Mutari White Label Chocolate - Honduras La Masica 74% - Mar. , 2023

Chocolate of the Day

Mutari - White Label Chocolate 
Honduras La Masica 74% (bar)
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: $ Missing information
Purchased from: Mutari Chocolate, Santa Cruz, CA

Welcome to Day #8 of Chocolate and Honduras Theme Week.

Today's White Label Chocolate Honduras La Masica 74% (bar) was made and hand-wrapped in Santa Cruz, CA. (The company has since moved its manufacturing space down to Watsonville, CA.)

The cacao (2015 Harvest, La Masica, Honduras) used to make this bar was thoughtfully sourced from producer FHIA by White Label's chief chocolate maker, who "is honored to (support/be able to work with) small family farmers" and co-ops in equatorial regions.

Fundacion Hondurena de Investagacion Agricola (FHIA) is a non-profit that works to support sustainable agriculture and cacao in Honduras.

Aroma notes for this two-ingredient chocolate included: a very gentle, complex and appealing bouquet of fruit (peach, plum, fig jam, very faint cherry), very faint and diffuse molasses and warm spice, very faint and diffuse floral (apricot blossom, orchid, honey).

Flavor notes included: true chocolate (brownie, dark chocolate ganache, cookie), cream**, diffuse fruit (stone fruit), very faint warm spice, and faint (balanced) earth.

Ingredients: Cacao beans, Organic sugar

Allergen-related information: (No allergens listed in ingredients; no additional facility/allergen-related information listed on packaging.)

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

White Label Chocolate - Madagascar Bejofo Estate 68% (bar) - Sept. 17, 2022

Chocolate of the Day

White Label Chocolate 

Madagascar Bejofo Estate 68% (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) for 1 bar

Purchased from: Mutari Chocolate, Santa Cruz, CA

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

I bought today's Madagascar Bejofo Estate 68% (bar) from bean-to-bar maker Mutari Chocolate shortly before they were forced to close their retail location in Santa Cruz, CA, and to move due to a multi-block urban renovation project. In this shop they offered bars, confections and drinking chocolates. (I am hoping they find a new retail space close-by soon.)

The Akesson Plantation, Bejofo Estate--located in the Sambirano Valley region in northwest Madagascar--produces Trinitario and Criollo varieties of cacao. 

Aroma notes for this bar included: very subtle, caramel, cocoa, and softly tart-sweet fruit (red berry, faint tangerine).

This bar had an even melt and smooth texture.

The flavor notes mirrored the aroma notes mentioned above (relatively smooth but subtly nuanced chocolate (cocoa), red fruit, and mild and sweet citrus). (Later re-tasting also yielded very mild and faint cream and malt notes along with more subdued red fruit.)

Toward the finish, I got a hint of red fruit jam with a dab of cream cheese on a lightly salted cracker among the chocolate notes. I experienced the rich flavor of fruit jam(s), yet, the chocolate was not too sugary sweet. (A welcome experience, particularly for a sub-70% cacao chocolate bar.)

Maker's tasting notes: Cocoa, raspberry, juicy citrus

Ingredients: Cacao bean, organic sugar, organic cocoa butter

Allergen-related information: (None found on packaging.)

Mutari Chocolate - Jamaica Bachelor's Hall 72% (bar) - June 24, 2022

Chocolate of the Day

Mutari Chocolate

White Label - Jamaica Bachelor's Hall 72% dark chocolate (bar)

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) for 1 bar

Purchased from: Mutari Chocolate, Santa Cruz, CA*

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

Today's White Label Jamaica Bachelor's Hall 72% dark chocolate (bar) was from Mutari Chocolate (Santa Cruz, CA). 

The small batch bean-to-bar maker worked with Desmond Jadusingh at Bachelor's Hall Estate (a 1,000 acre farm in St. Thomas Parish) to craft today's single estate, single origin Jamaica bar.

This Jamaica bar had a very subtle, and very complex aroma and flavor. Notes included: a natural sweetness (honey), very diffuse fruit (berries), and very faint warm spice and very fleeting black pepper, graham cracker/cookie, and green botanical (nut, seed, fleeting vegetable/wood sorrel) notes. 

Even the true chocolate flavor in the taste (faint fudge brownie batter) seemed relatively subtle--perhaps because I was focused on identifying all the other interesting notes mentioned above that were playing hide-and-seek.

Maker's Tasting Notes: "Honey, Waffer (sic), Fudge, Dried Berries"

Ingredients: Cacao beans, organic sugar, organic cocoa butter

Allergen-related information: (None listed on packaging.)

*Mutari Chocolate's Front Street, Santa Cruz, CA, location closed in February 2022 (due to a downtown development project). The maker(s) are currently hoping to resume operations later in 2022. Their fans await.

