3 Drinking Chocolates with Spices Trio - July 22, 2017

Chocolate(s) of the Day: 

Welcome to the last day (Day #10) of Chocolate and Spices Theme Week. Today's trio of spiced chocolate beverages included drinking chocolates and a chocolate tea.

Holy Chocolate
European - Dark Chocolate with Cinnamon and Spices
Good+
Weight: .83 oz. (23.5 g.) / 1.66 oz. (47 g.)  in total packet
Calories: 94.5 calories in 1/2 packet serving
Cost: $1.99 for 1 package/packet
Purchased from: Piazza's Fine Foods, Palo Alto, CA


This mix contained "real milk, real cocoa and cane sugar" (and a Psalm from the Bible) and had very smooth almost creamy hot chocolate flavor with a warm but light spice accent. All round; no sharp edges; it was a crowd pleaser.

Numi Organic Tea
Chocolate Spice Tea
Good - Good +
Calories: < 5 calories in 3/4 cup
Cost: $3.00 (estimate) for 1 box
Purchased from: Grocery Outlet Bargain Market, Palo Alto, CA

This spiced tea with cocoa powder and carob had a beautiful, fragrant aroma. Some may prefer to add milk and sugar to this tea. By itself it's good, but had a very slight bitter finish. I may have had this (or a similar) tea several years ago in a Numi Tea retail space in Oakland, CA.

Cacoco, Inc.
Global Warrior Herbal Dark Chocolate Blend
Good
Weight: 4 TB (21 g.) / 7.11 oz. (202 g.) in total package
Calories: 120 calories in 1 (4 TB) serving
Cost: $12.99 for 1 package/box
Purchased from: Piazza's Fine Foods, Palo Alto, CA

This offering from Cacoco, Inc. (Santa Cruz, CA) could be used for drinking chocolate or as a mix-in for ice cream, desserts and blended smoothies.

Described as an "energizing chocolate blend of superfood herbs and spices," this mix was made with "ethically sourced, unroasted Arriba Nacional Ecuadorian cacao...and maca, turmeric and shilajit (an herbal blend).

This was the most robust of the three cocoa and spice beverages today. The flavor was rich, dark and interesting, with a slight vegetable note. This bold dark chocolate mix was dairy free, so there was no (powdered) milk to soften the flavors like the European blend above.

ChocolateBet: February 18, 2011

Chocolate of the Day:
1 square
Holy Chocolate
Single Origin Hawaiian Milk 38% square
Good +
Weight: .89 oz. (25 g.)
Calories: 134 calories (estimate)
Cost: $8.75 for assortment package of 6 squares
Purchased from: Draegers, in San Mateo, CA


I'm working my way through a pile of Holy Chocolate gold ingots. The company's assortment pack of six individually wrapped squares -- each from different parts of the cocoa-growing world, speaks to the range of meanings associated with the term single origin. For example, today's chocolate is a Single Origin Hawaiian Milk Chocolate (38%) square. Most single origin chocolates are dark chocolates. Does the milk have to come from the same origin as the cacao beans? I don't know the answer to this question.

Today was Day #6 of Chocolate and Single Origin Theme Week.

ChocolateBet: February 17, 2011

Chocolate(s) of the Day:
2 squares/ingots
Holy Chocolate (Mar Toma Enterprise)

1.) Artisan Blend - Midnight 91% Extra Dark Chocolate
Very Good - Very Good +
Weight: "Approx. 1 oz. (25 g.)"/ 6 oz. (168 g.) for total package of 6 squares
Calories: 129 calories (estimate)

2.) Single Origin Columbia 65% Dark Chocolate
Very Good - Very Good +
Weight: .89 oz. (25 g.) / 6 oz. (168 g.) for total package of 6 squares
Calories: 130 calories (estimate)

Cost: $8.75 for a package of 6 squares
Purchased from: Draegers, in San Mateo, CA

Today was Day #5 of Chocolate and Single Origin Theme Week.

Holy Chocolate's Midnight 91% Extra Dark bar was smooth, rich and refreshingly non-sweet. However, this Artisan Blend was not specifically labeled as a single origin chocolate (as were the other five squares in this packaged assortment). And I needed to eat a single origin chocolate today. (These theme weeks I started are annoying at times like this.)

The answer to this problem was simple...eat another chocolate that was single origin. I chose the Single Origin Columbia 65% dark chocolate square (pictured) from this 6-piece package. It was quite sweet -- but most chocolates do taste quite sweet if you eat them right after a 91% blend. What I liked about this gold foil wrapped 65% "ingot": fleeting hints of ripe banana, floral, bubble gum notes. I enjoy an interesting flavor curve with some pleasant surprises like this.

ChocolateBet: February 15, 2011

Chocolate of the Day:
1 square
Holy Chocolate (Mar Toma Enterprise)
Single Origin - Venezuela 65% dark chocolate square
Good + - Very Good
Weight: "Approx. 1 oz. (25 g.)"
Calories: 129 calories (estimate)
Cost: $8.75 for a package of 6 different squares
Purchased from: Draegers, in San Mateo, CA


Today was Day #3 of Chocolate and Single Origin Theme Week. There are many excellent chocolates available now made from cacao that has been grown in a single country, region or plantation. Just as there is with wine, the characteristic flavors from a certain area may be similar, but flavors may vary from year to year, harvest to harvest -- or may be influenced by variants in fermentation, roasting and other processing steps.

Cacao was first consumed in liquid form. Similarly, Holy Chocolate founder, Rev. Fr. Stan Smith, began his product line with drinking chocolate and later added "ingots" -- (.89 oz.) 25 gram squares wrapped in gold foil.

Today's 65%, milk-free, dark chocolate square from was made from cacao grown in the Sur del Lago region of Venezuela. This dark chocolate was rich, dark and smooth, without any extraordinary or objectionable earthy, strong or sharp flavor notes. This is good news for people who like uniform and smooth flavor, but perhaps mildly disappointing for those who love all those different flavor notes.