Madre Chocolate - Coffee and Cardamom Lachua Guatemala dark (bar) + Horchata bar - Dec. 9, 2020

Chocolate(s) of the Day

Madre Chocolate
Coffee and Cardamom Lachua Guatemala dark chocolate (bar)
Good + - Good ++
Weight: 1.5 oz. (43 g.) in total bar
Calories: 228 calories (estimate) in 1 bar
Cost: $8.50 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Madre Chocolate, online order

Welcome to Day #18 of Chocolate and Hawaii Theme Weeks, and Day #1 of Chocolate and Spices Theme Week. What better confluence of these two themes than these two bars featured today from Madre Chocolate (Honolulu, HI).

Madre's Chocolate Flavormeister, Dr. Nat Bletter, strikes one as a one part explorer and life-time learner, one part botanical mad scientist-genius (in the best possible meaning of this term); and, thankfully, he loves sharing information* (and chocolate) with all the rest of us. 

He has researched, cacao, fruits and other botanical ingredients in Hawaii (and around the world) for possible inclusion in Madre chocolate offerings. I'm sure he spent time researching and gathering each of the ingredients in these two bars.

This Coffee and Cardamom chocolate (bar #1 of 2 featured today) was a study in contrasts that held my interest. A creamy velvet, medium sweet but robust 60% dark chocolate base co-existed with crunchy, coarse-ground organic Chiapas coffee bean pieces. 

The relatively "whole" inclusions (coffee, vanilla and perhaps the cardamom) created layers of bold, unique flavors. And this layering tended to hold my attention more than having everything finely ground and homogenized. For example, the whole vanilla here did not taste like manufactured vanilla extract. And while it harmonized well with the other flavors, it also had its own distinct, floral, earthy notes. 

This was a meeting of big, authentic flavors and each deserved a turn in the spotlight. A good "wake up" bar.

Ingredients for Coffee and Cardamom bar: Cacao, organic sugar, organic cocoa butter, coffee, whole vanilla, organic cardamom.

Madre Chocolate
Horchata golden chocolate (bar) 
Good +
Weight: 1.5 oz. (43 g.) in total bar
Calories: 230 calories (estimate) in 1 bar
Cost: $6.50 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Madre Chocolate, online order

This Horchata golden chocolate bar was "inspired by the popular Spanish and Mexican drink, horchata, made from rice milk, almonds, cinnamon, and vanilla."

Madre has fused these traditional horchata flavors with coconut--a taste I associate with Hawaii and, in recent years, with dairy-free bars. The aroma of this bar had coconut, spices, (cinnamon, chai), roasted, nutty and cocoa butter notes.

The bar's base had a smooth, rich melt and texture. This complemented the soft, chewy, quiet riot of flavorful bits on (and in) the bar that yielded a "white" chocolate with its own suave personality. 

Actually this bar was not "white." It was a lovely golden brown color. White chocolate is a name given to bars and confections made with cocoa butter (the creamy ivory-colored fat from cocoa beans), but without cocoa solids (that add much of the flavor and dark brown color to chocolate). But, it's not always that, well, black and white. As today's golden chocolate shows. There can be interesting shades in between.

Shout out to the perfectly roasted rice. This added an excellent flavor note that elevated the overall blend of  coconut and almond bits, and vanilla, cinnamon, and other ingredients.

Ingredients for Horchata bar: Organic Dominican cocoa butter, organic coconut, organic sugar, roasted rice, almonds, organic cinnamon, Mexican whole vanilla. 

Note: Madre makes chocolate bars in relatively small batches. Their bars may sell out; and they may or may not be available currently. Check their website (online) store for the current line-up.

*There are more cacao farm and chocolate tour options available in Hawaii now than when I started Chocolate Banquet many years ago. If you are visiting Hawaii, you might consider looking into one of Nat's cacao farm/botanical tours--and other farm tours that are now available. You'll gain a unique appreciation of how plants/cacao grow, how plants are made into offerings like chocolate, and why chocolates/foods taste the way they do. Not to mention all the love and hard work that go into these processes.

