Cacao & Cardamom - Spicy Mayan Hot Chocolate Stick - July 15, 2024

Chocolate of the Day

Cacao & Cardamom 
Spicy Mayan Hot Chocolate Stick 
Good ++
Weight: 1.73 oz. (49 g.) in total package
Calories: 268 calories (estimate) in 1 package/serving
Cost: $5.99 for 1 stick
Purchased from: Cacao and Cardamom, online order

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

Today's Spicy Mayan Hot Chocolate Stick (bar) was from Cacao & Cardamom (Houston, TX). This single serving hot beverage (and other bars I ordered) were each elegantly packaged in a black mesh, drawstring bag with gold lettering.

Aroma and flavor notes for this smooth textured and tasting hot chocolate (cube on a wooden spoon that served on a stir stick) included: pleasing dark chocolate, and subtle warm spices (cinnamon, hot pepper/cayenne, vanilla)). A sprinkle of tiny marshmallows that floated to the top.

Ingredients: (No listing on the packaging.)

Allergen-related information: (No listing on the packaging.)

Zotter - Labooko Maya Cacao 100% dark chocolate (bar) - Feb. 14, 2022

Chocolate of the Day

Zotter
Labooko Maya Cacao 100% dark chocolate (bar)
Good + - Good ++
Weight: 1.145 oz. (32.5 g.) / 2.29 oz. (65 g.) in total package of 2 bars
Calories: 200 calories in 1 bar 
Cost: $8.25 (estimate) for 1 package of 2 bars
Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order

Welcome to Day #11 of 100% Cacao Theme Week, and Day #6 of Chocolate and Peru Theme Week. (And Happy Valentines Day to all who celebrate.)

Today's Labooko Maya Cacao 100% dark chocolate (bar) was made in Austria (where Zotter is based) and distributed by Zotter Chocolates US LLC (Cape Coral, FL). 

This ultra-dark chocolate was made with cacao from Central America (Belize, Guatemala) and "cocoa beans from Peru" according to the back label. These areas combined are at the heart of the cacao epicenter, where humans and animals first tasted and enjoyed cacao fruit and the beans (seeds) inside the fruit that grew on cacao trees thousands of years ago.

Aroma notes for this bar included: subtle dark chocolate, green citrus (oxalis, sorrel), diffuse fruit (cherry and apple compote with warm spice, and light tropical fruit (pineapple guava, cherimoya), and very faint, fleeting earthy root (potato).

This chocolate had a smooth, buttery texture. The pleasant aroma was followed by a much more intense flavor--that mellowed and became more approachable after about 20 seconds.

Initial bitterness evolved into acidity/sour (tannins, grapefruit/lemon) flavor, that mellowed into bold, roasted cacao (passing through a faintly earthy dark espresso roast coffee with cacao notes phase), followed by a very brief, faint red berries/fruit note, that then tailed off into a lingering ultra-dark, balanced bitter, chocolate finish. 

Once I recovered from the initial ride, I found I rather liked it. This 100%er was a great morning wake up chocolate. It felt like I'd experienced a satisfying sip of fragrant and full-bodied espresso. 

When I re-tasted this bar a minute or two later, I also picked up pleasing ultra dark chocolate torte and nutty, woody (cocoa bean) notes that rounded out/further mellowed this ultra-dark chocolate. Despite its initial intensity, I found this bar complex, interesting and oddly addictive.

Maker's tasting notes: "Fragrance notes: berries, cherries, mildly tropical accents. Taste notes: spicy-nutty. An initial acidity, with notes of red fruit, spice and nuts, with a sub-finish of tannins similar to black tea."

Ingredients: Organic, fair traded cocoa mass 

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

Goodnow Farms Chocolate - Guatemala Asochivite 77% (bar) - Oct. 14, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

Goodnow Farms Chocolate

Guatemala Asochivite 77% (bar)

Good ++ - Good +++

Weight: .97 oz. (27.5 g.) / 1.94 oz. (55 g.) in total bar

Calories: 165 calories in 1/2 bar

Cost: $12.00 for 1 bar

Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order

Welcome to Day #11 of Chocolate and Central America Week, featuring chocolates made with cacao from Belize, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua.

