Pacari - Organic Chocolate with Ginger and Chia bar - July 19, 2017

Chocolate of the Day: 

Pacari
Organic Chocolate with Ginger and Chia bar
Good+
Weight: .88 oz. (25 g.) / 1.76 oz. (50 g.) in total bar
Calories: 150 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $7.95 for 1 bar
Purchased from: missing information

Hola (Hello) and Welcome to Day #7 of Chocolate and Spices Theme Week.

Today's Organic Chocolate with Ginger and Chia bar from Pacari* (Quito, Ecuador) was made from "tree to bar" in Ecuador, where cacao has been grown for centuries. Chia seeds also are from South America.

The chocolate had a buttery melt and a delicious and subtle natural ginger flavor; and the chia provided a hint of texture.

Labeled as organic, soy free, gluten free and vegan, this bar was made with arriba nacional cacao--a type of fine flavored cacao grown in South America.

*Pacari works with Kiwa BCS Oko-Garantie GmbH on organic certification.

Earthsource Maca bite; Pacari bar - Feb. 23, 2015

Chocolate(s) of the Day:

Earthsource Organics
Maca - Cacao and Maca, Bite Size
OK
Weight: .26 oz. (7.4 g.) / 35 oz. (9.9 g.) (estimate) in 1 piece
Calories: 39 calories (estimate) in 3/4 piece
Cost: $1.29 for 1 individually wrapped piece
Purchased from: Country Sun Natural Foods, Palo Alto, CA

Today was Day #2 of Chocolate and Maca Theme Week.

My first pick for the day was the individually-wrapped, bite-sized "Righteously Raw" Maca square from Earthsource Organics (San Diego, CA). Certified Organic and Non-GMO, this chocolate contained cocoa butter, maca powder, mesquite powder, vanilla bean powder and salt... but no cocoa solids, from what I could tell. Since I only "count" items that also contain cocoa solids for my Chocolate of the Day, I added a second chocolate, from Pacari Chocolate (Quito, Ecuador).

Pacari Chocolate
Raw Sea Salt and Nibs 70% Cacao bar
Good - Good +
Weight: .5 oz. (14.1 g.) piece / 1.76 oz. (50 g.) total bar
Calories: 75 calories (estimate) for .5 oz. (14.1 g.) piece
Cost: N/A - sample
Purchased from: N/A - sample

Ecuadorian cacao can have wonderful floral flavor notes. I especially like Pacari Raw (and roasted) bars for this flavor. Pacari claims they are the first company to make chocolate from tree to bar, in Ecuador. (Most cacao is grown in one country and the fermented beans or liquor (mass) is shipped to another country for manufacturing.) Making chocolate "in country" offers more control over the process, and development/preservation of certain flavors.

Floral flavors are not for everyone, and also can be fairly volatile, i.e. easily lost as cacao is being processed, heated, and made into bars. Today's Raw Sea Salt and Nibs 70% Cacao bar was smooth and flavorful with lovely floral notes intact. This organic, kosher and gluten free bar was a World Chocolate Awards 2012 Silver winner.

Pacari offers a series of bars and chocolate items, made with raw, and some with roasted cacao (almost exclusively from Ecuador*). I would have written about the Pacari 70% Raw cacao bar with Maca -- for Maca theme week this week -- but I already featured this Maca bar last year.


*Pacari has/had one bar made with cacao beans from next door neighbor Peru, and the company incorporates Cuzco salt, Maca and other ingredients from the larger Andean region in their Andean flavors collection.

Pacari - Piura Quemazon bar - Aug. 25, 2014

Chocolate of the Day: 

Pacari Chocolate
Piura Quemazon - Single Region bar
Good + - Very Good
Weight: .352 oz. (10 g.) / 1.76 oz. (50 g.) total bar
Calories: 60 calories (estimate, per label) in 1/5 bar
Cost: N/A - sample
Purchased from: N/A - sample

Bienvenidos (Welcome) to Day #4 of Chocolate and Ecuador Theme Week.

I would be remiss if I had an Ecuador-themed chocolate week and didn't include an offering from Pacari Chocolate (Quito, Ecuador), a family-owned business that makes chocolate from tree-to-bar in Ecuador -- with one or two intriguing exceptions, such as today's bar.

This dark chocolate (70% cacao) bar was made by Pacari, with Piura Quemazon cacao from the Piura region of northwest Peru, adjacent to Ecuador. This bar was also an International Chocolate Awards winner (Americas Gold in 2012 and World Gold in 2013).

