Ranger Chocolate Co. - Salitral Morropan Peru Dark Chocolate Bar 75% - Aug. 17, 2025

Chocolate of the Day

Ranger Chocolate Co.
Salitral Morropon Peru Dark Chocolate Bar 75% 
Good ++
Weight: 2.25 oz. (64 g.) in total bar
Calories: 348 calories (estimate) in 1 bar
Cost: $16.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Ranger Chocolate, online order

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

Today's Salitral Morropon Peru Dark Chocolate Bar 75% (Batch #4), from Ranger Chocolate Co. (Portland, OR), was made from Salitral Criollo cacao beans from Peru.

This bar was made with cacao from the Morropon Province in the Piura Region of northwestern Peru.

Aroma and flavor notes included: subtle dark chocolate, fruit (red raspberry), very faint cream, stone fruit (peach) and earth/tobacco. 

The subtle, creamy cacao and fruit notes became even more luscious when tasting (vs. just smelling this chocolate). The finish was clean and relatively long--with extremely faint oolong tea, clean mineral/tea notes.

Texture: Smooth, creamy, and well-tempered.

I enjoyed the gently complex and creamy taste and texture. I also appreciated the thoughtfully sourced Peruvian cacao; short list of (just two) ingredients; and continuing to consider fair trade: "Always Fair Trade -- or better"

Maker's Tasting Notes: "peanut, graham cracker, raspberry" ..."During our visit to Peru, farmers...shared numerous varieties of cacao...Salitral, a Criollo varietal, was a clear standout for its bold fruit flavors."

Ingredients: "organic cacao, organic sugar"

Allergen-related information: "Manufactured in a facility that uses gluten, egg, milk, tree nut and sesame ingredients"

 

Ranger Chocolate - Piura Northern Peru Dark Chocolate Bar 74% - Aug. 16, 2025

Chocolate of the Day

Ranger Chocolate Co.
Piura Northern Peru Dark Chocolate Bar 74%
Good ++ 
Weight: 2.25 oz. (64 g.) in total bar
Calories: 349 calories (estimate) in 1 bar
Cost: $16.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Ranger Chocolate, online order

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

Today's Piura Northern Peru Dark Chocolate Bar 74% (Batch #7)--from Ranger Chocolate Co. (Portland, OR)--was made using cacao beans grown in the Alto Piura Valley of the Piura Region in northwest Peru.

Piura cacaos include prized heritage Criollos/Criollo variety blends.

Aroma notes included: dark chocolate with fruit (red fruit, berry), very subtle earth.

Texture: creamy, smooth, velvety. 

Flavor notes (right after being unwrapped) included: dark chocolate with fruit (red berry, citrus); damp soil; medium fruity acidity; a medium bitterness level (for a Criollo cacao); and fleeting very faint smoke, oolong tea and cookie toward the finish.

I enjoyed the relatively bold and complex flavor profile and the very smooth texture. And I appreciated: the short list of two, organic ingredients, and the company's commitment to thoughtful sourcing ("Always Fair Trade -- or better."). 

Maker's Tasting Notes: "cacao pulp, wine, tobacco, black cherry"

Maker story: "This rare white Criollo cacao produces a well balanced chocolate with a smooth finish."

Ingredients: organic cacao, organic sugar

Allergen-related information: "Manufactured in a facility that uses gluten, egg, milk and tree nut ingredients."

 

Maui Ku'ia Estate Chocolate - Dark Chocolate 70% Cacao "Grown in Maui" (bar) - Apr. 3, 2025

Chocolate of the Day

Maui Ku'ia Estate Chocolate
Dark Chocolate 70% Cacao "Grown in Maui" (bar) 
Good ++ - Good +++
Weight: .88 oz. (25 g.) in total bar
Calories: 140 calories in 1 bar
Cost: $10.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Maui Ku'ia Estate Chocolate, online order

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

Today's Dark Chocolate 70% Cacao "Grown in Maui" (bar) was manufactured by Maui Ku'ia Estate Chocolate Inc. (Lahaina, Maui, HI).

This dark bar was made using locally grown cacao. from Maui. It's also a rare example of a "made in country" (from tree to bar in the U.S.) chocolate. Hawaii is a special place in many respects; it's also one of the only U.S. states with the optimal climate and soils to support cacao trees.

