LetterPress Chocolate - Tranquilidad (Bolivia) 70% Dark Chocolate (bar) - Oct. 28, 2023

Chocolate of the Day

LetterPress Chocolate
Tranquilidad (Bolivia) 70% Dark Chocolate (bar)
Good ++ - Good +++
Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) / 2 oz. (57 g.) in total bar
Calories: 158 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $18.00 for 1 bar (current price)
Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order

Welcome to Day #2 of Chocolate and Bolivia Theme Week.

Today's Tranquilidad 70% Dark Chocolate (Batch #0006) (bar) was from LetterPress Chocolate LLC (Los Angeles, CA).

The cacao beans used to make this chocolate were from northern Bolivia. "Designated Heirloom Cacao (HCP #2) by the Heirloom Cacao Preservation Fund in 2014, Tranquilidad is an ancient and rare varietal known as Beniano."*

Aroma notes included: dark chocolate (fleeting freshly baked bread and butter, sweet green botanicals (green jasmine tea, sweet grass/hay); and fruit (light apricot)). 

This bar broke with a snap, and had a buttery melt and mouthfeel.

Flavor notes included: much more subtle versions of the light green botanical and stone fruit notes  mentioned above and rich dark chocolate (with a faint latte note) with balanced fruit acidity and relatively low bitterness. The buttery texture also gave this chocolate a luxe dark chocolate buttercream frosting feel.

The fragrance at the beginning was lovely. Hats off to the maker for preserving these more delicate notes-- that contributed pleasing complexity to the richer, buttery, chocolate-y taste and finish. 

Unfortunately, this Tranquilidad, Bolivia 70% chocolate bar is currently showing as sold out on the site where I purchased this.

LetterPress tasting notes: "buttercream, espresso"

Ingredients: Cacao Beans, Unrefined Cane Sugar*, Cocoa Butter* (*Certified Organic)

Allergen-related information: "Processed in a facility that also processes nuts and dairy"

*LetterPress Chocolate sources fine cacao beans from several countries to make their bean-to-bar chocolate bars. Chocolate makers often work with or consult cacao experts in cacao growing countries--such as Volker Lehmann in Bolivia. The maker's description of this cacao field expert is below.

Lehmann, "originally from Germany, relocated to Bolivia in 2000 as a trained agriculturist. Throughout the Beni Department, Volker works with wild cacao in the area and personally oversees the fermentation process to ensure the highest possible quality. We became enamored by these beans several years ago and were able to secure a very limited amount of these special cacao beans..."

Letterpress - Ashanti Ghana Sea Salt 70% Dark Chocolate (bar) - Apr. 3, 2023

Chocolate of the Day

Letterpress Chocolate LLC
Ashanti Ghana Sea Salt 70% Dark Chocolate (bar)
Good ++ 
Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) / 2 oz. (57 g.) in total bar
Calories: 155 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $10.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order

Welcome to Day #7 of Chocolate and Ghana Theme Week, and Day #3 of Chocolate and Sea Salt Theme Week. 

Today's Ashanti Ghana Sea Salt 70% Dark Chocolate (bar) was from Letterpress Chocolate LLC, a small batch, bean-to-bar chocolate maker in Los Angeles, CA.

Ashanti, a cocoa growing region in Ghana, has experienced slave labor and low prices for farmers. To help ensure higher payments to these farmers, Letterpress worked with The Ghana Cocoa Board (and paid above commodity prices) when they obtained the cocoa used to make today's chocolate.

Aroma notes included: chocolate (brownie, dark chocolate sauce/ganache) and very faint citrus (lemon herb, oxalis).

This well-tempered bar had a smooth, almost velvety, chocolate-y texture and melt.

The flavor was satisfying chocolate brownie flavor with a very light touch of sea salt. The brownie-forward flavor was not terribly complex; however, the chocolate flavor was rich, lovable, well-balanced, well-executed, and with no off-notes.

The sweetness level was average for a 70% cocoa chocolate (fairly sweet for ultra-dark fans, but not overwhelmingly so). This was a slightly addictive, salted brownie treasure.

