John & Kira's Caramel Honey Bees - Oct. 4, 2013

Chocolate of the Day: 

John & Kira's
Caramel Honey Chocolate Bees
Very Good
Weight: 2.66 oz. (75.46 g.) / 3 oz. (85 g.) in total box of 9 pieces
Calories: 600 calories (estimate) in 8 pieces
Cost: $29.00 in 9-piece box
Purchased from: John & Kira's, Philadelphia, PA (online order)

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

I've spent time this week lauding the humble but beautifully beneficial honeybee(s). Today's chocolate Caramel Honey Chocolate Bees from John & Kira's (Philadelphia, PA), not only contained honey but were also shaped like bees.

These hand-painted black and yellow bees (with a head on one end and stinger on the other side) were filled with liquid honey caramel centers, and covered with 62% Valrhona dark chocolate. The tasty honey hailed from Draper's Apiaries (Millerton, PA) and paired very well with subtle salt caramel flavors. I found myself licking sticky fingers from eating a whole swarm of these bees.

B.T. McElrath Chai Honey Truffles - Oct. 3, 2013

Chocolate of the Day: 

B.T. McElrath Chocolatier, Inc.
Chai-Spiced Honey Truffles
Good - Good +
Weight: .9 oz. (25.47 g.) in 2 truffles
Calories: 135 calories (estimate) for 2 truffles
Cost: $6.50 for package of two (2-piece favor size)
Purchased from: B.T. McElrath Chocolatier, Minneapolis, MN

Today was Day #3 of Chocolate and Honey Theme Week, and I started the day with a 2-piece party favor sized package of two Chai-Spiced Honey Truffles from Brian T. McElrath (B.T. McElrath Chocolatier, Minneapolis, MN).

These truffles possessed creamy, soft ganache (centers), flavored with a chai spice blend and Minnesota honey, and were enveloped by thick 70% dark chocolate exteriors. The truffles were decorated with a honeycomb + bee print across the top.

This week I'm promoting not only chocolates with honey, but also our friends the honeybees. Bees have experienced tough sledding in recent years (diseases, mites, problems made worse by humans, and the usual weather and changing habitat challenges). Go bees! we're rooting for your ongoing well-being. We love your honey, and the fact that you are great pollinators for other foods we value.

Licious Organic Honey Cookies - Oct. 2, 2013

Chocolate of the Day: 

Crystal River Organics
Licious Organics Honey Cookies
Chocolate Peanut Butter flavor
Good
Weight: 1 oz. (28 g.) / 8 oz. (224 g.) in total package of 8
Calories: 130 calories in 1 cookie
Cost: $9.49 for 1 package of 8 cookies
Purchased from: Abe's Market (online order)

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

Today's package of Licious Organics Honey Cookies (Crystal River Organics, Boulder, CO) contained 8 individually-wrapped, organic, unbaked oat cookies that were sweetened with Organic Raw Honey -- and flavored with organic peanut butter and chocolate chips.

The cookie packaging pictured a drowsy-looking cartoon bear dipping a paw into a honey jar, with a healthy hive of bees suspended nearby. Also included on the bag were interesting honey-related facts such as:

• Honey bees fly 80,000 miles to 2 million flowers to make one pound of honey.
• In her lifetime, a honey bee will produce 1/12 teaspoon of honey.
• We rely on honey bees to pollinate 80% of our crops, from almonds to berries.

These hard-working bees deserve our support. Honey is a sweet, natural by-product of bee labor that we enjoy. Honey is also tasty when paired with chocolate and nuts, and is great drizzled over some flavors of ice cream. My favorite blends include: vanilla ice cream with saffron honey and pistachios; lavender lemon ice cream with saffron honey and lavender buds; or, chocolate ice cream with orange blossom honey and orange liqueur and almonds. I now prefer honey and/or olive oil over traditional ice cream sauces that can be too sweet and heavy.

Torn Ranch Organic Dark bar - October 1, 2013

Chocolate of the Day: 

Torn Ranch
Organic Signature Dark Chocolate bar
Good - Good +
Weight: .5 oz. (14.1 g.) / 1.5 oz. (42.5 g.) in total bar
Calories: 70 calories in 1/3 bar
Cost: $ N/A - sample
Purchased from: N/A

Today was Day #7 of Chocolate and Quinoa Theme Week, and Day #1 of Chocolate and Honey Theme Week.