Aroma notes included: dark chocolate with sweet green botanical; subtle diffuse tropical fruit (mango) and date), faint floral and barely detectable ripe white wine grapes/cacao pulp.

This 70% chocolate had a rich, balanced and authentic dark chocolate flavor with bright, diffuse tropical fruit (mango, cacao pulp, sweet white wine grapes) notes; and faint, fleeting floral oolong tea and then more fruit in the relatively long finish.

Goldilocks zone achieved. (It was not too strong, bitter or sweet. It was just right.) The chocolate was full of sophisticated, subtle flavors; and it had a pleasing natural fruit sweetness* rather than a sugar-y sweetness (thank you!). 

I really enjoyed the balanced complexity and natural bright fruit sweetness in this Hawaiian dark chocolate--thoughtfully made with just three ingredients.

Maker's tasting notes: "Tropical fruits, delicate cocoa, lingering fruit & wine notes."

Ingredients: Cacao Beans, Sugar, Cocoa Butter

Allergen-related information: (None listed on packaging.) 

*These flavor notes were consistent with the cacao varieties listed. "Cacao varieties: Classic Trinitario, Upper Amazon mix, ancient Criollo, novel hybrids."

Casa Bosques - Pure Dark Chocolate 74% Organic Cacao Criollo Chiapas, Mexico - Mar. 2, 2025

Chocolate of the Day

Casa Bosques
Pure Dark Chocolate 74% Organic Cacao Criollo Chiapas, Mexico (bar)
Good + - Good ++
Weight: 1.06 oz. (30 g.) / 2.12 oz. (60 g.) in total bar
Calories: 146 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $17.99 for 1 bar
Purchased from: DeLaurenti (store), online order 

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

Today's Pure Dark Chocolate 74% Organic Cacao Criollo Chiapas, Mexico (bar) was from Casa Bosques (New York, NY and Mexico City).* 

Aroma notes for this bar included: dark chocolate and faint chili and olive.

Texture: smooth

Flavor notes included: bold dark chocolate with relatively high acidity (tannic acids, bark).

I liked that this 74% cacao ultra-dark bar wasn't too sweet. It may be too strong for some, but it was fun to try something with deep, dark authentic forest and fermentation flavors. I also appreciated that there were no emulsifiers or artificial ingredients. 

Instead the process of chocolate making (from reading information on the Casa Bosques website) is considered a creative endeavor and might include small amounts of ingredients like blue corn, various plants, preserved lemon, etc.

Ingredients: "Organic cacao, organic cane sugar"

Allergen-related information: "Vegan and Organic." "Handcrafted in a facility that also processes peanuts, tree nut, dairy."

*Casa Bosques is a project by Rafael Prieto, founder and creative director of Savvy Studio. Cacao/ingredients are obtained from "small ranches in Mexico." 

Puchero - 75% Indonesia Java Criollo Single Origin (bar) - Nov. 27, 2023

Chocolate of the Day

Puchero 
75% Indonesia Java Criollo Single Origin (bar)
Good ++
Weight: 1.23 oz. (35 g.) / 2.4 oz. (70 g.) in total bar
Calories: 207.5 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $ N/A - gift from a friend
Purchased from: N/A - gift from a friend - Thank you Toni! 

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

Today's Puchero 75% Indonesia Java Criollo Single Origin (bar) was produced by Tostarix S.L. (Vallodolid, Spain). The company offers a variety of small batch, bean-to-bar chocolates.

Aroma notes included: smooth dark chocolate, tropical fruit (ripe, sweet mango), and caramel.

This chocolate had a smooth, almost creamy/milky texture, mouthfeel and flavor.

Flavor notes included: bittersweet chocolate, and sweet fruit (apple, berry, date, mango), faint caramel and very faint gingerbread. What is so special about Criollo cacao varieties? Subtle, sophisticated, complex flavors that also tend to be (depending on the origin and roast) low in acidity and bitterness.*

Puchero maker's notes: "Fermented white cacao from hybrid varieties known as Java Criollo. Complex, creamy and milky. Notes of caramel and tropical fruit."

Ingredients: "cacao beans, organic beet sugar, organic cacao butter."