 

Madre Chocolate - 70% Lachua Guatemala dark chocolate (bar) - Dec. 7, 2020

Chocolate of the Day

Madre Chocolate 

70% Lachua Guatemala dark chocolate (bar)

Good +++

Weight: 1.5 oz. (43 g.) in 1 bar
Calories: 228 calories (estimate) in 1 bar
Cost: $9.50 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Madre Chocolate, online order 

Welcome to Day #16 of Chocolate and Hawaii Theme Weeks.

Today's 70% Lachua Guatemala dark chocolate bar was from Madre Chocolate (Honolulu, HI).

This chocolate had a friendly, alluring aroma and flavor with hot chocolate/fresh baked brownie, light spice (cinnamon, vanilla), nut and fruit notes. (Vanilla bean helped evoke memories of baked brownie and hot chocolate.)

It had a smooth, almost creamy melt and texture, and low acidity, bitterness and astringency. 

The finish tapered off into a fainter version of the chocolatey/baked brownie flavor mentioned above.

The Funda Lachua co-op cacao (grown in Guatemala) was supplied by Maya Mountain Cacao, an organization that has helped farmers improve the quality of cacao and provide fair prices for them. Maya Mountain Cacao also provides valuable connections between farmers in Central America and chocolate makers who looking to buy their cacao (such as Madre Chocolate in Hawaii that hand crafted today's Guatemala chocolate, from bean to bar, in O'ahu).

Ingredients: Organic cacao, cane sugar, organic cocoa butter, whole vanilla.

Nine Fine Mynah Estates - Waillua, Oahu, HI / Madre Chocolate 70% (bar) - Nov. 30, 2020

Chocolate of the Day

Nine Fine Mynah Estates
70% (bar) Made by Madre Chocolate
Good ++
Weight: 1.5 oz. (43 g.) in 1 bar
Calories: 230 (estimate) in 1 bar
Cost: $15.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Missing information 

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

Today's 70% Nine Fine Mynah Estates bar was made by Madre Chocolate (Honolulu, HI).

This award-winning Hawaiian chocolate had a unique and interesting aroma and flavor. 

The aroma included caramel with herbal spice; green, woodsy (freshly cut wood); maple syrup with butter, chocolate; and authentic forest-harvested, vanilla pod notes.

The chocolate had taste (flavor) that were similar to the notes in the aroma--and medium tropical fruit (mild pineapple, guava) acidity, and light seed notes.

This bar had a creamy smooth texture. 

Ingredients: Hawaiian cacao beans, organic sugar, organic cocoa butter, whole vanilla.

 

Madre Chocolate - Kona Criollo Limited Edition 70% Dark Chocolate (Kololeka Hawaii) bar - Nov. 28, 2020

Chocolate of the Day

Madre Chocolate
70% Kona Criollo Limited Edition Dark Chocolate (bar) 
Kokoleka Hawai'i*
Good ++ - Good +++
Weight: 1.5 oz. (43 g.) in total bar
Calories: 227 calories (estimate) in 1 bar
Cost: $11.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Madre Chocolate, online order 

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

Today's Limited Edition Kona Criollo 70% Dark Chocolate (bar) was crafted by Madre Chocolate (Honolulu, HI) and is one of a series of Kokoleka Hawai'i* bars made the company.

The aroma of this bar had notes of baked goods (freshly baked bread, arrowroot spice cookies, graham cracker), very mild fruit notes (light peach, goji berry) and a green (almost floral) note I couldn't quite put my finger on (lilies?). 

The chocolate had a creamy melt and mouthfeel. Flavors included sweet nutty (roasted, naturally sweet hazelnuts, almonds), green nutty seeds (Jaguar cacao?**) notes, and a very mildly green, aromatic woodsy/rootsy (parsnip green tea with woodland flower nymphs?) finish. Any bold bitter-sweetness normally associated with conventional dark chocolate was absent.

This bar was crafted from a unique Criollo variety of cacao, yielding a very soft, suave and special tasting experience. Thank you to Nat and all at Madre for offering this bar. 

