Theo Chocolate - Toasted Coconut Dark bar - January 17, 2013

Chocolate of the Day:

Theo Chocolate
Toasted Coconut Dark Chocolate bar
Good
Weight: 1 oz. (28 g.) / 3 oz. (84 g.) in 1 bar
Calories: 140 calories in 1/3 bar
Cost: $4.25 for 1 bar
Purchased from: SweetE Organics, Strawberry Village, Mill Valley, CA

Today was Day #3 of Chocolate and Coconut Theme Week. I was delighted to find three different coconut bars at a new shop (SweetE Organic) in Marin County, while on a Bay Walk recently. I'm always happy to see more options for organic, fair trade and gluten-free treats.

Today's chocolate was a Toasted Coconut dark chocolate bar from Theo Chocolate (Seattle, WA). Theo helped pioneer organic, fair trade, bean-to-bar chocolate making in the U.S. and they offer a line of different bars with inclusions (like coconut, or cacao nibs), made with beans from Peru, Ecuador and the Democratic Republic of Congo. And, if you'd like to know more about their story and making chocolate -- and you live in the Seattle area -- you can sign up for Theo Chocolate University* courses.

*Note: Chocolate Universities are popping up all over, a sign of renewed, and increased interest in chocolate making and fine chocolate, over the past decade. Related sites include Chocolate University Online; the Hershey's sponsored  All Chocolate site; and Askinosie Chocolate University, (.org) designed to benefit children near the Askinosie factory.

I liked today's Toasted Coconut, dark (70% cacao) bar, but it had a slightly bitter aftertaste. The small pieces of toasted coconut in the bar were very pleasing (almost sesame seed-like in size, texture and flavor), and the bar was not heavily sweetened (which I generally prefer). Not wanting to add more sweetener (although I contemplated trying a bit of coconut palm sugar), I neutralized the "bitter" taste by eating this chocolate with a tiny pinch of sea salt -- and imagined myself on a sunny tropical white sand beach with salty sea air and coconut trees (instead of sitting in front of a digital hearth (laptop) on a cold winter day). Then, all was well. 

Digression about Taste Buds, Bitter Flavors
The tongue is like a painter's palette -- with our "colors" being our taste receptors for sweet, salty, sour, bitter, umami, etc. The right mixture of colors and textures will create a painting that is pleasing to the eye; but just as preferences for art will vary, so will tastes in food, drink and chocolate.

Most people are sensitive to bitter flavors. Bitter substances such as tannins (in red wine), or hops (in beer), or certain compounds in chocolate, help balance out sweet or fruity flavors, or round out a tasting experience. Others, particularly "super tasters" may not care for bitter flavors in general. Does this help explain why some people don't like dark chocolate? Perhaps. But, I've had 90%+ cacao bars that were surprisingly mellow; so the cacao beans, and how beans are fermented, roasted and turned into chocolate play a role in the final product as well.

What one eats before or with chocolate can also affect the tasting experience. A garlic pasta, or strong cheese, can shift flavors of other foods, as could a wine. In this case, I sampled this bar with only water -- and, later, salt.

Indahphoria - Coconut Nectar bar - January 16, 2013

Chocolate of the Day:

Indahphoria Chocolate
Coconut Nectar bar
Very Good
Weight: .625 oz. (17.5 g.) / 1.25 oz. (35 g.) total bar
Calories: 93 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $N/A - part of a larger package
Purchased from: online

Today was the second day of Chocolate and Coconut Theme Week.

This Coconut Nectar bar from Indahphoria Chocolate (Bend, OR) was vegan, gluten free, soy free and dairy free.

Anyone leery of a bar with so many "withouts?" No need for concern. Made of coconut milk chocolate (65% cacao), this organic and fair trade, smooth and rich dark bar had great flavor overall, with just the right amount of acidity (citrus fruit notes) to balance the sweet (coconut sugar). The coconut flavor was subtle; one side of the bar was sprinkled with coconut shreds; the other side was imprinted with the Indahphoria logo (a ship tethered to either a large kite sail or hot air ballon). I look forward to trying other Indahphoria bars in the future.

Fiorello's - Coconut Almond Chip Gelato - January 15, 2013

Chocolate(s) of the Day:

Fiorello's
Coconut Almond Chip Gelato
Good
Weight: 1/2 cup (115 g.) serving/ 1 Pint (473 mL) container
Calories: 330 calories in 1/2 cup serving
Cost: $7.99 for 1 Pint
Purchased from: Piazza's Fine Foods, Palo Alto, CA

Today marked Day #1 of Chocolate and Coconut Theme Week. While the popularity of the coconut seems to wax and wane in haute cuisine, there seemed to be a bounty of coconut and chocolate items available in bar, truffle and many other forms.

Cool coconut 

Today's first chocolate choice came straight from my freezer -- a scoop of Coconut Almond Chip gelato from Fiorello's (San Rafael, CA).

According to the label, 1/2 cup of this gelato clocked in at 330 calories, probably due to its dense cream base, coconut cream and egg yolks. It was rich enough that I left off the fudge topping, and opted for chopped, roasted, unsalted almonds instead. The chocolate chips/flakes embedded in this gelato added some subtle chocolate flavor that helped balance the cream and coconut.

And to warm things up...

Later in the evening I sampled two Coconut Rum truffles (pictured at right) with a chocolate ganache interior, and a white chocolate and tropical orange exterior, from Laderach's truffle and praline collection. I enjoyed their festive color and crescent shape, as well as just a hint of rum flavor. 

