Almond Brittle - July 19, 2013

Chocolate of the Day: 

G. L. Alfieri LLC
Almond Brittle - Dark Chocolate Coffee
Good + - Very Good
Weight: .875 oz. (25 g.) / 3.5 oz. (100 g.) total package
Calories: 45 calories (estimate)
Cost: not available
Purchased from: G.L. Alfieri table at San Francisco Ferry Building, SF, CA

Today was the first day of Chocolate and Coffee Theme Week.

This dark chocolate covered, crunchy almond brittle* infused with coffee flavor, from G.L. Alfieri (Ripon, CA), was well balanced, with a good mix of rich flavors and textures.

Alfieri Farms are located in the central valley of California -- an area known for farms and agriculture, about 90 miles inland from the San Francisco Ferry Building (where I bought these). The third-generation family owned business specializes in premium nuts and fruit(s); and almonds were the first ingredient listed in this brittle.

*Note: Chocolate products may not be available in the summer/hot weather months. 

Sea Salt Escape bar - July 18, 2013

Chocolate of the Day: 

Ghirardelli Chocolate Company
Sea Salt Escape bar
Good
Weight: .875 oz. (25 g.) in 1/4 bar / 3.5 oz. (100 g.) in 1 bar
Calories: 125 calories (estimate) for 1/4 bar
Cost: $4.95 for 1 bar
Purchased from: de Young Museum (museum store), San Francisco, CA

Today was Day #7 of Chocolate and Almond Theme Week.

The Sea Salt Escape bar from Ghirardelli Chocolate Company (San Leandro, CA), seemed like the perfect choice for today's ramble around San Francisco Bay.

First, Ghirardelli history in the City by the Bay (San Francisco) runs deep. Second, I'll be spending time by the waterfront looking at boats (America's Cup, boatbuilding), thus a tie-in with "sea salt escape" reference. Third, I'll be walking the SF Bay Trail, and will be bird watching. And last, but not least, it's chocolate and almond theme week.

Earlier this year, I picked up a specially packaged edition of this milk chocolate bar with almond pieces and sea salt, at the de Young (art) museum in San Francisco. As part of promotion of the Dutch painting exhibit in town at that time, this Ghirardelli bar was packaged in a second/outside wrapper that came adorned with "The Goldfinch," a painting of a bird from 1654, by Carel Fabritius. I've only seen one goldfinch in my area, but maybe I'll get lucky and see another one in my walk around the Bay.

NibMor Almond bar - July 17, 2013

Chocolate of the Day:

NibMor Group Inc.
Organic Dark Chocolate with Almonds (bar)
Good
Weight: .366 oz. (10.3 g.) in 1/6 bar / 2.2 oz. (62 g.) in 1 bar
Calories: 43.3 calories in 1/6 bar
Cost: $5.39 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Country Sun Natural Foods, Palo Alto, CA

Nibmor Group Inc. (Huntington, NY) makes organic chocolate bars that are notable for what they contain and what they don't.

Today's NibMor Almond bar contained no refined sugar. It was, instead, sweetened with organic agave nectar. Also absent: "dairy, gluten or GMO." This dark chocolate (65% cacao) bar was vegan and kosher, and was "crafted at low temperatures to minimize the loss of valuable nutrients and flavanols."

The bar's texture and consistency gave it an almost rustic style. When I broke off a piece, the bar's snap was clean, but lacked a hard snap sometimes present in bars with a sophisticated tempering process (that requires heating chocolate to higher temperatures first before cooling). The consistency was smooth (helped by cocoa butter and sunflower lecithin), even though particle size seemed relatively large, again likely due to more minimal and low temperature processing to preserve nutrients.

The bar itself had dark richness, and was not too sweet (thank you). The dark cocoa flavor was interspersed with small almond bits.

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

Dark Bar with Almond - July 16, 2013

Chocolate of the Day:

Coco Polo
70% Dark with Almond bar
Good - Good +
Weight: .5 oz. (14.1 g.) (estimate) for 1 small sample bar
Calories: 73 calories (estimate) for 1 small sample bar
Cost: N/A - sample bar
Purchased from: N/A - sample bar from Coco Polo

Earlier this year, while attending a show, I was given some small sample bars from Coco Polo (Highland Park, NJ) to try. I've been enjoying working my way through the different flavored bars. One thing all these bars have in common: they are all sweetened with stevia rather than sugar. And,  they all taste well balanced and much better than other artificially sweetened chocolates I've tasted in the past. No funny aftertaste.

