Zotter - Belize Sail Shipped Cacao 72% dark chocolate (bar) - Jan. 6, 2023

Chocolate of the Day

Zotter
Labooko Belize Sail Shipped Cacao 72% dark chocolate (bar)
Good ++
Weight: 1.23 oz. (35 g.) / 2.47 oz. (70 g.) in total package of 2 bars
Calories: 200 calories in 1 bar (of 2)
Cost: $8.49 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Zotter, online order 

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

Today's Zotter Labooko Belize 72% dark chocolate (bar) was made in Austria using cacao sailed across the Atlantic, and distributed by Zotter Chocolates US LLC (Fort Myers, FL).

Zotter offers several single origin bars (Labooko line) as well as a wide variety of organic and fair trade, creatively layered, filled bars with flavor inclusions. (The wrapper design/artwork is powered by Andreas H. Gratze and has helped convey this family-owned company's unique and creative spirit.)

Aroma notes for this bar included: subtle dark chocolate (brownie, dark chocolate cookie), and very faint, fleeting cool green, warm sweet spice and barely there nut.

This well-tempered bar broke with a snap and had a surprisingly creamy melt and mouthfeel.

Flavor notes included: smooth dark chocolate with balanced, mixed fruit acidity, and a bit of ripe, sweet blackberries in the finish.

Like the other makers (and Belize bars featured this week), Zotter's 72% dark bar was made using cacao beans from the well-respected co-op and fermentery, Maya Mountain Cacao (MMC), in the Toledo District of southern Belize. The fact that cacao was sail-shipped to its European maker/destination is a nice environmental story. (It took two month to sail the cacao from Belize to Hamburg.) 

This bar was a bit higher in cacao solids (72%) than the other Belize dark chocolates (70%). It was creamier in texture, but tasted slightly darker, and had subtler fruit complexity than the even more tart-sweet, fruit-forward others.* The enjoyable, fluxing fruit from this origin can't be denied.

Maker's description: "...This bar starts with a fruity bouquet along with a hint of olive and cinnamon, then transforms into something entirely different on the tongue: a pleasantly mild taste, caramelized nuts, sweet condensed milk, and a delicate floral note. The finish offers blackberries and a beautiful aftertaste of grape hulls and malt."

Ingredients: Organic, fair traded cocoa mass; organic, fair traded cane sugar; organic, fair traded cocoa butter. 

Allergen-related information: "Manufactured on equipment that processes tree nuts, milk, soy, peanuts and sesame."

*All these Belize chocolates have been above average; and tasting them in the same week makes it easier to experience the many choices, and sometimes trade-offs, that are made when working with a given cacao origin. 

In today's case, a creamier mouthfeel may have been, in part, the result of the 21-hour conching time and added cocoa butter. While still having some Belize/MMC fruit magic, the milder (less intense) fruit flavor (compared with others) could have been a result of roasting and processing times and/or the higher cacao percentage.

Standout Chocolate - Maya Mountain Belize 70% (bar) - Jan. 5, 2023

Chocolate of the Day

Standout Chocolate

Maya Mountain Belize 70% (bar)

Good ++ 

Weight: .88 oz. (25 g.) / 1.76 oz. (50 g.) in total bar

Calories: 146 calories in 1/2 bar (per label)

Cost: $10.25 for 1 bar

Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order 

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

Today's Maya Mountain Belize 70% (bar) was handcrafted in Sweden by Standout Chocolate (Kallered, Sweden), using cacao beans from Maya Mountain Cacao in the Toledo District of southern Belize.

Aroma notes included smooth dark chocolate, soft fruit (stone fruit salad: dried peach, ripe sweet cherry, plum with a drizzle of honey), sweet yeast bread, and very faint sweet green.

The texture was smooth with a very faint tart fruit astringency in the finish.

Low in bitterness, this flavorful 70% dark chocolate was high in tart sweet fruit flavor (stone fruits and dried fruit acidity--the type one might find in dried grapes (golden raisins) or dried golden berries, aka Inca berries (Physalis peruviana).

This naturally sweet bar gave me a lift with its invigorating, pleasing, tart fruit notes. 

Maker's tasting notes: Stonefruits, raisin, honey

Ingredients: Organic cacao beans, organic cane sugar

Allergen-related information: May contain traces of milk. 

Maverick Chocolate - 70% Belize Dark Chocolate (bar) - Jan. 4, 2023

Chocolate of the Day

Maverick Chocolate Co.
70% Belize Dark Chocolate (bar)
Good ++ - Good +++
Weight: 1.15 oz. (32.5 g.) / 2.3 oz. (65 g.) in total bar
Calories: 178 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $10.00 (estimate - part of a larger, 3-bar order) for 1 bar
Purchased from: Good Food Awards Marketplace, online order

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

Today's 70% Belize Dark Chocolate (bar) was made by Maverick Chocolate Co. (Cincinnati, OH), using cacao from Maya Mountain Cacao* in the Toledo District of southern Belize. 