Wonka - Chipperberry Swirl ice cream - January 14, 2013

Chocolate of the Day:


Dreyer's / Nestle
Wonka - Chipperberry Swirl ice cream
Good + - Very Good
Weight: 1/4 cup (43.5 g.) serving/ 14 oz. (414 mL) container
Calories: 105 calories in 1/4 cup
Cost: $3.99 (estimate)
Purchased from: Safeway, in Palo Alto, CA

Today was Day #7 of Chocolate, Seeds and Berries Theme Week.

It was a frosty January day today, but the sun was shining. So it seemed like a good day for some ice cream. Wonka Chipperberry Swirl -- black raspberry and vanilla ice cream with chocolatey chips, from Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream (Oakland, CA) -- to be precise.

Designed to sit, and be read, upside down, this Wonka just-shy-of-a-pint-size-container was covered with snazzy berry colored swirls. The ice cream inside was a more soothing and edible version of this swirl pattern, with authentic tasting black raspberry and vanilla ice cream -- the kind I remember from childhood, peppered with small chocolate flecks.

Topped with fresh berries, and a few sunflower and pumpkin seeds, and I was ready to call this dessert.

The Tea Room - Raspberry Rooibos Dark bar - January 13, 2013

Chocolate of the Day:

The Tea Room
Raspberry Rooibos Dark Chocolate bar
Good
Weight: .36 oz. (10.2 g.) / 1.8 oz. (51 g.) total bar
Calories: 56 calories in 1/5 bar
Cost: $3.29 for 1 bar
Purchased from: The Tea Room

This Raspberry Rooibos organic, dark chocolate 60% cacao bar from The Tea Room (San Leandro, CA), was part of a line of colorfully packaged tea and chocolate bars.  And, the company sells flavored tea, drinking chocolate, and tea-infused chocolate truffles, as well.

The relatively thin (good for accessing flavors) dark bar, had a good snap to it. The bar was made with organic dark chocolate from Europe, and organic red raspberry rooibos tea from South Africa. Rooibos is a shrub (native to South Africa) that is naturally caffeine free and lower in tannic acid than black tea, and contains relatively high levels of flavonoids (beneficial compounds found in plants that are often associated with antioxidant properties). The flavors I detected were more than raspberry -- a mix of flavors, and possibly an extract, that were faintly fruity and tea-like, but hard to pin down.

This bar fit in well with my red raspberry infused brunch: raspberry tea; a gluten-free sesame seed bagel with seedless red raspberry spread; fresh raspberries; and a few sections of this smooth, dark raspberry rooibos bar. And, for more seeds in today's entry, one need to look no further than the chocolate itself -- made from the seeds of the cacao fruit from theobroma cacao trees.

Today was Day #6 of Chocolate, Seeds and Berries Theme Week.

Louks - Dark Chocolate Sesame Snaps - January 12, 2013

Chocolate of the Day:

Loucks
Dark Chocolate Sesame Snaps
Good
Weight: 1.4 oz. (40 g.) in 1 package (3 pieces)
Calories: 206 calories in 1 package
Cost: $N/A - holiday gift
Purchased from: N/A - holiday gift

Today was Day #5 of Chocolate, Seeds and Berries Theme Week.

Made in Poland, and imported by BC Imports (Puyallup, WA), these sweet, chewy sesame thins were frosted with diagonal stripes of dark chocolate, and the pressed bar format was a great way to enjoy a concentrated burst of the almost nut-like flavor of these seeds.

These Dark Chocolate Sesame Snaps made for a great international snack, especially when paired with some fresh, organic, red raspberries, grown near the central coast of California.

Ghirardelli - Cabernet Matinee bar - January 11, 2013

Chocolate of the Day: 

Ghirardelli Chocolate
Cabernet Matinee bar
Good
Weight: .4 oz. (12.6 g.)/ 3.5 oz. (100 g.) total bar
Calories: 60 calories in 1 section/square
Cost: $4.95 for 1 bar
Purchased from: de Young Museum Store, San Francisco, CA

Today was Day #4 of Chocolate, Seeds and Berries Theme Week.

The de Young Museum in San Francisco was promoting an upcoming exhibit featuring the famous painting "The Girl with a Pearl Earring" by Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer. Through an agreement with the Ghirardelli Chocolate Company (San Leandro, CA), the de Young Museum store was selling a specially packaged Ghirardelli Cabernet Matinee dark chocolate bar that was clothed in a limited edition outer wrapper -- with a reproduction of the famous painting.

Part of the Ghirardelli "Intense Dark" series, the Cabernet Matinee bar was infused with "a hint of natural blackberry and cabernet flavor." I did not care for the added flavoring(s). In fairness, both wine and berry flavors are tricky to manufacture and integrate with chocolate. I've found chocolate is often better eaten with, or paired with, whole food or beverage items in the same tasting, but not in the same chocolate.

To test this theory, I paired this bar with a small glass of California Cabernet (red wine), fresh blackberries, and a small tapas plate of almonds, and pumpkin and black sesame seeds. The dark chocolate was smooth, and paired nicely with the Cabernet wine and the fresh blackberries. This pairing also seemed to improve the flavor of this bar.

Ghirardelli also has some recipes and pairings on their site worth a look.

With apologies to a certain musical: Life is a cabernet my friend, life is a cabernet. And a little chocolate doesn't hurt either.