Allergen-related information: "May contain traces of nuts, milk and gluten"

*Single origin chocolates made with heritage/Criollo cacaos are rare. They represent less than 5% of the fine chocolate market. 

Criollo and/or heritage varieties of cacao beans tend to come from smaller cacao pods, and the trees are often more delicate/prone to diseases, which helps explain why they are found/selected less often for planting in large plantations, where the highest yields and lowest risk of diseases are selected over subtler flavor characteristics. 

Similar trade-offs are made with other heritage/heirloom variety crops, ranging from roses to tomatoes. 

Domori - Cacao Criollo 75% Puertomar - May 13, 2020

Chocolate of the Day:

Domori
Cacao Criollo 75% Puertomar (square)
Good +++ - Very Good
Weight: .166 oz. (4.7 g.) in 1 square
Calories: 25 calories (estimate) in 1 square
Cost: $ missing information
Purchased from: (part of a Chocosphere.com, online order)

Welcome to Day #9 of Chocolate and Venezuela Theme Week.

Today's Cacao Criollo 75% Puertomar chocolate was made by Domori* (None, Turin, Italy), using Criollo cacao grown on a Domori plantation in Venezuela. Fortunately for us, Domori founder Gianluca Franzoni visited Venezuela in 1993 and worked with the Francheschi family (a prominent name in chocolate in Venezuela) to develop and preserve heritage Criollo cacao known for its complex, subtle and wonderful flavors.**

This tiny square of chocolate was packed with complex, subtle and exquisitely balanced flavor. The promise of Criollo cacao fulfilled. It had a sweet rich chocolate aroma and notes of coffee, light toffee-molasses, balanced slightly sweet-tart dried fruit. An appealing touch of bitterness and a light lingering blossom of a finish rounded out this tasting experience. I wanted this tasting experience to go on and on.

*Domori was founded in 1997 by Gianluca Franzoni, and was one of the first companies to focus on fine-flavored and Criollo cacao. In 2006, Domori became part of the Illy SpA Group (Trieste, Italy) that also produces high-end coffee, tea and champagne offerings.

** Criollo cacao represents a small percentage of chocolate sold today. This variety has a reputation for complex, but not overwhelming or bitter, heritage aroma and flavors (fruit, caramel, nuts, cream). However, because the fine-flavored Criollo trees also can be more fragile and prone to disease, approximately 90% of of the world's chocolate is made of the more robust, high-yield Forastero cacao variety (grown widely in West Africa, Brazil and elsewhere), that tends to have a darker, denser, bolder, less complex flavor.

Eclat Chocolate + Fruition Chocolate - 80% Noe Peru (bar) - Apr. 20, 2020

Chocolate of the Day: 

Fruition Chocolate + Eclat Chocolate 

80% Noe Peru (bar)

Good +++

Weight: 1.06 oz. (30 g.) / 2.12 oz. (60 g.) in total bar

Calories: 180 calories in 1/2 bar

Cost: $17.00 for 1 bar

Purchased from: missing information

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

Today's 80% Noe Peru (bar) was a collaboration between Eclat Chocolate (West Chester, PA) and Fruition Chocolate (Shokan, NY). 

This (Batch #1) bar was named for a Peruvian farmer (Noe Vasquez) who produced the Nacional - Criollo variety of cacao used to make this bar. These beans were described as the "perfect cross between Nacional and Criollo varieties" of cacao, yielding a "light, yet sophisticated flavor."

There were just two ingredients: cacao beans and cane sugar; but oh, what flavor and texture. Savor this slowly, or you'll miss the ride.

The aroma and flavor were similar; both with relatively uniform complexity...and creamy, nutty, earthy and muted fruit (cherry) and faint biscuit notes. The texture was creamy. And the ready melt and access to flavor were aided by the relative thinness of the bar.

The subtleties of this well-crafted bar became more apparent with each bite. On the one hand, the bar's flavor didn't seem to change, and left a clean finish that was an extension of the initial flavor range. On the other hand, the full flavor seemed to mysteriously expand and unfold in a way that made it taste better and better. The subtle fruit and balanced sweetness came more to the front and the light earthiness/fermented milk/cream notes seemed to recede. (I am a sucker for balanced layered flavor like this.)

