Mission Chocolate - Brown Sugar & Lime 60% dark chocolate (bar) - Feb. 12, 2025

Chocolate of the Day

Mission Chocolate
Brown Sugar & Lime 60% dark chocolate (bar)
Good ++ - Good +++
Weight: 2.1 oz. (60 g.) total bar

Calories: 324 calories in 1 bar
Cost: $12.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocolate Covered, San Francisco, CA

Welcome to Day #1 of Chocolate and Lime Week, including different varieties and components of limes blended with chocolate.

Today's Brown Sugar & Lime 60% dark chocolate (bar) was from Mission Chocolate (Sao Paolo, Brazil). 

Aroma notes included: "warm", faintly fruity dark chocolate; light, almost floral citrus (lime blossom + lime juice); faint brown sugar; and (almost undetectable) refreshing, clean mineral water.

Texture: This thin bar (thank you) broke with a well-tempered snap and the texture was relatively smooth, with a tiny bit of fruit/citrus astringency.

The cacao, lime and brown sugar flavors were well-executed and balanced. It was sweet, but not overly so (thank you).

There was a very pleasant lilting quality when the flavors unfolded, then undulated a little over the course of tasting this chocolate; and the finish was long and subtle. 

This gently animated complexity (chocolate magic) was elicited from a short list of four, high-quality ingredients.

Ingredients: "cacao, organic dark brown sugar, cocoa butter, lime."

Allergen-related information: "May Contain Traces of Peanut, Coconut, Tree Nuts, And Oats Due to Shared Equipment. Does not contain lactose, gluten or soy."

Mission Chocolate - French Toast 58% dark chocolate with sugar, cinnamon (bar) - Feb. 7, 2025

Chocolate of the Day

Mission Chocolate
"French Toast" 58% dark chocolate with sugar crystals and cinnamon (bar)
Good ++
Weight: 1.06 oz. (30 g.) / 2.1 oz. (60 g.) in total bar
Calories: 145 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $12.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocolate Covered, San Francisco, CA

Welcome to Day #10 of Unique Chocolates Week, including chocolates with unique flavor inclusions...like the sweet potato in today's bar.

Today's "French Toast" 58% dark chocolate with sugar crystals and cinnamon (bar) was from Mission Chocolate (Sao Paolo, Brazil). 

Aroma notes included: subtle, smooth dark chocolate, and very faint warm spice.

Texture: wonderfully thin bar that broke with a quiet snap. Tiny, crunchy sugar crystals shone brightly on one side. The chocolate was smooth, and relatively creamy. The sweet potato was totally incorporated and, judging from the mouthfeel, contributed to the sense of almost milk-like smoothness.

Flavor notes included: dark milk chocolate (there was no milk) with tiny sweet bursts of sugar, and almost undetectable traces of warm spice (cinnamon).

I liked the thinness of this bar, the well-executed sugar crystals, and the skillfully incorporated sweet potato (powder). It was very tasty. I would definitely try more sweet potato chocolate from this maker. 

Ingredients: Cacao mass, organic sugar, sweet potato powder, cocoa powder, cinnamon.

Allergen-related information: "May contain traces of lactose, peanut, coconut, tree nuts due to shared equipment."

Mission Chocolate - Wild Bolivia 65% dark chocolate (bar) - Oct. 30, 2023

Chocolate of the Day

Mission Chocolate
Wild Bolivia 65% dark chocolate (bar)
Good ++
Weight: 1.06 oz. (30 g.) / 2.12 oz. (60 g.) in total bar
Calories: 144 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $11.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocolate Covered, San Francisco, CA

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

Today's Wild Bolivia 65% dark chocolate (bar) was from Mission Chocolate (San Paolo, Brazil).

Aroma: subtle dark chocolate with faint forest and natural sweetness; faint molasses (spice cookie); almost invisible fig; and very faint bright green/fruit (kiwi + sweet lime).

Flavor notes: rich dark chocolate with faint molasses/brown sugar and spice (star anise); a brief hint of cream*; followed by more true cacao, nut and very diffuse nut. The finish included a very faint, bright citrus note (sweet lime). Tasting this bar felt like a gentle walk through a lush rainforest that ended with dappled sunshine.

This chocolate was made with wild cacao from the Bolivian Amazon Rainforest. Wild and Heirloom cacaos can be full of subtle, nuanced flavors. This chocolate was no exception. 

