Willie's Cacao - Chulucanas Gold Peruvia Dark Chocolate Single 70% Cacao (bar) - Aug. 23, 2025

Chocolate of the Day

Willie's Cacao
Chulucanas Gold Peruvian Dark Chocolate Single 70% Cacao (bar)
Good ++
Weight: 1.76 oz. (50 g.) in total bar
Calories: 280 calories in 1 bar
Cost: $9.99 for 1 bar
Purchased from: WoldWide Chocolate, online order

Welcome to Day #10 of Chocolate & Peru Theme Week. 

Today's Chulucanas Gold Peruvian Dark Chocolate Single 70% Cacao (bar) was from Willie's Cacao Ltd (Uffculme, UK). 

Willie's Cacao specializes in bean-to-bar chocolates that "capture the stunningly individual flavours of the world's great, single estate cacaos."

This 70% chocolate was made from native Criollo cacao beans from the "mountains of the Morropon province in Peru."

Aroma notes included: dark chocolate, faint, fleeting black licorice; molasses/brown sugar (raw cane sugar), fruit (green/white grape, raisin, green fig); very faint fig and oat/malt cookie.

Flavor notes for this smooth chocolate included: smooth dark chocolate with pleasing, slight fig/raisin cookie with tiny, delicious upticks in white wine/green grape juice (high-end, sweet dessert wine), and at least one little fleeting floral note.

This dark chocolate was pretty friendly/approachable with well-balanced, low-moderate fruit acidity and bitterness and low earth notes.

I really liked the subtle bouquet of grape and sweet green/brown sugar--and even floral--notes; the short list of (three) ingredients; and the thoughtful sourcing and execution involved in this single origin Peru bar.

Maker's tasting notes: "Notes of Raisins and Plums"

Ingredients: Dark Chocolate: Cocoa mass, raw cane sugar, cocoa butter

Allergen-related information: (None listed that I could see on label adhered on top of packaging.)

Pralus - Indonesia Criollo 75% (bar) - Dec. 3, 2023

Chocolate of the Day

Pralus 
Indonesia Criollo 75% (bar)
Good +++
Weight: 1.76 oz. (50 g.) / 3.5 oz. (100 g.) in total bar
Calories: 292.5 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $12.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Bar & Cocoa, online order

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

Today's Indonesia Criollo 75% (bar) was made in France by Patisserie Chocolaterie Pralus s.a.s. (Roanne, France).

The Java Criollo cacao variety used to make this chocolate was grown on the Island of Java, in Indonesia. This hybrid cacao is known for nuanced, subtle heritage Criollo flavor(s), blended with the bolder dark chocolate flavors of a Forastero* cacao variety.

Aroma notes included: bold dark chocolate, gentle fruit (sweet, green grapes; faint peach), very faint sweet cracker, malt, and honey; and barely there lemon-green herb (oxalis, wood sorrel, sour grass).

This well-tempered bar broke with a hard snap, and had a smooth texture and melt. As this relatively thick bar melted, there was a subtle unfolding and undulation of flavors that I associated with chocolates made with Criollo cacao(s).

Flavor notes included: rich dark chocolate, honey, subtle fruits, and fudge brownie.

Ingredients: Indonesian cocoa (min. 75%), sugar, cocoa butter, emulsifier: sunflower lecithin.

Allergen-related information: May contain traces of nuts or milk.

*Some would call this blend somewhat counter-intuitive hybrid a "best of both worlds" that combines the subtle prized flavors of a Criollo cacao (originally transported from the Americas to the Philippines and Indonesia--via Spanish ships many years ago), with the bold flavors of a Forastero cacao. Forastero pods are larger (contain cacao beans) and are more disease resistant as well.

 

Domori - 90% Fondente Dark Chocolate Criollo (bar) - Sept. 13, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

Domori 

90% Fondente Dark Chocolate Criollo (bar)

Good + - Good ++

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

Calories: 301.5 calories in 1 bar

Cost: $8.00 (+ summer shipping) for 1 bar

Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order

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

Today's 90% Fondente Dark Chocolate Criollo (bar) was from Domori (None, Italy).

The aroma of this bar softened a bit after the inner, sealed wrapper was opened. Aroma notes (in order of appearance) included: unsweetened dark chocolate, roasted peanut butter with a hint of fruit jam, green (forest vegetation, green stalks, seed, roasted artichoke), dried fruit (prune, banana peel), faint maple syrup, s'more (fire-roasted marshmallow, graham cracker and chocolate treat)...and much later, a trace of molasses.

The first bite yielded a very satisfying, smooth, even, thick nut butter melt and texture.

The ultra-dark 90% chocolate had just a flicker of sweetness and a light balanced bitter-sour taste throughout. (Not quite pink grapefruit level, but a muffled notch below that on the same scale.) Flavor included relatively bold (for Criollo variety cacao beans) nutty, roasted and cocoa notes that lingered into the finish. 

