Gallette Chocolates - 85% Cacao Brasil - Mata Atlantica (Rainforest) (bar) - June 2, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

Gallette Chocolates
85% Cacao Brasil - Mata Atlantica (Rainforest) (bar)
Good ++ = Good +++
Weight: 1.51 oz. (43 g.) / 3.5 oz. (100 g.) in total bar
Calories: 240 calories in 1 serving (9 squares) of bar
Cost: $ missing information
Purchased from: missing information 

Welcome to Day #6 of Chocolate and Brazil (Brasil) Theme Week. 

Today's 85% Cacao Dark Chocolate Mata Atlantica Rainforest Brasil (bar) was from Gallette Chocolates LTDA - EPP (Sao Paulo, Brazil).

Aroma notes included: dark, roasted cacao, faint leather, salt and earth; roasted nut butter.

The bar had a thick, creamy fudge texture and melt.

The chocolate flavor: rich, dark, roasted cacao with medium acidity, a fleeting hint of green, and not too sweet. (Thank you, I'm always looking for less sweet, ultra-dark bars to love.)

Ingredients: Cocoa, sugar and cocoa butter.

Allergen-related information: May contain traces of milk, soy, almond, Brazil nuts, cashew, macadamia nuts, coconut, walnuts, wheat and peanuts.
 

Gallette Chocolates - 65% Cacao Dark Chocolate Catongo Cacao Bahia Brazil - June 1, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

Gallette Chocolates
65% Cacao Dark Chocolate Catongo Cacao Bahia Brazil (bar)
Good + - Good ++
Weight: 1.51 oz. (43 g.) / 3.5 oz. (100 g.) in total bar
Calories: 220 calories in 1 serving (9 squares) of bar
Cost: $8.35 for 1 bar (+ shipping)
Purchased from: Chocosphere.com, online order 

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

Today's 65% Cacao Dark Chocolate Catongo Cacao Bahia Brazil (bar) was from Gallette Chocolates LTDA - EPP (Sao Paulo, Brazil).

This chocolate had a subtle, sequentially complex chocolate aroma with faint earth, quickly moving to refreshing oolong tea, cocoa, tart-sweet, green herb (lemon balm, sour grass), and finally light wood notes.

The melt and texture were smooth and uniform.

Flavor notes for this relatively sweet 65% bar included chocolate cake, brownie, faint fruity oolong tea, and fleeting, very light earth.

The Catongo cacao (a light-colored mutation of Forastero cacao) used to create this bar was from the State of Bahia--the largest cocoa-producing state in Brazil.

Ingredients: Cocoa mass, sugar and cocoa butter. 

Allergen-related information: May contain traces of milk, soy, almond, Brazil nuts, cashew, macadamia nuts, coconut, walnuts, wheat and peanuts.
 

Gallette Chocolates - 40% Milk Chocolate bar - June 16, 2020

Chocolate of the Day: 

Gallette Chocolates
40% Milk Chocolate bar
Good +
Weight: 3.5 oz. (100 g.) in total bar
Calories: 500 calories in 1 bar
Cost: $9.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocosphere.com, online order

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

Today's 40% Milk Chocolate bar was from Gallette Chocolates (Sao Paolo, Brazil)--and it was the third Gallette chocolate bar made with Brazilian cacao that I've featured this week.

This 40% milk chocolate confection had a delightful caramel aroma. It was smooth and unapologetically sweet. Could I taste the chocolate underneath? No, not really. Maybe a tiny, slightly tart spark of Trinitario cacao (Bahia) fruit flavor with a micro-sliver of green fuel. At only 40 percent cacao solids....chocolate becomes more about the sugar. 

Earlier this week, I sampled a Gallette 70% robust Forastero bar from Bahia. And yesterday's Gallette 56% dark milk chocolate bar attempted a high dive into the middle of the Goldilocks zone* of the chocolate pool--running a risk of failing to satisfy tastes on either end. One could catch a glimmer of the cacao origins through the sweetness in the 56%-er where some cacao and milk/dairy flavors were still detectable.**

Today's 40% cacao honey-red toned beauty, dripping with caramel, lounged at the shallow end of the pool, shrugging its shoulders. It seemed to say: "What do you want? I am beautiful. I come from a good family, I engage in sustainable and fair trade practices. Take me or leave me; but your hankering for caramelized sugar, whole milk with a hint of cocoa will be satisfied." (Indeed it was.)***

*Goldilocks might have enjoyed tasting chocolates...

