Vosges - Dulce de Leche 45% Cacao (bar) - May 22, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

Vosges IP, LLC
Dulce de Leche 45% Cacao (bar)
Good +
Weight: 3 oz. (85 g.) in total bar
Calories: 390 calories in 1 bar
Cost: $9.99 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Mollie Stone's, Sausalito, CA 

Welcome to Day #4 of Chocolate and VWXYZ Theme Week, featuring chocolate items with origins and flavor inclusions that start with the letters V, W, X, Y and Z.

Today's Dulce de Leche 45% Cacao bar was from Vosges IP, LLC (Chicago, IL). Vosges is a women-owned company, headed by founder and chocolatier Katrina Markoff.

This bold, ultra-dark milk chocolate was a great choice for such a sweet filling--a thin layer of soft, flowing dulce de leche (a form of caramel made with sweetened condensed milk popular in South America). The 45% cacao chocolate tasted more like 65% or 70% chocolate, much to my delight. 

The darker cacao choice off-set the sweetness of the whole milk caramel. A hint of vanilla and Celtic sea salt rounded out the flavor blend.

Ingredients: Milk chocolate (sugar, unsweetened chocolate, cocoa butter, whole milk powder, soy lecithin, natural vanilla flavor); dulce de leche caramel (reduced lactose sweetened condensed whole milk (milk, cane sugar, skim milk), non-GMO corn syrup, water, cane sugar, butter (cream, salt), butterfat, pectin, non-GMO soy lecithin, baking soda, natural flavor, salt); burnt sugar syrup (cane sugar, water), bittersweet chocolate (unsweetened chocolate, sugar, cocoa butter, soy lecithin, natural vanilla flavor); sea salt, cultured dextrose. (47% fair trade ingredients include sugar, unsweetened chocolate, cocoa butter, vanilla flavor)

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

Raaka Chocolate - Vanilla Violet Unroasted Dark Chocolate 68% Cacao bar - May 21, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

Raaka Chocolate 
Vanilla Violet 68% Cacao bar
Good ++ 
Weight: .9 oz. (25.5 g.) / 1.8 oz. (51 g.) in total bar
Calories: 140 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $8.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order 

Welcome to Day #3 of Chocolate and VWXYZ Theme Week, fearturing chocolate items with origins and flavor inclusions that begin with the letters V, W, X, Y and/or Z.

Today's Vanilla Violet 68% Cacao bar was from Raaka Chocolate (Brooklyn, NY).

The cacao used to make this unroasted, dark chocolate was from Reserva Zorzal, a large, private reserve and bird sanctuary, in the Dominican Republic. Zorzal is the Spanish word for thrush (songbird).

The bar had an attractive, complex aroma. The initial bold, slightly bitter dark chocolate and green notes shifted to reveal warm vanilla floral spice notes, followed by light marshmallow.

The chocolate had a uniform, well-tempered, smooth texture initially with a slight graininess (light green, botanical, marshmallow/cacao/violet leaf astringency) in the finish.

The flavor was a blend of naturally sweet, bold dark chocolate and heavenly floral-botanical (violet) and vanilla. The makers infused violet into the cocoa butter and the chocolate contained "flecks of ground vanilla bean."

Maker's description/tasting notes: "...Dominican cacao lends notes of cinnamon and brown sugar."

This bar was a collaboration between Raaka and the New York Botanical Garden not far from the chocolate maker in New York City. The Garden "supports living collections of more than 1 million plants inside their 250-acre landscape and conservatory. This bar celebrates the beauty and flavor of the plants that surround and sustain NY." (Source: Raaka/Bar and Cocoa website.)

Ingredients: Organic cacao beans, organic cane sugar, organic cacao butter, organic vanilla bean, organic violet leaf. (Both violet flowers and leaves are edible.)

Allergen-related information: "Vegan, Gluten Free, Soy Free, Nut Free"

Libeert - Vietnam 73% Dark Origin Chocolate (bar) - May 19, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

Libeert 
Vietnam 73% Dark Origin Chocolate (bar)
Good + - Good ++
Weight: 1.35 oz. (40 g.) / 2.7 oz. (80 g.) in total bar
Calories: 226.6 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $1.99 (estimate) for 1 bar
Purchased from: Grocery Outlet Bargain Market, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #9 of Chocolate and Vietnam Theme Week, and Day #1 of VXYZ Theme Week, featuring chocolate items with origins and flavor inclusions that begin with the letters V,X,Y and/or Z--for example, Vietnam and vanilla.

Today's Vietnam 73% Dark Origin Chocolate (tablet/bar) was manufactured by Libeert s.a. (Comines, Belgium). The company produces a variety of chocolates including classic, organic, and single origin bars.

This chocolate had an alluring true chocolate (dark chocolate mousse) with a hint of warm vanilla. The aroma, melt, flavor were well-executed, well-mannered and very smooth. The texture was creamy.

In addition to rich, dark hot cocoa flavor, there was a very subtle fruit sweetness (very faint sweet tangerine/sweet lemon) throughout, and a bit of woodsy earth in the latter half.

Like most of the other Vietnam single origin bars featured this week, today's chocolate was made using Trinitario variety (of cacao). In the maker's words, single origin/variety choices like this can yield a "bouquet of flavors." 

This Trinitario bar offered a bit of boldness with layered flavors--rather than the very subtle, delicate notes of a Criollo cacao, and the more uniformly dense, dark boldness of a Forastero variety of cacao. Trinitario cacao has the potential to offer some of the best of both ends of this spectrum.