Today's Guatemala Asochivite 77% (bar) was from Goodnow Farms Chocolate (Sudbury, MA). 

The single origin chocolate makers discovered this "surprisingly bright bean" when they traveled to the Alta Verapaz region of Guatemala. The cacao was "grown and harvested by Q'eqchi Maya farmers."

Aroma notes included: subtle, tart sweet fruit (ripe persimmon, apple) and very faint (almost inferred)* warm spice.

The bar had a creamy melt and texture.

Flavor notes included: sustained, balanced tart sweet fruit, acidic fruit (peach, apple, mango). Sweet and fruit notes were well balanced, like a good cider. Low in bitterness.

This bright fruit session was followed by a gentle wall of more opaque creamy, soft dark chocolate and a fade at the finish--conjuring the image of an autumn fog descending softly onto an apple orchard.

The makers press their own single origin cocoa butter to match it with the cocoa beans from the same origin to help reinforce the aroma and flavor notes of the particular region.

Maker's tasting notes: "green banana and mango"

Ingredients: Single origin cacao beans, organic cane sugar, single origin cacao butter

Allergen related information: "May contain trace amounts of peanuts and tree nuts." "Soy free, vegan, gluten free."

*What do I mean by "almost inferred"? When I detect a "warm spice" note on the heels of a fruit or brown sugar/molasses note, my palette may be triggered into thinking of baked goods, baked apples or warm fruit compote with warm spices (like cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and ginger). It's hard to be sure if this warm spice note is truly inherent in the item I'm tasting, or whether my brain is filling in the blanks, and recalling an association with a related flavor memory.

Duffy's - Honduras Mayan Red Milk Chocolate 61% (bar) - June 20, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

Duffy's Fine Chocolate
Honduras Mayan Red Milk Chocolate 61% (bar)
(Red Star Chocolate Ltd)
Good +
Weight: 1.06 oz. (30 g.) / 2.11 oz. (60 g.) in 1 bar
Calories: 175.8 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $9.50 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order

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

Today's Honduras Mayan Red Milk Chocolate 61% (bar) was from Duffy's Fine Chocolate (Lincolnshire, UK). 

The company specializes in single origin, artisan chocolate bars; and the cacao used to craft this bar was purchased directly from Xoco (Honduras) that offers fine flavored, single varietal cacaos from Central America.

The aroma of today's dark milk bar had diffuse, sweet fruit (currants, red berries), faint tart green herb (lemon verbena, wood sorrels, oxalis), and sweet (caramel) dark milk chocolate notes.

This chocolate had a smooth melt and texture with a subtle astringency.

Flavor notes included: subtle true chocolate (very low in bitterness), fruit (red berries and currants in cream) and light, almost green and earthy, caramel notes.

Duffy's (maker's) tasting notes: "A smoothly balanced strong milk chocolate with hints of sweet currants and blueberries and a dark treacle aftertaste."

Bar and Cocoa notes: "Fine and rare Directly Traded cocoa beans from a single source in Honduras are carefully roasted then stone-ground for three days to develop and mature all the fine flavors that are in the beans..."

Ingredients: "Criollo cocoa beans, organic sugar, cocoa butter, milk powder."

Allergen-related information: Contains dairy (milk powder). Peanut free, soy(a) free, tree nut free, gluten-free.

 

Michel Cluizel - Plantation La Laguna Chocolat Noir 70% (bar) - May 28, 2020

Chocolate of the Day:

Michel Cluizel
Plantation La Laguna Chocolat Noir 70% (bar)
Good ++
Weight: 1.23 oz. (35 g.) / 2.46 oz. (70 g.) in total bar
Calories: 200 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $8.25 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocosphere.com, online order

Welcome to Day #7 of Chocolate and Maya Empire Theme Week.