Aroma notes for this person included true chocolate (dark chocolate cookie/brownie), gently undulating fruit (sweet black currant, pomegranate juice, peach jam), nut butter, faint warm vanilla spice and brown sugar.

Flavor notes for this three-ingredient 70% cacao chocolate included rich, smooth and subtly flavorful dark chocolate with subtle fruit (ripe red cherry) and spice (warm vanilla), faint bread, and ultra-faint sweet green notes. 

Summary: Nicely balanced, single origin bar; enjoyable deep (for 70%) dark chocolate bar with subtle, sophisticated layered fruit complexity. Clean finish; relatively low in bitterness.

Ingredients: Organic cocoa beans, organic cane sugar, organic cocoa butter.

Allergen-related information: "May contain traces of peanuts, tree nuts, wheat and milk products due to shared equipment. Soy free. Vegan."

*Founded in 2010, Maya Mountain Cacao--a co-op and centralized fermentery that works directly with cacao farmers in Belize (and Guatemala)--has become a key supplier of high-quality cacao for many craft chocolate makers--and has made possible the single origin Belize bars featured this week from Spinnaker Chocolate, Maverick Chocolate Co. and Standout Chocolate (Sweden).

Spinnaker Chocolate - 70% Belize (bar) - Jan. 2, 2023

Chocolate of the Day

Spinnaker Chocolate
70% Belize (bar)
Good +++
Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) / 2 oz. (57 g.) in total bar
Calories: 120 calories in 1/2 bar (per label)
Cost: $12.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Spinnaker Chocolate, online order

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

Today's 70% Belize (bar) was made by Spinnaker Chocolate (Seattle, WA) using cacao from Maya Mountain Cacao in southern Belize. 

Aroma notes for this bar included: Criollo-like (cacao variety) smooth chocolate; slightly honey-ed fruits (peach, light tropical fruit, goji berry, faint date); faint fleeting fresh bread; faint sweet green; and graham cracker/cookie.

Flavor: tangy, relatively tart fruity flavor notes including: mixed fruits (stone fruits (dried peaches, red plums), sweet citrus (tangerine), very faint sweet pineapple, and berries (golden and goji)), and gently complex dark chocolate.

Summary: This single origin 70% dark bar had an appealing chocolate complexity with abundant and complex fruit, a natural sweetness (warm, fresh baked bread with honey), and long pleasant and clean finish. It was also relatively low in bitterness. A well-executed chocolate that preserved and highlighted the best features of a wonderful cacao.

Ingredients: Cacao, organic cane sugar

Allergen-related information: Processed in a facility that uses milk powder and nuts.

Spinnaker Chocolate - 70% Belize with Bourbon - Jan. 1, 2023

Chocolate of the Day

Spinnaker Chocolate
70% Belize with Bourbon (bar)
Good +++ - Very Good
Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) / 2 oz. (57 g.) in total bar
Calories: 120 calories in 1/2 bar (per label)
Cost: $13.00 for 1 bar

Welcome to Day #1 of 2023, and the first day of Chocolate and Belize Theme Week.

Today's 70% Belize with Bourbon (bar) was crafted by Spinnaker Chocolate (Seattle, WA) using cacao from Maya Mountain Cacao in southern Belize, and with 100% Proof Straight Bourbon Whiskey supplied by Seattle distillery 2BAR Spirits.

Aroma notes for this New Year's Day bar included: Relatively "mellow(ed)" dark chocolate, sweet green notes, heady bourbon whiskey spirits, and faint, diffuse fruit (sweet orange, goji berry, very faint, fleeting fig and cherry).

Wow, the flavor. Notes included dark chocolate; diffuse and gently morphing/fluxing fruits (listed above); bourbon; sweet butter/cream; vanilla; very faint sweet corn; and much more. 

Flavorful may be an overused word to describe single origin chocolates, but today's 70% dark chocolate raised the bar for use of this term. There was more flavor per (ounce, gram, square, bar, ingredient, etc.) than 90% of 70%ers out there. 

And yes, I do like the flavors that spirits impart. Whiskies pair very nicely with many chocolates. Today, e.g., I enjoyed getting the maximum residual distilled and aged flavors without much (if any) alcohol.*

Thank you to Spinnaker Chocolate for making today's special chocolate. After some heavy rain yesterday in California (that included minor flooding in my kitchen, today's soothing, flavorful chocolate was especially welcome--and the Spinnaker "nautical" theme was humorously appropriate. Ride the waves!

Ingredients: Cacao, organic cane sugar, straight bourbon whiskey (for flavor)

*Maker's Note: "This product contains liquor and the alcohol content is one percent or less of the weight of the product."