The Goldilocks zone reference dates back to a fairy tale,"Goldilocks and the Three Bears," from the 1800s. An early version was written by an Englishman, John Southey, and first was published as "The Story of the Three Bears" in the 1830s. A young Goldilocks (girl) character became more developed as the story grew more child-friendly in subsequent retellings.

In the story, Goldilocks visits a bears' home while the bears are away; and she searches for things that are not too hot or cold (bowls of porridge), not too big or small (chairs), and not too hard or soft (beds), ....until she finds things that are just right for her tastes.

More recently, the "Goldilocks zone" has come to mean an area around a star that might be habitable by life as we know it. A planet ripe for further study needs to be: not too hot (too close to a star, and not too cold (too far away from a star); and it needs to have the right amount of water; etc. 

The phrase "Goldilocks principle" has also been used in other contexts to refer to a balanced, middle ground (or something that is "just the right amount" as far as physical traits/parameters are concerned, and to quests for an impossible perfect middle, as in a search for the perfect mate.

**I look forward to trying higher percentage Gallette Chocolates bars made with Brazilian cacao (and other origins) in the future; and thank you to the family/founder(s) for helping to bring back great Brazilian cacao.

***Ingredients: cocoa beans, sugar, whole milk powder, cocoa butter and soy lecithin (emulsifier)

Gallette Chocolates - Para Parazinho (Brazil) 56% Dark Milk Chocolate bar - June 15, 2020

Chocolate of the Day: 

Gallette Chocolates
Para Parazinho (Brazil) 56% Cacao Dark Milk Chocolate bar
Good 
Weight: 3.5 oz. (100 g.) in total bar
Calories: 545 calories in 1 bar
Cost: $9.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocosphere.com, online order

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

Today's Para Parazinho (Bahia, Brasil) 56% Cacao Dark Milk Chocolate bar was from Gallette Chocolates LTDA (Sao Paulo, Brazil). 

Like yesterday's 70% (Brazil) bar from Gallette, the cacao used to make this bar was grown in the Brazilian state of Bahia--the largest cacao-producing state in the country.

This chocolate had a dairy milk and sweet caramel aroma and flavor; and a creamy. slightly waxy melt and smooth texture. Hidden under the milk, sugar and cocoa butter was a faint earthy, bold chocolate note, and a clean finish.

Ingredients: cocoa mass, sugar, whole milk powder, cocoa butter and soy lecithin (emulsifier)

Gallette Chocolates - Bahia (Brazil) Forastero 70% Chocolate bar - June 14, 2020

Chocolate of the Day:

Gallette Chocolates
Bahia Forastero 70% Chocolate bar
Good - Good +
Weight: 1.52 oz. (43 g.) / 3.53 oz. (100 g.) in total bar
Calories: 230 calories in 1 serving (9 squares) of bar
Cost: $9.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocosphere.com, online order

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

Today's Bahia Forastero 70% Chocolate bar was from Gallette Chocolates LTDA (Sao Paolo, Brazil). 

Bahia is a state in northeastern Brazil (bigger than California, but smaller than Texas), is currently the largest producer/exporter of cacao in Brazil (a country about 86.6% the size of the U.S.).

Brazil, the world's sixth largest cacao producer once occupied the number two spot. However, a fungal disease decimated cacao trees and caused a decades-long steep decline in Brazil's cacao market from starting around 1989. The Forastero variety/strains of cacao, known to be more robust and disease-resistant (than more delicate heritage varieties), have played a large part in the country's rebounding cacao industry in recent years.

Today's Forastero 70% dark bar had an aroma with deep cocoa (dark drinking chocolate), light umami* and very faint, almost tart, processed green/green fuel notes. The melt was smooth with a very slight astringency/roughness in the texture--that was not really objectionable and almost vanished after the first bite or two. 