The Covid-19 virus is permitting only virtual travel (via chocolate) this month. However, if I were in Hawaii, I'd stop by Madre Chocolate and thank them personally for their work with local farmers and for making great chocolate using Hawaiian-grown cacao and inclusions over the years. 

Today's Kona Criollo bar was a largely a result of a relationship between Madre Chocolate and farmer Virginia "Gini" Choobua of Kikao Kula Cacao Farm in Holualoa, south of Kailua-Kona, on the Big Island of Hawaii--an area historically known for its rich, volcanic soil and Kona coffee.

Madre Chocolate tasting notes

Th Madre Chocolate maker's tasting notes read as follows: "We have selected the finest creamy sweet Criollo cacao beans grown to make this limited edition chocolate bar for you to enjoy. Criollo is a variety bred by the Maya and their predecessors for a mild nutty non-bitter flavor that lends this bar overtones of amaretto and hazelnut rarely seen in an unflavored chocolate bar."

Ingredients: Criollo cacao, organic sugar, organic cocoa butter, whole vanilla.

* Kokoleka Hawai'i translates to Hawaiian Chocolate. Kokoleka is the Hawaiian word for chocolate.

**What is Jaguar cacao? When we eat chocolate, we are eating the seeds/beans from Theobroma cacao trees, the rock star of the Theobroma family. Much rarer is the Jaguar cacao tree (Theobroma bicolor--also known as mocambo, balamte, pataxte and white cacao). Theobroma bicolor fruit's large, slightly wrinkled white seeds are also edible, but are much milder than the seeds/beans from Theobroma cacao used to make chocolate.

Madre Chocolate - Cinnamon Mac nut spread - Oct. 25, 2013

Chocolate of the Day: 

Madre Chocolate
Cinnamon Daddy Mactella spread
Good + - Very Good
Weight: .5 oz. (14.1 g.) / 3.9 oz. (109 g.) total jar
Calories: 75 calories (estimate)
Cost: $11.99 for 1 (4 oz.) jar
Purchased from: Madre Chocolate (online order)

Today was Day #7 of Chocolate and Cinnamon Theme Week.

This flavorful Cinnamon Daddy Mactella spread, created by Madre Chocolate (Oahu, HI), came straight from Hawaii -- and was made from Hawaiian Hamakua cacao; Kona organic cinnamon; Kona macadamia nuts; and Hawaiian vanilla and sea salt. A bit of hazelnut oil enhanced the mild nutty taste from the ground mac nuts.

The chocolate base flavor was strong and pure and wasn't drowned out by too much sugar -- a big plus when you have quality chocolate with complex, bold fruit/acid notes that kick in after the first bite begins to melt in your mouth.

This spread would be delicious in a flaky pastry, as a ganache/filling, or on a piece of toast. However, I can envision many other uses*. Just eating a spoonful, a la carte, now and then would be pleasant as well. Aloha.

Other suggestions on Madre Chocolate site: warm slightly and use on vanilla pannacotta or ice cream; use as a cake filling. 

Coconut Milk Ginger bar - July 9, 2013

Chocolate(s) of the Day:

Madre Chocolate
Coconut Milk and Caramelized Ginger bar
Good +
Weight: 1.125 oz. (32.25 g.) / 1.5 oz. (43 g.) total bar
Calories: 169 calories in 3/4 bar
Cost: $8.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Madre Chocolate, Hawaii

Madre Coconut and Ginger bar
Today's Coconut Milk and Caramelized Ginger bar was handcrafted by Madre Chocolate (Oahu, Hawaii). The company constructed this bar from all-Hawaiian ingredients: 55% dark chocolate made from cacao beans hailing from the Hamakua Coast (on the Big Island of Hawaii); coconuts from Maui and the Big Island; and organic ginger from Hawaii.

Coconut milk and cocoa butter gave this bar an authentic, almost buttery soft and creamy texture. The smattering of candied ginger bits scattered throughout the bar provided chewy, spicy and sweet bits of complementary, natural Island flavor.