Maker's tasting notes: salted brownie, graham cracker

Ingredients: Cacao beans, certified organic unrefined cane sugar, certified organic cocoa butter, sea salt

Allergen-related information: Processed in a facility that also processes nuts and dairy.

LetterPress Chocolate - Bachelor's Hall Jamaica 100% Dark Chocolate (bar) - June 28, 2022

Chocolate of the Day

LetterPress Chocolate 
Bachelor's Hall Jamaica 100% Dark Chocolate (bar)
Good ++ - Good +++
Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) / 2 oz. (57 g.) in total bar
Calories: 155 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $18.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order

Welcome to Day #10 of Chocolate and Jamaica Theme Week.

Today's Bachelor's Hall Jamaica 100% Dark Chocolate (bar) was made by small-batch, bean-to-bar chocolate maker(s) at LetterPress Chocolate LLC (Los Angeles, CA).

Aroma notes for this 100% ultra-dark chocolate included relatively subtle roasted coffee (mocha); gentle, diffuse fruit (nectarine, starfruit, faint sweet red berry/currant jam); and faint, fleeting matcha green tea.

This well-tempered bar broke with a hard snap at room temperature (68 degrees F., or 20 degrees C.).

The chocolate had skillfully executed, smooth, creamy texture. As is often the case with 100% cacao bars (with no added sugar), tasting involved an initial few seconds of disconnect--a cold water plunge to the taste buds-to-brain neural pathways) after an aroma that held the promise of sweeter things (sugar).

However, rich, enjoyable flavors quickly got my brain/senses re-engaged. Flavor notes included: a well-rounded, creamy, mildly malty, chocolate stout; an espresso-level bitterness that is cushioned a bit by cocoa butter; fairly prominent chocolate cookie (Oreo* sandwich cookie). The finish had a subtle lingering quality and included faint flickers of green tea matcha latte, a faint, malty stout and oatiness, and a very, very faint naturally sweet, fruit sour-bitter in the throat a few minutes later.

This single-ingredient, ultra-dark chocolate's satisfying, luscious unsweetened darkness was bold, but well-balanced. Thank you to the makers for making this 100% version with no sugar, that allowed the underlying cacao notes to shine.

Maker's tasting notes: "Starfruit, mocha, spice"

Ingredients: Cacao beans, Organic unrefined cane sugar

Allergen-related information: "Processed in a facility that also processes nuts and dairy" 

*The original Oreo sandwich cookie with a creme filling was introduced in the U.S. by Nabisco (East Hanover, NJ) in 1912. (Nabisco (a contraction of National Biscuit Company),  later became a subsidiary of Mondelez International (Chicago, IL). Oreo, currently a registered trademark of Mondelez International, is now a brand that extends to a variety of cookie-related offerings.)

It should also be noted that the 1912 Oreo Biscuit (renamed Oreo Sandwich cookie later) closely resembled the Hydrox sandwich cookie introduced by the Sunshine (Biscuits) company in Illinois in 1908.) Like most geneology stories, corporate origins can get more complicated/interesting the further back one goes. And this includes the history of cookie bakers.

The origins of cookies date back centuries ago (perhaps to Persia) in the Western world. Their existence required availability of grains and sugars. But, it was only when cacao (in the form of ground cocoa powder) was introduced from the New World that cocoa-flavored cookies started to appear in Europe that would later provide inspiration for chocolate sandwich cookies back home in the Americas.

If one were being picky about chocolate confection origins, my bet is the somewhere in the forests of Central/South America (where cacao originated), centuries ago, someone was making chocolate confections that might have had ground cacao, honey and some kind of ground seed meal or starch. But, I have no proof of that--other than something like that was given to me by Mayan people in the forests of Southern Belize, who were still living on the same temple grounds that their Mayan ancestors lived on a very long time ago. 

Summary: Creating today's chocolate cookies or bars, took the collective collaboration between new world and old, global supply chains, mergers and consolidations as well as new startups, and modern, temperature controlled facilities to get to mass-produced chocolate cookies and chocolate bars--like the one I'm writing about today. Thank you to everyone, worldwide, who made this all possible.