In fact the overall flavor of this chocolate seemed to improve as the tasting progressed. 

Iniitally all I tasted was deep and dark with a slightly roasted cocoa flavor and a mellow, almost marshmallow sweet overtone I associate with Forastero cacao-based chocolate. It had a nicely balanced bitterness to it.

After four tastings over as many hours I was tasting a bit of fruit (cherry notes) and a hint of nuts (walnut). Always re-taste chocolate over the course of the day if you can hold back that long. Flavors do evolve.

Forastero flights of fancy

You flavor fanciers may have enjoyed wine, beer and whiskey tasting flights, no? Well, this works with fine flavored chocolates as well.

This Gallette 70% chocolate made me want to pair this bar with other makers' Forastero-based 70% (or thereabouts) chocolate bars. Side-by-side tastings make it easier to detect subtle flavor nuances. Forastero cacao beans are known for their bold and "dense" flavor. So, rather than compare a Forastero-based chocolate with, e.g., a delicate complex rose of a Criollo heritage bar where the two might obliterate or depreciate each other, a flight of Forastero bars might be more edifying.

Umami

*Umami, or slightly savory, flavor(s) in chocolate are thought to be undesirable, a flaw if you will, by some chocolate tasters. I've always appreciated these flavor notes myself when they are well-behaved. Certain flavors arrive as unwanted dinner guests at some dinner tables. As long as they're relatively well-behaved and not too loud (and keep one foot on the floor at all times), I consider umami aroma/flavor notes to be interesting company. Otherwise we'd all be forced to eat the same dark chocolate pudding day after day. And wouldn't that be dull? 

BTW, I see on the Gallette website a box of small wedge-shaped chocolate confections that look like a cheese box filled with "cheese" wedges...If I can ever find this Gallette offering in the U.S., I will include these in my next Chocolate and Umami Theme Week.

Gallette Chocolates - 45% Colombia dark chocolate bar - May 3, 2020

Chocolate of the Day: 

Gallette Chocolates

Colombia 45% Cacao Milk Chocolate (bar)

Good - Good +

Weight: 1.51 oz. (43 g.) / 3.5 oz. (100 g.) in total bar

Calories: 260 calories in 1 serving (9 squares) of bar

Cost: $9.00 for 1 bar

Purchased from: Chocosphere.com, online order

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

Today's Single Origin Colombia 45% Cacao Milk Chocolate (bar) was handcrafted by Gallette Chocolates (Sao Paulo, Brazil).

This milk chocolate bar had classic milk chocolate aroma and flavor with caramel and very faint sweet tobacco notes. 

Ingredients: cocoa mass, milk powder, sugar, cocoa butter and soy lecithin

Gallette Chocolates - Tumaco 85% Cacao Dark Chocolate Colombia bar - May 2, 2020

Chocolate of the Day:

Gallette Chocolates
Tumaco 85% Cacao Dark Chocolate Colombia bar
Good ++
Weight: 1.76 oz. (50 g.) / 3.53 oz. (100 g.) in total bar
Calories: 314 calories (estimate - per package) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $9.00 (sale) for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocosphere.com, online order

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

Today's Tumaco 85% Cacao Dark Chocolate Colombia bar was made by Gallette Chocolates (Sao Paolo, Brazil).

This bar had a surprisingly sweet and light aroma for an ultra-dark bar, with promises of a honey marshmallow chocolate pudding or chocolate brownie cake. Added cocoa butter and soy lecithin created a smooth texture. Chocolate brownie flavor lingered with a balanced cacao bittersweetness. The finish was mild as well for an ultra-dark chocolate (over 80 percent cacao).

Tumaco is along the southwest Colombia coastline (Pacific Ocean), not that far from Ecuador. In recent years, coffee and cacao growing has replaced some coca growing and illegal gold mining. Coffee and cocoa, often grown as shade crops in forested areas, are more compatible with forest and wildlife conservation. Fingers crossed that coffee and cacao farmers also will find these crops a financially sustainable way to make a living over time.

Ingredients: cocoa mass, milk powder, sugar, cocoa butter and soy lecithin