Ginger Lemongrass
Yesterday, I mentioned tasting other Ginger and Lemongrass chocolate bars this week. I did re-taste Artisan du Chocolat's (London) Ginger and Lemongrass milk chocolate (40% cocoa) bar, that had a pleasant, mild fragrant flavor. Tomorrow, I will sample Patric Chocolate's (Columbia, Missouri) Lemongrass-Ginger dark milk chocolate bar (sold through The Chocolate Garage, in Palo Alto, CA).

Today was Day #4 of Chocolate and Ginger Theme Week. 

Madre Chocolate Hibiscus bar - June 7, 2013

Chocolate of the Day:

Madre Chocolate
Hibiscus bar
Weight: 1.5 oz. (43 g.) total bar
Calories: 225 calories (estimate) in 1 bar
Cost: $6.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Madre Chocolate, Hawaii (online order)

Certain flowers blend well with chocolate, particularly if the flower can stand up to the stronger flavor of dark chocolate. In this floral category: lavender, rose, geranium, and hibiscus -- the subject of this week's theme.

Today's 70% dark chocolate hibiscus bar from Madre Chocolate (Hawaii), was made with fair trade Dominican cacao. Red hibiscus flowers are quintessentially tropical, and the blooms (often incorporated as dried flowers or tea made from the flower) imparted a tart and saucy floral + citrus flavor.

Thank you to Madre Chocolate, for continuing to incorporate endemic Hawaiian fruit and flowers into new fresh-tasting flavor combinations. (For those unfamiliar with Madre, try their Triple Cacao bar, with cacao fruit pulp, cacao nibs, and dark chocolate for a multi-dimensional chocolate tasting experience.)

Madre - All Hawaiian Bar - March 29, 2013

Chocolate of the Day:

Madre Chocolate
70% Hawaiian Dark Chocolate bar
Weight: 1.5 oz. (43 g.) total bar
Calories: 225 calories (estimate) in 1 bar
Cost: $8.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Madre Chocolate, Honolulu, HI (online)

I have many good things to say about Madre Chocolate (Honolulu, HI), and the company's founders, David Elliott and Dr. Nat Bletter. However, today I focused on their chocolate, specifically their 70% Hawaiian Dark Chocolate bar -- a 1st Place 2012 Winner at the Big Island Chocolate Festival.

This hand-crafted bar was smooth, with mild fruit and almost-floral notes. I wondered what the interesting string of glyphs/picture language imprinted across the bar meant. The Madre Chocolate logo image (a modified Maya glyph for cacao) is explained on Madre Chocolate's About page on their website. I'm sure there is an interesting history and origin story behind the characters on this bar.

Ingredients and Origins 
The origins of the four ingredients that made up this bar were close to home:
1.) Cacao from the Hamakua coast (on the Northeast side of the Big Island)
2.) Organic sugar
3.) Organic cocoa butter
4.) Hawaii whole vanilla bean from Kona (on the West side on the Big Island, with rich volcanic slopes known for high-quality Kona coffee)

I spoke to Nat Bletter when I was in Hawaii last month; we spoke about the direct connections with farmers made possible when making a unique bar like this with all Hawaiian ingredients.

Typically cacao and other ingredients are grown in tropical climates in countries outside the U.S., and chocolate makers have to fly great distances to connect with farmers in person. Likewise, farmers may never have an opportunity to taste a finished chocolate bar.

Hawaii is a unique location in the U.S. where both these worlds -- that of the grower and the manufacturer -- can overlap. More about this in an interview I'll publish shortly.

Today was Day #4 of Chocolate and Hawaii Theme Week.

ChocolateBet: October 7, 2012

Chocolate of the Day:

Madre Chocolate
Triple Cacao bar
Very Good - Very Good +
Weight: .75 oz. (21.225 g.) / 1.5 oz. (43 g.) in total bar
Calories: 112 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $12.00 total bar
Purchased from: The Chocolate Garage, Palo Alto, CA

To savor the most complete cacao experience, try the Triple Cacao bar, a 70% cacao, limited edition Hamakua bar, from Madre Chocolate (Hawaii). In the capable hands of Madre chocolate makers, the cacao fruit, cacao bean, and finished chocolate are blended together to form a delicious bar.