Today's "70% Dark with Almond" sample was just the right level of sweet for me. The dark chocolate was satisfying, and there was a pleasant, almost undetectable, malty or cooked grain taste to the bar. The almonds embedded in the bar were crunchy and fresh.

An Ode to Almonds
Almonds add taste and texture, offer health benefits, and can be a great palette cleanser. Who could ask for more from an edible seed/nut?

• Taste - I have fond childhood memories of the sweet taste of (Peter Paul) Almond Joy and (Hershey's) Milk Chocolate bars with almonds. Crunchy almonds simply tasted great with chocolate (as do almond products such as almond paste or marzipan, almond liqueur, roasted salted and smoked almonds, and almond butter).

• Health - Almonds also seem to act as a counterweight to sweet things. Perhaps the almond's protein, fat and fiber content help dampen blood glucose spikes that can accompany eating too many sugary sweets. Fortunately, stevia (in Coco Polo bars) doesn't alter blood glucose in the same way that sugar can, but the almonds taste great anyway in today's bar.

• Palette Cleanser - I bring a bottle of water and some unsalted almonds to chocolate tasting events -- to act as a palette cleanser between several chocolates. Very effective.

So, a toast to almonds this week!

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

Dark Chocolate Almond Toffee - July 15, 2013

Chocolate of the Day: 

Cary's of Oregon
Dark Chocolate Almond toffee
Good
Weight: .21 oz. (5.9 g.) / 1.3 oz. (36.79 g.) for 1 small package
Calories: 30 calories in 1 piece
Cost: $2.25 for 1 package
Purchased from: Cary's of Oregon, Grants Pass, OR

Today was Day #4 of Chocolate and Almond Theme Week.

One way to satisfy an almond and chocolate craving (and there are many I'm finding this week), is to look for English Toffee with almond pieces embedded in a sweet, chewy-crunchy toffee center.

Today's package of 6 diminutive squares of dark chocolate enveloped almond toffee from Cary's of Oregon (Grants Pass, OR) were just the right size for sharing or a snack. 

Chocolate Almonds - July 14, 2013

Chocolate of the Day: 

Sunbiotics
Chocolate Almonds
Good - Good +
Weight: 1.5 oz. (42.5 g.) in 1 package
Calories: 180 calories in 1 package
Cost: $ N/A
Purchased from: N/A

Today was Day #3 of Chocolate and Almonds Theme Week.

These Chocolate Almonds from Sunbiotics (Glenview, IL) were made with health-conscious consumers in mind -- from whole organic, sprouted raw almonds that were coated with organic, raw cocoa powder, and organic coconut sugar -- and a hint of probiotics. (The soaking and sprouting process was used to make the almonds more digestible.)

The chocolate played a secondary role to the almonds in this organic, raw, gluten free and dairy free offering, which was nice for a change. And these chocolate almonds were not overly sweet (something else I liked). There was no detectable taste to the probiotics (live bacteria, similar to what you might find in yogurt and soy yogurt, that may confer health benefits).

Almond Crunch truffle - July 13, 2013

Chocolate of the Day: 

Almond Crunch truffle
Compartes Chocolatier
Good
Weight: .4 oz. (11.32 g.) in 1 piece/truffle
Calories: 60 calories (estimate) in 1 piece
Cost: $25.00 for 1 box of 10 different truffles
Purchased from: Compartes Chocolatier, Los Angeles, CA

Today's Almond Crunch Truffle from Compartes Chocolatier (Los Angeles, CA) -- adorned with a stylish yellow plaid pattern across the top -- was part of a 10-piece Jonathan's Signature Truffles assortment box. The not too sweet almond crunch filling (made with finely chopped roasted almonds and crunchy wafer bits*) was surrounded by dark chocolate.

Note: I discovered after I ate this truffle that the "crunch" in the Almond Crunch came from wafer bits, i.e. wheat. The truffle was still good, but I don't eat wheat. I'll have to check the ingredients list more closely next time.

Today was Day #2 of Chocolate and Almond Theme Week.