What a difference a day (and 10%) makes. Today's Domori 90% Criollo bar was quite a switch from its sweeter, fruitier 80% Criollo bar sibling (enjoyed and reviewed yesterday, 9/12/2021). These differences were a testament to the variables and choices that exist when making each batch of chocolate. While there were some similar notes between the two chocolates, this 90% bar will appeal more to ultra-dark fans who appreciate bolder and roasted flavors.

Tasting notes: "Exciting notes of dried fruit with extraordinary persistence. Excellent balance."

Ingredients: Cocoa mass, cane sugar. 

Allergen-related information: "May contain traces of nuts, milk and soy." No gluten ingredients

Domori - 80% Fondente Dark Chocolate Criollo (bar) - Sept. 12, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

Domori

80% Fondente Dark Chocolate Criollo (bar)

Good +++

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

Calories: 288.5 calories in 1 bar

Cost: $8.00 (+ summer shipping) for 1 bar

Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order

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

Today's 80% Fondente Dark Chocolate Criollo (bar) was made by Domori (None, Italy). 

Criollo cacao is known for its mild, round flavor, with little or no bitterness or astringency (tannins). The Criollo cacao used to make this bar was grown in Venezuela. 

Christopher Colombus first visited Venezuela in 1498 on his third voyage to the New World. But, it was an Italian navigator the following year who gave the country its present-day name. In 1499, Italian navigator, Amerigo Vespucci (part of the Alonso de Ojeda-led Spanish expedition), is said to have dubbed the land Veneziola (little Venice) after seeing houses on stilts by the shores of Lake Maracaibo (near the Caribbean coast) that reminded Vespucci of Venice, Italy.

More than 500 years later, Italian bean-to-bar maker Domori shares a wonderful heritage variety of Venezuelan cacao with us in the form of beautiful, two-ingredient,* dark chocolate.

The aroma notes (in order of appearance) included: true chocolate (brownie), bold green (fruit, stalks, floral), fruit (dried plum (prune), dried apricot), light warm spice cake, vanilla, molasses, light cherry, Thompson grapes, and very faint plant latex.

The flavor had a lovely, complex chocolate cake flavor with warm stone fruit compote, very faint spice, chocolate pudding and chocolate milk, and an ice cream sundae (cherry and fig chocolate ice cream with nuts) notes that lingered softly into the finish.

This well-balanced and well-executed 80% Criollo bar lacked the bitter, tannic (acidic), sour and/or heavy roasted notes that can cause some people to shy away from bolder, high-cacao percentage chocolates. Though more subtle, this 80% bar had plenty of flavor, while offering the smoothness and natural sweetness of a 65% to 70% cacao bar.

Tasting notes: "...offers notes of dried figs, dates and raisins...the result is a unique bar, with excellent sweetness and roundness."

*Ingredients: Criollo cocoa mass and cane sugar. 

Allergen-related information: "May contain traces of soy, milk, and nuts." No gluten ingredients.

Cacao Crudo - Mandorlato Almondy Nougat Aux Amandes - July 19, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

Cacao Crudo
Mandorlato Almondy Nougat Aux Amandes 
Good ++ 
Weight: 1.76 oz. (50 g.) / 7.06 oz. (200 g.) in total bar
Calories: 319 calories in 1/4 bar 
Cost: $ N/A - free sample
Purchased from: N/A - free sample 

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

Today's vegan, gluten-free Mandorlato Almondy Nougat Aux Amandes was from Cacao Crudo (Palestrina, Roma, Italia).

The 64% bar was made with fine, unroasted Criollo cacao, resulting in a subtle chocolate aroma and flavor with soft, clean, green notes. 

The easy-to-slice, smooth chocolate (large nougat style bar) was full of fresh, crunchy almonds in almost every bite. The generous serving of almonds also may cause slices of this bar to gently fracture when you pick up a slice to eat it. (I ate my slices on (and over) a small plate, so as not to lose any of the goodness.) 

Almond paste was the number one ingredient (36%) and gave this nougat bar an extra "almondy" flavor (faint almond extract note) that complemented--and did not overpower--the mild Criollo cacao flavor. (Even the cacao butter was made with Criollo variety cacao beans.)

Unlike most sugary "nougat" confection bars, this subtle, nutty bar was not too sweet. (Thank you!) This might have been my favorite thing about this bar. The coconut flower sap used to sweeten the bar was understated and left me without the hard sugar buzz I feel with conventional confections.

The chocolate had a very light/gentle, clean finish and was almost without any bitterness or acidity.

Ingredients: "Organic (not roasted) almonds paste (36%), organic (not roasted) almonds, organic not roasted cacao Criollo beans paste, organic concentrated coconut flower sap, organic cacao Criollo butter from not roasted beans.

Allergen-related information: Contains almonds. "May contain hazelnuts and walnuts."

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.