This tasting experience (and perceived unfolding) was due in part to the higher percentage of cocoa solids (80%) in this bar -- and the cocoa itself. Other cacao beans would have tasted much bolder and less nuanced. Less sugar meant the more delicate but rich nuances weren't overwhelmed by sweetness.

Eclat Chocolate's chief chocolatier and pastry chef (Christopher Curtin) brings high product standards, artful packaging and presentation to this collaboration; and Fruition's chocolate maker (Bryan Graham) has mad maker skills. Judging from the results, this was the right combination of talent to bring this fine Peruvian cacao to market.

Akesson's - Madagascar Bejofo Estate 100% Criollo bar - May 8, 2018

Chocolate of the Day:

Akesson's Organic, Ltd.
Madagascar Bejofo Estate 100% Criollo Cocoa bar
Good +++
Weight: 1.06 oz. (30 g.) / 2.12 oz. (60 g.) in total bar
Calories: 182.7 (per label) calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $13.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: The Chocolate Garage, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #7 of 100% Cacao Theme Week.

This bar had a rather heavenly aroma for an ultra-dark bar, with sweet cream, ripe mild fruit and caramel notes. It also had an ultra-creamy texture and melt.

This chocolate had pleasing complex Criollo cacao flavor infused with a slightly bitter edge and a mild creamy aftertaste—that faded quickly and politely for a 100 percent bar.

If you want to sample a rare 100% cacao bar that is more light and fragrant flower than sledgehammer, try this one.

L'Amourette Chocolatier - Criollo Grenada Fine Estate 75% bar - Feb. 21, 2018

Chocolate of the Day: 

L'Amourette Chocolat LLC
Criollo Single Origin Grenada Fine Estate 75% bar
Good++ - Good+++
Weight: 1.16 oz. (33.3 g.) / 3.5 oz. (100 g.) in total bar
Calories: 172 calories in 1/3 bar
Cost: $7.99 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Draeger's, Los Altos, CA

Welcome to Day #7 of Chocolate, Enchanted Islands and Pirates Theme Week.

Today's Gold Limited Edition Criollo Single Origin Grenada Fine Estate 75% bar was made by Andre V and team at L'Amourette Chocolat LLC (San Francisco, CA).

Criollo cacao beans handled properly offer wonderful delicate, complex flavor notes. This 75% cacao Criollo bar had a lighter, more delicate fruit profile than most 75% chocolate bars. Think peach vs. dark berry fruit notes, with a touch of sweet, creamy coffee au lait.

Today's single origin bar contained just two ingredients: Criollo Grenada cocoa beans and organic sugar. And this chocolate was soy free, gluten free and vegan.

Grenada is a small island nation in the Caribbean Sea, about 100 miles north of Venezuela. Centuries ago, this was part of "Pirates of the Caribbean" territory. Pirates often absconded with alcohol and food when raiding other ships.

Domori - 100% Criollo Cacao bar - Jan. 16, 2018

Chocolate of the Day: 

Domori

100% Criollo Cacao bar

Good ++

Weight: .66 oz. (21 g.) / .88 oz. (25 g.) in total bar

Calories: 117 calories in 3/4 bar

Cost: $ N/A - gift from a friend

Purchased from: N/A - gift (Apple store, Cupertino, CA)

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

Just when it crossed my mind that maybe 11 years of chocolate might be enough, surprise! This generous gift from a friend arrived. 

Today's single-ingredient,* 100% Criollo Cacao bar from Domori (None, Italy) was purchased by said friend at an Apple Computer store adjacent to the company's Cupertino headquarters. Disk drives and Domori. Interesting combination.

This bar had a slightly bitter, earthy tobacco aroma. The relatively thin bar allowed access to a flavor profile (similar to the aroma) right away; and the chocolate broke with a had snap (a sign of a well-tempered bar). The melt was rapid and even; and the texture was smooth, almost creamy. 

For such a powerful dark aroma and flavor profile, it was surprisingly mild in terms of bitterness and lacked the astringent pucker one might expect. It was like a ship in heavy seas that you expect might founder but it kept miraculously righting itself.

The flavor was very even and persisted with a similar aftertaste for several seconds, then tailed off gradually. 