Today's Plantation La Laguna Chocolat Noir 70% (bar) was from Michel Cluizel (Damville, Normandy, France). Plantation La Laguna is located in the west central part of Guatemala.

This bar had a true chocolate aroma with faint fruit (raspberry) and a very faint green note.
The flavor had light roasted, caramel, fruit, light earth, fudge brownie, and very faint leather saddle notes. The texture was...smooth melt with booth creaminess and a few pieces of ultra-fine cacao grit.

Maker's tasting notes read as follows: "The succulent aromas of plums and roasted cocoa are followed by notes of buttered apples and licorice, ending in a long finish with bitter-sweet notes of mint and spice."

Ranger Chocolate - 80% Guatemala Polochic bar - May 27, 2020

Chocolate of the Day: 

Ranger Chocolate

80% Guatemala Polochic bar

Good+++ - Very Good

Weight: 2.5 oz. (70.75 g.) in total bar

Calories: 382 calories (estimate) in 1 bar

Cost: $10.50 for 1 bar

Purchased from: Ranger Chocolate, online order

Welcome to Day #6 of Chocolate and Maya Empire Theme Week. 

Centuries ago Guatemala was at the heart of the Maya Empire, and more than half of the country's current population, including many cacao farmers, are Maya descendants. This week features several Guatemala single origin bars. 

Ranger Chocolate (Portland, OR) likely used cacao grown in the Polichic river valley to make today's 80% Polochic Guatemala bar. The Polichic River flows from west--from the Dept. of Alta Verapaz east to the Dept. of Izabel/Lago Izabel in central Guatemala.* 

This chocolate had a bright, sweet dried fruit aroma (peach-apricot, cherry, light red raspberry) with green and faint floral notes. The melt and mouthfeel were smooth and creamy. 

The bar provided very well balanced chocolate and fruit flavors. I tasted a very faint fleeting spiced fruit (spiced peach compote with a hint of cinnamon and molasses) note on the first bite, which faded when I re-tasted the rest of the bar 20 minutes later. 

Our chocolate radar picked up a barely detectable (perhaps self-conjured), almost nutty, buttery mushroom/loam note--enough for a chocolate and umami lover to dream they'd hit the flavor trifecta.**

This bar was pleasing to the end, with a clean, true chocolate finish (that included a flourish of chocolate brownie batter) in the first few bites 

*Not far (as least as the crow flies--over the jungle) from the Polochic River lie ruins of impressive Maya cities. Across the country one can see stone temples and alters, hieroglyphs and stelae. Historic Maya sites in Guatemala include Iximche, Quirigua, Yaxha, El Mirador and Tikal. One of the largest cities, Tikal (200 - 900 A.D.) was once home to upwards of 200,000 people. It's estimated that the Maya Empire across the Yucatan peninsula area might have had a population of 2 million people.

**A trifecta is a three-fold win or series of three positive events, or a bet where the better correctly picks the three top winners, e.g. win(1st), place (2nd) and show (3rd) in a horse race.

Guido Gobino - 70% Extra Bitter Chontalpa, Mexico chocolate - May 25, 2020

Chocolate of the Day:

Guido Gobino
70% Extra Bitter Chontalpa (Tabasco) Mexico chocolate
Good +
Weight: .194 oz. (5.5 g.) in 1 square
Calories: 30 calories (estimate) in 1 square
Cost: $0.89 for 1 square
Purchased from: Chocosphere.com, online order

Buenos dias y bienvenidos a (Good day and welcome to) Day #4 of Chocolate and Maya Empire Theme Week. Or, in Mayan: Ba'ax ka wa'alik? (hello) and Alk'ara Xutula (welcome). 

Today's individually-wrapped fluted disc of 70% Extra Bitter Chontalpa, Mexico, chocolate was produced by Guido Gobino (Torino (Turin), Italy). 