 

Duffy's - Honduras Indio Rojo 72% (bar) - June 19, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

Duffy's
(Red Star Chocolate Ltd)
Honduras Indio Rojo (Mayan Red) 72% (bar)|
Good +
Weight: 1.06 oz. (30 g.) / 2.11 oz. (60 g.) in 1 bar
Calories: 180 calories (per label) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $9.50 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order

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

Today's Duffy's Fine Chocolate Mayan Red (Indio Rojo) 72% bar (made in Lincolnshire, UK) was from Red Star Chocolate Ltd (Cleethorpes, England).

This chocolate had a subtle, yet very complex aroma and flavor and was made with Xoco* (Criollo variety) cacao grown in Honduras.

The aroma notes alone included: aloe, cucumber, cream, avocado and very faint dried fruit (guava, light golden raisin, currant), very faint tart green herb, followed by Boston brown bread (steam-baked with molasses, corn meal, raisins), creamy polenta, and light, fresh, mineral water notes.

The chocolate had a relatively creamy, smooth melt and uniform texture, and a subtle true chocolate flavor, with diffuse, naturally sweet, fruit, very faint tart green herb (lemon balm, oxalis), and very faint vegetable (aloe, cucumber, potato) notes. 

The finish was quite mild with a faint, gentle fruit/floral tea astringency.

Duffy's tasting notes: "Strong, complex, quality dark chocolate with currants, tangy orange and a raisin and coffee aftertaste."

Bar and Cocoa notes: "The maker rarely gets these beans in stock -- only 25 kg some years -- and always looking for more. A complex chocolate that almost crosses the line towards savory."

Ingredients: Criollo cocoa beans, organic sugar, organic cocoa butter and sunflower lecithin.

Allergen-related information: "Soya free, gluten free. Vegan-friendly."

*Early on (in 2011), Duffy's started to work with Xoco Gourmet (based in Honduras). 

Xoxo is an organization that has worked to help preserve rare, fine flavor cacao trees (e.g. via grafting programs) and performs centralized fermentation for cacao farms/farmers in Central America (Honduras, Guatemala, Belize and Nicaragua). Farmers are paid "a premium for their quality." And Zoco markets this high-end cacao to artisan chocolate makers.

Duffy's has continued to buy Honduran cacao directly from Xoco, and works to highlight the variety of subtle, complex flavors inherent in these (Criollo) "Indio Rojo" beans when making batches of their bars. 

Duffy's Chocolate - Nicaragua Juno (Chuno) 70% (bar) - Apr. 4, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

Duffy's Chocolate

Nicaragua Juno (Chuno) 70% (bar)

Good + 

Weight: 1.06 oz. (30 g.) / 2.11 oz. (60 g.) in total bar

Calories: 176 calories in 1/2 bar

Cost: $9.50 for 1 bar

Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order

Buenos Dias and welcome to Day #5 of Chocolate and Nicaragua Theme Week.

Today's Duffy's Chocolate Nicaragua Juno (Chuno) 70% (bar) from Red Star Chocolate Ltd (Cleethorpes, England) was made from bean-to-bar using directly traded Xoco* single origin criollo (cacao variety) cocoa beans.

This 70% dark bar had a uniform, sweet dark chocolate aroma and flavor, with a hint of savory (roasted vegetable, potato, nut) and a sweet, faint fruit tartness (red fruit, berry jam). 

Initially, there was a very mild fruit astringency toward the end of the finish. And a moment after the last bite there was a hint of tart, red cherry. The optimal flavor seemed to arrive after the bar was unwrapped for about 15-20 minutes (after three successive bites/tastes). And as I re-tasted this bar, more complexity and faint notes appeared and disappeared (red raspberry jam), and the very faint, roasted veg/potato chip note diminished a bit. 

Duffy's Chocolate maker's notes reads as follows: "A complex mix of fresh hay, mellow red fruit and a roast chestnut aftertaste."

Ingredients: "Cocoa beans, organic cane sugar, cocoa butter and sunflower lecithin"

Allergen-related information: "soya free, gluten free...Vegan-friendly"

*Directly traded cacao implies that cacao beans were purchased directly from a farmer(s), rather than going through a third-party. The implication/hope is that more money goes directly to small family farms and farmers, most of whom are paid very little. 

Xoco, a private company, owns and operates its own farms in Nicaragua and other Central American countries, and offers high-quality, fine flavor cacao beans to makers. The company works with local farmers (partnership contracts with several hundred "out growers") and offers guidance on desired cultivation techniques and fine cacao flavor traits.

Madre Chocolate - Kona Criollo Limited Edition 70% Dark Chocolate (Kololeka Hawaii) bar - Nov. 28, 2020

Chocolate of the Day

Madre Chocolate
70% Kona Criollo Limited Edition Dark Chocolate (bar) 
Kokoleka Hawai'i*
Good ++ - Good +++
Weight: 1.5 oz. (43 g.) in total bar
Calories: 227 calories (estimate) in 1 bar
Cost: $11.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Madre Chocolate, online order 

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

Today's Limited Edition Kona Criollo 70% Dark Chocolate (bar) was crafted by Madre Chocolate (Honolulu, HI) and is one of a series of Kokoleka Hawai'i* bars made the company.