Thank you to the chocolate makers like Arcelia Gallardo at Mission Chocolate who source these very special cacao (bean) varieties and produce chocolate with them for us to enjoy.

Ingredients: Cacao, organic sugar, cocoa butter

Allergen-related information: May contain traces of peanuts, lactose, coconut, tree nuts, and wheat due to shared equipment.

*There was no milk, cream or dairy ingredients in this chocolate.

Mission Chocolate - Dark Batata 58% Dark Mylk Chocolate (bar) - Aug. 7, 2023

Chocolate of the Day

Mission Chocolate 
Dark Batata 58% Dark Mylk Chocolate (bar) 
Good + - Good ++
Weight: 1.05 oz. (30 g.) / 2.1 oz. (60 g.) in total bar
Calories: 164 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $11.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order

Welcome to Day #4 of Chocolate Surprise Theme Week. 

Today's Dark Batata 58% Dark Mylk Chocolate (bar) from Mission Chocolate (Sao Paolo, Brazil) was created by chocolate maker Arcelia Gallardo.

The word batata (in several South American countries, including Brazil) means sweet potato. Aroma notes for this dark "mylk" chocolate batata bar included: chocolate (rich, creamy cocoa; very faint fermented cacao; and slightly bitter/earthy-sweet vegetable (sweet potato).

This surprisingly unique alternative "mylk" chocolate had a smooth texture with a creamy, uniform melt. (The batata, a native of Latin America, serves as a substitute for dairy milk.)

Balanced flavor notes included dark chocolate (relatively intense but smooth cocoa) flavored with slightly earthy-sweet vegetable (cooked sweet potato, with skin), and very faint warm spice.

Ingredients: "Organic cacao, organic sugar, cocoa butter, sweet potato."

Allergen-related information: "May contain wheat, oats, milk, almonds, hazelnuts, cashew nut, Brazil nut, nuts, macadamia, pecan, pistaches, pinoli, and natural latex. May contain traces of gluten."

Mission Chocolate - Dark Milk, Nibs and Pink Salt 58% (bar) - Nov. 11, 2022

Chocolate of the Day

Mission Chocolate 

Dark Milk Nibs + and Sal Rosa 58% (bar)

Good ++ - Good +++

Weight: 1.05 oz. (30 g.) / 2.1 oz. (60 g.) in total bar

Calories: 168 calories in 1/2 bar

Cost: $10.00 for 1 bar

Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order

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

Today's Dark Nibs Milk and Salt 58% (bar) was from Mission Chocolate (Sao Paulo,  Brazil). Talented chief chocolate maker, Arcelia Gallardo, honed small-batch chocolate making skills in the U.S. before moving to Brazil in 2015. 

The company offers a range of bean-to-bar premium chocolates, including many Brazil cacao single origin bars, and bars with Brazil flavor inclusions (as varied as cupuacu and goiabada (guava) fruits; baru nuts; and sweet corn white chocolate).

Aroma notes for today's Dark Milk, Nibs and Pink Salt 58% chocolate included: subtle dark chocolate, faint spice (star anise) and very faint herb (mint/sage family)

This well-tempered chocolate broke with a snap and had a smooth creamy melt evenly interspersed with a field of crunchy, sweet and salty cocoa nibs.

The well-executed blend of textures and flavors also included notes of caramel, smooth cacao nibs surrounded by flavorful but smooth milk chocolate, and perfectly balanced sparkles of sea salt. 

In the finish there was a faint, diffuse fruit brightness, a very soft, nicely balanced faint flicker of earth, and also a very faint mint/menthol note.

Ingredients: "Organic cacao, organic sugar, cocoa butter, milk powder, himalayan pink salt."

Allergen-related information: Contains milk. "May contain wheat, oats, milk, almonds, hazelnuts, cashew nut, brazil nut, nuts: macadamia, pecan, pistaches, pinoli (pine), and natural latex. May contain gluten."

Mission Chocolate - Ao Leite De Coco (Coconut Milk Chocolate) - Oct. 9, 2022

Chocolate of the Day

Mission Chocolate

Ao Leite De Coco (Coconut Milk Chocolate) (bar)

Good ++ - Good +++ 

Weight: 1.05 oz. (30 g.) / 2.1 oz. (60 g.) in total bar

Calories: 163.5 calories in 1/2 bar

Cost: $10.00 for 1 bar

Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order

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

Today's Ao Leite De Coco (Coconut Milk Chocolate) bar was created by Arcelia Gallardo at Mission Chocolate (Rua Novo York (São Paulo) Brazil).

