Laboratorio Artigianale - Raw Organic Chocolate - Pink Himalayan Salt and Cacao Nibs (bar) - Aug. 9, 2020

Chocolate of the Day

Cacao Crudo S.r.l. 
Raw Organic, Artisan Chocolate
Pink Himalayan Salt and Cacao Nibs (bar)
Good + - Good ++
Weight: .88 oz. (25 g.) / 1.76 oz. (50 g.) in total bar
Calories: 160 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $6.49 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Rainbow Grocery, San Francisco, CA

Welcome to Day #6 of Cocoa Nibs Theme Week.

Today's Raw Organic Chocolate Pink Himalayan Salt and Cacao Nibs bar was made in Italy by Cacao Crudo S.r.l.* (Roma (Rome), Italy) and imported to the U.S. by Ritrovo Italian Regional Foods (Seattle, WA).

This 75% cocoa raw chocolate bar was made using ground Criollo cacao, a heritage variety of cacao famous for its delicate, varied flavors (with notes of stone fruits like peach, fresh plum, and caramel, cream). True to its description, this bar had a friendly dark chocolate aroma and a subtle complexity with light green and light concentrated/fermented fruit-floral notes (Ecuador Arriba cacao like but with something more).

 Criollo cacao manages to be at once light and delicate and rich and complex. And not roasting these Criollo beans helped to preserve some of these more delicate flavors.

The sweet (concentrated coconut flower sap) and salt (Himalayan pink rose salt) flavors were nicely balanced and restrained, allowing the natural Criollo cacao flavors to shine through. (There were only 5 grams of total sugars in 1/2 bar.) The use of Criollo cacao nibs (that added bits of texture) and Criollo cocoa butter** helped reinforce this flavor profile.

*Prodotto In Laboratorio Artigianale; Lavorato A Freddo in Tutte Le Fasi

** Cocoa beans are about half fat, and can be separated into ivory colored cocoa fat (aka cocoa butter) and darker cocoa solids. Some cocoa beans are "leaner" than others, and may benefit from added fat to give it a creamier mouthfeel and melt. In fact, many makers do add cocoa butter for creamier texture (and occasionally to muffle stronger, rougher flavor elements). But if they have a small bean batch size, they may need to obtain additional cocoa butter from a another source.

Cocoa butter has a milder flavor profile than the darker cocoa solids, but it can influence the overall taste (and texture) of finished chocolate--which is one reason why cocoa butter sourcing and processing also matters. 

Some intrepid makers press their own cocoa butter from the same batch of cocoa beans used for cocoa solids/mass to ensure they have a uniform, undiluted single origin flavor profile. And when you have really great cocoa beans, great cocoa butter enhances the goodness.

Ingredients: Organic unroasted cacao Criollo beans paste, organic concentrated coconut flower sap, organic cacao Criollo butter from not roasted beans, organic not roasted cacao Criollo nibs (5%), Himalayan rose pink salt (1.5%).

Venchi - GranBlend Montezuma 75% with nibs (squares) - Aug. 5, 2020

Chocolate of the Day: 

Venchi 

GranBlend Montezuma 75% with nibs 

Good ++

Weight: .53 oz. (15 g.) for 2 squares (.265 oz. (7.5 g.) in 1 square)

Calories: 79.5 calories (estimate) in 2 squares

Cost: $2.40 for 2 squares ($1.20 for each)

Purchased from: Chocosphere.com, online order

Welcome to Day #2 of Chocolate and Cacao Nibs Theme Week.

Today's GranBlend Montezuma 75% with nibs (squares) were from Venchi S.p.A. (Castelletto Stura, Cuneo, Piedmont, Italy).

These two small, thin chocolate squares had flavor to savor. Cocoa nibs contain more unprocessed cacao bean flavor. And eating these chocolates with nibs more slowly yielded a more interesting tasting experience.

Together, the two squares had aroma and flavor notes that included balanced chocolate nut brownie, earth, light leather. The second one had more faint sweet fruit and green notes. Cocoa nibs added a soft crunchy texture in both cases (slightly softer and nuttier in the first square). Some of the very subtle flavor differences between the two came from the nibs. (Different batches of beans/nibs or origins perhaps.) 