The aroma of this bar had notes of baked goods (freshly baked bread, arrowroot spice cookies, graham cracker), very mild fruit notes (light peach, goji berry) and a green (almost floral) note I couldn't quite put my finger on (lilies?). 

The chocolate had a creamy melt and mouthfeel. Flavors included sweet nutty (roasted, naturally sweet hazelnuts, almonds), green nutty seeds (Jaguar cacao?**) notes, and a very mildly green, aromatic woodsy/rootsy (parsnip green tea with woodland flower nymphs?) finish. Any bold bitter-sweetness normally associated with conventional dark chocolate was absent.

This bar was crafted from a unique Criollo variety of cacao, yielding a very soft, suave and special tasting experience. Thank you to Nat and all at Madre for offering this bar. 

The Covid-19 virus is permitting only virtual travel (via chocolate) this month. However, if I were in Hawaii, I'd stop by Madre Chocolate and thank them personally for their work with local farmers and for making great chocolate using Hawaiian-grown cacao and inclusions over the years. 

Today's Kona Criollo bar was a largely a result of a relationship between Madre Chocolate and farmer Virginia "Gini" Choobua of Kikao Kula Cacao Farm in Holualoa, south of Kailua-Kona, on the Big Island of Hawaii--an area historically known for its rich, volcanic soil and Kona coffee.

Madre Chocolate tasting notes

Th Madre Chocolate maker's tasting notes read as follows: "We have selected the finest creamy sweet Criollo cacao beans grown to make this limited edition chocolate bar for you to enjoy. Criollo is a variety bred by the Maya and their predecessors for a mild nutty non-bitter flavor that lends this bar overtones of amaretto and hazelnut rarely seen in an unflavored chocolate bar."

Ingredients: Criollo cacao, organic sugar, organic cocoa butter, whole vanilla.

* Kokoleka Hawai'i translates to Hawaiian Chocolate. Kokoleka is the Hawaiian word for chocolate.

**What is Jaguar cacao? When we eat chocolate, we are eating the seeds/beans from Theobroma cacao trees, the rock star of the Theobroma family. Much rarer is the Jaguar cacao tree (Theobroma bicolor--also known as mocambo, balamte, pataxte and white cacao). Theobroma bicolor fruit's large, slightly wrinkled white seeds are also edible, but are much milder than the seeds/beans from Theobroma cacao used to make chocolate.

Cacao Crudo - Dark Organic Cacao Paste, Unroasted Criollo Cacao, 100% (bar) - Nov. 20, 2020

Chocolate of the Day

Cacao Crudo S.r.l.
Dark Organic Chocolate Fondente 100% Peru (bar)
(Cioccolato Fondente Bio Criollo Non Tostato 100% Peru)
Good + - Good ++
Weight: .88 oz. (25 g.) / 1.76 oz. (50 g.) in total bar
Calories: 180 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $ missing information 
Purchased from: Rainbow Grocery, San Francisco, CA

Welcome to Day #13 of Chocolate and Peru Theme Week. 

Today's "Organic Cacao Paste" 100% Peru bar was crafted by Cacao Crudo S.r.l. (Roma (Rome), Italy), using cacao beans grown in Peru.

The chocolate was made using high-quality, un-roasted Criollo cacao (beans). Cacao beans are generally roasted. Roasting can develop certain flavors, but can also lead to a loss of other--often more delicate or volatile--flavors (e.g. green and floral notes). 

Today's 100% Criollo cacao with bright, clean green and faint floral sweetness is a great example of what "stays in" when cacao is not roasted. This bar (and others in the Cacao Crudo line-up) exemplify what raw chocolate can be. 

This unsweetened chocolate had an aroma that evoked fresh, alive, vibrant green (plants, green coconut) with faint floral and herbal notes. It had a creamy melt and smooth texture with the occasional crunchy cacao nib particle.

The flavors included bright green cacao nibs, green coconut with light herbal/spice notes; a medium acidity (faint sour-sweet) in the second half; and a relatively low bitterness for a 100% cacao chocolate--making it potentially a potentially interesting choice for a good swathe of ultra-dark chocolate lovers who might be health conscious as well. (I plan to add pieces of this bar, if there are any leftover, to my homemade nut, seed and fruit trail mix.)

I would recommend doing a side-by-side tasting with Cacao Crudo's 90% cacao bar and today's 100% bar (or as part of a tasting flight of 100% bars). Truthfully, I prefer the company's 90% version a hair more. 