Aroma notes for this relatively creamy coconut milk chocolate included: warm spice, rich hot chocolate, faint diffuse fruit (citrus) and very faint coconut.

Balanced, pleasingly complex flavor notes for this 4-ingredient bar mirrored the aroma notes mentioned above, but with more warm chocolate depth (hot cocoa, chocolate ganache).

Ingredients: Organic cacao, organic sugar, cocoa butter, coconut milk. 

Allergen-related information: "May contain wheat, oats, milk, almonds, hazelnuts, cashew nut, Brazil nut, nuts: macadamia, pecan, pistachios, pinoli (pine nut), and natural latex. May contain traces of gluten."

Mission Chocolate - Dark Goat Milk 56% (bar) - June 10, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

Mission Chocolate 

Dark Goat Milk 56% (bar)

Good + - Good ++

Weight: 1.06 oz. (30 g.) / 2.12 oz. (60 g.) in total bar

Calories: 166.5 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $9.50 (+ summer shipping) for 1 bar
Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order (late May order)

Welcome to Day #14 of Chocolate and Brazil Theme Week.

Today's Dark Goat Milk 56% (bar) was from Mission Chocolate by Arcelia Gallardo (Sao Paolo, Brazil).

This bar's complex and very subtle aroma had light notes of cocoa, aloe vera gel, orchid, cream; very faint green herb with implied citrus and astringency (lemon verbena, sour grass, lemon geranium lotion); and very faint, fleeting spice (star anise).

 

The flavor was smooth and sweet with balanced, mild flavors and botanical notes: including dark milk chocolate (rich cocoa), dairy cream, fresh-tasting mineral water, forest, and very faint tart green, mild floral, spice (star anise/five spice* blend) and a barely detectable lemon herb cookie note in the finish. 

This was a nuanced, high-class chocolate creme dessert in bar form.

The organic cacao used to make today's chocolate was from Fazenda Venturosa (2019 Harvest) in Bahia, Brazil. This farm/plantation is known for their Para Parazinho cacao (a Forastero cacao variety from Para with small yellow pods. Mission Chocolate founder/chocolate maker, Arcelia Gallardo, has been using this cacao to make this goat milk caramel-inspired bar as well as a 70% dark chocolate bar.

Ingredients: Organic cacao, organic sugar, goat milk powder, cocoa butter.

Allergen-related information: "May contain traces of peanut, coconut, tree nuts, and wheat due to shared equipment."

*"Five spice" (aka "Chinese Five Spice") is a spice blend (often in ground or powdered form) that contains: star anise, fennel seeds, Szechuan peppercorns, cinnamon and cloves. Some blends may also contain tiny bits of orange peel and ginger. The overall flavor: star anise with a very light licorice and warm spice edge.

Mission Chocolate - Two Rivers 70% (bar) - June 8, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

Mission Chocolate 

Two Rivers 70% (bar)

Good + - Good ++

Weight: 1.06 oz. (30 g.) / 2.12 oz. (60 g.) in total bar

Calories: 162 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $9.50 (+ summer shipping) for 1 bar
Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order

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

Today's Two Rivers (bar) was the creation of Mission Chocolate by Arcelia Gallardo (Sao Paolo, Brazil).

This chocolate bar was a melding of two 70% cacao Brazilian origin chocolates fused together. Today's two-hue chocolate evoked the moment when two mighty rivers (one lighter and one darker in color) come together before the two colors combine into the Amazon River.* 

This was a very creative product idea that related to the cacao's Amazon origins. It also made me think about lighter and darker cacao beans--and, more metaphorically, the yin and yang of chocolate. Below is a review of both sides:

The lighter side had an aroma with faint savory, light leather, dark milk chocolate, faint tart green and ripe sweet red berry. Texture was thick and creamy. Taste: The first bite was tart sweet (lemon balm, sour grass), rich, dark milk chocolate with raspberry jam and peanut butter notes. Note: Although this half of the chocolate bar looked and tasted like a dark milk chocolate, there were just three ingredients listed on the packaging: cacao, organic sugar and cocoa butter for this fusion bar. No milk. 

