59 oz. (45 g.) in total bar
Calories: 133.6 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $12.00 - $14.00 (estimate) for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocolate Covered, San Francisco, CA

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

Today's Taiwan No. 5 - 62% Nibs Chocolate (bar) was made by Fu Wan Chocolate (Pingtung, Taiwan).

Fu Wan makes tree-to-bar chocolate, working with farmers in Pingtung in southern Taiwan, where the climate is likely the most suitable for growing cacao.

This bar had a rapid melt and almost fluffy, whipped creamy texture. The balanced, even chocolate flavor had relatively light, bright sweet fruit notes (ripe tangelo, mild plum) with no off notes. Nibs added a bit of soft crunchy texture.

Fu Wan Chocolate - 36% Rose Lychee Nibs bar - June 4, 2019

Chocolate of the Day: 

Fu Wan Chocolate
36% Rose Lychee Nibs bar
Good ++
Weight: 1.59 oz. (45 g.) in total bar
Calories: 238 calories (estimate) in 1 bar
Cost: $14.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocolate Covered, San Francisco, CA

Welcome to Day #12 of Chocolate and Flowers Theme Week.

Today's unique 36% Rose Lychee Nibs bar was from Fu Wan Chocolate (Taiwan). This bar had an aroma with dried fruit, dragonfruit herbal tea and floral notes—and an interesting color and texture.

The flavor was full of lychee (what tasted like smoke-dried lychee fruit pieces, with a soft fruity chew) and subtle rose (Pintung organic roses) notes and crunchy cacao nibs. It was a fun and fresh bar to sample.

The chocolate had a slightly speckled or marbled gray-burgandy hue; and it was similar to other high-end white chocolate (albeit less sweet, thank you!) bars made with cacao butter, milk and, instead of cocoa solids, ground coffee or other finely ground seed or nut substitute (used to replace or add to the darker cacao solids).

Not to say these "white" bars aren't interesting. Some are quite tasty in a novel way.*

Due to its rather unique composition, it had a rapid, almost waxy, but not unpleasant, soft melt. To be clear, it also had real cacao nibs (pieces of cacao bean) sprinkled across the back of the bar, so it did contain cacao solids. (Otherwise it would not be featured here on Chocolate Banquet.)

*We've had bars with cocoa butter and very finely ground coffee beans that were so skillfully executed they could easily have been mistaken for a conventional coffee-flavored dark chocolate bar. We have also tasted other botanically-based white chocolate bars and confections made with a variety of ground seeds and nuts, including: ground Tonka beans (Dipteryx odorata—illegal in the U.S.), Cupuacu seeds (Theobroma grandiflorum), Carob pods (Ceratonia siliqua), Jaquar Cacao or Pataxte (Theobroma bicolor), and even Jackfruit seeds and Kola nuts.