The maker's tasting notes: "A robust dark chocolate made of Trinitario cocoa beans with a genuine earthy taste. The distinct acidic cocoa flavour is enriched with delicate hints of citrus, wood and tobacco."

Ingredients: Chocolate liquor, sugar, cocoa butter, natural vanilla flavor; cocoa solids 73% minimum.

Allergen-related information: "May contain traces of milk, soy, almonds, hazelnuts, pecan nuts, wheat and egg."

Raaka Chocolate - Oat Milk Unroasted Dark Chocolate Uganda 58% (bar) - Apr. 25, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

Raaka Chocolate
Oat Milk Unroasted Dark Chocolate Uganda 58% (bar)
Good + 
Weight: .9 oz. (25.4 g.) / 1.8 oz. (50.9 g.) in total bar
Calories: 113 calories (per label) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $6.00 (sale) for 1 bar
Purchased from: Mollie Stone's Markets, Sausalito, CA

Welcome to Day #10 of Chocolate and R,S,T,U Theme Week, featuring chocolate items with origins and/or flavor inclusions that start with the letters R, S, T and/or U--as in Uganda (Africa).

Today's Oat Milk Unroasted Dark Chocolate Uganda* 58% Cacao (bar) was from Raaka Chocolate (Brooklyn, NY). 

Raaka's chocolate makers use unroasted cacao. Skipping the roasting process can yield smoother, brighter, fruitier chocolate flavors, and can sometimes preserve more delicate notes (such as green and/or floral).

The cacao used to make this chocolate came from Semuliki Forest Cacao, Uganda* (from more than 1,000 smallholder, organic farmers--over half are women). 

This area in Western Uganda is part of a rare (for East Africa) stretch of tropical, lowland forest that includes a National Park, a Wildlife Reserve, and many endangered species. Semuliki cacao is comprised of "mostly Trinitario and Amelonado" (cacao varieties). The flavor profile is described by Cacao Services (consultants in Uganda) as: "rich base cocoa with balanced fruit acidity and sometimes notes of brown sugar and panela."

The aroma of today's Raaka bar conjured up a hot bowl of coconut oatmeal with unsweetened dark chocolate pieces and a drizzle of maple syrup. 

The 58% cacao unroasted dark chocolate had a relatively rapid melt, with a thick and creamy mouthfeel, and a very slight graininess (oat flour) in the finish.

The dark chocolate flavor (from what I could taste) seemed bright and bold, slightly fruity, without being bitter or earthy. Oat flour or oat "milk" (as well as other milks) can be used to calm (or even neutralize) feral or spiky cacao flavors; but no lion tamer services were required with this friendly vegan bar.

Coconut added naturally sweet flavor as did a judicious amount of maple sugar. Vanilla bean added a bit of warmth.

Raaka tasting notes for the cacao/chocolate in this bar: "Chocolatey, panela, fig, cinnamon." 

Note: the inside of this Raaka Chocolate Semuliki Forest Cacao bar wrapper also included transparent trade information for the cacao, including the price paid to farmers: $4.50 per kilogram in 2020. This price includes post-harvest processes and transportation to the departure port in Africa.

Ingredients: Organic cacao beans, organic maple sugar, organic oat flour, organic coconut, organic cacao butter, organic vanilla bean.

Allergen-related information: Vegan, gluten free, soy free; Certified Organic and Kosher by NFC. 

* Uganda is smaller in size than the U.S. state of Michigan, but has a larger population than New York and Florida put together. Agricultural exports include: cotton, tea, tobacco...and cacao. 

Most cacao grown in Africa comes from West Africa, specifically Ivory Coast and Ghana. However, cacao is also grown further east, in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Tanzania, as well as Uganda.

Theo Chocolate - Organic Coffee Toffee 70% Dark Chocolate (bar) - Apr. 24, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

Theo Chocolate 

Organic Coffee Toffee 70% Dark Chocolate (bar)

Good +

Weight: 1.5 oz. (42.5 g.) / 3 oz. (85 g.) in total bar

Calories: 240 calories in 1/2 bar

Cost: $3.99 for 1 bar

Purchased from: Farm Fresh To You CSA box, add-on item 

Welcome to Day #9 of Chocolate and R,S,T,U Theme Week, featuring chocolate items with origins and flavor inclusions that start with the letters R, S, T and/or U, e.g. toffee. 

Today's Organic Coffee Toffee 70% Dark Chocolate (bar) was created by Theo Chocolate (Seattle, WA).

I used to drink coffee. I loved the taste, and especially the aroma. And the aroma of this chocolate evoked that memory. The aroma: ground coffee, cocoa, fruit, and butter, followed by balanced savory/leather, shading into earthy cocoa notes. 

The base dark chocolate was smooth. (The source of the cacao was Democratic Republic of Congo and Peru; and the coffee was grown in Peru.)

Bits of sweet toffee and coffee yielded textural contrast and flavor (including ground coffee flavor without ground coffee grit). The rich, gem-like, softly crunchy bits of sweet toffee sparkled against a backdrop of bold, deep dark chocolate with a balanced earthiness. This rich mix of flavors lingered into the finish.

Theo Chocolate's description of this bar: "Coffee perks up your body. Chocolate perks up your soul. There's nothing better than this blend of crunchy toffee, dark chocolate, and rich coffee made with organic ingredients."