The Chontalpa region (the name refers to the local Chontal Maya population) is located in Tabasco--a state in southeast Mexico on the coast (Gulf of Mexico), north of Belize and Guatemala.

This flavorful small chocolate had a true chocolate aroma and taste with fruit and green floral notes. A slight astringency developed early on and lingered. There were fleeting notes of tartness and a faint sparkle of light earth, followed by a true chocolate (brownie) note in the finish.

Centuries ago, first the Olmec and then the Maya would be harvesting and consuming cacao in Tabasco; and the history of Tabasco is rich with stories about cacao, conquest and the Maya people. 

Maya - Tabasco connections

Today the Mexican state of Tabasco exports cacao, coconuts, bananas (as well as petroleum/oil). If one traveled back a few thousand years ago...one might witness the growth of the Maya empire and how they cultivated and used cacao, even using cocoa beans as a form of currency.

At the height of the Maya empire (250 - 900 A.D.), Maya people occupied the Yucatan peninsula, in what is now Guatemala and Belize as well as parts of southern Mexico, western Honduras and El Salvador. But, by the 1400s, their centralized stone cities were abandoned; groups of Maya lived in the jungles and in more decentralized city states. By the early 1500s, conflict had started to build up between native peoples in southern Mexico and the Aztec people to the north.

Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortez first arrived Mexico (in, you guessed it, Tabasco) in 1519, and, after hearing tales of gold and riches to the north (and likely exploiting native conflicts) he recruited thousands of native soldiers (including enemies of the Aztecs). And their combined forces marched north. Cortez conquered the Aztecs in 1521, and promptly claimed the land for Spain. 

The Maya people managed to stay independent until the 1600s, until they too came under Spanish rule. By the late 1500s, cacao was being shipped to Spain.* It was eventually brought to European colonies in West Africa and elsewhere for cultivation; and drinking chocolate and packaged/processed chocolate offerings would eventually catch on in Europe and spread around the globe...with some processed cocoa offerings coming back to the Americas and, starting in the mid-1800s, in the form of chocolate bars.

*Christopher Columbus, on hist fourth trans-Atlantic voyage to the Americas, in 1502, is said to have been the first European to encounter cacao beans in the new world, when his he and his crew apprehended a native canoe in the Bay of Honduras (south of Tabasco, Mexico, in an area in the Gulf of Mexico, east of Belize, Guatemala and Honduras). This small boat was carrying cacao beans (which the Europeans mistook for almonds). They observed that these "almonds" seemed to be highly valued by the natives.

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

Chocolate of the Day:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

SOMA Chocolatemaker - June 27, 2015

SOMAchocolate.com

Chocolate(s) of the Day: 

SOMA Chocolatemaker

Maya Dome
Good++
Weight: .4 oz. (11.32 g.) (estimate) for 1 piece
Calories: 60 calories (estimate) for 1 piece
Cost: $N/A - part of a larger box of chocolates
Purchased from: SOMA Chocolatemaker, Toronto, Canada

Blood Orange Marzipan Pinch
Good ++
Weight: .4 oz. (11.32 g.) (estimate) for 1 piece
Calories: 60 calories (estimate) for 1 piece
Cost: $N/A - part of a larger box of chocolates
Purchased from: SOMA Chocolatemaker, Toronto, Canada

Today was Day #4 of Chocolate and Botanicals Theme Week. This is a very easy theme week, and most everything in good chocolate has a flavorful plant origin story -- including the cacao, sugar and flavorings. Citrus peel offers a tangy sweet zing to today's two chocolates.

The glossy Maya Dome from SOMA Chocolatemaker (Toronto, Canada) was a version of the company's Maya drinking chocolate -- in domed, truffle form. The smooth ganache (filling) was infused with a tasty blend of chili, ginger, orange peel, allspice and cinnamon.