The previous, award-winning version of this Triple Cacao bar (shown at left) used some beans from the Dominican Republic. While both bars were made in Hawaii, this latest version was made from all Hawaiian cacao, and was wonderfully flavorful.

Today was Day #7 of Chocolate and Hawaii Theme Week.

ChocolateBet: February 10, 2012

Chocolate of the Day:

Madre Chocolate
Popped Amaranth Dark Chocolate bar
Very Good - Very Good +
Weight: .5 oz. (14.1 g.) / 1.5 oz. (43 g.) total bar
Calories: 72 calories (estimate)
Cost: $12.00 (estimate)
Purchased from: The Chocolate Garage, in Palo Alto, CA

Ah, the smell of good chocolate in the morning. I could detect rich, earthy notes even as I unwrapped this Popped Amaranth 70% dark bar from Madre Chocolate (Honolulu, HI). Made with organic and fair trade Costa Rican cacao (from a farmer's cooperative in Upala), the popped amaranth added a pleasant background texture, without interfering with the chocolate flavor arc. This is good cacao you want to be able to taste. The fact that amaranth is also a nutritionally rich grain that was also enjoyed by the Aztecs, just adds to the good story.

Today was the last day of Chocolate and Hawaii/Islands Theme Week, and Day #1 of Chocolate and Cereal/Grains Theme Week. Yes, after almost 2,000 different chocolates, there are still plenty of theme weeks and chocolates to try. Thank you to ethno-botanist Nat at Madre Chocolate, for the company's attention to quality, and making excellent handcrafted, bean-to-bar offerings like this (and their famous Triple Cacao bar, which is tough to beat anywhere). Being a lover of plants and flowers, and good chocolate, I'm looking forward to continuing to work my way through their product line.

ChocolateBet: February 5, 2012

Chocolate of the Day: 

Madre Chocolate
Passion Fruit bar
Good + - Very Good
Weight: .5 oz. (14.1 g.) / 1.5 oz. (43 g.) total bar
Calories: 75 calories (estimate)
Cost: $12.00 (estimate)
Purchased from: The Chocolate Garage, in Palo Alto, CA

Today I continued the Hawaii/Islands Theme Week that I started yesterday with a Passion Fruit dark bar from Madre Chocolate (Honolulu, HI).



Made from Big Island Hawai'i cacao beans and passion fruit, the bar had a rich, dark chocolate base, with faint earth and coffee notes, paired with the slightly acidic taste of dried passion fruit bits. It was an interesting mix, perhaps not for everyone; but it grew on me. It was lovely to taste some chocolate grown in Hawaii -- the only U.S. state where (as far as I know) it's possible to grow cacao outdoors.

ChocolateBet: February 4, 2012

Chocolate of the Day: 

Madre Chocolate
rosita de cacao bar
Very Good
Weight: .5 oz. (14.1 g.)/ 1.5 oz. (43 g.) total bar
Calories: 75 calories (estimate)
Cost: $12.00 (estimate)
Purchased from: The Chocolate Garage, in Palo Alto, CA

Today was the last (Day #7) day of Chocolate + Hearts and Flowers Theme Week, and Day #1 of Chocolate and Islands Theme Week. And what a beautiful intersection of these two worlds this 70% dark bar was from Madre Chocolate (Honolulu, HI).

The rosita de cacao bar was made with rich, dark, fair trade Dominican cacao, with earthy and floral (rosita de cacao) notes. I could easily imagine being in the middle of a tropical jungle when I took a bite of this bar.

ChocolateBet: January 21, 2012

Sea Link Cafe

Chocolate of the Day:
Premier Nutrition, Inc.
Chocolate Peanut Butter Protein bar
Good - Good +
Weight: 2.5 oz. (72 g.) in 1 bar
Calories: 280 calories in 1 bar
Cost: $don't have info
Purchased from: Sea Link Cafe, Redwood Shores library branch, Redwood Shores, CA

Some days are more chocolate-full than others.