Ingredients: Organic, fair trade cocoa beans; organic, fair trade cane sugar; organic toffee (organic, fair trade cane sugar, organic butter, organic dried corn syrup, water, sea salt); organic, fair trade cocoa butter; organic, fair trade ground coffee beans. Contains 95% Fair Trade Ingredients.

Allergen-related information: Contains milk. Made in a facility that handles peanuts, eggs and sesame and on equipment that also processes milk, wheat and tree nuts. (No soy, gluten-free, Kosher dairy.)

 

Chocolate Naive - Tahini - Organic 47% Milk Chocolate (bar) - Apr. 21, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

Chocolate Naive 
Tahini - Organic 47% Milk Chocolate (bar)
Good + - Good ++ 
Weight: 2 oz. (57 g.) in total bar
Calories: 309.51 calories in 1 bar
Cost: $11.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocolate Covered, San Francisco, CA  

Welcome to Day #6 of Chocolate and RSTU Theme Week. Chocolate items with origins or flavor inclusions that start with the letters R, S, T and/or U (such as sesame seeds and tahini) are featured this week.

Today's Chocolate Naive Tahini - Organic 47% Milk Chocolate (bar) was produced by Mulate UAB (Zietelos, Lithuania).

This rich milk chocolate had a balanced, savory, nutty, roasted seed, aroma.

The base chocolate had a thick, creamy melt and mouthfeel, and rich, (relatively "dark"* but sweet) milk chocolate flavor with a (salt) caramel undertone. A careful smattering of embedded (I think toasted) whole sesame seeds added micro-bursts of crunchy texture and sesame flavor. 

Chief chocolatier, Domantas Uzpalis's inspirations for this bar include Antoine Galland's "Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves" (from a collection of tales told in 1001 Arabian Nights, with origins that stretch back centuries in the Arab world). In this story, Ali overheard a thief utter the famous secret password "Open sesame!" (that allowed access to a cave full of treasure). In this Tahini bar, sesame seeds held the key to a treasured, novel chocolate experience.

Ingredients: Organic cacao butter, organic sugar, organic specialty cacao, organic sesame seeds, organic grass-fed milk powder, sea salt. 

Allergen-related information: "May contain traces of nuts, barley, sunflowers."

*The definition of "dark milk chocolate" is a term I used here to denote more cacao flavor. Generally, it refers to milk chocolate(s) with a higher percentage of cacao (solids) than one would normally expect to find in commercial/bulk milk chocolate. ("Milk chocolate" in the U.S., needs (by law) to contain a minimum of only 10-12% cocoa liquor/solids.)

More cacao in craft chocolate bars usually means higher quality chocolate (or at least less sugar and milk solids).

Some craft/artisan chocolate makers apply the term "dark milk" to chocolate(s) containing at least 50% cacao solids, whereas a few will dip down to 45-49% cacao. Some vendors use 55% or even 60% as their definitional dividing line for their dark milk offerings.

Anthony's - Organic Superfood Smoothie Mix - Chocolate Flavor - Apr. 19, 2021

Chocolate of the Day 

Anthony's

Organic Superfood Smoothie Mix (Chocolate Flavor)

Good 

Weight: .848 oz. (24 g.) / 8 oz. (227 g.) in total package of mix

Calories: 110 calories in 1 serving (3 TB) (+ milk)

Cost: $7.99 for 1 package

Purchased from: Grocery Outlet Bargain Market, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #4 of Chocolate and RSTU Theme Week, featuring items with origins or flavor inclusions that begin with the letters R, S, T and/or U.

Today's Chocolate Flavor Organic Superfood Smoothie Mix was from Anthony's Goods (Glendale, CA). 

The aroma of the dry mix had light cocoa, and faint, pleasant vegetable root/tuber (tigernut, maca) and celery notes.

This gluten-free, vegan smoothie mix tasted refreshingly un-sugared.* It did contain some coconut sugar, but did not taste sweet. 

The powder was shaken and stirred with a variety of liquids. (Coconut milk or frozen fruits and water, are good choices that provide a little touch of natural sweetness.) If you're not vegan, organic, dairy milk works too. 

Smoothie tip: If you're not using an electric blender, you might let the smoothie rest in the refrigerator for a few hours (or longer) before drinking. This allows the chia seeds (number one ingredient) to more fully absorb the liquid, to maximize smoothness in the mouthfeel.

Ingredients: Organic chia seed, organic coconut sugar, organic tigernut, organic cocoa, organic flaxseed, organic black maca

Theo Chocolate - Organic, Fair Trade Raspberry Cocoa Nib 55% Dark Chocolate (bar) - Apr. 17, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

Theo Chocolate

Organic, Fair Trade Raspberry Cocoa Nib 55% Dark Chocolate (bar)

Good +

Weight: 1.5 oz. (42.5 g.) / 3 oz. (85 g.) in total bar

Calories: 240 calories in 1/2 bar 

Cost: $3.99 (estimate) for 1 bar

Purchased from: Missing information 

Welcome to Day #2 of Chocolate and RSTU Theme Week, featuring items with origins and flavor inclusions that start with the letters R, S, T and/or U.

Today's Organic, Fair Trade Raspberry Cocoa Nib 55% Dark Chocolate (bar) was from Theo Chocolate (Seattle, WA). The company was an early advocate (and provider) of fair trade chocolate. (This bar bore the "fair for life"* symbol.)

This was a flavorful bar, but I had to lean in to catch the full aroma. A nose-to-bar inhalation revealed deep, dark chocolate and authentic red raspberry notes. 