Allergen-related information: Processed in a facility that uses milk powder and nuts.

Crimson Dane Chocolate - 75% Cacao Maya Mountain Belize bar - May 24, 2020

Chocolate of the Day:

Crimson Dane Chocolate
75% Cacao Maya Mountain Belize bar
Good + - Good ++
Weight: 1.6 oz. (45 g.) / 3.2 oz. (90 g.) in total bar
Calories: 240 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $ N/A - gift for a friend (Thank you Rick!)
Purchased from: N/A - gift from a friend (who bought at a farmers market in Palo Alto, CA)

Welcome to Day #3 of Chocolate and Maya Empire Theme Week.

Today's 75% Cacao Maya Mountain Belize bar was "handmade, poured and packaged" by Crimson Dane Chocolate (San Jose, CA), using cacao from Maya Mountain (Cacao/Co-op in the Toledo District of southern Belize).*

Crimson Dane, founded three years ago, has focused on creating single estate,* bean-to-bar, craft chocolate from multiple origins, including Belize.

This well-crafted single origin Belize chocolate had a pleasing, balanced, complex aroma with light green, herbal, sweet spice, light molasses, dried fruit, fleeting floral, very faint malt and chocolate cake notes. The light roast option (for the cacao beans) selected by the makers preserved delicate/volatile flavor elements that might have been lost with a longer roast time.

This relatively thick bar broke with a hard, very well-tempered snap. 

A smooth, somewhat creamy melt vied with a slight fruit/nut astringency (drying, fuzzy feel on the palette) for mouthfeel dominance. The tasting notes echoed the aroma notes like a returning yodel, symmetrically, and with a slight astringency and a clean finish. Note: the light astringency had almost disappeared upon re-tasting an hour, and two hours, later. (Flavors often evolve over the course of the day for various reasons, which is why I try to re-taste.)

*Crimson Dane Chocolate currently, as of this writing, offers single origin bars, with cacao grown in Honduras, Peru, Guatemala, Belize and Madagascar.

Chokola Bean to Bar LLC - Belize Maya Mountain Bar; Taos Bakes Pinon Coffee Dark Chocolate (bar) - Aug. 2, 2019

Chocolate of the Day: 

Chokola Bean to Bar LLC
Belize Maya Mountain 70% bar
Good ++
Weight: 1.02 oz. (29 g.) / 2.04 oz. (58 g.) in total bar
Calories: 160 calories (estimate) in 1 bar
Cost: $12.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chokola, Taos, NM

Welcome to Day #9 or Chocolate and Cowgirl Theme Week, and Day #1 of Chocolate and New Mexico Theme Week.

Taos, a mountain town in northeast New Mexico, has a population of almost 6,000 residents.* There are real cowgirls in Taos, a city that has small businesses and organizations like Cowgirl Designs, a small shop that offers graphic design and branding services to the Taos community; the Taos Rodeo (with junior cowboy and cowgirl categories); and cowgirl farmers we met.

We passed several locations and ranches on the outskirts of town that could have been featured in Western films.

There are also a growing number of craft chocolate makers in New Mexico, including at least one in downtown Taos: Chokola Bean to Bar LLC.

We picked up a few Chokola items, including today's Belize Maya Mountain 70% cacao bar, adorned with an image of what resembled a Pronghorn** in their shop. They offered single origin bars, filled chocolates, drinking chocolates and a chocolate pudding bar. Customers could also purchase a chocolate flight to try items side-by-side.

This chocolate had a true chocolate and concentrated fruit aroma and a fairly bright but acidic fruit flavor (think lemon, apricot, and fresh pineapple) that was present throughout the tasting experience. The texture was smooth and fairly creamy, almost fudgey.

The makers tasting notes read: "pineapple, honey and caramel."

We also re-tasted a second New Mexico bar today: the Pinon Coffee Dark Chocolate (bar) from Taos Bakes (Questa, NM), pictured with the Chokola bar at right. We'd tried a very similar version of this energy bar back in 2018, under the company name Taos Mountain Energy Bar. Same location and company, but they decided to re-brand). Pinon coffee is made with a blend of real coffee plus a hint of toasted pine nuts from pinon (aka pinyon) pine trees--commonly seen growing in the Land of Enchantment.

*Taos, New Mexico, according to 2017 numbers had a population of 5,668. There are, at certain times of the year, many out of town visitors as well, who come to sightsee, enjoy the relatively moderate SW climate and the mountain scenery, and to ski in the winter. 

** While the image may not have been of a Pronghorn, frequently called Pronghorn Antelope, an animal native to the Western U.S. that can run up to 65 miles per hour, it reminded us of its story. This animal once lived and grazed in grasslands across the the Western U.S. and midwest. Their range and their decline paralleled that of the American Bison.