That little bit of added coconut sugar (concentrated coconut flower sap) opened up another flavor facet. Either way, so nice to be sampling chocolates with flavors un-bowed by too much roasting or sugar was fantastic. (Big thank you for that.)

Ingredients: Organic, unroasted cacao beans ("Criollo beans paste")

Cacao Crudo - Dark Organic Chocolate Fondente 90% (bar) - Nov. 19, 2020

Chocolate of the Day

Cacao Crudo S.r.l.
Dark Organic Chocolate Fondente 90% Peru (bar)
(Cioccolato Fondente Bio Criollo Non Tostato 90% Peru)
Good +++
Weight: .88 oz. (25 g.) / 1.76 oz. (50 g.) in total bar
Calories: 159.5 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: N/A - sample 
Purchased from: N/A - sample

Ciao, Hola and Greetings from California. Welcome to Day #12 of Chocolate and Peru Theme Week. 

Today's Dark Organic Chocolate 90% Peru bar was crafted by Cacao Crudo S.r.l. (Roma (Rome), Italy), using cacao beans grown in Peru, and was eventually shipped to California, where I live. Food often involves complex supply chains, and this is certainly true for chocolate.

The chocolate was made using high-quality, un-roasted Criollo cacao (beans). Cacao beans are generally roasted as part of the process of chocolate making. Roasting can develop certain flavors, but can also lead to a loss of other--often more delicate or volatile--flavors (e.g. green and floral notes). Each variety and/or batch of cacao may call for a different roasting profile.

Criollo cacao is prized for its subtle yet complex flavor notes, including: milder stone fruits, cream, light caramel. In skilled hands, a low roast (or in today's case a "no" roast) profile/choice can preserve subtle, heritage Criollo flavors and result in a truly great chocolate.

As mentioned in previous Cacao Crudo chocolate bar reviews, I believe the company has fulfilled the promise of what raw chocolate can be.* This 90% bar had an aroma that evoked fresh, alive, vibrant green (plants, green coconut) with faint floral and herbal notes.

It had a smooth, creamy melt and texture.

The flavors included freshly picked, mildly sweet, green coconut with light herbal notes, and a slightly nutty roundness in the finish. 

This was a very pleasant and accessible ultra dark bar with mild-medium acidity and a balanced, very light bitterness and low astringency. I highly recommend tasting this next to a conventional 90% bar made with roasted cacao. The differences may surprise you.

Ingredients: Organic, unroasted cacao beans ("Criollo beans paste"); organic concentrated coconut flower sap.

*Raw cacao is typically quite a bit higher in minerals (like iron, magnesium and potassium), and in certain enzymes and anti-oxidants, but traditionally has been much milder in flavor. Whereas roasting can help add flavor (that many people like) and also can help minimize/eliminate potentially harmful bacteria. So, some people shied away from earlier attempts at raw chocolate. Thank you Cacao Crudo for showing us out of this perceived dichotomy, with delicious proof that raw chocolate can be wonderful, without sacrifice.

Cacao Crudo - Raw Organic Chocolate Unroasted Criollo Cacao, Hazelnuts 65% (bar) - Sept. 27, 2020

Chocolate of the Day

Cacao Crudo 

Raw Organic Chocolate Unroasted Criollo Cacao, Granella Nocciole (Hazelnuts) 65% (bar)

Good ++ - Good +++

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

Calories: 280 calories (estimated) in 1 bar

Cost: $6.49 (estimate) for 1 bar

Purchased from: Rainbow Grocery, San Francisco, CA

Welcome to Day #6 of Chocolate, Nuts and Something More Theme Week.

Today's Raw Organic 65% Cacao Granella Nocciole (Hazelnut) bar from Cacao Crudo (Italy) was made from fine, non tostado (unroasted) criollo cacao from the Peruvian* Amazon and Italian hazelnuts.

My first impression: unroasted, delicate Criollo cacao with clean, green aroma and flavor, and low bitterness and acidity and a very slight, dry (green tea) astringency. Cacao Crudo bars offer a different way to enjoy chocolate, in the same way that a fine oolong tea is different than a fine black tea. I felt transported to eating chocolate by a pool, surrounded by green bamboo forest.

The texture was chocolatey with slight courseness due to a generous helping of chopped Italian hazelnuts (Tonda Gentile Romana, an Italian hazelnut cultivar, with trees usually found in Central Italy).

I could taste the slightly fibrous, flavorful essence of each unroasted hazelnut, because the entire bar was unencumbered by extra roasting and sugar. Much as I love the smell and flavor of toasted nuts and cacao, conventional chocolate bars often suffer from over-roasted ingredients (with an accompanying loss in subtle flavors and natural textures) and are drowning in sweetness. (This chocolate was sweetened with touch of coconut flower sap.)

The finish had light, lingering green and very faint, clean floral notes and a subtle (tea/tannic) astringency.