Cacao nibs and raspberry bits gave this chocolate a hearty, crunchy texture and a blend of rich, robust cacao and bright red berry flavors that lingered into the finish. Ground vanilla bean added a bit of upbeat, floral warmth.

The maker's notes read as follows: "...fruity, bright and crunchy."

Ingredients: Organic, fair trade cocoa beans; organic, fair trade cane sugar; organic, fair trade cocoa butter; organic freeze-dried raspberries; organic ground vanilla bean.

Allergen-related information: USDA Organic, fair for life, no soy, kosher dairy; "Made on equipment that also processes milk, wheat, and tree nuts and in a facility that handles peanuts, eggs and sesame. 

*Fair trade standards and programs have helped highlight the need for fair/better pay and conditions for cacao (and other) farmers, who are often being paid very little. And better pay and infrastructure (e.g. access to local cacao fermenteries, agro experts, water, etc.) not only help farmers, but also can help preserve and enable production of fine cacao (and great chocolate).

More information specifically on Fair for Life can be found on their website: https://fairforlife.org.

Raaka Chocolate - Rose Cardamom Unroasted Dark Chocolate 70% (bar) - Apr. 16, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

Raaka Chocolate

Rose Cardamom Unroasted Dark Chocolate 70% (bar)

Good +

Weight: 1.8 oz. (50.9 g.) in total bar

Calories: 266 calories in 1 bar

Cost: $6.00 for 1 bar

Purchased from: Raaka, online order

Welcome to Day #1 of Chocolate and RSTU Theme Week, featuring chocolate items with origins and flavor inclusions starting with the letters R, S, T, and/or U.

Today's Rose Cardamom Unroasted Dark Chocolate 70% (bar) was made from bean-to-bar by the makers at Raaka Chocolate (Brooklyn, NY).

This bar had a lovely warm floral and spice aroma, and smooth, dark 70% Cacao (unroasted) chocolate texture and flavor, with a barely detectable fruit/spice astringency.

The single origin cacao used to make this Limited Batch chocolate bar was from Kokoa Kamili (a cacao growers organization), in Tanzania -- "steamed over rose petals and cardamom...Celestial and dreamy."

The flavors were a bit clearer/stronger (than the aroma), and it was easier to tease out the rose flavoring, which was followed by a balanced and sustained (but still relatively subtle) cardamom note.

Ingredients: Organic cacao beans, organic cane sugar, organic cacao butter, organic rose petals, organic cardamom

Allergen-related/additional information: Vegan, Gluten Free, Soy Free, Nut Free, Non-GMO Project Verified, USDA Organic, Transparent Trade

Alfred Ritter - Cacao Selection - Dark Chocolate 61% Cacao Fine with Cacao From Nicaragua (bar)

Chocolate of the Day

Alfred Ritter GmbH and Co.
Cacao Selection - Dark Chocolate 61% Cacao Fine with cacao from Nicaragua (bar)
Good + - Good ++
Weight: 1.75 oz. (50 g.) / 3.5 oz. (100 g.) in total bar
Calories: 296.8 calories (per label) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $3.99 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Mollie Stone's, Sausalito, CA 

Welcome to Day #10 of Chocolate and NOPQ Theme Week, featuring chocolates with flavor inclusions and origin locations that start with the letters N, O, P and/or Q. And we're extending this "week" by ending with a series of chocolate bars that contain cacao from Nicaragua.

Today's "Cacao Selection - Dark Chocolate 61% Cacao Fine with Cacao from Nicaragua" (bar) was from Alfred Ritter GmbH and Co. (Waldenbuch, Germany). 

In 2019, the company launched a series of Ritter-Sport "Cacao Selection" (selected origin) bars made with just 3-4 ingredients.* (Yesterday, the Ritter Cacao Selection 74% Peru bar was featured.)

Today's bar followed the Ritter-Sports packaging tradition. A generously-sized (3.5 oz./100 g.), square bar was molded into a connected array of thick (smaller) squares. Each individual square bore the Ritter logo. To enjoy, just break off the number of squares desired to create your preferred serving size. 

This chocolate was made with Nicaraguan cacao beans,* and had a smooth dark, roasted cacao flavor. As expected this 61% cacao chocolate was brighter, sweeter and a bit smoother than yesterday's (darker, "intense") Ritter-Sport 74% Peru bar. 

Happily, neither chocolate was blandly uniform. (Many high-volume chocolates can be.) They each had plenty of true chocolate flavor, and both possessed some pleasingly complex cacao aroma and flavor nuances. Today's Nicaragua bar had an aroma with concentrated fruit (dried plums, apricots)--similar to yesterday's Peru bar. 

The flavors, however, had a shyer, sophisticated quality--with hints of cream and subtle fruit (peaches and strawberry) and pure cocoa (hot chocolate) notes. These notes are more often associated with fine cacao or heritage cacao beans. (Although the fruit notes were also brightened/elevated a bit by the greater amount of sugar in this bar.)

*Ingredients: Chocolate liquor (made from cocoa beans from Nicaragua), sugar, cocoa butter.

Allergen information: "May contain traces of peanuts, tree nuts, wheat, milk, soy and egg."

*Rainforest Alliance Certified cocoa sourcing. "We purchase a volume of UTZ and/or Rainforest Alliance Certified (tm) cocoa equivalent to the volume used in this product. www.ra.org/mb." 