The bar had a hard snap and smooth texture. It was a lighter, reddish brown in color (almost closer to a milk chocolate bar in appearance). It possessed a seductively complex and subtle flavor profile, with fruit, floral, earth/forest and smoke notes, and a very faint hint of pleasant licorice at the end in one bite I sampled. (This latter note disappeared in later bites.) The bar was soy free (it contained sunflower lecithin rather than soy lecithin), gluten free and certified organic and kosher.

Pacari - Raw Maca (bar) - July 15, 2014

Chocolate of the Day: 

Pacari
Raw Maca (bar) - 70% cacao
Good++
Weight: 1.76 oz. (50 g.) total bar
Calories: 300 calories (estimate per label) in 1 bar
Cost: $ N/A - gift
Purchased from: N/A - gift

Today was Day #4 of Chocolate Surprise Theme Week.

What's surprising about today's chocolate? Sometimes the ingredients of a bar are themselves unique or unusual, like today's Raw Maca (bar) from Pacari Chocolate (Quito, Ecuador), made from 70% Ecuadorian Arriba Nacional cacao and maca.

What is maca? This radish relative, with a butterscotch-like aroma, is a tuber native to South America that has been cultivated for its medicinal properties for several centuries. It's also been called "Peruvian Gingeng." Maca is considered a "superfood" by some and has been recently marketed as a way to help balance hormones and increase energy. I don't know about all that, but it gave this chocolate a pleasant slightly sweet, almost earthy flavor, and was surprisingly good.

Pacari Chocolate crafts bars and other chocolates (raw and roasted) from Ecuadorian organic (and kosher) chocolate, and often includes anti-oxidant rich, local/regional ingredients such as Andean blueberries, salt and maca.

Pacari - Dark Chocolate Covered Banana - June 14, 2014

Chocolate of the Day: 

Pacari Chocolate
Dark Chocolate Covered Banana
Good +
Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) / 2 oz. (57 g.) in total package
Calories: 145 calories (estimate) in 1/2 package
Cost: lost information
Purchased from: lost information

Today was Day #6 of Chocolate and Ecuador Theme Week.

Pacari Chocolate (Quito, Ecuador) makes single origin chocolates, using Arriba Nacional cacao from Ecuador. Today's chocolate was not a Pacari bar, but rather a sleek package of dark pearls crafted from organic dark chocolate with dried banana inside, from the company's "Raw" line.

These glossy dark pearls were satisfying and full of natural chocolate and banana flavor and texture.

Pacari - Cuzco Pink Salt bar - Dec. 13, 2013

Chocolate of the Day: 

Pacari
Cuzco Pink Salt and Nibs bar
Good ++
Weight: 1.76 oz. (50 g.) in 1 bar
Calories: 260 calories (estimate) in 1 bar
Cost: N/A - sample
Purchased from: N/A - sample from Pacari Chocolate

One of the most delightful things about salt is that there are so many different kinds. Salt can be infused with many different minerals, colors and flavors depending on its origin and who is packaging it for sale.

Today's 4-ingredient* Cuzco Pink Salt and Nibs bar from Pacari Chocolate (Quito, Ecuador) was part of the company's Andean Flavors Collection of bars. The blend of organic Arriba cacao beans (and cacao nibs) yielded a chocolate bar with hot cocoa, light fruit and floral notes.

The pink salt (from the Cuzco area of Peru) and the unsweetened cacao nibs gave the bar a satisfying bite -- a slight, soft crunchy texture with micro-bursts of salt and nibs. The pale pink salt came from warm water seeps (generally fed into salt collection ponds) located high above sea level. I'm guessing that the Incas used this salt; and maybe some of them even mixed this salt with cacao paste or drink.

The Dreaded Wine Analogy
I would classify the cacao flavors in this chocolate as closer to a white wine vs. a red wine -- if that analogy works at all. Whites can have a slightly more delicate, nuanced flavor arc, with lighter floral notes possible. Following this comparison, this Pacari bar would be a complex, interesting fine white wine that I'd be happy to serve at my table. If you're a fan of bolder red wines with high acidity, red fruit notes or a tannic bite, then other high-end, bean-to-bar dark bars in the new American maker style might be more to your liking.

Today was Day #6 of Chocolate and Salt Theme Week.

*I'm a fan of bars that are made with 5 ingredients or less. 