How does one handle "unpredictable" nibs?

Both of today's squares with nibs were good with no "off" flavors. But, all it takes is one funky piece of coca bean (nib) to throw flavors off. Most artisan chocolate makers sort their beans and nibs very carefully to avoid this. 

The other strategy, employed by many high-volume chocolate producers is to increase processing and homogenize batches of cocoa nibs/beans so thoroughly (and grind/conche them for so long--sometimes many days) that any "off" flavors will be greatly reduced or attenuated, even if some desirable or more delicate flavors disappear as well. This leads to a consistent, more predicable flavor over time, but one that can be much less exciting, and one where subtle varietal, harvest and origin flavors can be lost.

Slitti - GranCacao 70% Ecuador Arriba con granella di cacao (nibs) - Aug. 4, 2020

Chocolate of the Day: 

Slitti

GranCacao 70% Ecuador Arriba con Granella di Cacao (bar)

Good +

Weight: 1.75 oz. (50 g.) / 3.5 oz. (100 g.) in total bar

Calories: 288.5 calories in 1/2 bar

Cost: $9.75 for 1 bar

Purchased from: Chocosphere.com, online order

Welcome to Day #1 of Chocolate and Cacao Nibs Theme Week, where pieces of cocoa bean (nibs) grace the presence of chocolate bars and confections.

Today's GranCacao 70% Ecuador Arriba con granella di cacao (grains of cocoa (bean), aka cocoa nibs bar) was from Slitti Cacao Pregiati (Tuscany, Italy).

This chocolate bar had an aroma and flavor with green, coconut, bright tropical fruit (pineapple), light spice, fermented dairy (yogurt) and dark chocolate nut brownie notes. Every third or fourth bite, I could detect a small soft crunchy cocoa nibs or two or three--adding some, slightly nutty, essence of cocoa bean flavor and texture.

Ingredients: Cocoa mass (Ecuador), sugar, cocoa powder, grains of cocoa (aka cocoa nibs) (2%).

Guido Gobino - 70% Extra Bitter Chontalpa, Mexico chocolate - May 25, 2020

Chocolate of the Day:

Guido Gobino
70% Extra Bitter Chontalpa (Tabasco) Mexico chocolate
Good +
Weight: .194 oz. (5.5 g.) in 1 square
Calories: 30 calories (estimate) in 1 square
Cost: $0.89 for 1 square
Purchased from: Chocosphere.com, online order

Buenos dias y bienvenidos a (Good day and welcome to) Day #4 of Chocolate and Maya Empire Theme Week. Or, in Mayan: Ba'ax ka wa'alik? (hello) and Alk'ara Xutula (welcome). 

Today's individually-wrapped fluted disc of 70% Extra Bitter Chontalpa, Mexico, chocolate was produced by Guido Gobino (Torino (Turin), Italy). 

The Chontalpa region (the name refers to the local Chontal Maya population) is located in Tabasco--a state in southeast Mexico on the coast (Gulf of Mexico), north of Belize and Guatemala.

This flavorful small chocolate had a true chocolate aroma and taste with fruit and green floral notes. A slight astringency developed early on and lingered. There were fleeting notes of tartness and a faint sparkle of light earth, followed by a true chocolate (brownie) note in the finish.

Centuries ago, first the Olmec and then the Maya would be harvesting and consuming cacao in Tabasco; and the history of Tabasco is rich with stories about cacao, conquest and the Maya people. 

Maya - Tabasco connections

Today the Mexican state of Tabasco exports cacao, coconuts, bananas (as well as petroleum/oil). If one traveled back a few thousand years ago...one might witness the growth of the Maya empire and how they cultivated and used cacao, even using cocoa beans as a form of currency.

At the height of the Maya empire (250 - 900 A.D.), Maya people occupied the Yucatan peninsula, in what is now Guatemala and Belize as well as parts of southern Mexico, western Honduras and El Salvador. But, by the 1400s, their centralized stone cities were abandoned; groups of Maya lived in the jungles and in more decentralized city states. By the early 1500s, conflict had started to build up between native peoples in southern Mexico and the Aztec people to the north.

Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortez first arrived Mexico (in, you guessed it, Tabasco) in 1519, and, after hearing tales of gold and riches to the north (and likely exploiting native conflicts) he recruited thousands of native soldiers (including enemies of the Aztecs). And their combined forces marched north. Cortez conquered the Aztecs in 1521, and promptly claimed the land for Spain. 

The Maya people managed to stay independent until the 1600s, until they too came under Spanish rule. By the late 1500s, cacao was being shipped to Spain.* It was eventually brought to European colonies in West Africa and elsewhere for cultivation; and drinking chocolate and packaged/processed chocolate offerings would eventually catch on in Europe and spread around the globe...with some processed cocoa offerings coming back to the Americas and, starting in the mid-1800s, in the form of chocolate bars.

*Christopher Columbus, on hist fourth trans-Atlantic voyage to the Americas, in 1502, is said to have been the first European to encounter cacao beans in the new world, when his he and his crew apprehended a native canoe in the Bay of Honduras (south of Tabasco, Mexico, in an area in the Gulf of Mexico, east of Belize, Guatemala and Honduras). This small boat was carrying cacao beans (which the Europeans mistook for almonds). They observed that these "almonds" seemed to be highly valued by the natives.

Domori - Cacao Criollo 75% Puertomar - May 13, 2020

Chocolate of the Day:

Domori
Cacao Criollo 75% Puertomar (square)
Good +++ - Very Good
Weight: .166 oz. (4.7 g.) in 1 square
Calories: 25 calories (estimate) in 1 square
Cost: $ missing information
Purchased from: (part of a Chocosphere.com, online order)

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

Today's Cacao Criollo 75% Puertomar chocolate was made by Domori* (None, Turin, Italy), using Criollo cacao grown on a Domori plantation in Venezuela. Fortunately for us, Domori founder Gianluca Franzoni visited Venezuela in 1993 and worked with the Francheschi family (a prominent name in chocolate in Venezuela) to develop and preserve heritage Criollo cacao known for its complex, subtle and wonderful flavors.**

This tiny square of chocolate was packed with complex, subtle and exquisitely balanced flavor. The promise of Criollo cacao fulfilled. It had a sweet rich chocolate aroma and notes of coffee, light toffee-molasses, balanced slightly sweet-tart dried fruit. An appealing touch of bitterness and a light lingering blossom of a finish rounded out this tasting experience. I wanted this tasting experience to go on and on.

*Domori was founded in 1997 by Gianluca Franzoni, and was one of the first companies to focus on fine-flavored and Criollo cacao. In 2006, Domori became part of the Illy SpA Group (Trieste, Italy) that also produces high-end coffee, tea and champagne offerings.

** Criollo cacao represents a small percentage of chocolate sold today. This variety has a reputation for complex, but not overwhelming or bitter, heritage aroma and flavors (fruit, caramel, nuts, cream). However, because the fine-flavored Criollo trees also can be more fragile and prone to disease, approximately 90% of of the world's chocolate is made of the more robust, high-yield Forastero cacao variety (grown widely in West Africa, Brazil and elsewhere), that tends to have a darker, denser, bolder, less complex flavor.

Amedei - Cru Dark Chocolate 70% Single Origin Venezuela (bar) - May 12, 2020

Chocolate of the Day: 

Amedei srl
Cioccolato Fondente Extra 70% Mono Origine - Venezuela (bar)
Good +
Weight: 1.75 oz. (50 g.) in total bar
Calories: 300 calories in 1 bar
Cost: $7.99 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocosphere.com (online order)

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

Today's Cioccolato Fondente Extra (Dark Chocolate) 70% Mono Origine (Single Origin) Venezuela bar was from Amedei srl (Pontedera, Pisa, Italy).

This Single Origin Venezuela bar had a very similar taste profile as the Amedei Chuao Venezuela and Porcelana Venezuela bars (featured earlier this week). The bar had a fleeting faint floral fruit aroma note and a fairly prominent sweet chocolate cereal/malt aroma and flavor note. It was low in bitterness and astringency and had a subtle sweetness to it throughout.

