Simply Enjoy - Toffee & Sea Salt Dark Chocolate bar - Aug. 31, 2015

Chocolate of the Day: 

Simply Enjoy
Toffee and Sea Salt Belgian Dark Chocolate bar
Good
Weight: 1.34 oz. (38 g.) / 3.5 oz. (100 g.) in total bar
Calories: 210 calories in 3 squares of bar
Cost: $1.99 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Grocery Outlet Bargain Market, Palo Alto, CA

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

Today's Simply Enjoy Toffee and Sea Salt Belgian Dark Chocolate bar (distributed by Foodhold U.S.A., LLC in Landover, MD) was made with UTZ* Certified cocoa.

This dark chocolate (57% cocoa solids) bar was filled with crispy crunchy butter toffee bits and a hint of sea salt.

*UTZ Certified is a large program (and label) for sustainable growing of coffee and cocoa that provides education to farmers on how to grow "better crops" through farm practices and management, as well as education about the environment. It was founded by Belgian-Guatamalan Nick Bocklandt, in 2002 for coffee growing and was later expanded (2007) to include cocoa. UTZ Certified is a non-profit organization based in Amsterdam (Netherlands). 

While producers don't have to pay the higher costs associated with Fairtrade and other certifications (which can be too high for farmer co-ops and smaller companies), the organization does not have as their primary goal guaranteeing of higher prices for farmers.

Cemoi - Dark Chocolate Sea Salt Crystals bar - Aug. 30, 2015

Chocolate of the Day: 

Cemoi Chocolatier Francais
Dark Chocolate with Sea Salt Crystals bar
(Chocolat Noir Fleur de Sel)
Good
Weight: 1.413 oz. (40 g.) in 4 squares / 3.52 oz. (100 g.) in total bar
Calories: 210 calories in 4 squares of bar
Cost: $1.49 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Grocery Outlet Bargain Market, Palo Alto, CA

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

As a flavor addition to chocolate bar, salt can be incorporated in at least three different ways. Salt crystals can be layered on the front, or back, of a chocolate bar. Salt can be broken down and homogeneously blended with chocolate. Or, whole crystals can be embedded within a bar.

Today's 47% cocoa Dark Chocolate with Sea Salt Crystals (Chocolat Noir Fleur de Sel) bar, from the French company Cemoi* (Perpignan, France), falls into this third category.

This bar had a faint cocoa aroma and smooth texture -- punctuated with an occasional crunch from a sea salt crystal, followed by a tiny spark of intense salt flavor.

*The Cemoi brand was created in 1919 in Grenoble, France by Felix Cartier-Million. Georges Poirrier bought the company in 1981 and took the Cemoi brand as the name for the new company.

Steve's Ice Cream - Chocolate Salty Caramel - Aug. 29, 2015

Chocolate of the Day: 

Steve's Ice Cream
Chocolate Salty Caramel - Dairy Free Ice Cream
Good
Weight: 1/4 cup (53 g.) / 1 Pint (473 mL) in total container
Calories: 135 calories in 1/4 cup serving
Cost: $2.99 for 1 container
Purchased from: Grocery Outlet Bargain Market, Palo Alto, CA

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

Steve's Ice Cream (Brooklyn, NY) has produced several rich, creamy ice creams. This was the first Steve's offering I've tried that wasn't technically ice cream.

Today's Chocolate Salty Caramel dairy-free, frozen dessert was made with organic cane sugar and coconut cream, as well as organic cocoa.

Swirls of flowing, salty caramel ran through this light cocoa-colored "ice cream" -- the salt was part of a relationship with Jacobsen Salt Co. and Steve's pursuit of unique, quality mix-ins.

This frozen dessert was relatively free of allergens. It was gluten free, egg free, soy free -- and GMO free. Hats off to Steve's Ice Cream for creating some good alternatives.

The only ingredient that wasn't a favorite for me in this frozen dessert was pea protein. It has a fairly strong, distinctive flavor. Granted, if you remove dairy, soy and nut options, the Non-GMO protein possibilities are limited.  

Sulpice Chocolat - Salt and Almonds Milk Chocolate Bar - Aug. 28, 2015

Chocolate of the Day: 

Sulpice Chocolat
Salt and Almonds Milk Chocolate bar
Good - Good +
Weight: .92 oz. (26 g.) / 2.3 oz. (65 g.) in 1 bar
Calories: 134 calories in 2/5 bar
Cost: $0.99 (estimate)
Purchased from: Grocery Outlet Bargain Market, Palo Alto, CA

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

This Salt and Almonds Milk Chocolate bar from Sulpice Chocolat (Barrington, IL) was sealed in a gold inner wrapper.

I like attractive design and packaging. However, effective packaging also prolongs freshness. Hand-crafted and folded paper and foil wrappings are nice to look at, but they don't do as much to preserve freshness as sealed wrappers. Today's bar simply tasted fresher.

This Non-GMO and Gluten Free milk chocolate bar also had a pleasing design on the bar itself. Drizzles of pink and orange cocoa butter "paint" were splashed across the top of this "hand-painted artisan chocolate" bar.

The chocolate itself was thick creamy milk chocolate with a fairly soft "bite." Soy lecithin gave it a very slightly gummy chew, but it was not nearly as bad as some bars in this respect.

The salt was enjoyably uniform throughout the bar without being overly salty; and the salt helped balance sweetness. I couldn't really taste any almonds. They could have been in very tiny bits.

Salazon Chocolate - Organic Dark Chocolate with Sea Salt and Turbinado Sugar bar - Aug. 27, 2015

Chocolate of the Day:

Salazon Chocolate Co.
Organic Dark Chocolate with Sea Salt and Turbinado Cane Sugar (bar)
Good
Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) / 3 oz. (85 g.) in total bar
Calories: 139.8 calories in 1/3 bar
Cost: $3.99 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Sprouts, Mountain View, CA

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

I enjoyed seeing and tasting the sparkles of sugar and salt pressed into the back of today's bar from Salazon Chocolate Co. (Eldersburg, MD) -- a maker of organic, single origin bars with salt.

Salazon founders enjoy being out of doors, and a bar with a little salt helps replenish sodium on a long hike. I'm a hiker too, and I appreciate that sentiment. Chocolate bars with salt also taste good. Salt can complement chocolate and help balance sweet, bitter and other flavors.

The company founders also decided to give back. A percentage of proceeds from this bar go to support the Pacific Crest Trail Association. I'm happy to support good causes by eating chocolate.

Today's Organic Dark Chocolate with Sea Salt and Organic Turbinado Cane Sugar (bar) had smooth cocoa notes, and just the right amount of sugar and salt texture and flavor for my taste.

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.