Intrigue Chocolate Co. - Sobolo 60% Cacao (bar) - April 30, 2025

Chocolate of the Day

Intrigue Chocolate Co.
Sobolo 60% Cacao (bar)
Good ++
Weight: 1 oz. (28 g.) in total bar

Calories: 155 calories (estimate) in 1 bar
Cost: $6.00 (estimate) for 1 bar
Purchased from: Intrigue Chocolate, online order

Welcome to Day #6 of Chocolate & Uganda Week; and Day #2 of Chocolate and Warm Spices Theme Week.

Today's Sobolo 60% Cacao (bar) (Batch #000000110824) was made and distributed by Intrigue Chocolate Co. (Seattle, WA).*  

The cacao used to make this bar was from Uganda (Rwenzururu; Semuliki Forest). Harvest year was 2022. And the cacao variety/ies were: "mostly Trinitario and Amelonado."

The cacao was from Eastern Africa; but this bar also contained ingredients with West African, Caribbean and spice island roots.

Aroma and flavor notes included: balanced, slightly woodsy, chocolate-y dark chocolate with bright citrus, floral (hibiscus) and very faint, bright, sweet pineapple, warm spice (ginger) and herbal/peppercorns.

In addition to the expected bright, tart sweet hibiscus and warm spices (ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, black pepper, etc.) there were two more fun, subtle exotic spice flavors: prekese (a member of the pea family, with large woody looking pods, from Ghana that is naturally sweet), and grains of paradise (also from West Africa and that have wonderful peppercorn and spice flavors).

Texture: smooth, with a very faint, fleeting mild trace of astringency (possibly from hibiscus/sorrel/sobolo).

I really enjoyed the thoughtfully created and executed, bright, sweet and tasty bouquet of flavors in this bar. The flavor inclusions conjured up a sweet, exotically-spiced tropical drink on a magical island somewhere that was pleasingly, authentically tart-sweet--without being too tart or too sweet or too spicy. And all these flavors were very complementary with (and were grounded by) the underlying, very slightly earthy/woodsy dark chocolate.

We may not have magical time machines or teleportation devices; but sometimes chocolate can be transporting. This one belongs in the virtual travel category.

Maker's tasting notes: "An Inspired Flavor...There is a staple beverage of West Africa and the Caribbean that has many names: sobolo, zobo drink, bissap, sorrel drink, roselle, wonjo, folere, dabileni, tsobo, agua de Jamaica...All the versions feature hibiscus, with lots of fruit, spices, and ice."

Ingredients:  Roasted cacao nibs, raw cane sugar, cocoa butter, hibiscus, prekese, freeze-dried pineapple, ginger, grains of paradise, dried lemon juice, dried lime juice, cinnamon, nutmeg, black pepper, paprika, clove, peppermint leaf.

Allergen-related information: (No information on package.)

*Note: the company is planning to relocate to Chisholm, MN.   

Hawaiian Wildflower Honey Chocolate Dessert Series - #1 - 80% Dark, Coconut, Sweet Lemon, Mangosteen - Jan. 14, 2024

Chocolate of the Day

Hawaiian Wildflower Honey Chocolate Dessert #1
80% Dark Chocolate, Sweet Lemon, Mangosteen
Good + - Good ++
Weight: 2 oz. (56.6 g.) in total small dessert
Calories: 245 calories (estimate) for 1 dessert
Cost: N/A - many sources
Purchased from: N/A - multiple sources

Welcome to Day #14 of Chocolate and Hawaii Theme Week--into which I'm inserting a series of small (homemade) chocolate desserts floating in Hawaiian Wildflower Honey.*

Today's Hawaii Honey dessert #1: An 80% dark chocolate square with toasted coconut was set in a small pool of Hawaii Honey flavored with sweet lemon (Citrus limetta) rind and mangosteen** fruit (freeze-dried powder).

The Hawaii honey and sweet lemon rind were particularly bright and wonderful flavors, and both complemented the 80% dark chocolate very nicely. The coconut flakes were very subtle, as was the mangosteen powder. (Bits of fresh mangosteen would have been more flavorful, but they're hard to find where I live.)