"Amedei's "Cru"* chocolates are a journey tracing the tracks of cocoa's oldest varieties, grown on individual plantations and crafted according to the customs of their lands of origin. This captures their wildest essences for a taste experience forging new frontiers. The mark of this spicy, richly aromatic chocolate's land of origin is clear, drawing you in and dazzling the senses with an intense flavour of walnut, almonds and cashews."

*Cru is a French term applied to wine, referring to a vineyard where fruit/grapes with superior flavor are grown, and often linked to terroir. Its use here can be extrapolated to mean cacao plantations that grow or produce high-quality cacao. And where at least soil, topography and climate help to support (and not detract from) the natural strengths of a fruit or seed variety used to make a fermented end product. Of course there are many factors involved in creating a great chocolate or wine. But, it is poetic, and not untrue, to focus on the origin story.

Ingredients: cocoa mass, cane sugar, cocoa butter.

Amedei - Porcelana Cioccolato Fondente Extra 70% (bar) - May 11, 2020

Chocolate of the Day: 

Amedei srl

Porcelana Cioccolato Fondente Extra 70% (bar)

Good + 

Weight: 1.75 oz. (50 g.) in total bar

Calories: 280 calories in 1 bar

Cost: $17.50 for 1 bar

Purchased from: Chocosphere.com, online order

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

Today's Porcelana Cioccolato Fondente Extra 70% (bar) was from Amedei srl (Pontedera (Pisa), Italy).

This chocolate, made with Porcelana cacao, tasted a lot like (yesterday's) Amedei Chuao 70% bar from the same Italian maker. It also had a sweet, relatively delicate, chocolate flavor and a slight, unusual cereal and cereal box/chewing gum (chicle) note.

Yesterday I speculated that some of this flavor could have been from the packaging itself (or an external storage or shipping factor). I believe both bars were packaged, shipped and stored in a similar way, so it's possible.

I wish I'd saved a piece of yesterday's Chuao bar to do a side-by-side tasting with today's Porcelana sibling to see what the subtle differences might have been between the two.

Today's chocolate had a slight soft, tart fruit astringency, with a fleeting throat tickle. There were very mild sweet spiced canned fruit, light vanilla/floral and true delicate chocolate cookie notes. There was nothing objectionable in either bar. But, neither was there much that was particularly exciting.

Expectations run high for artisan chocolate bars that mention Chuao or Porcelana, that come with a high price tag ($17.50 USD for this bar). Amedei has cultivated relationships with plantations in Venezuela that are growing "genetically pure" criollo cacao, known for subtle and delicate flavors.

No offense to larger chocolate makers is intended. Support for farmers and growers of great cacao stock in Venezuela and elsewhere is very important. But if one is chasing legendary flavor, there are a few small batch Chuao and Porcelana bars out there that will blow the doors off this week's Amedei bars, for a fraction of the price.

For example, I'd recommend Wm. Chocolate's Porcelana bar, reviewed earlier this week, that had an incredibly sophisticated, almost magical tasting curve. (I am a sucker for a great flavor ride.)

For those who remember Rogue Chocolatier, small batch bean-to-bar maker Colin Gasko helped set the bar for me, and likely many others, years ago. I can still remember that Porcelana bar.

Amedei - Chuao Cioccolato Fondente Extra 70% (bar) - May 10, 2020

Chocolate of the Day:

Amedei srl
Chuao Cioccolato Fondente Extra 70% (bar)
Good ++
Weight: 1.75 oz. (50 g.) in total bar
Calories: 280 calories in 1 bar
Cost: $14.50 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocosphere.com, online order

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

Today's Chuao Cioccolato Fondente Extra 70% (bar) was from Amedei srl (Pontedera (Pisa), Italy) and imported into the U.S. by DeMedici Imports (Elizabeth, NJ).

This bar had sweet chocolate (pudding), light chewing gum (similar to chicle*)/light green nut or seed, cereal/malt and naturally tart, sweet fruit notes with a well-balanced fruit acidity.

*It's possible that this "chicle-like" flavor note could have come from the packaging for this bar or from an external source picked up during the shipping or storage process. While not objectionable, it was somewhat unique.

