ChocolateBet: February 22, 2011

Chocolate of the Day:
1 piece
Nacional Chocolates - Chocolate Santander
Single Origin 65% Dark Chocolate Rum Truffle
Good - Good +
Weight: .38 oz. (11 g.) - 1 truffle
Calories: 60 calories
Cost: N/A - sample
Purchased from: N/A - The Chocolate Garage, Palo Alto, CA

Today was Day #2 of Chocolate and Rum/Spirits Theme Week. Yo ho ho and a truffle full of rum -- well, rum flavoring perhaps. The 65% single origin Columbian dark chocolate coating around these rum centers was rich and pleasant. The artificially flavored rum filling in these truffles reminded me of butter rum flavored Lifesavers we used to pilfer as kids from the candy drawer. We used to crunch on these until they stuck to our fillings. (Those did taste good, I have to admit.)

Thank you to the Chocolate Garage for the sample box containing two truffles. Note: if one of these 2 truffles was Aguardiente and one was Rum, I couldn't taste the difference. (Aguardiente loosely translates as "firewater" and in Columbia often refers to anise-flavored spirits.)

ChocolateBet: February 21, 2011

Chocolate(s) of the Day: 
Sweet Earth Chocolates

1.) Rum Raisin Truffle(s) 
2 truffles
Good - Good +
Weight: .8 oz. (22 g.) (estimate) for 2 truffles
Calories: 120 calories (estimate)
Cost: $3.50 (estimate)
Purchased from: Sweet Earth Chocolates, San Luis Obispo, CA

2.) Bananas Foster Truffle
1 truffle
Good +
Weight: .4 oz. (11 g.) (estimate)
Calories: 60 calories (estimate)
Cost: $1.75 (estimate)
Purchased from: Sweet Earth Chocolates, San Luis Obispo, CA

Today I'm kicking off a theme week (Day #1) in honor of chocolate and rum/spirits. These two truffles from Sweet Earth Chocolates were both inspired by dishes flavored with rum. Rum raisin ice cream is an occasional favorite of mine.

Bananas Foster is a flambe dish that was the 1951 creation of Chef Paul at Brennan's restaurant in New Orleans -- according to the Brennan's website. The recipe calls for bananas, butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, banana liqueur, dark rum and vanilla ice cream. Sweet Earth's Bananas Foster truffle does a good job of approximating these flavors in a chocolate coated truffle. The banana flavoring tastes natural.

Rum is typically made from sugar cane, often grown in Caribbean or "warm weather" tropical islands. And, since it's a cold wintery day today, warm tropical islands sound good to me now. Rum does blend nicely with chocolate items under the right conditions. Unfortunately, there are restrictions on the use of alcohol in products that are sold to the public, leading chocolatiers to substitute rum extracts or flavorings in place of the real thing. This may impact the flavor of the finished item. So, I will also feature a few items this week with "real" spirits.

ChocolateBet: February 20, 2011

Chocolate of the Day:
1/2 bar
Patric Chocolate
In-NIB-itable BAR - dark chocolate with nibs
Very Good +
Weight: 1.15 oz. (32.5 g.) / 2.3 oz. (65 g.) total bar
Calories: 169 calories (estimate)
Cost: $8.00 (member price)
Purchased from: The Chocolate Garage, in Palo Alto, CA

Time was that the best chocolate was considered to be made in Europe. Today I say -- Buy American. Patric is putting out some very fine "American Handcrafted Chocolate" bars. Today's In-NIB-itable dark bar (70% Madagascar dark chocolate), was texture-studded with crunchy bits of ground cacao nibs, and had a nicely balanced blend of acid-bitter and nutty-sweet flavors.

I ate this bar today after walking through the towns of Vallejo and Crockett, California (part of a 1,000 mile walk I'm doing around San Francisco Bay). These are very American cities. Why do I say that? Well, any area in the world seems grounded in their particular region when products are being made or manufactured there. Crockett is home to a large C and H sugar plant, and lies at the foot of a large bridge going into Vallejo -- a community that used to have an active shipyard and naval base, and still has a Maritime academy there. The picture at right is near where I stopped to eat this bar.

You get the feeling that people worked with their hands to build things here. Older men get up more stiffly and slowly from lunch counter tables. Fishing and commercial boats still glide by in the Carquinez Strait. Less than one hour's drive from here are the more vibrant cities of Berkeley, Oakland and San Francisco -- filled with many businesses, including many innovative chocolate makers.

I hope folks in Missouri appreciate the bars that Patric is turning out as much as I do. And I hope to continue to enjoy many more fine bars being made in Missouri, California, and other states in the U.S. Most of all I hope we all continue to take pride in making things.