The darker (ebony-colored) side to this bar broke with a snap; had smooth, dark chocolate texture and flavor; and had notes of faint spice, dark molasses and earth. It also had faint, fleeting notes of tart green-citrus sweetness and peanut butter in the second half of the tasting.

Like many other Brazil bars this week, both the lighter and darker sides of this bar possessed a significant level of natural sweetness, and could easily be mistaken for a 55% and 60-65%% cacao chocolates, respectively.

Ingredients: Cacao, organic sugar, cocoa butter

Allergen-related information: No gluten, soy or milk ingredients. "May contain traces of milk, peanut, coconut, tree nuts, and wheat due to shared equipment.")

*The famous and colorful "meeting of waters" east of Manaus, Brazil, happens when the darker Rio Negro (black water) joins the lighter, latte-colored Solimoes River. These two, different, liquid bands of color flow side by side for a few miles before the two colors blend together, due to their differences in temperature, density, speed and composition. (Waters can be darker if they've picked up plant tannins from slow travel through tree, forests or bogs; and waters can look lighter if they've rapidly run through areas with fine silt/clay/mud particles that have been stirred up.) 

Mission Chocolate - Pao de Mel - Gingerbread Milk Chocolate (bar) - May 31, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

Mission Chocolate
Pao de Mel - Gingerbread Milk Chocolate (bar)
Good + - Good ++
Weight: 2.12 oz. (60 g.) in total bar
Calories: 330 calories in 1 bar
Cost: $10.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocolate Covered, San Francisco, CA 

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

Today's Pao de Mel - Gingerbread Milk Chocolate (bar) was made by Arcelia Gallardo of Mission Chocolate (Sao Paolo, Brazil). 

Aroma notes included warm milk chocolate, fleeting red clay, freshly baked bread/cake, and spices (five spice blend with star anise).

This milk chocolate bar had a creamy melt and texture.

The flavor was a blend of smooth, rich, sweet milk chocolate suffused with warm spices (five spice blend; cinnamon, ginger, star anise and possibly allspice).

Ingredients: Organic sugar, cocoa butter, milk powder, cacao, spices, honey.

Allergen-related information: Does not contain gluten. Contains lactose/cow's milk. May contain traces of nuts, peanuts, almonds, hazelnuts, cashew nuts, oats.

Mission Chocolate - Umbu Dark Chocolate 70% and Candied Umbu Fruit (bar) - April 27, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

Mission Chocolate
Umbu Dark Chocolate 70% and Candied Umbu Fruit (bar)
Good ++
Weight: 2.12 oz. (60 g.) in total bar
Calories: 297 calories in 1 bar
Cost: $10.00 for 1 bar (dark purple dot)
Purchased from: Chocolate Covered, San Francisco, CA

Welcome to Day #12 of Chocolate and RSTU Theme Week, featuring chocolate items with origins or flavor inclusions that start with the letters R, S, T and/or U, like Sao Paulo, Brazil, and Umbu fruit.

Today's "Umbu" Dark Chocolate 70% and Candied Umbu Fruit (bar) was created by Arcelia Gallardo at Mission Chocolate (Sao Paulo, Brazil). The company offers a line of bars made with Brazilian cacao, and flavor inclusions from Brazil.

The cacao used to make this bean-to-bar chocolate was from Fazenda Camboa, a family-owned plantation in northeast Brazil that produces "Atlantic Rainforest Cacao."

This bar had an aroma with dark chocolate, mild but aromatic fruit, and very light botanical (cucumber cream, faint mint, aloe, sweet wood/camphor) notes.

The back side was adorned with a mindful grid of small, carefully cut, thin squares of softly chewable, candied umbu fruit.* 

The fruit had an intriguing, but hard to describe, subtle flavor (sweet green plum mixed with green grape plus an expansive, light and airy fruit sweetness that I can't compare to anything else I've had before). The candied squares had the sweet-tartness of plum stone fruit with candied pear + cactus fruit texture (i.e. a blend of soft gel-like fruit pectin with a slight, natural graininess). And just when I thought I had the umbu figured out, there was a burst of lemon-lime candy. Citrus flavor fun.

I was so intent on tasting this new fruit for the first time that I had to take many, small successive bites to taste both umbu and chocolate. Oh yes, the chocolate! It was smooth and dark with medium fruit acidity and seemed well-matched with the umbu fruit.

