The Republic of Tea; Hu Kitchen Salty bar - Aug. 26, 2015

Chocolate(s) of the Day: 

The Republic of Tea
Peppermint Chocolate Tea
Good
Weight: .056 oz. (1.6 g.) / 1.35 oz. (38.4 g.) in total box of 24 tea bags
Calories: N/A - less than 5 calories (estimate)
Cost: $13.99 for 1 box of 24 tea bags (already recorded)
Purchased from: East-West Bookstore, Mountain View, CA

Today was Day #7 of Chocolate and Mint Theme Week and Day #1 of Chocolate and Salt Theme Week.

I enjoyed two chocolate items today, starting with a sip or two of Peppermint Chocolate Tea from The Republic of Tea (Novato, CA).

The company name "The Republic of Tea" first drew me to this tea maker. And interesting decaffeinated tea flavors introduced over the years have kept me coming back.

I've been working my way through a "Cuppa Chocolate Teas" assortment box. (I featured the Red Velvet, Coconut Cocoa, Strawberry Chocolate, and Banana Chocolate Teas previously.) This Peppermint Chocolate flavor was the last tea flavor in the box.

Rooibos*-based, each round, individually-wrapped, Peppermint Chocolate unbleached tea bag contained a blend of "carob, cocoa kernels (I'm assuming these are finely ground cocoa nibs), peppermint leaves, sweet blackberry leaves, natural mint, chocolate and vanilla flavors."

The resulting tea was a rich, reddish color -- largely from the rooibos (also known as bush or redbush tea). Rooibos literally translated means red bush.

The second chocolate came in bar form...

Hu Kitchen
Salty Chocolate Bar
Good
Weight: 2.1 oz. (59.4 g.) in 1 bar
Calories: 320 calories in 1 bar
Cost: $6.00 (estimate) for 1 bar
Purchased from: Country Sun Natural Foods, Palo Alto, CA

This 72% cacao dark Salty Chocolate Bar from Hu Kitchen (Brooklyn, NY) contained just the right amount of salt for me. It was spread fairly uniformly throughout the chocolate.

The paleo and vegan bar contained no cane or refined sugar, soy lecithin, gluten, emulsifiers or GMO ingredients.

*Rooibos is a naturally caffeine-free plant that serves as a tea substitute. Also low in tannic acids, rooibos -- grown in Southern Africa, and now other parts of the world -- is also low in tannic acids (found in conventional teas).

Mission Hill Creamery - Mint Chocolate Confetti - Aug. 25, 2015

Chocolate of the Day: 

Mission Hill Creamery
Mint Chocolate Confetti Ice Cream
Good +
Weight: 4 oz. (88 g.) / 1 Pint (473 mL) container
Calories: 215 calories in 1 serving
Cost: $8.49 for 1 container
Purchased from: Whole Foods Market, Los Altos, CA


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

The team at Mission Hill Creamery (Santa Cruz, CA) crafts their ice cream from organic ingredients from companies like Straus Family Creamery, an organic dairy in California. (Wise move; I've never met a dessert made with Straus Creamery products that I didn't like.)

I enjoyed a dish of the company's Mint Chocolate Confetti Ice Cream today, topped with a mint leaf plucked from a bush in my yard. (I preferred the organic peppermint flavoring in this Mission Hill ice cream to the spearmint from my garden.)

The creamy mint ice cream was flecked with chocolate shreds that were just the right consistency -- allowing tiny bursts of chocolate flavor to break through now and then. These shreds were so much better than the little frostbitten and bland, dark waxy bits that you'd find in some mint chocolate chip frozen desserts.

York (Hershey) - Minis Peppermint Patties - Aug. 24, 2015

Chocolate of the Day: 

York
(owned by The Hershey Company)
Minis - Dark Chocolate Covered Peppermint Patties
Good - Good +
Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) / 2.5 oz. (70 g.) in 1 package
Calories: 260 calories in 1 package
Cost: $1.99 for 1 package
Purchased from: Safeway, Palo Alto, CA

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

People ask me if I review popular, mass-market chocolates, e.g. from Mars or The Hershey Company.

The answer is yes I do. These chocolates are part of our chocolate heritage in the U.S. And I somehow feel obliged to cover products that people remember from childhood.

I featured most Hershey chocolates in the early years of this blog; however, new flavors continue to be introduced, such as today's York* "Minis" (a brand owned and distributed by The Hershey Company, based in Hershey, PA).

Sold in a "King Size" 2.5 oz. (70 g.) bag -- with a traditional York shiny silver and navy blue colored wrapper -- these miniature Peppermint Patties were left loose to jostle about in the bag. Unlike their larger (original) counterpart patties, these Minis were a bit too small to be individually wrapped.