Today was Day #7 of Chocolate and Nut Butter Theme Week. After a walk, I stopped at the Sea Link Cafe that recently opened inside the local Redwood Shores, CA, branch of the public library, and had some great, Organic rose and jasmine flower tea, and this protein bar. This offering (one of several flavors) from Premier Nutrition (Carlsbad, CA) contained 30 grams of protein; so I felt I could skip having a meat entree today. It was filling and satisfying, but had a hint of an artificial sweetener taste to it -- perhaps because they were using sweeteners other than sugar (like Sucralose).

Madre Chocolate

Nat from Madre Chocolate

On the way home, I visited The Chocolate Garage in downtown Palo Alto,  and enjoyed sampling a few more chocolates, and meeting ethnobotanist Nat Bletter from Madre Chocolate (Hawaii). Nat was speaking and talking about his newest Rosita bar at the Garage, and brought a sample of beans from a "white chocolate" relative of the traditional cacao plant with its own unique taste. Very interesting to hear what he's doing. The company's Triple Cacao bar (with cacao fruit, nibs, and dark chocolate) is still my favorite.

Chocolate of the Day:

1/2 bar
Madre Chocolate
Very Good - Very Good +
Weight: .75 oz. (21.5 g.) / 1.5 oz. (43 g.) total bar
Calories: 112 calories (estimate)
Cost: $12.00 (estimate)

Purchased from: The Chocolate Garage, in Palo Alto, CA


Today was a good day to celebrate life and chocolate. Thank you to friends and family who joined me for a walk around San Francisco Bay (mile 955), lunch, and a celebratory chocolate tasting to mark the fifth year since I've been eating a different chocolate each day. (Thank you Toni for the lovely Vosges Assortment box -- fresh from Chicago no less.)

The Triple Cacao bar from (Hawaii based) Madre Chocolate was a great way to experience cacao, and a perfect choice for a five-year anniversary chocolate. This dark bar contained cocoa solids, toasted cacao nibs (beans), and small pieces of dried cacao fruit (the whiteish pulpy fruit surrounding the seeds).

It's difficult to obtain fresh cacao fruit in the U.S., as it is only grown in Hawaii (and Caribbean and Latin nearby countries); and the slightly slimy, stringy texture of this fruit may not be appealing to everyone. Cacao fruit is also quite perishable, but I highly recommend trying it if you get the chance. It is has lovely, light citrus flavor.

Thank you to all who have been part of this chocolate adventure.  I'm looking forward to another five years of chocolate research. 

ChocolateBet: July 16, 2011

Chocolate of the Day:

1/2 bar
Madre Chocolate
Pink Peppercorn Smoked Salt (bar)
Very Good
Weight: .75 oz. (21.5 g.) / 1.5 oz. (43 g.) total bar
Calories: 109 calories (estimate)
Cost: $12.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: The Chocolate Garage, in Palo Alto, CA

Today was Day #3 of Chocolate and Pepper Theme Week. This week focuses primarily on add-ins to chocolates in the form of peppercorns, often accompanied by a little salt. Happily, there are chocolates available now with almost every type and color of peppercorn imaginable.

Today's bar was unique, and place-specific in just about every way -- from the bar's molded design that includes Maya-influenced, historic totem-like figures, to incorporation of locally grown island cacao and other ingredients. Madre Chocolate's 70% dark "Locavore" (vegan, soy-free) bar was rich and fruity tasting, and riddled with flecks of rosy-colored, Hawaiian pink peppercorn -- from the peppercorn skins is my guess. Madre Chocolate specializes in hand-crafted, lightly processed, bean-to-bar items, made from locally grown cacao. For example, the smoked sea salt and pink peppercorns in this bar are from Hawaii as well. The only ingredient not from Hawaii that I could see: a hint of Mexican vanilla.