Pacari - Andean Blueberry bar - Sept. 16, 2013

Chocolate of the Day: 

Pacari Chocolate
Andean Blueberry bar
Good +
Weight: 1.76 oz. (50 g.) in total bar
Calories: 250 calories in 1 bar
Cost: $ N/A - sample
Purchased from: Pacari Chocolate, (event)

Today was Day #5 of Chocolate and Berry Theme Week, and the chocolate of the day was a 70% dark chocolate bar from South America, with wild Andean Blueberries, native to Ecuador.

The Andean Blueberry bar, from Pacari Chocolate, was part of an Andean flavors bar series. It was slightly crunchy, with a flavorful, natural blueberry note that harmonized well with the dark chocolate.

Pacari Chocolate (a family owned company based in Quito, Ecuador) makes a line of organic chocolate bars and chocolates -- combining Ecuador Arriba cacao with herbs, fruits, spices and other flavors in-country, via partnerships with local/regional farmers. Some of their chocolates have slight floral notes which I like. Most have a very pleasant tasting arc.

This dairy, soy and gluten free, dark bar ("Chocolate Fino Organico con Mortiño") was also made tree-to-bar, in Ecuador. (Cacao beans are often grown in one country, and processed or made into chocolate in another country.)

Pacari Lemongrass bar - June 12, 2013

Chocolate of the Day: 

Pacari Chocolate
Lemongrass (bar)
Good+
Weight: 1 oz. (28 g.) / 1.76 oz. (50 g.) total bar
Calories: 152 calories (estimate) for 1 oz. (28.3 g.) serving
Cost: $ N/A - sample
Purchased from: N/A - sample from Pacari Chocolate, San Francisco Fancy Food Show, San Francisco, CA

Today was Day #6 of Chocolate and Hibiscus Theme Week.

Combining a few semi-tropical flavors together today, I sampled a refreshing Lemongrass flavored dark chocolate bar from Pacari Chocolate (Quito, Ecuador), with a small glass of hibiscus coconut tea (from Republic of Tea).

Ecuadorian, tree-to-bar, organic chocolate maker, Pacari Chocolate, included this Lemongrass* bar in the company's 4-bar, flavors of the Andes collection (that also included bars with Andean blueberries, pink salt from Cuzco, and merken chili and coriander). Bars were made from "pure Ecuadorian Arriba National Cacao" and were gluten free, dairy free, kosher and soy free.

These flavors conjured up spending time on a lazy summer afternoon in a hammock, enjoying sips of exotic iced tea, listening to the sound of a gentle breeze wafting through palm trees overhead. Not bad; not bad at all.

*Note: Lemongrass is also known as Hierba Luisa in Peru (citron verbena in Germany, and vervaine citronelle in some French speaking regions). The Lemongrass essence in this bar was delightful -- very fresh, not quite lemon, not quite herb. Somewhere in between.

Pacari - Chili bar - June 5, 2013

Chocolate of the Day:

Pacari Chocolate
Chili (bar)
Good
Weight: .352 oz. (10 g.) in 1/5 bar / 1.76 oz. (50 g.) in total bar
Calories: 60 kcals in 1/5 bar
Cost: $N/A - sample pack
Purchased from: N/A - sample pack, Pacari Chocolate table at San Francisco Fancy Food Show, San Francisco, CA

Welcome to Day #7 of Spicy Chocolate Theme Week.

Today's Chili bar (Chocolate Fino Organico Con Aji (Merken Chili)) from Pacari Chocolate (Quito, Ecuador) was part of a 4-bar Andean Flavors Collection pack. The other three flavors were: Cuzco Pink Salt and Nibs, Lemongrass and Andean Blueberry.

The dark chocolate base was smooth and well balanced. And the smoked chili, coriander seeds and salt spice blend used to flavor the bar was very subtle -- barely detectable in fact.

Pacari Chocolate goes one better than bean-to-bar chocolate. Their tree-to-bar, organic (gluten and soy free) chocolate bars were "made by the batch" in Ecuador. The company partners with small cacao farmers for their cacao beans.

Interview: Santiago Peralta, Pacari Chocolate

Interview with Santiago Peralta, Pacari Chocolate
Interview Date: January 21, 2013

During the Winter Fancy Food Show in San Francisco, CA, I had the privilege to interview Pacari Chocolate Founder, Santiago Peralta.

