Preview: Elena Chocolate, Valentines Day Heart

Preview Profile: Elena Chocolate
February 14, 2013

I returned yesterday from a trip to Hawaii, the only U.S. state where cacao fruit can really be grown. I was in Kona, Hawaii, located on the west coast of the largest and southernmost island that comprises the state. And, at 18 degrees Latitude North, the Big Island is perhaps the best island for growing cacao, the raw material for the chocolate that we all love.

So, yes, I was on the hunt for cacao fruit, and island grown and made chocolates; but I also enjoyed discovering a few exotic fruits that might be good combined with chocolate. Vi(e) fruit truffles anyone?

I was fortunate to be able to visit the award-winning Green Gecko Coffee Farm in the Kona area. The owners of Green Gecko, Mike Katz and Lawton Allenby, had designed a veritable tropical paradise on a few acres, with coffee, a variety of fruit trees, flowers -- and even a few recently planted cacao trees. I also visited a few different Farmers Markets with them. These outdoor markets were a great way to sample local produce, fruits, macadamia nuts, and other items.

At the Saturday morning Keauhou Farmers Market, I met an evangelist for the Lulo fruit; and Vheissu and Carolyn Keffer, of Kona Origins, a company I will write about next.

However, to celebrate today, Valentines Day, I'd like to give a shout-out to Elena Garcia at Elena Chocolate.

Her Raspberry Liliko'i (passion fruit) heart-shaped chocolates were the perfect chocolate for Valentines Day this week. Elena expounded on her love for both different grades of chocolate and fresh flavor additions -- a combination of skills and interests not always found with chocolatiers -- who may just want to stick with buying one brand of base chocolate, that is easiest to work with.

Elena was more aware of pairing certain types of chocolates with various ingredients. Hats off to Elena, an infectiously creative spirit and artist. The Raspberry Lilikoi chocolate was delicious.

Happy Valentines Day to all!

Dick Taylor - 70% Ecuador bar - February 14, 2013

Chocolate of the Day:

Dick Taylor Chocolate
70% Ecuador bar
Good + - Very Good
Weight: 1 oz. (28 g.) / 2 oz. (56 g.) total bar
Calories: 148 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $9.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: The Chocolate Garage, Palo Alto, CA

After eating Pacari Chocolate bars from Ecuador this past week, it was fun to get a different, finished, take on cacao beans from the same country -- this time from Dick Taylor Chocolate (Arcata, CA), a Northern California chocolate maker.

This bar was made from organic cacao and organic cane sugar by these small batch craft chocolate makers in Humboldt County (not far from Humboldt Bay where boats are built). And the makers statement describes how they "delicately roast, crack, winnow, stone refine, and age our chocolate in our factory..." The complete bean-to-bar process took approximately one month.

In contrast to the Pacari bars, today's 70% Ecuador bar was richer, slightly more bitter and acidic, a bit earthier -- and with no up-front floral notes that I could detect. Although there was one pleasant fleeting hit of olive at the beginning of one bite. Later after lunch I re-sampled this bar; it was consistent with what I recalled tasting in the morning, but I picked up one tiny little floral chocolatey hint.

Dick Taylor Chocolate is an amalgam of the talents of Adam Dick and Dustin Taylor -- who also have a background in handcrafted boat building; thus the shipwright-related craft illustration on the packaging. The bar was also imprinted with a beautiful patterned illustration, that spoke to the owners sense of thoughtful design.

Today was Day #9 of Chocolate and Ecuador Theme Week.

Pacari Chocolate - Esmeraldas 60% bar - February 13, 2013

Chocolate of the Day:

Pacari Chocolate
Esmeraldas - 60% Cacao - dark chocolate bar
Good + - Very Good
Weight: .88 oz. (25 g.) / 1.76 oz. (50 g.) total bar
Calories: 131 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $6.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: The Chocolate Garage, Palo Alto, CA

Today's single region Esmaraldas 60% cacao bar from Pacari Chocolate (Ecuador) was rich, but very smooth, with a very slight floral note at the beginning.

I've featured several chocolates from Pacari this week. All have had a similar flavor profile -- not too harsh or acidic, smooth with a fairly rich chocolatey taste. I'm tempted to ascribe these flavors to Ecuadorian origins. However, I'll continue to look at other makers who are using beans from Ecuador, to see how these different makers ferment, roast, conch and temper (cacao from the same region) --resulting in a range of flavor differences.

Pacari is a fairly large "tree-to-bar" chocolate company in Ecuador, that works with as many as 2,500 farm families, over approximately 3,000 hectares of land. Having a slightly larger bean base to work with, may make it easier to blend and balance flavor profiles than a smaller batch maker in the U.S. or elsewhere out of country.

Today's single region bar was made with beans from Esmeraldas -- a province in northern Ecuador (see map), northwest of the capital city of Quito.

In addition to supplying organic (and some raw) chocolate bars, the company's packaging mentions fair practices/efforts to support farmers, and to preserve biodiversity of the Arriba Nacional (general type of cacao) forest.

Today was Day #8 of Chocolate and Ecuador Theme Week.