Thank you Arcelia for the virtual vacation to Brazil this morning via your Umbu dark chocolate. 

Ingredients: Organic cacao, organic sugar, organic umbu (fruit), cocoa butter

Allergen-related information: (Made without gluten, dairy or soy ingredients.) "May contain traces of milk, peanut, coconut, tree nuts, and wheat due to shared equipment."

*"Umbu (Spondias tuberosa) (aka Umb, Imba or Brazil plum) is a soft-fleshed fruit, green/yellow in color, and sweet and sour in taste. It is the size of a large grape, soft like a ripe fig, and juicy like a tomato. The umbu tree is the most important tree in the Caatinga Biome (semi-arid region in Northeast Brazil)"..."It is harvested in the wild by families that deliver (the fruits) to cooperatives to get turned into preserves." 

The source of text above in quotes was the Mission Chocolate Umbu bar description on Bar and Cocoa's website. (I added the extra information in parenthesis.) 

 

Mission Chocolate - Three Theos - Cacao, Bicolor, Cupuacu bar - June 17, 2020

Chocolate of the Day: 

Mission Chocolate
Three Theos - Cacao, Bicolor, Cupuacu (bar)
Good +
Weight: 2.12 oz. (60 g.) in total bar
Calories: 330 calories (estimate) in 1 bar
Cost: $11.00 (estimate) for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocolate Covered, San Francisco, CA

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

Today's "Three Theos - Cacao, Bicolor, Cupuacu" dark chocolate bar was created by Mission Chocolate (Sao Paulo, Brazil).

This 70% dark chocolate bar was made with conventional cacao (Theobroma cacao solids and cocoa butter)--and with two related Theobroma* flavor inclusions: cupuacu fruit and candied bicolor seeds. The result was a unique Theobroma and Brazil immersion experience. (Virtual travel through food. Skip the jet lag, and enjoy the flavors.)

The chocolate bar aroma had notes of honey, fruit vinegar, chocolate, molasses and faint spice.
The first bite was enough to reveal an interesting melange of tastes and textures.
A generous constellation of sweet, tart squares of cupuacu fruit with sweet tangerine, light pineapple, candied papaya, and cacao fruit notes occupied the back side of this bar. Nestled among the fruit were
good-sized pieces of light-colored and lightly caramelized bicolor seeds--that added soft crunch and mild flavor. Echoes of fruit and seed lingered in the finish and aftertaste

*The name of this bar is based on botanical contributions from three members of the Theobroma genus: Theobroma cacao, Theobroma bicolor and Theobroma Cupuacu. The first of these three is the most well-known and its seeds/beans are used to make milk and dark chocolates.

Species in the Theobroma genus are part of the Malva or Mallow (Malvaceae) family of plants.

Mission Chocolate - Escuro 90% Fazenda Vale Potumuju bar - Oct. 17, 2019

Chocolate of the Day: 

Mission Chocolate
Escuro 90% Fazenda Vale Potumuju bar
Good ++
Weight: 1.06 oz. (30 g.) / 2.12 oz. (60 g.) in total bar
Calories: 168 calories (per label) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $10.00 (estimate) for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocolate Covered, San Francisco, CA

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

Today's Escuro 90% Fazenda Vale Potumuju bar was from Arcelia Gallardo, founder of Mission Chocolate (Sao Paolo, Brazil).

This three-ingredient,* ultra-dark chocolate was creamy and quite mild given its very high percentage of cacao solids. It had a very faint, pleasant, fleeting vegetable aroma note (cooked potato and greens), with light fruit and true chocolate flavor.

The melt, as mentioned was creamy and the texture was quite smooth throughout. This will likely be one of the least bitter 90%er that you'll ever sample. It was slightly bittersweet in the finish.

Both the 80% Fazenda Leolinda and today's 90% Fazenda Vale Potumuju bars from this maker were quite friendly, well balanced and enjoyable bars without a lot of sugar. (Thank you Arcelia!)

*Ingredients: Cacao, Organic sugar, cocoa butter

Copyright 2019. Unauthorized use of the text and/or images from this site, www.ChocolateBanquet.com, is a copyright violation.