Pacari Chocolate is a tree-to-bar maker of Ecuadorian organic chocolates, that also offers a line of raw chocolate bars, cacao nibs, and other products.

I've featured several of these bars this past week and a half, as part of Chocolate and Ecuador Theme Week. More information on these specific bars can be found in my Chocolate of the Day Posts, from Feb. 6 - 15, 2013.

What's Unique about Pacari Chocolate?

Santiago and others at Pacari work directly with between 2,500 and 3,000 farmers in Ecuador, to produce single region bars from cacao growing areas in western provinces such as Los Rios, Esmeraldas, and Manabi.

Pacari also is involved with the growing of golden berries (trozos de uvilla), native wild Andean blueberries, and other fresh ingredients for their chocolates. Inclusions from other Andean nations, such as salt from a sacred valley in Cuzco, Peru, and Merken (spice) from Chile, can also be found in Pacari dark chocolate bars.

The company works to improve the quality of life for farmers that they work with in Ecuador where possible, with efforts such as Project Flashlamp -- that replaces battery-driven flashlights with solar-powered ones. And the direct relationships Pacari has formed with farmers likely result in better visibility into soil, growing conditions, and what works and doesn't work.

Not only is the company one of the top certified organic chocolate makers, but also the company is one of the few operations that has been certified biodynamic (by Demeter). The company also produces Kosher certified products.

Biodynamic farming goes beyond organic farming in some respects, in that it takes into account relationships between soil, living organisms as well as the crops that are growing, and seeks to balance out these relationships to obtain the best results for the short and long term.

Pacari in the U.S.
I became acquainted with Pacari Chocolate through The Chocolate Garage in Palo Alto. And the following day after this interview, I attended a chocolate maker get-together at the Garage where Santiago and others talked about their chocolates and the processes involved with creating great bars and bringing them to market. (Pictures of Sunita de Tourreil, Chocolate Garage founder, and Santiago, shown bottom right.) Pacari can also be found in various independent markets in the U.S. and maintains an office/rep. in Florida to assist in marketing and distribution.

Pacari Chocolate - Esmeraldas 60% bar - February 13, 2013

Chocolate of the Day:

Pacari Chocolate
Esmeraldas - 60% Cacao - dark chocolate bar
Good + - Very Good
Weight: .88 oz. (25 g.) / 1.76 oz. (50 g.) total bar
Calories: 131 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $6.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: The Chocolate Garage, Palo Alto, CA

Today's single region Esmaraldas 60% cacao bar from Pacari Chocolate (Ecuador) was rich, but very smooth, with a very slight floral note at the beginning.

I've featured several chocolates from Pacari this week. All have had a similar flavor profile -- not too harsh or acidic, smooth with a fairly rich chocolatey taste. I'm tempted to ascribe these flavors to Ecuadorian origins. However, I'll continue to look at other makers who are using beans from Ecuador, to see how these different makers ferment, roast, conch and temper (cacao from the same region) --resulting in a range of flavor differences.

Pacari is a fairly large "tree-to-bar" chocolate company in Ecuador, that works with as many as 2,500 farm families, over approximately 3,000 hectares of land. Having a slightly larger bean base to work with, may make it easier to blend and balance flavor profiles than a smaller batch maker in the U.S. or elsewhere out of country.

Today's single region bar was made with beans from Esmeraldas -- a province in northern Ecuador (see map), northwest of the capital city of Quito.

In addition to supplying organic (and some raw) chocolate bars, the company's packaging mentions fair practices/efforts to support farmers, and to preserve biodiversity of the Arriba Nacional (general type of cacao) forest.

Today was Day #8 of Chocolate and Ecuador Theme Week.

Pacari Chocolate - Dark chocolate covered Golden Berries - February 12, 2013

Chocolate(s) of the Day:

Pacari Chocolate
Dark chocolate covered Golden Berries
(Trozos de Uvilla cubiertos con chocolate)
Good + - Very Good
Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) / 2 oz. (57 g.) total package
Calories: 140 calories (estimate) in 1/2 package
Cost: $3.85 for 1 package/small box
Purchased from: Abundant Life, Hilo, Hawaii

Today I took a break from dark chocolate bars from Ecuador, to sample chocolate covered golden berries from Pacari Chocolate (Ecuador). What are golden berries? Listed in Spanish as Trozos de Uvilla, perhaps they are similar to golden mulberries. I'll look forward to researching this further*, as there are many wonderful golden colored berries that grow in tropical climates.

