Chocolove - Filled Passion Fruit Ruby Chocolate 34% (bar) - Mar. 12, 2023

Chocolate of the Day

Chocolove
Filled Passion Fruit Ruby Chocolate 34% Cocoa (bar)
Good + - Good ++
Weight: 1.06 oz. (30 g.) / 3.2 oz. (90 g.) in total bar
Calories: 160 calories in 1/3 bar
Cost: $N/A - gift (Thank you Megan!)
Purchased from: N/A gift from family member 

Welcome to Day #10 of Chocolate and Fruits Theme Week.

Today's Passion Fruit Filled Ruby Chocolate 34% Cocoa (bar) was from Chocolove (Boulder, CO).

Aroma notes for this bar: sweet fruits (passion fruit, red berry lemonade), and berry candy.

The creamy ruby chocolate exterior had red raspberry milk tea and sweet berry white chocolate flavor notes, punctuated by pockets of soft, golden, tart-sweet, passion fruit filling.

Yes, it may a bit too sweet for dark chocolate lovers. But, what was enjoyable was the complementary candy-like blend of ruby (berry) + white (vanilla) chocolate and passion fruit filling. The two flavors and textures worked well together. 

And speaking of sweet, Chocolove has continued their tradition of including a love poem on the inside of its chocolate bar wrappers. This one was from "Astrophil and Stella" by Sir Philip Sidney. The last line includes a reference to chocolate.

Ingredients: Ruby chocolate (sugar, cocoa butter, milk, cocoa liquor, soy lecithin, citric acid, vanilla), white chocolate (sugar, cocoa butter, milk, soy lecithin, vanilla), cane sugar, passion fruit concentrate, passion fruit puree (passion fruit, sugar), organic cream (milk, gellan gum), organic glycerin, tapioca syrup, organic palm fruit oil, invert sugar.

Allergen-related information: "Contains milk, soy. Made in a facility that also processes eggs, peanuts, and tree nuts."

Chocolove - Ruby Chocolate 34% Cocoa (bar) - Jan. 21, 2023

Chocolate of the Day

Chocolove
Ruby Chocolate 34% Cocoa (bar)
Good - Good +
Weight: 1.03 oz. (29 g.) / 3.1 oz. (87 g.) in total bar
Calories: 160 calories (per label) in 1/3 bar
Cost: $4.99 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Michael's, Mountain View, CA

Welcome to Day #9 of Chocolate, Berries and Vanilla Theme Week. (This is the first of two posts for today: one ruby chocolate bar and one dark chocolate raspberry-flavored bar.)

Today's Ruby Chocolate* 34% Cocoa (bar) was from Chocolove (Boulder, CO). 

If I ever am able to assemble enough chocolates for a Chocolate and Poetry Theme Week, I'd have to include bars/confections from Chocolove. Inside every wrapper is printed a poem of some sort. (Today's was the aptly titled: "Ruby" by Thomas Carew.)

Aroma notes for this bar included: faint berry and even fainter vanilla.

This (Milk of Magnesia) pink-colored bar had a relatively thick cocoa butter texture, melt and mouthfeel. (This was eaten in a cool, 66 degrees F. (18.8 degrees C.) room.)

Flavor notes included white chocolate and berry. There was "no berry flavor added" (but it did contain citric acid). The finish notes: berry jam and/or berry (very faintly medicinal) syrup.

Yes, this 34% cacao bar was (as expected) quite sweet; but was reasonably balanced with the tart-sweet berry flavor. The flavor was uniform with relatively low complexity (red berry with vanilla), due primarily to high sugar (and low cocoa solids) content.

For decorative use and fun and/or pink colored confections, I can see where this might be a hit. Also, for those who like white chocolate, berry and vanilla flavors.

Ingredients: Sugar, cocoa butter, milk, cocoa liquor, soy lecithin, citric acid, vanilla. 

Allergy-related information: Contains milk, soy. "Made in a facility that also processes eggs, peanuts, and tree nuts." ("No artificial preservatives; no artificial colors")

*Swiss cocoa processor Barry Callebaut introduced the pink-hued, Ruby Chocolate in 2017.  Skeptics initially questioned whether this new chocolate contained sufficient cocoa solids to warrant the term "chocolate," and wondered if this was closer to white chocolate. The company indicated that certain compounds were extracted from cacao beans grown in Ivory Coast, Ecuador and Brazil to give it its unique rosy shade. 