Letterpress Chocolate - Bachelor's Hall Jamaica 85% Dark Chocolate (bar) - June 27, 2022

Chocolate of the Day

LetterPress Chocolate 
Bachelor's Hall Jamaica 85% Dark Chocolate (bar)
Good ++
Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) / 2 oz. (57 g.) in total bar
Calories: 153 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $18.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order

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

Today's Bachelor's Hall Jamaica 85% Dark Chocolate (bar) was made by small-batch, bean-to-bar chocolate maker(s) at LetterPress Chocolate LLC (Los Angeles, CA).

Aroma notes for this 85% ultra-dark chocolate included roasted seeds; green (matcha green tea and assorted botanicals); natural, natural (less processed) sugar(s) (maple); and very faint, diffuse fruit (red berry jam + marshmallow).

This well-tempered bar broke with a hard snap at room temperature (68 degrees).

The chocolate had skillfully executed, smooth flavor depth. The well-balanced blend of subtle flavors included: flickers of smooth, almost malty chocolate stout and soft, fruity roasted coffee-like bitterness; faint upticks of dark cocoa; as well as very subtle green, botanical, and very fleeting cookie/fruity breakfast cereal notes.

This two-ingredient, ultra-dark chocolate's pleasing complexity held my interest and was bold, without roughness. It was also not too sweet (thank you!)

Maker's tasting notes: "Starfruit, mocha, spice"

Ingredients: Cacao beans, Organic unrefined cane sugar

Allergen-related information: "Processed in a facility that also processes nuts and dairy"

LetterPress Chocolate - Private Reserve Ucayali 70% Dark Chocolate (bar) - Feb. 19, 2022

Chocolate of the Day

LetterPress Chocolate LLC
Private Reserve Ucayali 70% Dark Chocolate (bar)
Good + - Good ++
Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) / 2 oz. (57 g.) in total bar
Calories: 160 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $18.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order 

Welcome to Day #11 of Chocolate and Peru Theme Week.

Today's Private Reserve Ucayali 70% Dark Chocolate (bar) was made from bean-to-bar by LetterPress Chocolate LLC (Los Angeles, CA).

Aroma notes included: very faint diffuse green lemon herb (oxalis), rich cocoa with a warm, sweet spice blend, very faint diffuse fruit (red apple).

This dark bar broke with a snap and had a smooth, almost buttery texture. 

Flavor notes included: true, rich chocolate (brownie, dark chocolate cake); fleeting muffled earth; very faint diffuse fruit (red apple, watermelon); and a very, very faint echo of aged, sweet whiskey and tobacco.

LetterPress worked with cacao expert Daniel O'Doherty and used Ucayali River Cacao (Peru) to make today's 70% bar. The pattern on the bar's packaging "was inspired by the textiles of the indigenous Shipibo-Conibo peoples of Ucayali." (The 1,600 km-long Ucayali River begins near Cusco in southern Peru eventually joins the Maranon River to form the beginning of the great Amazon River.)

Maker's tasting notes: "Caramel, mocha, cedar"

Ingredients: Cacao beans, organic unrefined cane sugar, organic cocoa butter

Allergen-related information: "Produced in a facility that also processes nuts and dairy."

LetterPress Chocolate - Maya Mountain Cacao - Belize 70% Dark Chocolate (bar) - Oct. 9, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

LetterPress Chocolate

Maya Mountain Cacao Belize 70% Dark Chocolate (bar)

Good ++ - Good +++ 

Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) / 2 oz. (57 g.) in total bar

Calories: 165 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar 

Cost: $10.00 for 1 bar (+ summer shipping)

Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order

Welcome to Day #4 of Chocolate and Central America Theme Week, featuring chocolates made with cacao from Belize, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua.

Today's Hacienda Azul, Costa Rica 70% Dark Chocolate (bar) was made by LetterPress Chocolate (Los Angeles, CA). 

The cacao used to craft this bar was from Maya Mountain Cacao located in the southern Belize department of Toledo--a region famous for its cacao.

Aroma notes included (in order of appearance): fresh bread and dark chocolate, diffuse fruit sweetness, and very faint molasses/brown sugar.

This chocolate bar had an even melt and creamy, smooth texture.

Flavor notes included berry and peach jam, butter and melted dark chocolate on fresh bread with a sip of warm, naturally sweet latte with creamy milk on the side. This was followed by a very faint flicker of floral spice (freshly ground black pepper).

