The Xocolate Bar - Organic, Fair Trade 70% Bear Hug (bar) - Aug. 31, 2023

Chocolate of the Day

The Xocolate Bar
Bear Hug Organic, Fair Trade 70% Dark Chocolate (bar)
Good + - Good ++
Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) / 2 oz. (57 g.) in total bar
Calories: 155 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $14.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: The Phoenix Gift Shop, Big Sur, CA

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

Today's Bear Hug Organic, Fair Trade 70% Dark Chocolate (bar) was from The Xocolate Bar (Berkeley, CA). 

The fruit flavor was supplied by a sleuth* of berry-flavored gummy bears--embedded in 70% dark chocolate. The description read: "a tender gift for someone who needs a bear hug."

Aroma and flavor notes for this bar included: dark chocolate and authentic fruit (red raspberry + ripe blackberry + light purple grape) candy or jam. 

The front side of this bar was sober, serious and smooth dark chocolate. The back side was a wild candy party scene--adorned with an abundant field of tiny white sugar sprinkles. Frolicking in this field were the aforementioned berry-hued gummy bears...And the two sides, happily, co-existed harmoniously.

The organic, fair trade 70% dark chocolate kept the sugar in check, so this wasn't overly sweet (thank you!). 

Ingredients: "fair trade dark chocolate*, (cacao,* sugar,*, sunflower lecithin), gummy bears (tapioca syrup,* sugar,* pectin, grape juice,* citric acid, natural color, natural flavor, vitamins C E & A), sprinkles (sugar, cornstarch, carnauba wax) *organic..."

Allergen-related information: "Vegan; organic" 

*A "sleuth" of bears is a term referring to a group of bears observed together in one place.

Casper's - Fat Boy Chocolate Covered Cinnamon Bear Sundae - April 14, 2019

Chocolate of the Day:

Casper's Ice Cream
Fat Boy - Chocolate Covered Cinnamon Bear Sundae (on a stick)
Good
Weight: 4 fl. oz. (118 mL) (69 g.) / 20 fl. oz. (591 mL) in total package/box of 5 bars
Calories: 210 calories in 1 bar
Cost: $ missing information
Purchased from: missing information

Welcome to Day #17 of Chocolate and Spice Theme Week.

Today's Fat Boy Cinnamon Bear Sundae—a chocolate covered cinnamon ice cream (with cinnamon bear swirl) bar on a stick—was from Casper's Ice Cream (Richmond, UT), a large family-owned business that makes ice cream and frozen treats.

We are nothing if not creative. Americans have found many ways to shove edible items onto a stick. This includes a wide range of tasty frozen dessert items.

Including cinnamon swirls named after gummy bears (think Red Hots* cinnamon candy, only softer) into a "fat" ice cream sundae on a stick bar was clever. (We may not have many bears left in the U.S., but we have herds of gummy bears and other animal-shaped treats.)

*Red Hots are cinnamon-flavored red candies (sometimes called cinnamon imperials) produced by the Ferrara Pan Candy Company (Oakbrood Terrace, IL). Many similar candies are flavored with a substance found in cinnamon bark that gives the candy a slightly hot (spicy) flavor.

ChocolateBet: May 21, 2010

Chocolate(s) of the Day
Wild Berry Products of Alaska

1.) Mt. McKinley - Very Good
1/2 piece
Weight: .7 oz. (19.81 g.)/1.4 oz. (39.62 g.) in 1 whole piece
Calories: 105 calories (estimate)
Cost:
Purchased from: Alaska Wild Berry Products, in downtown Anchorage, Alaska

2.) Chocolate Covered (polar, brown and black) Gummy Bears - Good +
6 small bears (2 polar bears, 2 brown bears, 2 black bears)
Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) (estimate)
Calories: 135 calories (estimate)
Cost:
Purchased from: Alaska Wild Berry Products, in downtown Anchorage, Alaska

3.) Dark Strawberry Rhubarb chocolate - Good + - Very Good
1 piece
Weight: .4 oz. (11.3 g.) (estimate) 1 piece
Calories: 59 calories (estimate)
Cost:
Purchased from: Alaska Wild Berry Products, in downtown Anchorage, Alaska