The second chocolate, a pleasantly plump Blood Orange Marzipan Pinch truffle, was a curved beauty stuffed with classic marzipan. Said marzipan filling was flecked with tiny bits of blood orange peel throughout that helped balance the sweet marzipan.

Charm School Chocolate - 70% Dark Belize bar - April 29, 2015

Chocolate of the Day: 

Charm School Chocolate
70% Dark Belize bar
Good ++
Weight: 1.05 oz. (30 g.) / 2.1 oz. (60 g.) in total bar
Calories: 157 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $10.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: The Chocolate Garage, Palo Alto, CA

Today was Day #1 of Chocolate and Belize Theme Week -- an extension of the past few weeks with a focus on chocolate and (other) Central American countries.

The 70% Dark Belize bar from Charm School Chocolate (Reisterstown, MD) was made with just a few ingredients: organic cacao beans, organic cane sugar and organic cocoa butter. The cacao came from Maya Mountain Cacao (MMC) in southern Belize, an organization that sources cacao beans from farmers in the region.

The tasting notes on package read: "reminiscent of plump raisins and chocolate sandwich cookies." I wasn't that excited about this description. Or, I should say I'm not sure this description does the bar justice. But, darn, I could really taste the raisins and chocolate cookies in this smooth dark bar, so it was accurate. I liked the complexity, the fruit/acid (raisins) and the chocolatey elements.

Today's Belize bar was part of a line of dairy free and vegan, single origin chocolate bars from Charm School Chocolate. (Other bars include a very tasty coconut milk chocolate bar.)

Diego's Chocolate - Cinnamon - April 28, 2015

Chocolate of the Day: 

Diego's Chocolate
Canela (Cinnamon) 75% cacao
Good
Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) /1.8 oz. (50.9 g.) in total roll/package
Calories: 150 calories (estimate) for 1/2 roll/package
Cost: $6.00 for 1 roll/package
Purchased from: The Chocolate Garage, Palo Alto, CA


Today was Day #7 of Chocolate and Central America Theme Week, and I've started and ended this week with a rustic, single origin 75% chocolate from Diego's Chocolate (San Pedro La Laguna, Guatemala).

Diego's chocolates are cigar-shaped, hand-crafted rolls that maintain the bright flavors and texture (slightly grainy) of fresh ground ingredients. Today's artisanal chocolate was infused with subtle ground cinnamon flavor.

This authentic chocolate comes from rural Central America, a region with volcanic mountains, lakes and forests where cacao grows. It may lack some of the buttery smooth, conched-for-days mouthfeel of a Swiss-made chocolate bar, but it is a wonderful example of how chocolate confections were first (and still are) created in Central America.

This style of chocolate stretches back for centuries, and pre-dates more expensive, stainless steel industrial machines and infrastructure. And these chocolates are Maya grown and Maya made chocolates that are created "in-country" -- a treat in and of itself.

Diego's - Chocolate with Cardamom - April 22, 2015

Chocolate of the Day: 

Diego's Chocolate
Chocolate with Cardamom
Good - Good +
Weight: .5 oz. (14.1 g.) / 1.8 oz. (50.94 g.) for 1 roll
Calories: 75 calories (estimate) in .5 oz. (14.1 g.) serving
Cost: $6.00 for 1 item/roll
Purchased from: The Chocolate Garage, Palo Alto, CA

Today was Day #1 of Chocolate and Central America Theme Week.

Last month I devoted a theme week to one Central American country: Nicaragua. Today, I'm following that up with week devoted to chocolates from 3 other countries in the region including Guatemala, Panama and Costa Rica. (I have yet to find chocolates from Honduras.)

It's common to see carefully wrapped, chocolate "rolls" with twisted ends in parts of Mexico and Central America. Diego's Chocolate (San Pedro La Laguna, Guatemala) cigar-shaped, chocolate rolls can be sliced into penny-sized servings of rich chocolate goodness.