Mutari Chocolate - White Label Chocolate Ecuador Costa Esmeraldas 77% (bar) - May 1, 2022

Chocolate of the Day

Mutari Chocolate

White Label Chocolate - Ecuador Costa Esmeraldas 77% (bar)

Good +

Weight: 1.15 oz. (32.5 g.) / 2.3 oz. (65 g.) in total bar

Calories: 178 calories in 1/2 bar

Cost: $10.00 (estimate) in 1 bar

Purchased from: Mutari Chocolate, Santa Cruz, CA

Welcome to Day #8 of Chocolate and Ecuador Theme Week.

Today's Ecuador Costa Esmeraldas 77% (bar) was part of Mutari Chocolate's White Label bean-to-bar, craft chocolate collection.

This chocolate had a subtle dark chocolate aroma, with faint sweet, slightly tart, red fruit (red wine grape/raisin) notes, and barely there graham cracker and floral notes.

The bar broke with a snap at room temperature (65 degrees F.), and had a relatively smooth melt with a very slight dried fruit astringency.

Flavor notes included true dark chocolate with faint, fleeting earth and fruit yogurt notes. This 77% cacao bar was less intense/bitter than other darker chocolates approaching 80% cacao.

Three Nacional cacao hybrids from Costa Esmeraldas, Ecuador, were used to make this bean-to-bar chocolate. The cacao was grown/produced (in a "wet" tropical forest area) on a single farm (Salazar Family Estate). Nacional is considered a fine flavor, heritage cacao associated with fruit, floral and herbal notes.

Maker's tasting notes: Fudge, brown fruit, honey suckle

Ingredients: Cacao bean, organic sugar, organic cocoa butter

Allergen-related information: 

Mutari Chocolate - Venus Spirits Rye Whisky-Brown Butter (truffle) - Dec. 22, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

Mutari Chocolate
Venus Spirits Rye Whisky-Brown Butter (truffle)
Good +++
Weight: .49 oz. (14 g.) (estimate) in one truffle
Calories: 73 calories (estimate) in 1 truffle
Cost: $3.00 (estimate) for 1 truffle

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

Today's flavorful Venus Spirits Ry Whisky-Brown Butter craft chocolate truffle was created by Mutari Chocolate (Santa Cruz, CA).

During a recent visit, the company's factory + shop (retail) location was offering a dozen different single origin chocolate bars, both traditional (dairy) and vegan confections (craft chocolate truffles); baked goods; and drinking chocolates.

Today's truffle infused with whisky (from Santa Cruz neighbor Venus Spirits) had a subtle but rich and attractive aroma. 

A gold accented, dark chocolate shell was filled with a balanced, boozy, creamy soft chocolate ganache with a light touch of savory (brown butter and salt). Warning, these truffles are mildly addictive.

Ingredients: (Not available on truffle assortment box ID card). Elements identified by name: Venus Spirits Rye Whisky, brown butter

Allergen-related information: (no label; but identified as containing dairy)

Donnelly Chocolates - Almond Vanilla Ice Cream Sandwich, Dark Chocolate Coffee Caramel - May 17, 2019

Chocolate(s) of the Day: 

Donnelly Chocolates

Dark Chocolate Coffee Caramel (bar)
Good - Good +
Weight: 1.6 oz. (45 g.) in 1 large piece
Calories: unknown
Cost: $6.00 for 1 large caramel

Dark Chocolate with Vanilla Ice Cream Almonds (ice cream bar)
Good - Good +
Weight: unknown
Calories: unknown
Cost: $6.00 for 1 ice cream bar
Purchased from: Donnelly Chocolates, Santa Cruz, CA

Welcome to Day #1 of Chocolate, Coffee and Vanilla Theme Week. The hunt for these three flavors led to Santa Cruz, CA.

Today's mini-bar sized Dark Chocolate Coffee Caramel and Dark Chocolate Vanilla Ice Cream and Almonds ice cream bar were created by Donnelly Chocolates (Santa Cruz, CA).

Thank you to Nick for counter assistance at Donnelly's and help in finding and selecting these two deluxe-sized chocolate, coffee and vanilla offerings, also known as dinner.

The Dark Chocolate Caramel bar was filled with everything you'd expect to find. The coffee flavor harmonized well with the dark chocolate, and the soft, caramel filling. The coffee helped balance the sweetness.

Now, on to the next course in this chocolate dinner. The vanilla ice cream in this Dark Chocolate Vanilla Almonds ice cream bar was from Marianne's Ice Cream (another local Santa Cruz, CA, sweets favorite). This tasty bar was a satisfying, cut above your standard store-bought ice cream bar for sure.