Maker's tasting notes: "stone fruit, mocha, pepper"

Ingredients: Organic cacao beans, organic unrefined cane sugar, organic cocoa butter

Allergen-related information: "Processed in a facility that also processes nuts and dairy" (Made with certified organic ingredients.) (Parve, Kosher LA)

LetterPress Chocolate - Hacienda Azul, Costa Rica 70% Dark Chocolate (bar) - Oct. 7, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

LetterPress Chocolate

Hacienda Azul, Costa Rica 70% Dark Chocolate (bar)

Good ++ - Good +++

Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) / 2 oz. (57 g.) in total bar

Calories: 156 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar 

Cost: $10.00 for 1 bar (+ summer shipping)

Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order

Welcome to Day #4 of Chocolate and Central America Theme Week, featuring chocolates from Belize, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua.

Today's Hacienda Azul, Costa Rica 70% Dark Chocolate (bar) was made by LetterPress Chocolate (Los Angeles, CA). 

The cacao used to craft this two-ingredient bar was from a small farm named Hacienda Azul,* "located in the rural town of Turrialba in the province of Cartago a couple hours east of Costa Rica's capital, San Jose."

Aroma notes included (in order of appearance): bread, green tea, subtle bright fruit (light goji berry), faint tart green (oxalis), and very faint sweet white grape/golden raisin.

This well-tempered bar had an even melt and smooth texture and mouthfeel.

Flavor notes included Boston brown bread (molasses, raisin); subtle, diffuse tropical fruit, and true chocolate (dark chocolate cake, chocolate torte, dark chocolate pudding) that lingered into the finish.

Maker's tasting notes: "chocolate sunflower seeds"

Ingredients: Organic cacao beans, organic unrefined cane sugar

Allergen-related information: "Processed in a facility that also processes nuts and dairy" (Made with certified organic ingredients.) (Parve, Kosher LA)

*Hacienda Azul roughly translates into English as a blue house/dwelling on a plantation or estate. The Hacienda is "managed by the Zeuner family and employs 8 people full time." Also of note is the nearby Centro Agronomico Tropical de Investigacion (CATIE) university of agriculture. CATIE "has provided 5 different clones to the farm. The (cacao) beans are washed prior to drying and we (LetterPress) have found this cacao fascinating by its versatility."

LetterPress Chocolate - Amaranth Crunch - Ashanti Ghana 70% Dark Chocolate (bar) - Sept. 28, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

LetterPress Chocolate LLC
Amaranth Crunch - Ashanti Ghana 70% Dark Chocolate (bar)
Good ++
Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) / 2 oz. (57 g.) in total bar
Calories: 155 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $10.00 (+ summer shipping) for 1 bar
Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order

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

Today's Amaranth Crunch 70% Dark Chocolate (bar)--made with Ashanti Ghana 70% Dark Chocolate, Puffed Amaranth + Sea Salt--was crafted by LetterPress Chocolate LLC (Los Angeles, CA).

The aroma notes for this bar were subtle and sweet including (in order of appearance) faint fruit (berry jam), dark chocolate cereal, very faint fleeting oxalis (tart lemony greens, sour grass, wood sorrel), dark chocolate again with faint, fleeting brown sugar/molasses.

Flavor notes included: sweet, dark chocolate, light cereal grain with a roasted, balanced bitterness, and brownie--especially in the second half of tasting.

Maker's tasting notes: toasty chocolatey crunch

Ingredients: Cacao beans, organic unrefined cane sugar, organic cocoa butter, organic puffed amaranth, sea salt.

Allergen-related information: Processed in a facility that also processes nuts and dairy. Pareve. 

LetterPress Chocolate - Ashanti Ghana 70% Dark Chocolate (bar) - Sept. 27, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

LetterPress Chocolate LLC
Ashanti Ghana 70% Dark Chocolate (bar)
Good ++ - Good +++
Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) / 2 oz. (57 g.) in total bar
Calories: 160 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $10.00 (+ summer shipping) for 1 bar
Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order

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

Today's Ashanti Ghana 70% Dark Chocolate (bar) was made from bean-to-bar by LetterPress Chocolate LLC (Los Angeles, CA).

