Eat Gold Organics - The Untamed 70% Cacao (bar) - Mar. 16, 2025

Chocolate of the Day

Eat Gold Organics
The Untamed 70% Cacao (bar)
Good ++
Weight: .97 oz. (27.5 g.) / 1.94 oz. (55 g.) in total bar
Calories: 160 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $10.99 for 1 bar
Purchased from: The Village Market, S.F. Ferry Building, San Francisco, CA 

Welcome to Day #4 of Chocolate and Gold Theme Week, including several chocolates with "gold" connections, and a few that actually contain gold.

Today's "The Untamed" 70% Cacao (bar) was from Heart of Gold Organics (Minneapolis, MN). The company produces a line of different chocolate bars; and, yes, this Limited Edition bar from Tasya Van Ree did contain attractive, festive flecks of 24K gold.

My tasting notes: smooth, and slightly woodsy dark chocolate with a bit of very subtle sweet fruit, botanical and light umami and pleasant wood in the relatively long finish.

 Ingredients: Specialty Cacao*, Coconut Sugar*, Cocoa Butter*, Lions Mane Mushrooms*, Rhodiola Rosea*, 24K Gold (* = Organic)

Allergen-related information: Manufactured in a Facility That Processes Tree Nuts, Milk, Wheat & Peanuts.

Loon Chocolate - Lion's Mane Dark Chocolate (bar) & CacaoTeca - Rum Truffles - Dec. 25, 2024

Chocolate(s) of the Day

Loon Chocolate
Lion's Mane 70% Dark Chocolate (bar)
Good ++
Weight: 1 oz. (28 g.) / 2.25 oz (64 g) in total bar
Calories: 180 calories in 1 oz. (28.3 g.) of bar
Cost: $9.00 for 1 bar + shipping 
Purchased from: Loon Chocolate, online order

Welcome to Day #8 of Chocolate and Mushroom Week + a bonus holiday chocolate with rum. And Merry Christmas to all who celebrate this festive, winter holiday.

Lion's Mane 70% Dark bar

Today's Loon Chocolate Lion's Mane 70% Dark Chocolate (bar) (Batch #924-74) was manufactured in small batches by White Birch Living LLC (Manchester, New Hampshire).* 

Lion's Mane mushroom powder was from Dunk Mushroom Products and Foraging LLC (Brentwood, NH)--a farm, processing facility, retail store and education center.

Aroma and flavor notes included: smooth dark chocolate; ripe berry; faint graham cracker; and barely detectable, pleasant woodsy umami.

Ingredients: Organic Cacao, Organic Cane Sugar, Organic Cocoa Butter, Lion's Mane Mushroom Powder

Allergen-related information: "Produced in a Facility That Uses Almonds and Milk. Gluten-Free, Soy-Free, Vegan" 

*Lion's Mane mushroom powder was from Dunk Mushroom Products and Foraging LLC (Brentwood, NH)--a farm, processing facility, retail store and education center.

Cacaoteca Rum Chocolates

Cacaoteca
Chocolate Rum Truffles
Good + - Good ++
Weight: .58 oz. (16.6 g.) / 3.5 oz. (100 g.) in total box of 12
Calories: 88 calories (estimate) in 2 truffles
Cost: $21.00 for 1 box of 12
Purchased from: Bar & Cocoa, online order

Today's box of Cacaoteca chocolate rum truffles were made with cacao and rum from the Dominican Republic.

Aroma and flavor notes included: sweet (milk-y, chocolate-y, fudge-y) filled chocolate with faint, warm spirits (rum) flavor that wasn't too boozy.

Texture: smooth "rum paste" in the center (4% alcohol) surrounded by relatively sweet, creamy smooth chocolate.

Ingredients: Cacao Mass, Powdered Milk, Cane Sugar, Cacao Butter, Rum 

Allergen-related information: Contains Milk.

IQ Bar - Toasted Coconut Chip Plant Protein Bar - Dec. 21, 2024

Chocolate of the Day

IQBar, Inc.
Toasted Coconut Chip Plant Protein Bar
Good + - Good ++
Weight: 1.6 oz. (45 g.) in 1 bar
Calories: 180 calories in 1 bar
Cost: (Part of a 7-bar sampler pack for $14.99)
Purchased from: IQBar, online order

Welcome to Day #4 of Chocolate and Mushrooms Week. 

Today's Toasted Coconut Chip Plant Protein Bar was distributed by IQBar, Inc. (Boston, MA).

Aroma notes included: coconut almond cookie bar with vanilla cereal.