Mission Chocolate - Escuro 80% Fazenda Leolinda bar - Oct. 16, 2019

Chocolate of the Day: 

Mission Chocolate
Escuro 80% Fazenda Leolinda bar
Good ++
Weight: 1.06 oz. (30 g.) / 2.12 oz. (60 g.) in total bar
Calories: 163.5 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $10.00 (estimate) for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocolate Covered, San Francisco, CA

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

Today's Escuro 80% Fazenda Leolinda bar was from Mission Chocolate (Sao Paolo, Brazil).

This bar had a relatively light aroma with true chocolate and a mild fruit acidity notes. The chocolate flavors in this Single Estate (Fazenda Leolinda, Atlantic Rainforest biome) bar differed slightly from the bars made with cacao grown at Fazenda Camboa (where cacao was grown/sourced for other Mission Chocolate bars featured this week).

One must trust in the maker's judgment when it comes to cacao batch/farm decisions for ultra-dark chocolate (80% and higher), as these choices are not made lightly. Cacaos that works very nicely with more sugar, don't always fare as nicely when sugar levels drop from 30% to 10%. (Some cacaos require added fat or cacao butter to smooth away rough edges or to muffle bitter notes.)

Chocolate maker Arcelia Gallardo's choice to go with this cacao for this 80 percent dark bar resulted in a balanced ultra-dark bar that chocolate lovers who normally stick to 70 percent bars will find approachable. The chocolate had a lingering, balanced finish with traces of even, balanced fruit acidity, a very faint roasted note, and a faint hint of astringency toward the end. (There were no bitter or off notes in this ultra-dark chocolate.)

Reno Chocolate Day Trip - Sugar Love Chocolates

And speaking of women chocolate makers and chocolatiers...

Thank you to Katie at Sugar Love Chocolates (Reno, NV) for her tasting assistance with today's Brazilian bar (and help with lunch and chocolate confection choices at Sugar Love).

This cafe and chocolate shop (discovered in the basement of the Old Post Office in downtown Reno, Nevada), was founded by chocolatier Krysta Bea Jackson, and offered a variety of filled chocolates that I sampled and enjoyed.

The European-style chocolates I purchased (including Raspberry Rose, Earl Grey, Cherry Black Pepper, Urfa Biber and Peruvian Golden Berry) were made using couverture chocolate imported from France and Colombia. The fillings were fresh, natural-tasting and delicious. I look forward to featuring some of these flavors (and bars) on Chocolate Banquet in the future.

Copyright 2019. Unauthorized use of the text and/or images from this site, www.ChocolateBanquet.com, is a copyright violation.

Mission Chocolate - Escuro 70 % Fazenda Camboa 2018 Harvest bar - Oct. 15, 2019

Chocolate of the Day: 

Mission Chocolate
Escuro 70% Fazenda Camboa 2018 Harvest bar
Good +++
Weight: 1.06 oz. (30 g.) / 2.12 oz. (60 g.) in total bar
Calories: 162 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $10.00 (estimate) for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocolate Covered, San Francisco, CA

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

Today's Escuro 70% Fazenda Camboa 2018 Harvest Dark Chocolate bar was from Arcelia Gallardo of Mission Chocolate (Sao Paolo, Brazil).

This offering had an appealing chocolate aroma and smooth melt and texture. The 70% cacao dark bar had true chocolate flavor, with soft, balanced touches of faintly fermented dairy milk*, clay/earth, and light sweet forest berry/forest floor.

The finish was pleasant and lingering with a very light astringency.

Making Chocolate "In Country"
Up until recent years, the opportunities for U.S. consumers to try chocolate made in the same country where the cacao had been grown were relatively few and far between. Chocolate making in the U.S. almost always involves transcontinental supply chains.

Arcelia Gallardo moved to Brazil from the U.S. and found herself much closer to cacao growing farms (such as the large organic farm, Fazenda Camboa in Bahia that she works extensively with now).  It must have been exciting to produce "fresher" chocolate in the same country where cacao was grown (i.e. making chocolate "in country").

Over time, she also experienced some of the challenges of making chocolate in a tropical environment (e.g. more frequent power outages), and learned the value of techniques such as resting/seasoning chocolate. (How ironic that initially some of her chocolate might have been "too" fresh because she was so close to the harvest source.)