Chicle is a latex, rubber-like sap from a Manilkara chicle tree used in the making of natural chewing gum.** Trees in the Manilkara genus also include the sapodilla tree (Manilkara zapote). Both trees are native to Mexico and Central America. Manilkara tropical evergreen trees have been cultivated in forests for centuries, and are used for their dark red wood, brownish plum-like fruit and for their sap. (Sadly some species are now endangered due to over-use and land clearing.)

**While the natural chicle that the Maya people would have harvested from trees and chewed thousands of years ago is still used in gum manufacturing, it has largely been replaced in today's chewing gum(s) by butadiene styrene rubber, a synthetic vinyl (e.g., poly vinyl acetate) or polyethylene gum base. Polymer chemistry at work.

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).

Caffarel - Creamy Gianduia Chocolate bars - March 8, 2019

Chocolate(s) of the Day: 

Caffarel Chocolate
Gianduia 1865 - Creamy Dark Gianduia Chocolate (bar)
Good - Good +
Weight: 1.34 oz. (38 g.) / 3.53 oz. (100 g.) in total package
Calories: 240 calories in 3 squares
Cost: $3.99 for 1 package
Purchased from: Walgreens, Palo Alto, CA

Caffarel Chocolate
Gianduia 1865 - Creamy Gianduia Chocolate (bar)
Good - Good +
Weight: 1.34 oz. (38 g.) / 3.53 oz. (100 g.) in total package
Calories: 220 calories in 3 squares
Cost: $3.99 for 1 package
Purchased from: Walgreens, Palo Alto, CA

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

Happily, today is another double hazelnut day, with not one, but two Gianduia bars from Caffarel Chocolate* (Turin, Italy).

Both were velvety blends of chocolate and finely ground hazelnuts with a satisfying, creamy mouthfeel and melt. (And both were labeled gluten free.) The dark chocolate version was, as expected, a little darker in color and flavor.

*Caffarel was founded in the 1800s in northern Italy. Operations continue in Turin, Italy; and the company is now a subsidiary of Swiss chocolate giant, Lindt and Sprungli.

Caffarel - milk and dark gianduia chocolates - March 7, 2019

Chocolate(s) of the Day: 

Caffarel
Creamy Gianduia Pralines
Good
Weight: 1.48 oz. (42 g.) / 4.41 oz. (125 g.) in total package
Calories: 240 calories in 5 pieces
Cost: $5.99 for 1 package
Purchased from: Walgreens, Palo Alto, CA

Caffarel
Piemonte Gianduia assortment milk and dark with Italian hazelnuts
Good - Good +
Weight: 1.37 oz. (39 g.) / 4.41 oz. (125 g.) in total package
Calories: 240 calories in 3 pieces
Cost: $5.99 for 1 package
Purchased from: Walgreens, Palo Alto, CA

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

What's better than an Italian chocolate with hazelnuts? Two different Italian chocolates with hazelnuts.

Both these individually-wrapped chocolates had a great nutty aroma and flavor. But the highlight was the creamy melt and mouthfeel, characteristic of gianduia from northern Italy, made with chocolate and finely ground hazelnuts.

The Piemonte pieces also included Italian hazelnuts which helped balance out the sweetness and created a pleasing textural contrast between creamy and crunchy.

Caffarel began making chocolate in northern Italy (Turin) in the 1820s. The company still maintains operations there. However, it is now a subsidiary of Swiss chocolate maker Lindt and Sprungli.

Venchi - 85% Organic Lamas - Sisa bar - Jan. 11, 2019

Chocolate of the Day: 

Venchi S.p.A

85% Organic Lamas - Sisa bar

Good 

Weight: 1.23 oz. (35 g.) / 2.46 oz. (70 g.) in total bar

Calories: 226.1 calories in 1/2 bar

Cost: $8.95 for 1 bar

Purchased from: Chocosphere.com (online order)

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

Today's 85% Organic Lamas - Sisa bar was from Venchi S.p.A (Castelletto Stura, Cuneo (CN), Italy) was made with cacao grown in the Lamas District, Lamas Province, in the San Martin Region, in northern Peru.