The company describes the Ghana cacao origin and sourcing process as follows: "Ashanti is a (cacao) growing region of Ghana that has been plagued with slave labor and poor prices for farmers. Thanks to the organization at COCOBOD (government-controlled cocoa board) in Ghana, we have secured cacao which we paid 2x the commodity price to help farmers make a living wage."

This bar had a pleasing aroma with notes that included (in order of appearance) freshly baked bread with honey, chocolate with warm spice (root beer, cinnamon), back to fresh bread again. A few minutes later I also picked up very faint, fleeting notes of green (oxalis), sweet red fruit (cranberry sauce) and ripe blackberry soda/jam, and chocolate cake.

This well-executed bar had a smooth melt and texture.

The taste of this 70% dark bar quickly and quietly bloomed into an imaginary pan of freshly baked brownies in my mouth. A true "brownie" bar. And it had a bright, almost fruity sweetness and acidity and very little bitterness. 

Maker's tasting notes: "brownie crust, graham cracker" 

Ingredients: Cacao beans, organic unrefined cane sugar, organic cocoa butter.

Allergen-related information: Processed in a facility that also processes nuts and dairy. Kosher (Parve).

Letterpress Chocolate - Bachelor's Hall Jamaica 70% Dark Chocolate (bar) - Feb. 27, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

Letterpress Chocolate LLC

Bachelor's Hall Jamaica 70% Dark Chocolate (bar)

Good ++

Weight: 2.1 oz. (60 g.) in total bar

Calories: 330 calories (estimate) in 1 bar

Cost: $ missing information

Purchased from: missing information

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

This Bachelor's Hall Jamaica 70% Dark Chocolate (bar) was made by LetterPress Chocolate LLC (Los Angeles, CA). 

This 70% chocolate bar had a smooth dark chocolate (brownie) aroma, with an almost creamy melt and texture. It had uniform chocolate brownie flavor with tangy (mildly acidic) red fruit (pomegranate, red berry) notes.

The maker's tasting notes read as follows: "Starfruit, mocha, spice."

Ingredients: Cacao beans, organic unrefined cane sugar, organic cocoa butter

LetterPress Chocolate - Satocao Sao Tome 70% Dark Chocolate (bar) - March 10, 2020

Chocolate of the Day: 

LetterPress Chocolate LLC
Satocao Sao Tome 70% Dark Chocolate (bar)
Good + - Good ++
Weight: 1.15 oz. (32.5 g.) / 2.3 oz. (65 g.) in total bar
Calories: 173 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $12.00 (estimate) for 1 bar
Purchased from: missing information

Welcome to Day #6 of Chocolate and West Africa Theme Week.

Today's Satocao Sao Tome 70% Dark Chocolate (bar) was from LetterPress Chocolate LLC (Los Angeles, CA).

This well-executed, smooth dark bar morphed from one sweet thing to another: from sweet honey, faint spiced fruit, very faint coffee, very faint sweet green tea, light molasses, true chocolate, a glimmer of faint earth, and then back to sweet chocolate, with subtle and balanced light fruit acidity.

The maker's tasting notes suggested: "peanut butter cup." Yes, another sweet confection with timeless appeal. The maker has managed to make a sweet, two-ingredient chocolate into one with depth and complexity. Not an easy thing to do actually.

Ingredients: cacao beans, unrefined cane sugar

Letterpress Chocolate - Ashanti Ghana 100% Dark Chocolate Cacao (bar) - Mar. 5, 2020

Chocolate of the Day: 

LetterPress Chocolate LLC
Ashanti Ghana 100% Dark Chocolate (bar)
Good ++
Weight: 1.06 oz. (30 g.) / 2.1 oz. (60 g.) in total bar
Calories: 158 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $12.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocolate Covered, San Francisco, CA

Welcome to Day #7 of 100% Chocolate Theme Week; and Day #1 of Chocolate and West Africa Theme Week.

Today's Ashanti Ghana 100 percent Dark Chocolate bar was made by LetterPress Chocolate LLC (Los Angeles, CA).