In a (Well Tempered) podcast interview, Gallardo talked about learning the value of letting chocolate rest a bit first before making bars to enhance/create the optimum flavor profile. When she had made chocolate at/with Dandelion Chocolate in San Francisco, the long transportation chain that existed between farms and their small factory facility had "built in" aging time, due to the longer supply chain.

*There was no dairy or milk in this bar that contained only three ingredients: organic cacao, organic sugar and cocoa butter.

Copyright 2019. Unauthorized use of the text and/or images from this site, www.ChocolateBanquet.com, is a copyright violation.

Mission Chocolate - Laranja 70% Fazenda Camboa Dark Chocolate with Candied Orange Peel (bar) - Oct. 14, 2019

Chocolate of the Day: 

Mission Chocolate
Laranja 70% Fazenda Camboa Dark Chocolate with Candied Orange Peel (bar)
Brazil Biomes Project - Atlantic Rainforest
Good +++ - Very Good
Weight: 1.06 oz. (30 g.) / 2.12 oz. (60 g.) in total bar
Calories: 147 calories (per label) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $10.00 (estimate) for 1 bar

Purchased from: Chocolate Covered, San Francisco, CA

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

Today's Laranja 70% Fazenda Camboa dark chocolate bar was created by Arcelia Gallardo at Mission Chocolate (Sao Paolo, Brazil).

This well-crafted 70% cacao chocolate was made from cacao grown at Fazenda Camboa (Brazil's largest organic farm, in Bahia, Brazil).

The smooth, yet relatively complex dark chocolate had flavor notes of true chocolate, earth and dairy milk (there was no milk or dairy ingredients in this bar), and very faint spice (although this latter note could have been associated with the orange).*

Pieces of high-quality, candied orange peel with a soft chew complemented this chocolate very nicely. As with all the Mission Chocolate bars sampled this week, Gallardo** has done a wonderful job of highlighting the best of Brazilian flavors with her chocolate.

* Ingredients: Organic cacao, organic sugar, orange peel, cocoa butter
**Arecelia Gallardo grew up in California and spent time making chocolates in the San Francisco Bay Area before moving to Brazil.

Mission Chocolate - Cupuacu 70% Fazenda Camboa: Colheita 2018 (bar) - Oct. 13, 2019

Chocolate of the Day:

Mission Chocolate
Cupuacu 70% Fazenda Camboa: Colheita 2018 (bar)
Chocolate Escuro Com Pedacinhos de Doce Cupuacu
Good +++ - Very Good
Weight: 1.06 oz. (30 g.) / 2.12 oz. (60 g.) in total bar
Calories: 143 calories (per label) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $10.00 (estimate) for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocolate Covered, San Francisco, CA

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

Today's Cupuacu 70% Fazenda Camboa: Colheita 2018 (bar) was from Mission Chocolate* (Sao Paolo, Brazil).

Mission Chocolate founder Arcelia Gallardo highlights flavors from Brazil in her bars.

Today's bar included pieces of cupuacu fruit (Theobroma grandiflorum) that grows in Brazilian rainforests and is a relative of cacao (Theobroma cacao). Cupuacu fruit has more sweet flesh surrounding its seeds (than the minimal white pulp found in cacao pods—which is wonderful nonetheless). And Gallardo's pairing of this delicious fruit with chocolate was magnificent.

The flavor in these small squares of dried cupuacu fruit seemed to shift from guava to bright pineapple to a cross between a mango and a papaya, to a fountain of liquid citrus (sweet tangerine) sunshine. Naturally when a fruit (or any inclusion) is this exciting, there is a danger or overshadowing the chocolate.**

Indeed, the chocolate seemed to shift a bit when combined with its botanical cousin. The base 70% chocolate (made with cacao (Colheita 2018) from Fazenda Camboa in Bahia, Brazil) seemed "lighter" than previous from Misson Chocolate 70% bars tasted this week. It did have a slight dairy milk/milk chocolate feel to it. It had a fleeting very light earth flavor and true chocolate note, and perhaps it was a tiny bit more nutty. However, this latter characteristic could have been an artifact of tasting it with the embedded cupuacu fruit pieces.

Gallardo's Brazil Biomes Project designation(s) on her chocolate bar labels invite consumers to appreciate the diverse environments and cacao growing regions that span a large country like Brazil (or even a large farm like Fazenda Camboa). She chooses ingredients from a specific biome area to highlight in a given bar. (Brazil has six biome areas, i.e. five others apart from the Amazon—probably the best known. Atlantic Rainforest would be another.)