*In past years I created a series of small, "shot glass" chocolate desserts. Each of them was designed to have memorable, layered flavors and to fit into a (1.5 - 2 oz.) shot glass. 

This week's series highlights small desserts with big flavors, made with Hawaiian Wildflower Honey from Chico Honey (Chico, CA). The company sources honey from their hives in California, Hawaii and Montana. Chocolate and flavor inclusions were layered atop a tiny pool of this delicious Hawaiian honey.

**Mangosteen has been called the "Queen of Fruits." First cultivated in Southeast Asia, this purple hued small fruit with an ivory-colored center tastes like a blend of fruits: lychee, strawberry, peach, mango. Like cacao fruit pulp, it can evoke memories of other tropical fruits while still maintaining its own essence.

Chocolita - Dark and Sweet 80% bar - Nov. 6, 2018

Chocolate of the Day: 

Chocolita
Dark and Sweet 80% bar
Good
Weight: .625 oz. (17.5 g.) / 1.25 oz. (35 g.) in total bar
Calories: 80 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $4.59 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Country Sun Natural Foods, Palo Alto, CA

Bienvenidos a (welcome to) Day #1 of Chocolate and Ecuador Theme Week.

Today's Dark and Sweet 80% raw dark chocolate bar was handcrafted by Sarah Ann Lesslie and the team at Chocolita (Sedona, AZ).

The maker indicates that the stoneground cacao used to make this bar (Arriba Nacional Ecuadorian Fina de Aroma Cacao) is associated with floral and fruity flavor notes, with hints of nutty and malty flavor. The high percentage of cacao (80%) used in this bar allowed some of the above flavors to come through; however, the overall flavor was fairly mild (as is often the case with unroasted/raw cacao).

This Organic, paleo, gluten free and vegan bar was made with fair trade ingredients. The bar was sweetened with coconut sugar and seasoned with a touch of vanilla and sea salt.

And now a second Chocolita bar; however, this one is an alternative take on white chocolate.


Chocolita
Pine Pollen and Lemon (raw white chocolate) bar
Good - Good +
Weight: .625 oz. (17.5 g.) / 1.25 oz. (35 g.) in total bar
Calories: 70 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $4.59 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Country Sun Natural Foods, Palo Alto, CA

This lemon infused "white chocolate" bar was also from Chocolita (Sedona, AZ). This brown sugar-colored bar had a very subtle and harmonious pine accent—and the flavor combination was a refreshing change of pace.

The bar had a slow, relatively smooth melt and, unlike most white chocolate sold, it did not immediately result in a sugar buzz (thank you). It was sweetened with coconut sugar; and it was (and felt) lower on the glycemic index than conventional white chocolate bars made with refined white sugar.

Ingredients: cacao butter, coconut sugar, lucuma, vanilla, lemon essential oil, sea salt, pine pollen

Dagoba - Lemonberry Zest bar - Dec. 12, 2016

Chocolate of the Day: 

Dagoba Organic Chocolate
Lemonberry Zest bar
Good+
Weight: 1 oz. (28 g.) / 2 oz. (56 g.) in total bar
Calories: 135 calories (per label) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $ missing information
Purchased from: missing information

Welcome to Day #5 of Chocolate and Seeds Week.

Today's Lemonberry Zest bar (dark chocolate, lemon essence, blueberries and crystallized ginger) was made by Dagoba Organic Chocolate (Ashland, OR).

The 68% cacao dark chocolate bar (made with Rainforest Alliance Certified Cacao) had refreshing, natural-tasting lemon, berry and ginger flavor notes, and was good eating all by itself.

I also thought this chocolate was great with (chopped up in, or grated on top of) pancakes. I enjoyed this chocolate with both regular and lemon poppy seed pancakes—with a little Tillamook Huckleberry yogurt.

*Dagoba Organic Chocolate is a division of The Hershey Company (Hershey/Derry Township, PA).