Valrhona - Noir Orange Flavored Chocolate 56% Cacao - Mar. 22, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

Valrhona Chocolate

Noir (Dark) Orange-Flavoured Chocolate 56% Cacao (block) 

Good +

Weight: 1.41 oz. (40 g.) / 7.06 oz. (200 g.) in total bar/block

Calories: 230 calories in 1 segment of bar

Cost: $ missing information

Purchased from: missing information

Welcome to Day #1 of Chocolate and NOPQ Theme Week, where chocolates with flavor inclusions and origins starting with the letters N, O, P and/or Q.

Today's Noir Orange Gastronomie (Baking) Chocolate 56% Cacao (block) was from Valrhona Chocolate. Varhona has been producing premium chocolate in the small village of Tain-l'Heritage, France, in a wine-growing region near Lyon, since 1922.*

This smooth, dark chocolate was perfumed with a balanced, natural orange aroma. A hint of vanilla added warmth, for eating and baking. And, happily, it was not too sweet for a 56% cacao chocolate (thank you!). 

When I started my Chocolate Banquet journey in 2006, I noticed I was gravitating more toward baking, i.e. less sweet, chocolate. There were fewer dark chocolate options back then. French chocolate had a certain cachet; and Valrhona chocolate was one of the first dark chocolates I remember really liking.

Today's orange-flavored French chocolate offered both a pleasing, high-end eating and baking/dessert experience. This would be great choice for chocolate mousse (regular or non-dairy versions), brownies (regular or gluten-free versions), melted over ice cream or in a smoothie, drizzled over a croissant or crepe, made into chocolate fondue, etc. 

The chocolate had a uniform undercurrent of rich, velvety, sophisticated, true chocolate (dark chocolate fudge brownie) from start to finish. The orange evolved during the tasting experience, from neroli (orange blossom)-like scent, to a slightly tart-sweet, true orange citrus flavor finish.

Ingredients: "sugar, cocoa beans, cocoa butter, emulsifier (soy lecithin), orange flavor, natural vanilla extract."

Allergen information: "This product might contain traces of nuts, milk and egg proteins, gluten and peanut."

*I remember as a child growing up in the U.S. in the 1900s, Valrhona chocolates, and French chocolates in general, were spoken about with great reverence.

My young siblings and I were chocolate monkeys back then. I can remember climbing up on the counter to investigate baking chocolate in the cupboards above. Most of the American baking chocolates were too bitter. But, Swiss-processed (alkalized) varieties were more approachable. A few pieces of the dark stuff would fuel tree-climbing, bicycling and swimming adventures for hours in the summers. 

And, for outdoor sun protection and trips to the beach, squares of ivory-colored cocoa butter were rubbed on and applied. The smell was heavenly, even if these 100% cacao fat squares weren't particularly edible. 

Michel Cluizel - Mangaro Noir 65% Madagascar (bar) - March 13, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

Michel Cluizel 
Mangaro Noir 65% Madagascar (bar)
Good + - Good ++
Weight: 1.23 oz. (35 g.) / 2.46 oz. (70 g.) in total bar
Calories: 199.4 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $7.99 for 1 bar 
Purchased from: Chocosphere.com, online order

Welcome to Day #8 of Chocolate and JKLM Theme Week, where I'm featuring chocolate items with flavors and origins that start with the letters J, K, L and/or M; and Day #2 of Chocolate and Madagascar Theme Week.

Today's Mangaro Noir 65% Madagascar (bar) was from Michel Cluizel (Damville, France). This chocolate was made using cacao from a single farm (Mangaro Plantation) located in northwest Madagascar, in the lush Sambirano River valley--a region known for its high-quality cacao (which is sometimes referred to as "green gold").

This chocolate had a complex and appealing aroma, especially for a 65% (sub-70%) cacao bar. Aroma notes included: dark chocolate, light honey, fruit and faint/fleeting green (tea, very faint chicle/rubber, forest) and light earth and roasted notes. 

The chocolate had a smooth melt and texture with little to no astringency.

Flavor notes included earthy dark chocolate, faint, fleeting (balanced) umami/savory fermented, and faint fruit (ripe citrus, tart sweet berry) and warm spice. There was a friendly amount of well-managed earthiness; that is, there were no jarring "dirt" or "loamy" spikes. 

A very subtle hint of authentic, slightly earthy vanilla pod rounded out this bouquet of flavors and added a bit of warmth and charm.

The finish was relatively short and clean, with only a trace of smooth, sweet chocolate remaining by the very end. 

Ingredients: "Fine cocoa from the Mangaro Plantation (in Madagascar), sugar, cocoa butter, Bourbon vanilla pod."

Elmhurst - Cacao Oat Latte + Mocha, Maca, Mushroom Latte - Mar. 11, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

Elmhurst Milked, LLC

Oat Latte with Cacao

Good

Weight: 3 fl. oz. (88.7 g.) / 12 fl. oz. (355 mL) in total bottle

Calories: 52.5 calories in 1/4 bottle 

Cost: $ missing information

Purchased from: missing information 

Welcome to Day #6 of Chocolate and JKLM Theme Week, featuring chocolate items with flavors and/or origins that begin with the letters J, K, L and/or M.

Today's Oat Latte (with) Cacao was from Elmhurst Milked, LLC (Elma, NY). The company offers plant-based milks with no added "fillers, gums or additives."

