Little Bird Chocolates - Fire Bites - Sept. 1, 2016

Chocolate of the Day:

Little Bird Curious Confections
(Little Bird Chocolates)
Dark Chocolate Fire Bites
Good
Weight: .3 oz. (8.5 g.) (estimate) in 1 small piece
Calories: 42 calories (estimate) in 1 small piece
Cost: N/A - samples
Purchased from: N/A - samples

Welcome to Day #25 of Chocolate, Fruit and Botanicals Month. Peppers are a fruit too.

Today's sample size Dark Chocolate Fire Bite from Little Bird Curious Confections (Plainview, NY) contained hot jalapeno pepper pieces.

Little Bird founders Corey and Sara Meyer know a thing or two about hot peppers. Their products regularly attain breath-takingly high scores on the Scoville Scale (designed to measure spicy hot foods).

This was a fun chocolate to try. The heat from the first small bite of this Fire Bite was almost tolerable, but the whole piece was a little overwhelming.

The company offers Dark and Milk Chocolate versions of these bites, as well as candied jalapeno pepper products without chocolate.

Charm School Chocolate - 70% Belize bar with Jalapeno - May 5, 2015

Chocolate of the Day

Charm School Chocolate
70% Dark Belize with Jalapeno, Nibs and Salt bar
Good
Weight: 1.05 oz. (30 g.) / 2.1 oz. (60 g.) in 1 bar
Calories: 158 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $11.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: The Chocolate Garage, Palo Alto, CA

Today was Day #7 of Chocolate and Belize Theme Week.

This 70% Dark Belize bar from Charm School Chocolate (Baltimore, MD) had a subtle dark chocolate aroma and initial flavor. Then the jalapeno pepper after-burn kicked in; but this spicy sizzle left no lasting damage.


The 70% Dark Belize bar was crafted from Maya Mountain Cacao* organic cacao; organic cane sugar, cacao butter and jalapeno pepper. A pinch of French sea salt helped balance the bitter, sweet and spicy flavors in this chocolate.

A light sprinkling of cacao nibs (pieces of cacao bean) across the back of the bar added an authentic, unsweetened cacao bean flavor and soft crunchy texture.

This Charm School Chocolate bar was certified vegan and also soy free. In keeping with the goal of creating vegan chocolates, the company also offers some very good coconut milk chocolate bars,  made with Belize cacao as well. (Some of these bars were reviewed earlier this week.)

*Maya Mountain Cacao sources cacao from farmers in Southern Belize for premium chocolate makers. 

Fruition Chocolate - Jalapeno Corn Nuts - November 13, 2012

Chocolate of the Day: 

Fruition Chocolate
Dark Chocolate Coated Jalapeno Dusted Corn Nuts
Good + - Very Good
Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) / 4 oz. (113 g.) total package
Calories: 138 calories (estimate) for 1 oz. (28.3 g.) serving
Cost: $15.00 for 1 package
Purchased from: The Chocolate Garage, Palo Alto, CA

Today was Day #2 of Chocolate and Peru Theme Week. Toasted corn, peppers, chocolate...I can imagine eating all these foods in Peru, or a local Peruvian restaurant. How wonderful that they all came together in the form of today's Dark Chocolate Coated Jalapeno Dusted Corn Nuts from Fruition Chocolate (Shokan, NY).

Similar in style and execution to Fruition's dark chocolate coated orange scented cranberries (featured yesterday), the 66% Peruvian chocolate did not dominate, but rather enhanced the core ingredients and well balanced flavors. Slightly savory, salty and spicy, these hit the spot. In an all-chocolate dinner (yes, these dinners do exist), these corn nuts would be a nice appetizer, tapas plate, or side dish.

For many centuries, cacao, corn and peppers have evolved together in Latin/South American countries that spanned lowland jungles and coastal regions to the foothills of the Andes mountains. All this, long before chocolate was being made in Europe. These foods were commonly found together in hot and cold thick beverage form originally. Peruvians have long enjoyed canchas (large kernels of toasted maiz (corn)), and likely some form of popcorn. So, today's snack seemed like a natural fusion of "New World" ingredients, now made by Fruition Chocolate in small batches in the Catskill Mountains of New York, that were shipped out to California.

www.worldatlas.com

Someday I will do a theme week on chocolate and transportation. Chocsimiles (chocolate facsimiles) of trucks, ships and trains are but a few possibilities for this week. But, in the meantime, I am focused on Peruvian chocolate, and the coat of arms (shown at right) in the center of the Peruvian state flag. The horn of plenty (golden shape under the llama and chichona tree), dovetails with my feeling that life is filled with natural beauty (not to mention chocolate). May it ever be so.

ChocolateBet: October 18, 2007

Chocolate of the Day:

1/2 bar
Redstone's
Jalapeno Bar (with Peanuts)
Very Good
Weight: 1.5 oz. / 3 oz. total bar
Calories: 220 for 1.5 oz. serving (1/2 bar)
Cost: $4.75
Purchased from: The Texas Store ("Everything in Texas is Bigger"); Austin, TX

This Redstone's Jalapeno milk chocolate bar with salted peanuts was very good. The milk chocolate was good; the salted peanuts added some crunchy texture and helped balance sweet and savory flavors; and the jalapeno pepper gave the bar a bit of a zing.

I'm still in Texas on business. In between meetings and marathon email bouts, I'm eating chocolate (brought from home). I have found some local (Texas) fare. For example, I stopped at Rudy's Barbeque in San Antonio, TX, before driving back to the hotel. The day was sunny and warm, and perfect for eating BBQ outside on a wooden table and bench. Soaked up as many photons as possible.

I happened to read an article in the local paper when I was in the hotel waiting for my computer to boot up - about chocolate and pets. This got me thinking...I need to research this whole topic of chocolate's toxicity as it applies to some of our furry and feathered friends. Stories seem to vary in terms of how toxic chocolate is, in part because it depends on the size/weight of the dog, and the type (cacao content) of the chocolate.

Today's Chocolate-Related News: by BJ Darnell: Chocolate can kill...
Catoosa County News - Ringgold, GA, USA

Halloween is just days away, and you need to think now about the safety precautions you are going to put into place to keep your pet, as well as your children, safe. Rules are the best for everyone when we have people out there who delight in the misfortune of others.

All candy is not created equal, but whether it is artificial or the real thing, chocolate can and will kill your pet. I have people all the time tell me that they give their pets chocolate and it has not hurt them.

Sorry folks! You must have been living right, because you are going to do that once too often and suffer the consequences of your actions.

Dogs especially love chocolate; the more the merrier, if you would believe them. The majority of the time, you are just too late realizing how sick your pet really is and do not make it to the veterinarian in time.

I personally do not think you should even buy treats or chewies that taste like chocolate because it will just cause a drive in your animal to acquire it by whatever means it can.

I have heard stories of animals climbing onto chairs to get to whatever is on the table they smell. Dog need more help, ordinarily, than cats, who can, flatfooted, make the top of the table and the counter in one bound. Remember, candy dishes should have tops and be placed where small children and pets can not have free access to them.