These dried berries were tasty, a bit tart, and balanced very nicely with the Pacari dark chocolate soy-free (a bit of sunflower lecithin was used instead) couverature -- made from tree-to-bar in Ecuador.

*Postscript: It's more likely that these berries are similar to Poha berries (Hawaii), or Cape Gooseberries (South Africa) -- little golden orbs that resemble tiny, sweet, yellow tomatoes or tomatillos.

Note: Due to travel this week, posts and photos will be delayed.

Pacari Chocolate - Raw 100% and 70% bars - February 11, 2013

Chocolate(s) of the Day:

Pacari Chocolate
1.) Raw 100% bar
Very Good
Weight: .35 oz. (10 g.) in 1/5 bar/ 1.76 oz. (50 g.) total bar
Calories: 53 calories for 1/5 bar
Cost: $6.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: The Chocolate Garage, Palo Alto, CA

2.) Raw 70% bar
Good +
Weight: .35 oz. (10 g.) in 1/5 bar / 1.76 oz. (50 g.) total bar
Calories: 53 calories (estimate) for 1/5 bar
Cost: $6.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: The Chocolate Garage, Palo Alto, CA

What is raw chocolate? Most definitions involve minimizing heating the chocolate during roasting and conching (typically to a range below 112 - 120 degrees Farenheit) in order to preserve antioxidants and nutritional value. The challenge has been to create a finished bar or product that doesn't taste any different than a fine bar that has been traditionally processed.

I'm happy to report that today's raw bars from Pacari Chocolate (Ecuador) were nicely tempered, with a perfect snap, flavorful, smooth and rich. Nothing about them yanked me out of the tasting experience in taste or texture that said "raw." The 100% cacao bar had a nice floral note to begin with and followed up with a sustained robust current of rich, slight bitter flavor.

We tasted the Raw 70% bar second. The added sugar masked a bit of the floral note at the beginning, created a bright spot in the middle, and mimimized the bitter flavor. When we re-tasted the Raw 100% bar after this one, some of the floral note was also gone, and it tasted a bit more bitter/sour than it had initially.

While it was interesting to compare these two raw bars from the same maker (and it's not unusual to re-taste a bar at the end of a chocolate tasting to find that flavors shifted), based on this experience, I would advise eating the 100% bar separately to enjoy the unique, unadulterated flavors of pure cacao.

Thank you to Lawton for tasting input.

Today was Day #6 of Chocolate and Ecuador Theme Week.

Note: Due to travel this week, posts and photos will be delayed.

Pacari Chocolate - Manabi 65% Single Origin bar - February 10, 2013

Chocolate of the Day:

Pacari Chocolate
Manabi 65% Single Origin bar
Good - Good +
Weight: .35 oz. (10 g.) / 1.76 oz. (50 g.) total bar
Calories: 53 calories (estimate) for 1/5 bar
Cost: $6.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: The Chocolate Garage, Palo Alto, CA

Pacari Chocolate's line of organic, single origin, and raw bars from Ecuador provides one of the best samplings available (short of visiting South America) of cacao flavors from this country that lies in the heart of the cacao growing zone.

Today's single origin, 65% cacao dark chocolate bar was made with beans from the Manabi region. (Yesterday's bar was from Los Rios.) There was a light fruit plum note at the beginning, a relatively pleasant mouth feel and light finish. My only quibble: a very slight hint of white powder (more in flavor than texture).

Today was Day #5 of Chocolate and Ecuador Theme Week.

Pacari Chocolate - Los Rios 72% cacao bar - February 9, 2013

Chocolate of the Day:

Pacari Chocolate
Los Rios - 72% cacao bar
Good +
Weight: .5 oz. (14.1 g.) / 1.76 oz. (50 g.) total bar
Calories: 74 calories (estimate) in 1/2 oz. (14.1 g.) serving
Cost: $6.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: The Chocolate Garage, Palo Alto, CA

Today's bar was an organic dark chocolate bar from Pacari Chocolate (Ecuador). This 72% cacao single origin bar was from the Los Rios region. (It was also kosher and dairy free with no gluten ingredients.)

This bar had rich, slightly more complex chocolatey flavor -- complex and pleasing flavor arcs often being a strength associated with single origin offerings.

Pacari, like many fine chocolate makers, also has a good story and a close connection with farmers. More about that soon.

Note: Due to travel this week, posts and photos will be delayed.