ChocolateBet: February 19, 2011

Chocolate of the Day:
2/5 bar
Republica del Cacao
Single Origin - Galapagos Islands Dark Chocolate with Coffee Nibs (bar)
Very Good +
Weight: 1 oz. (28 g.) / 2.5 oz. (70 g.) total bar
Calories: 142 calories (estimate)
Cost: $6.00 total bar
Purchased from: The Chocolate Garage, in Palo Alto, CA

Today was Day #7 of Chocolate and Single Origin Theme Week. Today's Republica del Cacao dark (75% cacao solids), single origin bar was a sparkling combination of dark chocolate, sugar and coffee nibs (ground fine enough to avoid being gritty, but coarse enough to add nice texture). I don't believe I've ever used the word sparkling to describe a chocolate, but this fits -- in that each flavor had it's turn to shine.

I have been wanting to try a bar with cacao from the Galapagos Islands for quite some time. Republica del Cacao features cacao grown in Ecuador, and by extension the Galapagos to the West. If I can't get to these islands in person this year, I feel happy I can traverse the globe, in my imagination at least, via chocolate.

My chocolate adventures are largely made possible due to places like The Chocolate Garage in Palo Alto. Thank you Sunita -- for continuing to make chocolates available that I haven't tasted yet (even after 1,600+ chocolates). The Chocolate Garage is both an educational venue for people wanting to learn more about "happy" chocolate through tastings and workshops, and also a great source for a chocolate banquet (can there be an edible chocolate atlas?) in the Palo Alto, CA, area.

Thank you also to Judy and friends in San Francisco for tasting assistance and sharing tasting comments.

ChocolateBet: February 18, 2011

Chocolate of the Day:
1 square
Holy Chocolate
Single Origin Hawaiian Milk 38% square
Good +
Weight: .89 oz. (25 g.)
Calories: 134 calories (estimate)
Cost: $8.75 for assortment package of 6 squares
Purchased from: Draegers, in San Mateo, CA


I'm working my way through a pile of Holy Chocolate gold ingots. The company's assortment pack of six individually wrapped squares -- each from different parts of the cocoa-growing world, speaks to the range of meanings associated with the term single origin. For example, today's chocolate is a Single Origin Hawaiian Milk Chocolate (38%) square. Most single origin chocolates are dark chocolates. Does the milk have to come from the same origin as the cacao beans? I don't know the answer to this question.

Today was Day #6 of Chocolate and Single Origin Theme Week.

ChocolateBet: February 17, 2011

Chocolate(s) of the Day:
2 squares/ingots
Holy Chocolate (Mar Toma Enterprise)

1.) Artisan Blend - Midnight 91% Extra Dark Chocolate
Very Good - Very Good +
Weight: "Approx. 1 oz. (25 g.)"/ 6 oz. (168 g.) for total package of 6 squares
Calories: 129 calories (estimate)

2.) Single Origin Columbia 65% Dark Chocolate
Very Good - Very Good +
Weight: .89 oz. (25 g.) / 6 oz. (168 g.) for total package of 6 squares
Calories: 130 calories (estimate)

Cost: $8.75 for a package of 6 squares
Purchased from: Draegers, in San Mateo, CA

Today was Day #5 of Chocolate and Single Origin Theme Week.

Holy Chocolate's Midnight 91% Extra Dark bar was smooth, rich and refreshingly non-sweet. However, this Artisan Blend was not specifically labeled as a single origin chocolate (as were the other five squares in this packaged assortment). And I needed to eat a single origin chocolate today. (These theme weeks I started are annoying at times like this.)

The answer to this problem was simple...eat another chocolate that was single origin. I chose the Single Origin Columbia 65% dark chocolate square (pictured) from this 6-piece package. It was quite sweet -- but most chocolates do taste quite sweet if you eat them right after a 91% blend. What I liked about this gold foil wrapped 65% "ingot": fleeting hints of ripe banana, floral, bubble gum notes. I enjoy an interesting flavor curve with some pleasant surprises like this.

ChocolateBet: February 16, 2011

Chocolate of the Day:
1/4 bar
Madecasse LLC
Single Origin Madagascar - 80% cocoa bar
Good + - Very Good
Weight: .66 oz. (18.75 g.) / 2.64 oz. (75 g.) total bar
Calories: 110 calories
Cost: $7.25 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Draegers, San Mateo, CA

Today was Day #4 of Chocolate and Single Origin Theme Week. Madecasse, based in Brooklyn, New York, specializes in single origin bars from Madagascar. The company provides "cocoa farmers with equipment and training and pay(s) them above fair trade prices." And, bars are made in Madagascar as well.

This particular bar is higher in cocoa content (80%) than other Madecasse bars I'd tasted before. My experience with bars over 80% cacao content: you never know what you'll get. This bar had a rich, dark flavor, but also a slightly bitter or acidic taste that might have come from the roasting process. This flavor seemed to override other flavors that may have been present. I think I prefer a less uniform, and more complex flavor arc with other notes being allowed to make an appearance.

And that, my friends in chocolate, is the most fancy pants language you'll probably hear me use in a chocolate post.

Thank you to Jacinta and Jane for their tasting help.