Pacari Chocolate - Dark chocolate covered Golden Berries - February 12, 2013

Chocolate(s) of the Day:

Pacari Chocolate
Dark chocolate covered Golden Berries
(Trozos de Uvilla cubiertos con chocolate)
Good + - Very Good
Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) / 2 oz. (57 g.) total package
Calories: 140 calories (estimate) in 1/2 package
Cost: $3.85 for 1 package/small box
Purchased from: Abundant Life, Hilo, Hawaii

Today I took a break from dark chocolate bars from Ecuador, to sample chocolate covered golden berries from Pacari Chocolate (Ecuador). What are golden berries? Listed in Spanish as Trozos de Uvilla, perhaps they are similar to golden mulberries. I'll look forward to researching this further*, as there are many wonderful golden colored berries that grow in tropical climates.

These dried berries were tasty, a bit tart, and balanced very nicely with the Pacari dark chocolate soy-free (a bit of sunflower lecithin was used instead) couverature -- made from tree-to-bar in Ecuador.

*Postscript: It's more likely that these berries are similar to Poha berries (Hawaii), or Cape Gooseberries (South Africa) -- little golden orbs that resemble tiny, sweet, yellow tomatoes or tomatillos.

Note: Due to travel this week, posts and photos will be delayed.

Pacari Chocolate - Raw 100% and 70% bars - February 11, 2013

Chocolate(s) of the Day:

Pacari Chocolate
1.) Raw 100% bar
Very Good
Weight: .35 oz. (10 g.) in 1/5 bar/ 1.76 oz. (50 g.) total bar
Calories: 53 calories for 1/5 bar
Cost: $6.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: The Chocolate Garage, Palo Alto, CA

2.) Raw 70% bar
Good +
Weight: .35 oz. (10 g.) in 1/5 bar / 1.76 oz. (50 g.) total bar
Calories: 53 calories (estimate) for 1/5 bar
Cost: $6.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: The Chocolate Garage, Palo Alto, CA

What is raw chocolate? Most definitions involve minimizing heating the chocolate during roasting and conching (typically to a range below 112 - 120 degrees Farenheit) in order to preserve antioxidants and nutritional value. The challenge has been to create a finished bar or product that doesn't taste any different than a fine bar that has been traditionally processed.

I'm happy to report that today's raw bars from Pacari Chocolate (Ecuador) were nicely tempered, with a perfect snap, flavorful, smooth and rich. Nothing about them yanked me out of the tasting experience in taste or texture that said "raw." The 100% cacao bar had a nice floral note to begin with and followed up with a sustained robust current of rich, slight bitter flavor.

We tasted the Raw 70% bar second. The added sugar masked a bit of the floral note at the beginning, created a bright spot in the middle, and mimimized the bitter flavor. When we re-tasted the Raw 100% bar after this one, some of the floral note was also gone, and it tasted a bit more bitter/sour than it had initially.

While it was interesting to compare these two raw bars from the same maker (and it's not unusual to re-taste a bar at the end of a chocolate tasting to find that flavors shifted), based on this experience, I would advise eating the 100% bar separately to enjoy the unique, unadulterated flavors of pure cacao.

Thank you to Lawton for tasting input.

Today was Day #6 of Chocolate and Ecuador Theme Week.

Note: Due to travel this week, posts and photos will be delayed.

Pacari Chocolate - Manabi 65% Single Origin bar - February 10, 2013

Chocolate of the Day:

Pacari Chocolate
Manabi 65% Single Origin bar
Good - Good +
Weight: .35 oz. (10 g.) / 1.76 oz. (50 g.) total bar
Calories: 53 calories (estimate) for 1/5 bar
Cost: $6.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: The Chocolate Garage, Palo Alto, CA

Pacari Chocolate's line of organic, single origin, and raw bars from Ecuador provides one of the best samplings available (short of visiting South America) of cacao flavors from this country that lies in the heart of the cacao growing zone.

Today's single origin, 65% cacao dark chocolate bar was made with beans from the Manabi region. (Yesterday's bar was from Los Rios.) There was a light fruit plum note at the beginning, a relatively pleasant mouth feel and light finish. My only quibble: a very slight hint of white powder (more in flavor than texture).

Today was Day #5 of Chocolate and Ecuador Theme Week.

Pacari Chocolate - Los Rios 72% cacao bar - February 9, 2013

Chocolate of the Day:

Pacari Chocolate
Los Rios - 72% cacao bar
Good +
Weight: .5 oz. (14.1 g.) / 1.76 oz. (50 g.) total bar
Calories: 74 calories (estimate) in 1/2 oz. (14.1 g.) serving
Cost: $6.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: The Chocolate Garage, Palo Alto, CA

Today's bar was an organic dark chocolate bar from Pacari Chocolate (Ecuador). This 72% cacao single origin bar was from the Los Rios region. (It was also kosher and dairy free with no gluten ingredients.)

This bar had rich, slightly more complex chocolatey flavor -- complex and pleasing flavor arcs often being a strength associated with single origin offerings.

Pacari, like many fine chocolate makers, also has a good story and a close connection with farmers. More about that soon.

Note: Due to travel this week, posts and photos will be delayed.