Charles Chocolates - Cocoa Nib Brittle Bar - Ruby Cacao - Nov. 13, 2019

Chocolate of the Day: 

Charles Chocolates
Cocoa Nib Brittle Bar - Ruby Cacao
Good
Weight: .875 oz. (25 g.) / 3.5 oz. (100 g.) in total bar
Cost: $8.50 for 1 bar (white dot w/ line through it)
Calories: 137.5 calories in 1/4 bar
Purchased from: Chocolate Covered, San Francisco, CA


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

Today's picturesque pink Cocoa Nib Brittle Bar—made with Ruby Cacao—was from Charles Chocolates (San Francisco, CA).

This creamy and sweet ruby chocolate* had a slightly fermented red berry (red raspberry and cherry plum jam) flavor, and had golden veins of faintly smoky-savory** toffee brittle running through it.

*Ruby chocolate (made with special ruby cacao beans) was introduced in 2017 by Barry Callebaut, a Belgian-Swiss chocolate company.

**At least compared to the ruby chocolate, these pieces of sweet toffee brittle seemed less sweet and relatively more savory.

Ingredients: ruby cacao bean (sugar, cocoa butter, whole milk powder, unsweetened chocolate, citric acid, soy lecithin), cane sugar, cacao nibs. 

Chocolate Sneak Peak - CocoTerra - July 14, 2019

Chocolate(s) of the Day: 

CocoTerra
(Chocolate Samples)
Dark - 70% (different origins)
Dark Milk - hint of salt
Ruby* chocolate
White chocolate
Coffee (round)

Have you ever wanted to make your own chocolate, but were discouraged by all the steps involved?

What if you could just pour some cocoa nibs and sugar into one machine and let a magic, personal chocolate-making machine do all the work, including grinding the nibs and sugar into chocolate, and tempering and molding?

Well, this might become a reality sooner than you'd think. I spoke to CocoTerra (Palo Alto, CA) Chief Operating Officer, Karen Alter, recently about a new chocolate making machine they've been developing. (Photo of machine at right from CocoTerra website.)

CocoTerra is not a traditional chocolate maker. A small team of Silicon Valley engineers, designers, and others have come up with a promising design for a countertop machine that will make bean-to-bar chocolate in a few hours.

In the true Silicon Valley inventor spirit, influences on this patent-pending design may have included coffee machines/appliances, multi-function culinary devices, and beekeeping.

Sounds almost too good to be true, right?

I was given two small bags of chocolate samples to try. I did not see the CocoTerra machine, or how these samples were made. However, they were better than expected. The pieces were in different shapes (likely made with different molds).

The different single origin dark chocolate pieces tasted like they might have been Ecuador or Peru or DR grown cacao-based chocolates. The dark milk had a slightly savory (salt) aroma and flavor and a thick texture, as did the white chocolate. The white chocolate also contained vanilla, and was better than most commercial white chocolates.

CocoTerra's take on ruby* chocolate was a pretty pink color, and had cacao fermentation and light red berry notes. It was not overly sweet (thank you).

I was also given a small, jumbo pearl-shaped coffee-flavored "ball" to taste (they're experimenting with different molds, forms and shapes), that was a very pleasing sweet coffee confection.

I asked if this machine could make 100% cacao chocolate (1 or 2 ingredient bars). The answer was yes, although initially they'll be providing supply kits and supplies, and providing customers "recipes" to help ensure correct proportions and optimal results.

No formal launch date (or pricing) have been announced yet, but CocoTerra does have a website, where you can go to check out intriguing details.

Who Might Use a Personal Chocolate Making Machine?

This might be particularly interesting for those who want to run smaller test batches of craft chocolate (to validate a certain origin, or fermentation or roast profile), or for chocolatiers wanting to broaden their offerings to customers.

Last but not least, this may be popular (depending on price point) for home hobby chocolate makers.

Thank you to Karen Alter for providing these chocolate samples and for answering questions about how their machine might work. Look forward to hearing more details about their machine soon.

*Ruby chocolate was introduced in 2017 by Belgian-Swiss chocolate company, Barry Callebaut as a new type of chocolate. An attractive deep pink color, the details of how this "new" chocolate type was created were not revealed by Callebaut.