Tasting notes printed on the packaging read: "...dried fruit with low bitterness and astringency, and an almost immediate balance." It was all of these, but without some of the more delicate dried, fruit acidity at the beginning that is ofter present with bars made with pure Criollo** cacao. 

*One ingredient: cocoa mass, gluten free

**Criollo, a variety of cacao, is known for its subtle, exquisite, usually balanced flavors. Fruits for this tree tend to be slightly smaller, and it is often more delicate, and less disease resistant than Forestaro and Trinitario varieties.

Guittard - Soleil de Autumn 45% bar - May 26, 2017

Chocolate of the Day: 

Guittard
Soleil d' Automne 45% Cacao Blend No. 30 bar
Good +
Weight: 1.06 oz. (30 g.) / 2.65 oz. (75 g.) in total bar
Calories: 176 calories in 2/5 bar
Cost: $missing information for 1 bar
Purchased from: Piazza's Fine Foods, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #5 of Chocolate and Dark Blend Bars Theme Week.

Today we push the edge of the envelope for what's considered dark chocolate with this Soleil d' Automne 45% Cacao (Blend No. 30) bar from Guittard (Burlingame, CA). Technically, 45% can still be considered dark chocolate, although perhaps "dark milk" might be a better description.

If you like milk chocolate, this dark milk bar (part of a line of Guittard blend bars with cacao % content ranging from 30% to 100%) might be to your liking.

Today's bar had a pleasant milk chocolate aroma with a hint of toffee popcorn. This chocolate managed to be creamy and sweet (without being overwhelmingly so) and had more authentic fine chocolate flavor than many other similar lower percent dark milk bars*.

Tasting notes listed on the packaging read: "Milk chocolate with notes of caramel apple and creme fraiche dairy."

This Guittard bar was made with a blend of Criollo and Forastero varieties of cocoa beans that were grown in West Africa and Indian Ocean regions.

*Many popular, high-volume commercial milk chocolate bars contain less than 15% cocoa solids.

Guittard - L'Harmonie 64% Cacao bar - May 25, 2017

Chocolate of the Day: 

Guittard
L'Harmonie 64% Cacao bar - Blend No. 29
Good ++
Weight: 1.06 oz. (30 g.) / 2.65 oz. (75 g.) in total bar
Calories: 160 calories in 2/5 bar
Cost: $missing information for 1 bar
Purchased from: Piazza's Fine Foods, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #4 of Dark Chocolate Blends Theme Week.

Today's L'Harmonie 64% Cacao bar (Blend No. 29) from Guittard (Burlingame, CA) was an upbeat* dark bar with subtle floral and fruit (apple, banana, apricot, light tropical) and with a faint hint of floral green tea.

Tasting notes printed on the packaging read: "Semisweet chocolate with floral aromatics and tart fruit notes."

The L'Harmonie bar incorporated cacao from Central America, South America and the Caribbean. The varieties of cacao that were selected from these three regions included the three primary members of the cacao holy trinity: Forastero, Trinitario and Criollo beans.

*This dark chocolate bar was lighter, sweeter and more carefree (if dark chocolate can be carefree) than most of this week's ultra-dark bars. Stands to reason, as there was more sugar in this bar than other dark blends sampled so far this week.

Guittard - Clair de Lune 85% bar - May 24, 2017

Chocolate of the Day: 

Guittard
Clair de Lune 85% bar - Blend No. 49
Good + - Good ++
Weight: 1.06 oz. (30 g.) / 2.65 oz. (75 g.) in total bar
Calories: 160 calories in 2/5 bar
Cost: $missing information for 1 bar
Purchased from: Piazza's Fine Foods, Palo Alto, CA


Welcome to Day #3 of Dark Chocolate Blends Theme Week.

Today's bar was the first of several dark chocolate blends created by Guittard (Burlingame, CA). Guittard has been making chocolate in the San Francisco area* since the 1800s.

This Clair de Lune 85% bar (Blend No. 49) was described as "bittersweet chocolate with subtle cherry notes," and was prepared with no added cocoa butter. I also found this to have bittersweet, tart and sour cherry/red fruit or berry notes. For an ultra-dark bar, it was well balanced overall.