Earlier this year, I noticed that Torn Ranch (Petaluma, CA) was offering a line of Organic, "Signature" chocolate bars. I tried the milk chocolate version earlier and found it to be well balanced, and very good for a milk chocolate bar.

Today's Organic Signature Dark Chocolate bar was also good, with a dark, slight earthy flavor profile. I enjoyed today's chocolate bar by itself for breakfast, and also made good use of part of this same bar to flavor a bowl of cereal.

Quinoa cereals have grown more popular, including this single serving, ready-to-eat pouch of Honey Almond Quinoa Cereal from Cocomama Foods (Boston, MA). It was very convenient to make and tasted good heated up a bit. However, I thought it was even better, topped with a bit of extra toasted almonds, honey and shaved dark chocolate. 

Alter Eco Noir bar - Sept. 30, 2013

Chocolate of the Day: 

Alter Eco
Mini Dark Noir bar
Good - Good +
Weight: .71 oz. (20 g.) in 1 bar
Calories: 105 calories (estimate) in 1 bar
Cost: N/A - gift
Purchased from: N/A - gift

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

Today's organically grown, fairly traded, 60% cocoa (minimum) Mini Dark (Noir) bar was another bar from a company with a mission that included socially-driven goals.

Alter Eco (San Francisco, CA in Americas) is a company that makes chocolate bars, and also sells quinoa, rice and sugar. What's the connection? Alter Eco supports an economic model that includes organic farming, family farms, and production on a "human scale" for all these crops. The company's line of chocolate bars included one that contained quinoa.

However, I'd already eaten Alter Eco's dark bar with quinoa in the past. And, since I've been eating a different chocolate every day for the past seven years, I enjoyed the Alter Eco Noir Mini bar with a Gluten Free, crunchy Quinoa Bar (three crispy, thin "bars" in 1 package) from Oskri (Lake Mills, WI), made with rice syrup, sesame seeds, quinoa and date syrup.

The bar was described on the label as "fruity and malty" ... "smooth and rich." I thought it had a more uniform "dark" taste, with a very faint glimmer of the flavor notes mentioned.

Organic Chocolate Chia bar - Sept. 29, 2013

Chocolate of the Day: 

YogaEarth
Keen-Wah decadence - Organic Chocolate Chia bar
Good
Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) / 1.5 oz. (42 g.) in 2/3 bar
Calories: 129 calories (estimate) in 2/3 bar
Cost: $2.50 in 1 bar
Purchased from: Whole Foods Market, Los Altos, CA

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

This raw cacao protein bar from YogaEarth (Venice, CA) had a slightly fermented taste. I couldn't make up my mind whether I liked this taste or not. Some bites of this bar had more of a chocolate covered quinoa crunch. Other bites contained hints of dried fruit/almond butter and/or chia seeds.

YogaEarth is one of a handful of similar companies that have created products with natural ingredients: nuts, seeds, cacao, dried fruit (often gluten free and vegan) -- designed to "optimize health," promote sustainable living and to give back to a designated cause or audience. According to the label on today's bar, "one percent of sales supports Kiva."

Healthy is good; and I've always liked chocolate, nuts and seeds. A bar like this, combined with plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables, may even help compensate for the rare burger I might eat.

Quinoa Agave Crunch bar - Sept. 28, 2013

Chocolate of the Day: 

Bissinger's
Quinoa Agave Crunch bar
Good + - Very Good
Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) / 3.5 oz. (100 g.) in total bar
Calories: 150 calories (estimate) in 1 oz. (28.3 g.) serving
Cost: $ 4.99 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Sigona's Farmers Market, Palo Alto, CA

I enjoyed this "puffed quinoa splashed in agave" dark chocolate bar from Bissinger's (St. Louis, MO). It lacked the faintly bitter* taste present in some quinoa offerings; and it was a perfect blend of dark, sweet flavors and crunchy texture.

This bar also paired well with a variety of snacks and a cocktail - St. George Spirits Qi orange and white tea liqueur over ice with a lemon peel. (This afternoon was brought to you by the letter Q.)

*Quinoa (seeds) are naturally coated with saponin, a bitter substance that helps deter insect pests. This coating is generally removed with light processing.