*The company's name, Mission Chocolate, was inspired in part by founder Arcelia Gallardo's stay in the Bay Area when she was working with Dandelion Chocolate in the Mission district of San Francisco, before her move to Brazil.

**Mission Chocolate uses cacao grown in Brazil (from Fazenda Camboa in Bahia). This bar was made with only three ingredients: organic cacao, organic sugar, cupuacu (fruit).

Copyright 2019. Unauthorized use of the text and/or images from this site, www.ChocolateBanquet.com, is a copyright violation.

Mission Chocolate - Goiabada 70% Dark Chocolate with Guava Chunks (bar) - Oct. 12, 2019

Chocolate of the Day:

Mission Chocolate
Goiabada 70% Dark Chocolate with Guava Chunks (bar)
Brazil Biomes Project - Atlantic Rainforest, Fazenda Camboa
Good +++
Weight: 1.06 oz. (30 g.) / 2.12 oz. (60 g.) in total bar
Calories: 146 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $10.00 (estimate) for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocolate Covered, San Francisco, CA

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

Today's Goiabada 70% Dark Chocolate with Guava Chunks (bar) was created by Arcelia Gallardo at Mission Chocolate (Sao Paolo, Brazil).

Biting into this bar at 7:00 a.m. in the cool morning air evoked an image of hunting for bright fruit in a deep, dark forest. Later in the day, after the (room, palette and chocolate) warmed up, this bar had a sweet, light earth and tropical fruit aroma. The chocolate was smooth and dark with a light earth note. The small squares of dried fruit had authentic just-harvested guava flavor, with a smoothly chewy and mixed silken and slightly granular dried fruit texture.

A short list of fresh, high-quality ingredients (cacao, organic sugar, guava and cocoa butter) were skillfully blended to make this a wonderful tasting experience.

*Fazenda Camboa, owned by two brothers, is the largest organic farm in Brazil. Located in Bahia, north of Sao Paolo, this farm offers forastero and trinitario cacao. Gallardo is (according to the Mission Chocolate website) currently using Fazenda Camboa's trinitario hybrid cacao for her bars. The cacao for this bar was part of the Atlantic Rainforest Brazil Biomes Project.

Copyright 2019. Unauthorized use of the text and/or images from this site, www.ChocolateBanquet.com, is a copyright violation.

Mission Chocolate - Baru 70% Brazil Project Cerrado (bar) - Oct. 11, 2019

Chocolate of the Day: 

Mission Chocolate
Baru 70% Brazil Project Cerrado, Fazenda Camboa (bar)
Good +
Weight: 1.06 oz. (30 g.) / 2.12 oz. (60 g.) in total bar
Calories: 178 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $10.00 (estimate) for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocolate Covered, San Francisco, CA

Welcome to Day #1 of Chocolate and Brazil Theme Week.

Brazil is a very large country with several cacao growing regions; and production of cacao grown in this South American powerhouse has been on the rise in recent years.

One relatively new chocolate maker in the past several years is Mission Chocolate (Sao Paulo, Brazil).

Mission Chocolate was founded by multi-talented chocolate expert, chocolate maker and educator, Arcelia Gallardo, who was born in California and spent time on a farm before getting into chocolate, traveling throughout Latin America, and ultimately settling in Brazil. (Gallardo also spent time in the San Francisco Bay Area producing tasty chocolates in Berkeley and working with Dandelion Chocolate in San Francisco.)

This week will feature several of Mission Chocolate's bars, including today's Baru 70% Dark Chocolate with Baru Nut(s)* (bar). The cacao for this bar was from Brazil Biomes Project Cerrado, Fazenda Camboa. Fazenda Camboa is a large organic farm on the east (Atlantic) coast in the state of Bahia, Brazil.

Whole baru nuts (pressed into the back of the smooth dark chocolate bar) added visual interest, a soft crunch, and mild nut flavor.

*Baru nuts grow wild in Brazil and are usually roasted before eating. They have a mild taste that has been described as a cross between a "peanut and a cashew with a slight cacao flavor." I would describe it having a soft texture a bit like a cross between a roasted pine nut and a Brazil nut.

Copyright 2019. Unauthorized use of the text and/or images from this site, www.ChocolateBanquet.com, is a copyright violation.