This Venchi bar came with two easy-to-decipher visual scores printed on the packaging. It showed us that this bar was rated a 2 on a scale of 5 for Intensity, and 3 out of 4 on a scale for Aromaticity.*

This rating system might be helpful to buyers, but without knowing what other chocolate bars they are comparing this to, it loses some of its utility. For example, this bar was way more intense than a blander commercially popular bar and still was fairly bold and acidic. (I wondered what a 5 would be like on this scale.)

The organic and gluten free deep, dark, slightly acidic bar had a slightly reddish color. It had an even, deep roast "feeling," a smooth cocoa butter** melt and texture and an even, dark flavor.

There was, surprisingly, a fleeting floral note. (The maker's tasting notes read as follows: "Note(s) of white flower, dried fruit and honey.") The floral note was surprising because, generally, smooth dark flavor and texture in an ultra-dark bar like this comes from longer conching/grinding times and the addition of lots of cocoa butter, meaning that more volatile floral notes are usually lost or masked in the process.

*Aromaticity is a term that refers to the properties of an organic compound that gives off an aroma. More specifically, this term is used in organic chemistry to describe certain molecules that have a "ring of resonance bonds" that exhibit more stability than found in other configurations.

**Ingredients: organic cocoa mass (from Peru), organic cocoa butter, organic cane sugar

Slitti Cacao Pregiati - GranCacao 100% bar - May 3, 2018

Chocolate of the Day:

Slitti Cacao Pregiati

GranCacao 100% bar

Good - Good +

Weight: .583 oz. (16.6 g.) / 3.5 oz. (100 g.) in total bar

Calories: 99 calories (per label) calories in 1/6 of bar

Cost: $11.00 for 1 bar

Purchased from: Chocolate Covered, San Francisco, CA

Welcome to Day #2 of 100% Cacao Theme Week.

Today's GranCacao 100% bar was made in Italy by Slitti Cacao Pregiati (Tuscany, Italy) using a "blend of fine cocoas originating from Central America."

This soy and gluten free, ultra-dark bar had an aroma and flavor, with slight bitter, sour and earth notes, characteristic of many 100% cacao bars. However, it was a bit smoother than some other 100%ers.

I thought this relative smoothness (by 100% standards) might be due to a nicer blend of beans and some extra cocoa butter, but it was difficult to tell; the ingredient information listed only "100% cocoa mass").

This 100% cacao bar had a lingering aftertaste (100% cacao that can "stun" our taste buds for a minute or two) and a slight green note at the tail end, after about 30+ seconds.

Domori - 100% Criollo Cacao bar - Jan. 16, 2018

Chocolate of the Day: 

Domori

100% Criollo Cacao bar

Good ++

Weight: .66 oz. (21 g.) / .88 oz. (25 g.) in total bar

Calories: 117 calories in 3/4 bar

Cost: $ N/A - gift from a friend

Purchased from: N/A - gift (Apple store, Cupertino, CA)

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

Just when it crossed my mind that maybe 11 years of chocolate might be enough, surprise! This generous gift from a friend arrived. 

Today's single-ingredient,* 100% Criollo Cacao bar from Domori (None, Italy) was purchased by said friend at an Apple Computer store adjacent to the company's Cupertino headquarters. Disk drives and Domori. Interesting combination.

This bar had a slightly bitter, earthy tobacco aroma. The relatively thin bar allowed access to a flavor profile (similar to the aroma) right away; and the chocolate broke with a had snap (a sign of a well-tempered bar). The melt was rapid and even; and the texture was smooth, almost creamy. 

For such a powerful dark aroma and flavor profile, it was surprisingly mild in terms of bitterness and lacked the astringent pucker one might expect. It was like a ship in heavy seas that you expect might founder but it kept miraculously righting itself.

The flavor was very even and persisted with a similar aftertaste for several seconds, then tailed off gradually. 

Tasting notes printed on the packaging read: "...dried fruit with low bitterness and astringency, and an almost immediate balance." It was all of these, but without some of the more delicate dried, fruit acidity at the beginning that is ofter present with bars made with pure Criollo** cacao. 

*One ingredient: cocoa mass, gluten free

**Criollo, a variety of cacao, is known for its subtle, exquisite, usually balanced flavors. Fruits for this tree tend to be slightly smaller, and it is often more delicate, and less disease resistant than Forestaro and Trinitario varieties.