Rustic in style, and slightly rougher in texture than your average chocolate bar, the flavors of today's fudge-y Chocolate with Cardamom offering remained bold, i.e. the flavors hadn't attenuated with processing. Tiny grains of chocolate, sugar and cardamom danced around in my mouth to create an authentic tasting treat.

Mayan grown and made in-country (tree-to-finished product in Guatemala), Diego's* Chocolate is imported into the U.S. by GlobeWright, LLC, and can be found on Etsy, and in the SF Bay Area at The Chocolate Garage (Palo Alto, CA); or in San Francisco at the Delores Park Cafe, Precita Park Cafe, or Duboce Park Cafe.

*And, yes, in case you were wondering, there really is a Diego. He and his family are continuing a chocolate-making tradition that began thousands of years ago in Latin America (the birthplace of cacao).

Love Bites - Mayan Heat - Feb. 20, 2014

Chocolate(s) of the Day: 

Love Bites Raw Confections

Mayan Heat
Good
Weight: .33 oz. (9.3 g.) (estimate) for 1 piece
Calories: 49 calories (estimate) for 1 piece
Cost: N/A - gift
Purchased from: N/A - gift

Vegan Milk Chocolate
Good +
Weight: .4 oz. (11.32 g.) (estimate) for 1 piece
Calories: 60 calories (estimate) for 1 piece
Cost: N/A - gift
Purchased from: N/A - gift

Today was Day #1 of Chocolate and Chili Theme Week.

The combination of cacao and chili peppers is as old as the hills -- if by "old" you mean thousands of years ago, and if by "hills" you mean the Maya Mountains in Central America.

So, it seemed only right to start this theme week with a piece of dark chocolate bark, dubbed 'Mayan Heat" by Merissa, the creator of Love Bites Raw Confections (Thousand Oaks, CA). Each piece of bark was peppered with warm, colorful specks of cayenne and paprika -- adding interest, but not too much heat.

I also sampled the star-shaped Vegan Milk Chocolate, made with cashews. As claimed, this piece was creamy and wonderful.

Today's two Love Bites Raw Confections were free of gluten, soy, corn and milk, and were sweetened with organic maple sugar. While not a chocolate-maker who starts with whole cacao beans from growers, Merissa is clearly focused on providing consumers with healthy end-products, and sources her ingredients carefully. (The company used cacao products from David Wolfe's Longevity Warehouse to make these raw chocolates.)

Thank you Katy for sending these chocolates from Southern California!

ChocolateBet: November 19, 2008

Chocolate of the Day:

~ 1 serving
Chuao Chocolatier
Hot Chocolate - Spicy Maya (hot chocolate mix)
Very Good; tastes chocolate-y with a slight spicy/peppery aftertaste
Weight: ~ 5 oz. serving/12 oz. (340 g) in total container/tin
Calories: 150 calories (estimate) in 5 oz. serving I had
Cost: $18.50 for entire tin/container
Purchased from: Coupa Cafe, in downtown Palo Alto, CA

Day #2 of hot chocolate week on the blog. There are lots of hot chocolate options out there these days. It may take me more than a week, or 7 days, to sample them all.

I paid more attention to proportions of water and chocolate mix today, with (no surprise) better results. Yesterday's flavor was probably less sweet than it should have been due to slightly more hot water than the directions called for. When it comes to food preparation/cooking, I am the first to admit that I have a hard time following directions. I'm always thinking of a possible improvisation. So, lo siento mucho abuelita de ayer.

ChocolateBet: September 13, 2007

Photo: Green and Black's

Chocolate of the Day:

1/4 bar
Green and Black's
Maya Gold bar
Very Good
Weight: .875 oz. (~25 g.) in 1/4 bar/ 3.5 oz. (100 g.) in total bar
Calories: 140 calories (estimate) for .875 oz. (1/4 bar)
$0 - birthday gift

I enjoyed this birthday gift -- a Maya Gold dark chocolate bar, flavored with orange and spices, from Green and Black's (from the U.K.).

Note: Photo added later, from Green and Black's site.