According to the write-up that accompanied this bar, "Ashanti is a cocoa growing region of Ghana that has been plagued with slave labor and poor prices for farmers." The makers note they paid twice the commodity price for cacao beans used to make this bar to "help farmers make a living wage."

This single ingredient* bar had an even, smooth melt, and consistent and pleasing chocolate brownie and subtle fruit/fruit pie notes in the aroma, flavor and finish. It was also less bitter than many other 100% bars. A very edible 100% chocolate bar indeed.

Letterpress tasting notes read: "brownie crust, graham cracker."

*Ingredients: Cacao Beans

LetterPress Chocolate - San Juan Mint 70% Dark bar - March 21, 2018

Chocolate of the Day: 

LetterPress Chocolate LLC

San Juan Estate Mint 70% Dark Chocolate bar

Good + - Good ++

Weight: 1.15 oz. (32.5 g.) / 2.3 oz. (65 g.) in total bar

Calories: 172 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar

Cost: $10.00 (estimate) for 1 bar

Purchased from: Chocolate Covered, San Francisco, CA

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

Today's small batch San Juan Estate Mint 70% Dark Chocolate bar (Batch 0072) was crafted by bean-to-bar maker LetterPress Chocolate LLC (Los Angeles, CA).

And it was another very aromatically mint dark bar. The menthol notes eclipsed the subtleties of the chocolate flavor, and gave the bar a "clean" tasting, lasting finish and conveyed more sweetness than likely was actually present in this 70% cacao bar.

Tasting Notes printed on the packaging read: mint, marshmallow, vanilla. Ingredients: organic cacao beans, organic unrefined sugar, organic cocoa butter, organic mint oil.

The Trinitario cacao used to make this bar was grown in the Gran Couva area of central Trinidad.* And this Trinitario cacao was "the first to be made into a single estate bar by the Valrhona Chocolate company." Careful cultivation by early chocolate makers like Valrhona has contributed to today's stock used by craft chocolate makers like LetterPress.

Happily, chocolate consumers benefit from cumulative expertise and sharing of knowledge.

*The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is a two-island nation located in the southern Caribbean Sea. Three varieties of cacao dominate most of the chocolate world. This bar was made with Trinitario cacao, a hybrid of Forastero and Criollo cacao, and likely first evolved in this part of the Caribbean.

LetterPress - Costa Esmeraldas Ecuador 70% Dark bar - Nov. 6, 2017

Chocolate of the Day: 

LetterPress Chocolate LLC
Costa Esmeraldas Ecuador 70% Dark Chocolate bar
Good ++ - Very Good
Weight: 1.15 oz. (32.5 g.) / 2.3 oz. (65 g.) in total bar
Calories: 172 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $13.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: The Chocolate Garage, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #16 of South American Chocolate Theme Weeks.

Today's Costa Esmeraldas Ecuador 70% Dark Chocolate bar was crafted bean-to-bar by the makers at LetterPress Chocolate LLC (Los Angeles, CA).

A Good Food Awards Winner, this ebony-colored dark bar, had aroma notes of acidic fruit, dark chocolate, roasted coffee, and a faint hint of molasses.

However, the flavor was milder than expected. It had an even, well-balanced dark flavor and sweetness from start to finish—with a pleasing but very subtle molasses spice cookie (my favorite kind) undertone. There were no "off" notes.

LetterPress Chocolate - Honduras 70% Dark bar - Sept. 18, 2017

Chocolate of the Day: 

LetterPress Chocolate LLC
La Masica, Honduras 70% Dark Chocolate bar
Very Good
Weight: .766 oz. (21.6 g.) / 2.3 oz. (65 g.) in total bar
Calories: 115 calories (estimate) in 1/3 bar
Cost: $13.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: The Chocolate Garage, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #5 of Chocolate and Central America Theme Week.

Today's La Masica, Honduras 70% Dark Chocolate bar (Batch #0018) from LetterPress Chocolate LLC (Los Angeles, CA) was made with cocoa beans grown in/at La Masica, Honduras.*

This bar contained only two (organic) ingredients: cocoa beans and unrefined cane sugar. It had a very pleasing smooth, dark chocolate aroma, and black raspberry or loganberry (raspberry-blackberry hybrid) flavor with a hint of cafe latte.

