K'ul Chocolate - Soyle Leve Dark Milk Chocolate bar - Oct. 30, 2018

Chocolate of the Day: 

K'ul Chocolate

Soyle Leve Dark Milk Chocolate bar

Good + 

Weight: 1.45 oz. (32.5 g.) / 2.9 oz. (65 g.) in total bar

Calories: 217.5 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar 

Cost: $11.50 for 1 bar

Purchased from: Draeger's, Los Altos, CA

Welcome to Day #2 of Single Origin Milk Chocolate Theme Week.

Today's beautifully packaged Soyle Leve* Dark Milk Chocolate bar was from K'ul Chocolate (Minneapolis, MN).

This "100% Haitian bean" dark milk chocolate was flavored with star anise and cinnamon—in the style of spiced breakfast hot chocolate prepared in Petit Bourges, Haiti. 

Star anise was the dominant flavor, masking some of the more subtle cacao notes. A hint of cinnamon added some warmth; and milk added some creamy texture.

Ingredients: Direct Trade Cacao Beans, Organic Cane Sugar, Organic Whole Milk Powder, Organic Cacao Butter, Spices

*Soyle Leve is the Creole name for sunrise.

K'ul Chocolate - Single Origin 70% Dark Chocolate Farm-to-Bar - Nov. 3, 2017

Chocolate of the Day: 

K'ul Chocolate
Single Origin 70% Dark Chocolate Hacienda Limon bar
Good - Good +
Weight: 1.23 oz. (35 g.) in total bar
Calories: 190 calories in 1 bar
Cost: $4.50 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Draeger's, Los Altos, CA

Welcome to Day #13 of South American Chocolate Theme Weeks.

Today's Single Origin 70% Dark Chocolate Farm-to-Bar dark bar was from K'ul* Foods LLC (Minneapolis, MN).

Head chocolate maker, Peter Kelsey, believes in creating simple, healthy food where every ingredient serves a purpose. One of their mottos: "Chocolate is not candy. Chocolate is food." Amen.

The sealed package was designed to be suitable for bicyclists and outdoor sports enthusiasts. And when the package is opened, one is greeted with a robust, complex aroma, of dried fruit (dried mulberries), green plant fiber (fresh green stalks, green tea), roasted coffee/espresso and brown sugar.

Tasting Notes listed on the company's website and packaging read as follows: Brown sugar, citrus/lemon,** pineapple, butter. (I tasted more dried mulberries edging into fig, green, and brown sugar flavor notes than I did lemon or pineapple.)

The bar was made of Nacional beans, a variety designated as an Heirloom bean (by the Fine Chocolate Industry Association). A handful of farms in Ecuador (including Hacienda Limon in Los Rios Province of Ecuador) apparently qualify for this designation.

Ingredients: cacao beans, organic cane sugar, organic cocoa butter, sunflower lecithin

*The company name K'ul (pronounced "cool") was inspired by the Mayan word for energy.
**The cacao farm, Hacienda Limon, is so named because the cacao "tastes a little like lemon..."