 

Today's Oat Latte possessed a rich mocha aroma--smooth but robust (flash brew Arabica) coffee and dark chocolate syrup notes with rich texture and flavor. (It was also not as sweet as the aroma seemed to indicate, which was to my liking.) This brew had a lush, oat-milk enabled liquid velvet mouthfeel. And there were no added gums or emulsifiers in this vegan, dairy-free drink. (thank you!).

Maca, Mocha, Lucuma, Mushroom Latte 

Just for fun, I also mixed a little bit of this beverage with an Essential Living Foods Maca, Lacuma and Mushroom powdered mix. The dry blend had faint caramel and light vanilla angel food cake notes that brightened up and complemented the darker coffee and cacao in today's Cacao Oat Latte beverage. A few too many flavors; but it was fun to try.

Ingredients: oatmilk (water, oats), flash-brew coffee (water, Arabica coffee), hemp cream (water, hemp seeds), cane sugar, cacao powder, natural flavors.

Chocolate Naive - Kilimamwenza Congo Dark Chocolate 70% (bar) - March 10, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

Chocolate Naive

Kilimamwenza Congo 70% Nano_Lot Dark Chocolate (bar)

Good ++ - Good +++

Weight: 2 oz. (57 g.) in total bar

Calories: 366 calories in 1 bar

Cost: $15.00 for 1 bar

Purchased from: missing information 

Welcome to Day #5 of Chocolate and JKLM Theme Week, where chocolate flavor inclusions-- or in today's case, origins--that begin with the letters J,K,L and/or M are featured. 

Today's Kilimamwenza Congo Dark Chocolate 70% (bar) was crafted by Domantus Uzpalis at Chocolate Naive (Zietelos, Lithuania).*

African cacao cannot be easily summarized. But when people hear African cacao, what comes to mind is typically bold, deep, dark forastero cacao beans grown in a few countries in West Africa and chocolate made using a relatively heavy roast profile. 

Today's award-winning dark chocolate was a relatively eloquent, soft-spoken entree, made with a lighter Trinitario-Forastero hybrid variety of cacao grown on Kilimamwenza farm in Mambasa, Ituri province, located in the Democratic Republic of Congo, in central, sub-Saharan Africa.

This chocolate had a smooth but relatively complex dark chocolate aroma--with light, balanced, fermentation and umami (leather), and very faint fruit and green-floral notes.

The melt and initial texture were fairy uniform and creamy. A mild astringency in the finish led to a mouthfeel with a slight dryness/graininess. This astringency comes from polyphenols and tannins (as in unripe fruits (bananas, persimmons, olives, avocado), tea or red wine). 

While polyphenols have health benefits they also need to be balanced for a positive tasting experience. Heating/roasting/processing tends to diminish their presence.

The lightly roasted (110 degrees C./230 degrees F.) dark chocolate flavor was smooth, with a touch of honey-like sweetness, and a light, lingering finish with delicate green-floral, honey and fruit notes. (A lighter roast helps preserve lighter, more volatile flavor compounds (e.g. floral notes) as well as the polyphenols mentioned above.)

Ingredients: cacao, cane sugar, pure cacao butter

**Sometimes a chocolate maker has a rare, time-limited opportunity to purchase a small amount (a micro-lot) of cacao beans from a certain farm, origin and/or harvest year. This Chocolate Naive Kilimamwenza nano-lot, micro-batch bar was born from such an opportunity. 

Often there are small cacao fermenteries and co-ops involved in small, high-quality batches of bean output as well. This is not dissimilar to coffee projects and co-ops (usually not far from where cacao grows) in equatorial regions. (Chocolate Naive's chief chocolate maker does mention he was inspired by an individual(s) who helped local coffee co-ops export beans and to break into the specialty coffee market.) Who knows how many other pockets of great cacao in the massive continent of Africa are out there, waiting to be discovered?

Endangered Species Chocolate - Organic 52% Milk Chocolate with Key Lime (bar) - March 7, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

Endangered Species Chocolate
Smooth Organic 52% Milk Chocolate with Key Lime (bar)
Good 
Weight: .466 oz. (13.3 g.) / 1.4 oz. (40 g.) in total bar
Calories: 73.3 calories in 1/3 bar
Cost: $ missing information
Purchased from: missing information

Welcome to Day #2 of Chocolate and JKLM Theme Week, where I'm featuring chocolate items with flavor inclusions or origins that start with the letters J, K, L and/or M. 

Every few years I've gone on an alphabetic chocolate treasure hunt. This may be my last year to do so, as there are many other interesting chocolate themes to pursue. 

Today's Smooth Organic 52% Milk Chocolate with Key Lime (bar) from Endangered Species Chocolate (Indianapolis, IN) has been waiting for years in my chocolate vault for its turn. What better K + L flavor item than Key Lime?*

Chocolate and citrus pairings typically yield refreshing and delightfully tart-sweet results. And today's smooth, organic dark 52% cocoa milk chocolate suffused with natural key lime flavor was no exception. As billed, the texture was smooth, almost creamy. A hint of vanilla added a bit of floral warmth and paired nicely with the chocolate and the lime.

Ingredients: Organic milk chocolate (organic cane sugar, organic whole milk, organic cocoa butter, organic chocolate liquor, organic soy lecithin (as an emulsifier), and organic vanilla), Key Lime Oil.

*Smaller and more thin-skinned than Tahitian or Persian limes, Key Limes (aka Mexican limes) are often grown in Florida in the U.S. When ripe they can be yellow-green. They are aromatic (almost floral) and tart-sweet, with relatively low bitterness, and make a great flavoring for desserts (Key Lime pie), beverages (cocktails, limeades) and other items, including flavor inclusions in (or part of fillings or ganaches for) chocolate bars and confections.