Today's chocolate was a welcome change of pace, offering a high-quality, raw chocolate tasting experience. I've described this 65% cacao chocolate bar as "light," but it also felt very satisfying--possibly because unroasted elements retain a higher percentage of their antioxidants or because the coconut sugar (lower on the glycemic index than processed cane sugar) did not spike my blood sugar. 

If you prefer a strong espresso and like to get a buzz from plant alkaloids like caffeine and theobromine, go for a conventional 70% cacao (roasted) bar with plenty of sugar. If you feel like a high-quality alternative, try Cacao Crudo's line of bars.

Ingredients: Organic unroasted Criollo cacao (beans) paste, organic "Tondo Gentile Romana" chopped hazelnuts (18%) criollo cacao, and organic concentrated coconut flower sap.

*Cacao Crudo is a project by Daniele Dell'Orco, a food "anthropologist and researcher" in Italy who wanted to improve on other raw/unroasted cacao offerings. In so doing, he created one of the first raw cacao manufacturing companies in Italy. The cacao used to craft this bar (and others) comes from the Junin Region (mountainous Central Highlands, westernmost area of the Peruvian Amazon), in Satipo Province, in Peru. This cacao is cultivated at high altitudes (600-1,200 meters) by small producers (native Ashanika people). The coconut palm sugar came from a co-op of Indonesian women. The hazelnuts came from the Latium plain area (of west-central Italy). 

Blanxart - Chocolate a la Taza, Criollo (Peru) - Oct. 8, 2015

Chocolate of the Day: 

Blanxart
Chocolate a la Taza - Criollo de Alto Piura - Peru
Good +
Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) / 7 oz. (200 g.) in total package
Calories: 150 calories (estimate) in 1 serving
Cost: $8.95 for 1 package
Purchased from: Chocosphere, online order

Welcome to the last day (Day #7) of Chocolate and Peru Theme Week.

Chocolate a la Taza is a thick, rustic-rich style of Spanish drinking chocolate. Bars can be eaten, grated onto other dishes, or melted into hot chocolate. And as the leaves start to turn scarlet and days get shorter this month, the thought of preparing a cup of rich cinnamon hot chocolate sounds more appealing.

Today's Chocolate a la Taza with Criollo de Alto Piura (from Peru) hailed from Spain—specifically from Blanxart (Barcelona, Spain).

After unwrapping the hefty*, 12-square tablet, I used a sharp knife to very carefully saw through this 15 mm (almost 5/8 of an inch) bar. I'm not saying my method is the best way to obtain a single square or two. You'll end up with tiny piles of shavings as if a large termite had been helping you. However, it got the job done; and you can always use those shavings for something else.

A little goes a long way. I poured a small amount of boiling water over the chocolate square in a tiny espresso cup and stirred with a tiny spoon until the result was a thick, sweet hot chocolate. (Then I poured the warm, velvety viscous chocolate into another tiny cup to get a more polished look for this photo, after all that stirring left chocolate marks on the side of the first cup.)

The square had a lovely chocolate brownie or chocolate cookie aroma and flavor, and the resulting hot chocolate was smooth and rich; I liked it a bit better than other similar a la taza style chocolates I've tried. Because it was hot drinking chocolate and had quite a bit of sugar in it (you can almost feel the crystals melting in your mouth with rustic style chocolate), it was more difficult to tease out the more subtle Criollo flavors of this Peruvian cacao, but the overall pleasing results speaks for itself I think.

*This generous block of chocolate will last me quite awhile as my drinking chocolate cups tend to be quite small. But no worries, I can always grate some and sprinkle atop some gluten-free scones or churros.

The content and images on this post belong to ChocolateBanquet.com.

Amedei - Blanco de Criollo square - Oct. 2, 2015

Chocolate of the Day: 

Amedei
Blanco de Criollo bar
Good +
Weight: .4 oz. (11.32 g.) (estimate) in 1 small square
Calories: 60 calories in 1 square
Cost: $N/A - free small square, came part of a larger order
Purchased from: N/A - from Chocosphere (online order)


Bienvenidos a (Welcome to) Day #1 of Chocolate and Peru Theme Week.

Today's sample size chocolate square came taped to a Chocosphere business card as part of a chocolate order I'd placed with their site last month. These high-end chocolate squares (I also received a Venchi square recently) are a helpful way to sample new chocolates.

The Blanco de Criollo bar was made by Amedei (Pontedera (Pisa) Italy) with Criollo cacao from Peru. This chocolate had some interesting, but very subtle flavors. It had a very subtle, earthy, roasted dark chocolate aroma, some pomegranate-citrus-woodsy fruit acid notes, a very slight graininess or astringency, and a very slight bitter, roasted coffee aftertaste.

The small sample size was not big enough to re-taste* later. Happily, one can still get a lot of information in one or two small bites.

*Re-tasting a chocolate even only 1/2 hour later will often evoke different flavor notes, so I try to re-taste the Chocolate of the Day over the course of a morning. 