This bar had a protein bar texture (dense, but softer than most protein bars; small coconut shreds were embedded in a cookie dough-like texture); dark chocolate chips supplied a nice accent texture and flavor.

The coconut flavor was authentic and balanced by ground almonds (the number one ingredient), pea protein, chocolate chips and vanilla-like flavoring. The Lion's Mane (mushroom) was all but undetectable.

Ingredients: Almonds, Protein Blend (Pea Protein Crisps [Pea Protein, Tapioca Starch], Pea Protein,  Natural Flavors, Prebiotic Blend (Tapioca Fiber, Vegetable Fiber), Coconut, Coconut Oil, Unsweetened Chocolate, Water, Cocoa, Cocoa Butter, Sea Salt, Lion's Mane, Stevia Plant Extract, Vitamin E. 

Allergen-related information: Contains Almonds, Coconut. (Gluten Free, Vegan.)

 

Intrigue Chocolate - Blackberry Mushroom (bar) - Dec. 20, 2024

Chocolate of the Day

Intrigue Chocolate
Blackberry + Mushrooms 60% Cacao (bar)
Good ++
Weight: 1 oz. (28) in total bar
Calories: 155 calories (estimate) in 1 bar
Cost: $6.00 for 1 bar + shipping
Purchased from: Intrigue Chocolate, online order

Welcome to Day #3 of Chocolate and Mushroom Week.

Today's Blackberry + Mushrooms 60% Cacao (bar) was made and distributed by Intrigue Chocolate Co. (Seattle, WA). This bar was made in collaboration with Lumen Field (Seattle, WA). 

Origin story: The cacao used to make this chocolate was from Uganda, Rwenzururu - Semuliki Forest (Type: "Mostly Trinitario and Amelonado; Harvest Year: 2022). (Batch No.: 000000083024)

Aroma notes included: dark chocolate; ripe, tart, almost boozy, dark berry (blackberry); slight roast-y, slightly umami bitterness.

Texture: very smooth and buttery--with no mushroom powder/grit or berry seed particles (thank you!).

Flavor notes included: a blend of dark chocolate (chocolate-y, roast-y dark ganache), authentic blackberry notes, and diffuse, balanced umami (mushroom). 

I liked many things about this bar. First, this blend was well executed and well balanced, and the sweetness level was just right for me -- i.e, sweet, but not too sweet. Second, there were no "off" or astringent notes with this potentially challenging flavor blend.

Like other chocolates from Intrigue, I appreciated the thoughtful, short list of quality ingredients, the lack of emulsifiers or other additives, and the use of raw cane sugar.

Makers tasting notes/description: "...first developed...as an exclusive for their (Lumen Field) suites and gifts...The lush dark fruit and the rich deep earth are emblematic of the region's sun-drenched summers and mist-drenched winters."

Ingredients: "Roasted cacao nibs, raw cane sugar, cocoa butter, freeze-dried blackberries, mushroom blend (wood ear, oyster, cordyceps, turkey tail, lion's mane, shiitake, chaga, maitake, mesima, reishi)." 

Allergen-related information: None listed on packaging.

IQ Bar - Chocolate Sea Salt (bar) - Nov. 30, 2019

Chocolate of the Day: 

IQ Bar
Chocolate Sea Salt (bar)
Good +
Weight: 1.6 oz. (45 g.) in 1 bar
Calories: 170 calories in 1 bar
Cost: $1.87 for 1 bar
Purchased from: CVS/pharmacy, Palo Alto, CA

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

Today's Chocolate Sea Salt bar from IQ Bar, Inc. (Boston, MA) contained 10 grams of plant protein (primarily in the form of almonds, pea protein, almond butter).

IQ Bars target an audience looking at "Brain + Body" performance.* This keto and paleo-friendly bar contained "6 Brain Nutrients"**: Lion's Mane, MCTs, Omega-3s, Flavonoids, Vitamin-E and Choline. It also had a natural chocolate flavor and tasted very satisfying.

This bar was sweetened with Erythritol, monk fruit and stevia and was not too sweet (thank you!). It also contained a fair amount of fiber (primarily Non-GMO tapioca fiber). Fiber was 13 g. of the 19 g. of total carbohydrate content. There were 4 g. of Net Carbs. in this bar after subtracting two for the Erythritol.

*Founder, Will Nitze, studied psychology and neuroscience as a Harvard undergraduate.

**Lion's Mane comes from a mushroom said to help support mental clarity. MCTs are medium chain triglycerides often derived from coconut oil. The bar was also labeled Non-GMO, Gluten-Free, Dairy Free and Soy Free.