While we don't know the exact origins, we know that this Guittard blend contains Forastero, Trinitario and Criollo varieties of (non-GMO) cacao beans that were grown in Central America, South America and the Caribbean.


"The art of chocolate making begins on the farm." This sentence was printed on inside of the wrapper/packaging. So true.

Many steps are involved in making great chocolate, but without the right beans to begin with from the farmer, great chocolate is all but impossible. Blending may help tone down sharp notes or balance "flaws" but even blending techniques have their limits.

Guittard has years of experience arriving at the right flavor profile(s) for wholesale and retail chocolatiers as well as consumers; and this line of blend bars will be interesting to taste.

*Guittard has a distinguished history in the San Francisco Bay Area. The founders of Guittard—and Ghirardelli Chocolate Company (now owned by Lindt and Sprungli)—came from Europe to the Bay Area in the 1800s. Many people were drawn to San Francisco in the mid-1800s after the discovery of gold. Fortunately, company founders at both companies found it more profitable to sell chocolate than to pan for gold themselves. Wise choice. Guittard is also still being managed by descendents of 

Blanxart - Organic Dark 77% Criollo Peru bar - Nov. 22, 2016

Chocolate of the Day: 

Blanxart Chocolate
(BB Chocolate Group, S.A)
Organic Dark Chocolate 77% Criollo Peru bar
Good ++
Weight: 1.1 oz. (31 g.) / 4.4 oz. (125 g.) in total bar
Calories: 177 calories in 1/4 bar
Cost: $ 8.99 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Village Market, San Francisco (Ferry Building), CA

Bienvenidos a (Welcome to) Day #6 of Chocolate and Peru Theme Week.

Today's Organic Dark Chocolate 77% Criollo de Alto Piura Peru bar was a single origin bar made in Spain by Blanxart (Barcelona). Geography classes would be more fun if they were taught with chocolate; but I digress.

Made with white Criollo cacao from plantations in Piura, Peru, this was a bar you could enjoy every day. Not only was it large enough to share with others, but this high percentage chocolate might also be more approachable and easy to appreciate by those who fear 70+ percent chocolate.

Lacking in bitterness or sharpness, this subtle, well-balanced dark chocolate bar was smooth without being boring, and sweet without being cloying. It had sweet, ripe fruit flavor (sweet white grapes/raisins, honey, peaches), a very slight sweet tobacco note, a very fleeting floral note, and a pleasant finish, with a faint honey glow to it.

The tasting notes on the bar's packaging also mentioned "a slight woodsy, smoky flavor with hints of licorice." I didn't experience the latter flavor note, but it speaks to a subtle complexity.

There was a very slight granular texture to this bar—like you might find in chocolate with less conching time.* I also felt added cocoa butter may have muffled the subtle Criollo fruit notes a bit; but overall it was a very enjoyable bar.

*More conching time for chocolate generally means chocolate is ground in a machine to a finer particle size, resulting in smoother, creamier texture and more neutral flavor. Some more volatile flavor elements—both desired and undesired—may also dissipate with additional processing; so this smoothness may come with trade-offs in terms of flavor complexity. 

SOMA - CSB Chama bar - Oct. 8, 2016

Chocolate of the Day: 

SOMA Chocolatemaker
CSB Chama bar
Very Good
Weight: 1.15 oz. (32.5 g.) / 2.29 oz. (65 g.) in total bar
Calories: 173 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $14.00 (estimate) for 1 bar
Purchased from: The Chocolate Garage, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #8 of Chocolate and Venezuela Theme Week.
The Criollo Santa Barbara (CSB) Chama* bar from SOMA Chocolatemaker (Toronto, Canada) was a special 70 percent, single origin, dark chocolate bar.

What made it special? Well, for starters, the bar may provide evidence that plants can sing.

The cacao used to craft this bar was "a result of a recent project to hybridize Porcelana and Ocumare cacao located at Estacion Experimental Chama in the cacao growing area south of Lake Maracaibo in Venezuela." How's that for a mouthful?

The Lake Maracaibo region in NW Venezuela is known for its fine flavored cacao. The area takes on a mythical quality in origin stories for prized Criollo cacao. It intrigued me to read that a part of the lake is known for almost continual lightning flashes in the sky.