The content and images on this post belong to ChocolateBanquet.com.

Domori - Cacao Criollo 70% Guasare Dark Chocolate bar - Oct. 1, 2015

Chocolate of the Day: 

Domori
Cacao Criollo 70% Guasare Dark Chocolate bar
Very Good
Weight: .88 oz. (25 g.) in total bar
Calories: 132 calories (estimate) in 1 bar
Cost: $6.85 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocosphere (online order)


Time to bid adieu to Chocolate and Italy Theme Week with one last interesting bar, made by an Italian bean-to-bar maker who works with some of the best cacao in the world.

The Cacao Criollo 70% Guasare Dark Chocolate bar was from Domori (None, Italy) located outside of Turin (Torino).

Company founder, Gianluca Franzoni, started looking for great cacao in South America in the early 1990s. He founded Domori in 1997 with a mission to preserve the biodiversity of fine flavor Criollo cacao. (To help further this goal, he bought a plantation in Venezuela.) Domori offers a variety of single origin and Criollo bars and has been part of gruppo illy since 2006.

Most of Domori chocolate bars are made with Criollo or Criollo hybrid cacao beans. This Guasare bar was made from the "mother of all Criollo" cacao (beans), from Venezuela.

Yes, origin stories are interesting, but how did this bar made from this intriguing cacao taste?

Reviewers comments I'd read mentioned "...aromas of dried fruits and honey. Unique..." and
"cream, fruit, sweetness..." and "floral notes, toffee, cream..."

I found the flavor to be bolder (less subtle) than I supposed it would be after reading the above reviews. The 70% bar had a mild aroma, but had a uniformly full flavor, starting with red fruit, followed by fudge, nut, sweet cream notes. The second bite had a brief exotic floral flourish to it about halfway through, followed by a slight citrus woodsiness. I'm convinced if I kept eating a bit more of this bar during the day, the flavors would just keep unfolding. However, don't count on being able to do this. This bar, weighed less than 1 oz. (28.3 g.), and disappeared quickly.

Thank you to Domori and others who are helping to keep these strains of Criollo alive and well. It's a pleasure to taste bars like this.

*Guasare is a type of heritage or origin cacao, (re-)discovered near the Guasare River, in the Zulia state of western Venezuela surrounding Lake Maracaibo. 

The content and images on this post belong to ChocolateBanquet.com.

Venchi - Organic Dark Chocolate 70% bar - Sept. 27, 2015

Chocolate of the Day: 

Venchi S.p.A.
Biologico 70% Dark Chocolate bar
Good ++ - Very Good
Weight: 2.46 oz. (70 g.) in total bar
Calories: 400 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $7.08 (sale) for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocosphere (online order)

Today was Day #3 of Chocolate and Italy Theme Week.

I would be remiss if I didn't include at least one Venchi chocolate this week. This company had its start in the 1800s, in the Piedmont region of Italy.

Today's Venchi organic, extra dark chocolate 70% bar was made with Criollo Blanco and nacional Amendolado cacao beans from Ecuador. These beans are valued for their fine flavor and aroma, and the blend used in this 3-ingredient chocolate ("organic Ecuador cocoa mass, organic sugar cane, organic cocoa butter") yielded a wide spectrum of pleasing flavors.

The gluten free Venchi 70% bar was thick, sweet, and very creamy, and full of very subtle flavor: floral fruit, nutty, very light smoke, light earth, green olive/wood. I had to really focus to detect this incredible range of flavor notes; but other than that "effort," it was a very easy bar to eat. No real bitterness* (just a very, very balanced subtle hint in the finish); no astringency off-notes, or funky earthy molds.

Very nice and smooth, yet surprisingly complex if you pay attention.

*Polyphenols and Criollo

Plants containing certain bitter compounds and alkaloids are better able to deter insects and other would-be pests that would eat or damage plants. Interestingly, some of us omnivores (monkeys, squirrels, humans) co-evolved to tolerate, and actually benefit from, small amounts of these compounds, such as polyphenols (plant-based molecules that contain anti-oxidants). And, conveniently, monkeys, squirrels and humans helped scatter seeds to other parts of forests, benefiting plants.

Bitter and astringent flavors are present in plant-based foods and beverages such as cacao, tea, wine, berries, nuts, etc. Polyphenols, flavanol polymers, and/or tannins taste bitter or cause a sense of puckery dryness in one's mouth.

Criollo cacao beans are generally lower in polyphenols than, say, Trinitario cacao beans. As a result, chocolate made from Criollo beans tends to be less bitter and/or astringent. And, with less bitterness, subtler floral and fruit flavors can be easier to detect as well.