The taste, however, was similar to what I remember: quite sweet, with a generous white disc of peppermint-flavored filling. They were relatively low-calorie (106 calories for a 1 oz. serving). Sweet peppermint was the dominant flavor; however, the chocolate coating helped off-set the sweetness, and made them more tempting.

Note to those who eat gluten-free, most York Peppermint Pattie products are listed as gluten-free, "except York Minis and York Pieces candy." I didn't see any gluten-containing ingredients on today's Mini label, but wheat starch and flour can end up in a lot of places, and is sometimes used to prevent pieces from sticking together in manufacturing environments. These patties are also made with Polyglycerol poliricinoleate (PGPR), probably something you don't want to eat a lot of.

*York Peppermint Patties were, according to a wikipedia.org entry, originally introduced in York, Pennsylvania, by Henry C. Kessler. It was, apparently, a firmer, less gooey, version of other, similar mint patties in its day.

Valor - Doblones Rellenos, Mint - Aug. 23, 2015

Chocolate of the Day:

Chocolates Valor, S.A.
Doblones Rellenos Negro 70% - Crema de Menta
Good - Good +
Weight: .25 oz. (7 g.) (estimate) in 1 square
Calories: 37 (estimate) calories in 1 square
Cost: $ N/A - gift from a friend
Purchased from: N/A - gift from a friend

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

There was a lot of goodness packed into this small square. It was from a package of Doblones Rellenos (filled chocolates) with five different flavors from Chocolates Valor, S.A. (Alicante, Espana).

The thin, filling layer in the middle of this Crema de Menta (mint cream) piece had a balanced, natural-tasting mint flavor; and the surrounding 70% cacao chocolate was smooth and rich.

A friend traveling in Spain brought back a package of individually-wrapped Valor squares earlier this year. (Thank you Toni!)

Foxy's Pash - Wild Berry and Chocolate, with Basil - Aug. 22, 2015

Chocolate of the Day: 

Foxy's Pash
Sneaky Pash - Wild Berry and Chocolate Flakes frozen yogurt
Good
Weight: 1/2 cup (67 g.) / 1 pint (473 mL) in 1 container
Calories: 110 calories in 1/2 cup serving
Cost: $2.49 for 1 pint container
Purchased from: Grocery Outlet Bargain Market, Palo Alto, CA

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

The Lamiaceae family encompasses a large family of flowering, aromatic mint plants, including spearmint and peppermint, as well as herbs like basil, rosemary, sage and lavender.

Basil is found more in savory dishes than sweet desserts; however it can provide a great flavor accent in (or atop) sorbets and fruit-flavored ice creams. And, like most members of the mint family, it harmonizes well with chocolate. A few tiny, fresh basil leaves helped balanced out the sweetness of today's frozen Wild Berry frozen yogurt.

This Sneaky Pash Wild Berry and Chocolate Flakes frozen yogurt was from Foxy's Pash (Ventura, CA). Foxy's packaging featured fun -- black and white photos of cheery people, reminiscent of 1950's product advertisements. And these happy, slightly frisky snaps were framed with pleasing pastel colored graphics.

Dove - Mint Chocolate Chunk Ice Cream - Aug. 21, 2015

Chocolate of the Day: 

Dove
Mint Chocolate Chunk Ice Cream
Good
Weight: 1/2 cup (69 g.) / 15.10 fl. oz. (447 mL) in total container
Calories: 180 calories in 1/2 cup serving
Cost: $ (unknown)
Purchased from: Grocery Outlet Bargain Market, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #7 of Chocolate and Frozen Desserts Theme Week, and Day #2 of Chocolate and Mint Theme Week.

Today's pretty, pastel-green Dove Mint Chocolate Chunk Ice Cream (distributed by Mars Chocolate North America (Hackettstown, NJ)) was flecked with small pieces of Dove chocolate.

Haagen-Dazs - Peppermint bark bar - Aug. 20, 2015

Chocolate of the Day:

Haagen-Dazs
peppermint bark ice cream bars
Good - Good +
Weight: 3 fl. oz. (84 g.) / 9 fl. oz. (266 mL) for 1 box of 3 bars
Calories: 280 calories for 1 ice cream bar
Cost: $2.29 for 1 box of 3 bars
Purchased from: Grocery Outlet Bargain Market, Palo Alto, CA

Due to an abundance of chocolates with overlapping inclusions, some chocolate theme weeks flow into the next. Today was one of those days. Welcome to Day #6 of Chocolate and Frozen Desserts Theme Week; and Day #1 of Chocolate and Mint Theme Week.

Today I enjoyed a refreshing peppermint bark ice cream bar from Haagen-Dazs (distributed by Nestle Dreyers Ice Cream Company, Oakland, CA).

A core of white chocolate ice cream was dipped in dark chocolate and peppermint candy pieces. The chocolate and mint flavors were well balanced -- neither too sweet or too minty.

These Limited Edition individually-wrapped peppermint bark ice cream bars came packaged 3 to a box.