Soklet - Hibiscus and Pumpkin Seeds 70% (bar) - Feb. 25, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

Soklet

Hibiscus and Pumpkin Seeds 70% (bar)

Good + - Good ++

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

Calories: 254 calories in 1 bar

Cost: $9.00 for 1 bar + shipping

Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order

Welcome to Day #10 of Chocolate and EFGHI Theme Week, where chocolate items with flavor inclusions beginning with the letters E, F, G, H and/or I have been featured. Today's chocolate is infused with floral flavor.

Todays Soklet Hibiscus* and Pumpkin Seeds 70% (bar) was made from tree-to-bar in India, and was manufactured by Regal Foods and Beverages (Pollachi, Tamil Nadu, India). The cacao used to make this chocolate was grown in the foothills of the Anamalais (also known as the Elephant mountains) in southern India.

The sweet, complex aroma of this bar included green, spice (saffron), and light floral notes. The chocolate had well-balanced, tangy fruit (sweet, ripe pink grapefruit) and hibiscus acidity (both are rich in Vitamin C). A sprinkle of whole, lightly roasted, pumpkin seeds on one side of the bar added a little crunchiness. The smooth 70% cacao chocolate base had true chocolate flavor, and very faint malt/oxidized cereal notes in the finish.

Next week, we'll be virtually visiting the Caribbean. Chocolate and Jamaica Theme Week will feature chocolates made from cacao grown in Jamaica. Hope you'll join Chocolate Banquet on this free, virtual tasting tour. 

Ingredients: Cacao beans, cane sugar, cacao butter, dried hibiscus flowers, roasted pumpkin seeds, spices.

* The Hibiscus is a beautiful showy flower that can be found not only in China, Japan and the Pacific Islands (including Hawaii), but in many other semi-tropical countries/islands as well. The flowers are quite flavorful and rich in Vitamin C, and are often brewed to make a vivid, magenta colored beverage (served cold, as an agua"fresca"). The dried flowers are often called "flor de Jamaica" in Mexico (and in markets in the Americas). These flowers infused in hot water make a great, tangy, brightly fuschia-colored herbal tea; and hibiscus adds vibrant, rosy color to any herbal tea blends.

Cocoa Parlor - Garden of Eden 100 bar with Zante Currants - Mar. 18, 2017

Chocolate of the Day: 

Cocoa Parlor
Garden of Eden 100 with Zante Currants bar
Good
Weight: 1.41 oz. (40 g.) / 2.82 oz. (80 g.) in total bar
Calories: 232.6 calories (per label) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $4.99 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Country Sun Natural Foods, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to the last day (Day #8) of Chocolate and STUVWXYZ Theme Week, where we'll finish our chocolate alphabet series.

Very few chocolate-related or inclusion items begin with the letter "z." However, there will be no zebra bacon or zozzle fruit or Zimbabwe cacao to commemorate the last day of the alphabet.

Instead, the featured chocolate is both ordinary and sublime. The Garden of Eden 100 with Zante Currants bar from Cocoa Parlor (Laguna Niguel, CA) offered a unique blend of 100 percent cacao chocolate with tiny bits of concentrated dark fruit sweetness.

Zante currants are not like other currants. They come from small Black Corinth grapes, grown primarily in Greece (country of origin), California, South Africa and Australia. And the occasional sparkles of dried fruit (raisin/currant) sweetness brightened up and helped balance today's 100 percent-er.

This organic, vegan, dark chocolate bar—listed just two ingredients: Organic cacao* and Organic zante currants, that was it. The finished chocolate bar had a delightful aroma, with light floral, light tropical fruit (banana), spice, green jungle notes.

One bite transported us deep into ultra-dark territory, with earthy, nutty, very slightly bitter (due to lack of any sugar) flavors, encased in a thick, almost chewy bar. (The cool morning in my house further firmed up the cocoa solids and cocoa butter.)

*100% Cacao from Fairly Traded Cocoa Beans from the Dominican Republic. (Note: More recent or future bars may be made from cacao from another origin.)

Raaka - Yacon Root Dominican Republic bar - Mar. 17, 2017

Chocolate of the Day: 

Raaka Virgin Chocolate
Yacon Root Dominican Republic bar
Good
Weight: .9 oz. (25.4 g.) / 1.8 oz. (50.9 g.) in 1 bar
Calories: 146 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $7.95 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Raaka Virgin Chocolate, online order

Welcome to Day #7 of Chocolate and STUVWXYZ Theme Week. Today the focus is on the letter "y," as in yacon root.

What is yacon? It's a South American/Peruvian root that's naturally sweet and can serve as a refined sugar replacement. (It's available in powdered or syrup form if you're interested in experimenting with it in your own chocolate kitchen or lab.)

Today's Yacon Root Dominican Republic bar was crafted by Raaka Virgin Chocolate (Brooklyn, NY). I'd previously enjoyed another, similar Yacon Root bar from the same company; however, that 79 percent bar was made from cacao grown in Belize, and today's bar was made of cacao from the Dominican Republic.*

The team at Raaka makes bean-to-bar, mostly single origin and organic, chocolates from un-roasted cacao. The company offers a variety of bars with interesting flavor inclusions, such as today's featured yacon root. (I recently featured another Raaka bar with ghost chili pepper.)