Tasting notes for this bar indicated the resulting three-ingredient bar (made from cacao nibs, organic cane sugar and cacao butter) had several Porcelana characteristics. Porcelana is a prized type of Criollo cacao.

The makers' description: "...a round, delicate chocolate, low astringency with a lingering finish."

The bar had a subtle, not unpleasant slightly earthy, green aroma, and broke with a well-tempered snap. The melt and texture were very smooth.

I'm very fond of complex tasting arcs; and this bar had an incredibly musical one. I found myself stopping what I was doing to "listen" as I tasted. Subtle flavors kept unfolding to reveal new facets: a light coffee with cream, subtle but rich berry and fig fruit, earth, chocolate, almost nutty, then a gentle tidal surge back toward fruit.

The CSB Chama bar had a light, clean but lingering finish that continued its gentle song for a good few minutes after the last bite.

After I wrote this review I read others, and I was surprised how many times that musical references showed up. Sometimes good foods awaken other senses. Or, maybe sometimes plants have a way of singing to us if we're willing to stop and listen. Look closely at the shapes in this bar, and you'll see a bird wearing shoes, in and amongst cacao pods and flowers. Maybe the bird knows the answer.

It's worth mentioning that this bar won best in show in the Americas and silver in the world final of the International Chocolate Awards in 2015.

*Chama is also a term for a young girl in Venezuela. 

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.

Francois Pralus - Fortissima 80% bar - Feb. 15, 2013

Chocolate of the Day:

Francois Pralus
Fortissima - 80% cacao bar
Good + - Very Good
Weight: .875 oz. (25 g.) / 3.5 oz. (100 g.) total bar
Calories: 131 calories (estimate) in 1/4 bar
Cost: $12.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: The Chocolate Garage, in Palo Alto, CA

Fortissima (in Italian and French) means strong. It's also a term applied to music. I found that to be a fitting analogy for this Fortissima 80% cacao bar from Francois Pralus (Roanne, France).

Tasting Experience - Music

A tasting experience for a chocolate can be 20 or 30 seconds long -- and might be compared to a short piece of music. The prelude in this case (following the hard snap (a sign of a well tempered bar) when I broke off a piece of bar to taste) was a very mild smell, compared to the strong, unified "chord" of three flavor(s) that dominated throughout this experience. Somewhere in the middle of this chord there was also a pleasant roasted flavor note, then the strong chord resumed. The finish melted away to nothing.

The Melt

And speaking of melting, most Pralus bars have a deliciously smooth mouth feel or texture, similar to that of some other Swiss, German, French, Belgian and other European makers, in part due to cocoa butter, soy lecithin -- and, perhaps most important, longer conch times where particle sizes are ground down to smaller sizes, resulting in a more silky smooth texture. The trade-off with longer conching time can be loss of flavor (off flavors as well as interesting ones).

Criollo, Forastero, Trinitario

This Fortissima 80% bar was made using the beans from three types of cacao pods: Criollo, Forastero, and Trinitario. This classification is, in fact, an oversimplification (a subject of a future post), but if all three were musical notes on a piano, and you played all three notes at the same time -- you'd get a very strong flavor chord, especially if you used a stronger percent of cocoa solids. Not unlike this 80% cacao bar. So, Fortissima it is.

As a handy reference (to origin) on this Pralus "Les Tropiques du Chocolat" bar, there was a map with a dot roughly where Ecuador is located in South America, with the following coordinates: 2 degrees 18' S 76 degrees 38' 0.

Chocolate Math, Cartoon Physics, and a New Daily Format

Today was Day #10 of Chocolate and Ecuador Theme Week. Frequent visitors to this site will note that Chocolate Math does not always correlate with reality. Just as there are principles of Cartoon Physics where humor can alter perceptions of time and space, so it is with Chocolate Math here on Chocolate Banquet. A week may stretch from seven days to ten or eleven days in length. And, when you are enjoying chocolate, this is not such a terrible thing.

Note: Today, I'm changing Post titles to reflect the name of the Chocolate of the Day, rather than preface every post title with "ChocolateBet:" followed by the date. The daily chocolate "bet" continues; however, after more than six years I think I've already conveyed this point.