Castronovo Chocolate - Dark 72% Sierra Nevada Colombia bar - Sept. 19, 2015

Source: Colombia-PR.com

Chocolate of the Day: 

Castronovo Chocolate
Rare Cacao Collection - Sierra Nevada Colombia
Dark Chocolate 72% Criollo and Trinitario Cacao bar
Good +
Weight: .73 oz. (20.8 g.) / 2.2 oz. (62.4 g.) in total bar
Calories: 109 calories in 1/3 bar
Cost: $12.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: The Chocolate Garage, Palo Alto, CA

Bienvenidos a (Welcome to) Day #1 of Chocolate and Colombia Theme Week.

Colombia, located in the far north of South America, is in the heart of cacao-growing territory, with neighboring countries such as Venezuela to the east, Ecuador to the southwest, Peru to the south, and Brazil to the southeast. Colombia also links South America to Central America, with a land bridge to Panama to the north.

Today's Dark Chocolate 72% cacao bar was made with Criollo* and Trinitario* cacao grown in the Sierra Nevada region of Colombia. Beans were harvested and shipped to the U.S. And the bar was hand-crafted, from bean-to-bar, by Castronovo Chocolate in Stuart, Florida.

Like many single origin bars (and chocolate makers), this one comes with its own origin story.

The beans come from a "rare cacao that grows along the slopes of Colombia's Sierra Nevada coastal mountain range. The cacao is a mix of cultivated and wild-grown, harvested by settlers and the Arhuaco indigenous people."

The chief Castronovo chocolate maker is company founder Denise Castronovo who has a background in sustainability, and geographic mapping of tree canopy areas in the rainforests.)

Today's 72% dark Colombia bar had rich flavors -- roasted coffee and mildly acidic fruit, with an earthy finish.

*Criollo beans are associated with heirloom or heritage cacao with "fine flavor;" and trees with Criollo cacao tend to bear smaller pods (fruit) with interesting, sometimes more delicate or nuanced flavors. Trinitario cacao is slightly more robust in terms of flavor and constitution. As with all cacao types, a wide variety of different flavors may be either coaxed from (or lost) with a given batch of cacao beans depending on the condition of the beans and the skills of a chocolate maker. 

The content and images on this post belong to ChocolateBanquet.com. The source of the map image of Colombia was from Colombia-PR.com.

Lillie Belle Farms - The Wild Thing Bolivia bar - Sept. 13, 2015

Chocolate of the Day:

Lillie Belle Farms
The Wild Thing Bolivia bar
Good++ - Very Good
Weight: 2.5 oz. (70 g.) in total bar
Calories: 375 calories (estimate) in 1 bar
Cost: $8.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Lillie Belle Farms, Central Point, OR

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

There were several wild things about The Wild Thing 68% Bolivia bar artfully crafted by Jeff Sheperd at Lillie Belle Farms (Central Point, OR).

First, it must have been an honor to work with this special* batch of wild, Criollo cacao harvested from the rainforests of Bolivia.

Second, great bars made from Bolivian cacao sound wildly contradictory when I try to describe them. Bold or robust, but smooth. Acidic, but not. Earthy, but not "dirt" bars. Vexingly subtle flavors that appear halfway through that (if not squashed in the making process) can be difficult to identify.

For example, today's thick, 68% dark chocolate bar had a rich, cocoa, mild earthy aroma. And behind the robustness and mild/balanced acidity were some remarkable and fleeting subtler flavors that I couldn't quite identify. (And the wild thing was I ate the whole darn bar trying to figure them out.)

This was a thick bar. A case can be made for thin (quick access to flavors) or thick (patience yields a slower reveal of flavors). Thickness gave this bar a slow, creamy melt and did seem to reveal flavors more slowly.

Part of the wild thing about Criollo (fine flavor, heritage) cacao beans is that they are subtle and yet full of interesting flavor. However, they can be more delicate, more disease prone when subject to denser, human-cultivated planting areas, and the trees often bear smaller pods (fruit). I hope these great beans are kept alive and unadulterated as long as is possible, so we don't have to say, the wildest thing of all is that these heritage strains still exist at all.

*Note: Unfortunately, The Wild Thing bar may no longer be available; it was not listed on the Lillie Belle Farms website when I wrote this review.

The content and images on this post belong to ChocolateBanquet.com.

ChocolateBet: January 1, 2010

Chocolate of the Day:

1/8 bar
Patisserie Chocolaterie Pralus s.a.s.
Le 100% Criollo
Very Good
Weight: .437 oz. (12.5 g.)/3.5 oz. (100 g.) total bar
Calories: 63 calories (estimate)
Cost: $8.99 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Bi-Rite Market, in San Francisco, CA

Why not start 2010 with a full commitment to cacao? This 100% cacao bar, known simply and factually as "Le 100%," does not waste space on any added sugar or other sweeteners, milk products or fancy flavorings or fillers. Here you simply get to taste what Criollo cacao beans are all about. A little bit of olive and earth, and a slightly acidic taste. Or, as my sister said about a preview taste during Christmas dinner last week: "It tastes like dirt." Yes, but in a good way.