This bar had even flavor throughout the bar, with some tart, sour cherry fruit, and slight bitter notes. The tasting notes on the package suggested: "beet, oat, raisin."

It was refreshing to try a bar with a touch of natural plant-based sweetness, rather than an avalanche of sugar.

*I consider these two different chocolate bars, just as one might consider wines made from merlot and cabernet grapes to be different wines.

Lula's Chocolates - Wine Truffles - Mar. 15, 2017

Chocolate of the Day: 

Lula Lund's Chocolates, LLC
Lula's Chocolates - Wine Truffles
Good
Weight: 1.1 oz. (31 g.) / 2.2 oz. (62 g.) in total box of 4 pieces
Calories: 165 calories (estimate) in 2 pieces
Cost: $10.99 (estimate) for 1 box of 4 pieces/truffles
Purchased from: Lula's (shop), Monterey, CA

Welcome to Day #5 of Chocolate and STUVWXYZ Theme Week, the last in our chocolate alphabet series.

Today "w" stands for wine. With the proper pairing, wine and chocolate can make wonderful tasting companions. Or, one can infused chocolates with wine flavor, like today's Wine Truffles from Lula's Chocolates (Monterey, CA).

These attractively packaged box of four good-sized chocolates were made with pure dairy cream and "wine and natural flavorings."

The company's full name is Lula Lund's Chocolates, LLC.
Lula's founder and owner, Scott Lund, named the company after his grandmother Lula, who also made confections and toffees.

If you're visiting in the Monterey or Carmel area in California, Lula's shops are worth a stop. (Their Baja toffee is a great take a traditional toffee; it's spicy enough to be flavorful without being too hot.)

Vintage Plantations 90% Dark bar; Valenza Chocolatier Sesamo Milk Bar - Mar. 14, 2017

Chocolate(s) of the Day: 

Vintage Plantations
90 percent Dark Chocolate bar
Good +
Weight: 1.06 oz. (30 g.) / 3.2 oz. (90 g.) in total bar
Calories: 159 calories (estimate) in 1/3 bar
Cost: $ missing information
Purchased from: missing information

Valenza Chocolatier, Inc.
Sesamo Venezuelan Milk Chocolate Bar
Good +
Weight: 1.03 oz. (30 g.) / 3.1 oz. (90 g.) in total bar
Calories: 155 calories (estimate) in 1/3 bar
Cost: $N/A sample from Valenza (included in a larger order)
Purchased from: (part of a larger order from Valenza Chocolatier, Inc. (Costa Mesa, CA)

Welcome to Chocolate and STUVWXYZ Theme Week. Today we focus on two companies that start with the letter "v": Vintage Plantations and Valenza Chocolatier, Inc.

Both companies have founders with European ties/heritage, who are creative and passionate about origins and quality and who have an appreciation of single origin chocolate.

Both have offered chocolates made from Venezuelan beans (or chocolate), a venerable origin, vraiment, veramente (truly in French and Italian). And both offer a variety of chocolate bars as well as very enticing confections/truffles.

These two companies also exemplify two different approaches to making chocolates: that of a bean-to-bar chocolate maker (Vintage) and a chocolatier (Valenza).

Today's two bars also represented two points along the cocoa content spectrum: Vintage Plantations' 90 percent almost pure Dark Chocolate crafted from scratch, and Valenza Chocolatier's flavorful Sesamo light milk chocolate with sesame seeds. One's a bean-to-bar maker, and the other is a chocolatier who uses premium sourced chocolate. Each is making unique chocolates with well-balanced layers of flavor.

Now, let's taste some chocolate...

Vintage Plantations
The 90 percent Dark Chocolate bar from Vintage Plantations (Costa Mesa, CA) had a sweet cocoa, fruity (fig, goji berries, banana) aroma with very faint green notes. And the first taste was one I'd also associate with a bar with more sweetness (lower cocoa solids and more sugar).

However, like virtually all of my favorite ultra-dark bars, this bar was full of complex flavor. The initial flavor gave way to slightly sharper fruit notes and the sweet flavor transformed into deeper, richer, well-balanced slightly bitter flavor.

I've had a Vintage Plantations 90 percent dark bar before back in 2010, made with a slightly different batch of beans. The previous bar was made with Ecuadorian cacao I believe. (There was no origin or plantation listed for this bar.) Vintage has worked with beans from different origins, including Ecuador, Venezuela and Peru.

As the description on the packaging explains, chocolate makers assess cacao each year, and the chocolate may vary from year to year and from harvest to harvest. This bar was gluten free, vegan and soy lecithin free.

Valenza Chocolatier - Sesamo bar
The Sesamo bar from Valenza Chocolatier, Inc. (Costa Mesa, CA) was made from a blend of two chocolates: a white chocolate (cocoa butter) and a single origin Venezuela milk chocolate "with a slash of 61% dark chocolate."

The resulting bar had a cocoa butter aroma and a creamy, velvety chocolate base that was lighter not only in cocoa solids but also in appearance. (It had a lovely light caramel color.) A generous helping of embedded, roasted sesame seeds provided crunchiness in every bite.

And a touch of Sicilian sea salt tied everything together. It balanced the sweetness as well as the slight seed aftertaste from the sesame seeds in this bar.

*Don't leave this bar (or any chocolate bar) in direct sun. This bar softened very quickly. I offer as proof my fingerprints that I accidentally left on this bar, as I was holding it to take a photo.