Tasting notes on the packaging read as follows: raspberry, mocha, cedar.

*Honduras was once a major exporter of cacao; however, a 1979 hurricane (that destroyed cacao trees) and other factors slowed down production for many years. It's encouraging to see more chocolate coming from this area in the past several years.

The government has funded programs that help farmers produce fine cacao and chocolate makers in the U.S. have both contributed to and benefited from local, in-country expertise. La Musica is affiliated with FHIA, a non-profit "agroforestry project that serves as a gene bank for other projects in Honduras," and in today's case benefited from the presence of an expert in fermentation (Daniel O'Doherty) and related in-country expertise crucial to producing great cacao for chocolate makers.

LetterPress Chocolate - Kokoa Kamili 70% Tanzania Dark bar - May 14, 2017

Chocolate of the Day: 

LetterPress Chocolate LLC
Kokoa Kamili 70% Tanzania Dark Chocolate bar
Good ++
Weight: .766 oz. (21.6 g.) / 2.3 oz. (65 g.) in total bar
Calories: 114 calories (estimate) in 1/3 bar
Cost: $11.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: The Chocolate Garage, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #11 of Chocolate and Africa Theme Weeks.

We're extending our "stay" in Tanzania by one more day, to cover today's 70% Tanzania Dark Chocolate bar from LetterPress Chocolate (Los Angeles, CA).

The cacao for this two-ingredient bar (cacao beans, unrefined cane sugar) came from Kokoa Kamili* in southern Tanzania. Unlike other bars made with cacao from this same organization, that were featured this past week, this 70% dark bar had less (red) fruit and a darker coffee, almost earthy, balanced flavor.

The maker's tasting notes read: "green banana, peppery mocha." It's always interesting to see what roasting and flavor profiles makers create with their batch of cacao from a given origin.

*Located near the Udzungwa Mountain National Park, in the Kilombero Valley area of the Morogoro region of southern Tanzania, Kokoa Kamili works with many cacao farmers to supply chocolate makers with the highest quality cacao possible. Like most cacao farming areas across the globe, the journey to get there is along unpaved roads. 

LetterPress Chocolate - La Red Dominican Republic 70% Dark bar - Apr. 17, 2017

Chocolate of the Day: 

LetterPress Chocolate LLC
La Red 2014 Harvest Dominican Republic 70% Dark Chocolate bar
Very Good
Weight: 1.15 oz. (32.5 g.)/ 2.3 oz. (65 g.) in total bar
Calories: 172 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $11.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: The Chocolate Garage, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #6 of Chocolate and the Dominican Republic Theme Week.

The spectrum of chocolate flavor notes in this week's group of Dominican Republic bars has been impressive, and shows what's possible when the best beans are artfully cultivated and processed at every step in the supply chain.

And today's La Red 2014 Harvest Dominican Republic 70% Dark Chocolate bar from LetterPress Chocolate LLC (Los Angeles, CA) was no exception. (La Red in English means the net, or the network. It was also the name of a co-op of family farms in the Dominican Republic that, until recently, supplied cacao to several chocolate makers in the U.S.)

The LetterPress Dominican Republic chocolate had notes of chocolate, molasses, and faint umami** as well as hints of green, fruit and nut. The bar had an even buttery melt with an uptick of satisfying butter flavor at the end.

While LetterPress Chocolate is a "new" maker to Chocolate Banquet, like almost all makers featured on this site, they've been honing their talents for years. It takes both left and right brain skills to be a successful chocolate maker. One needs to have discipline and heart; technical skills to optimize and fix machines; and packaging and design skills, to name a few.

In addition to hard work at farms, co-ops, fermentarys and makers, chocolate curators, retailers and other professionals give valuable feedback to makers. The end result was today's bar, another example of immaculate quality and packaging.

Thank you also to Sunita de Tourreil at The Chocolate Garage (Palo Alto, CA) for her continued high standards and helping to expand the availability of "happy chocolate" offerings.

**I love umami or savory flavors. I detected a very buttery, faintly smokey, sauteed mushroom note in this chocolate. And, while this may sound odd to some, the combined flavors including this one may make this a new favorite bar for me.