twenty-four blackbirds - Fine Drinking Chocolate - Sept. 16, 2015

Chocolate of the Day: 

Twenty-Four Blackbirds Chocolate, LLC
Fine Drinking Chocolate (Origin: Bolivia)
Good +
Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) / 4 oz. (113 g.) in total package of 4 bars/pieces
Calories: 150 calories (estimate) for 1 bar
Cost: $8.95
Purchased from: Santa Barbara Botanical Garden (gift shop), Santa Barbara, CA

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

Today's package of Fine Drinking Chocolate chocolate, carefully wrapped in brown craft paper and string, was from twenty-four blackbirds (Santa Barbara, CA). The package contained four 1 oz. (28.3 g.) bars of partially tempered chocolate, made with organic Bolivian cacao beans and organic cane sugar.

This chocolate came with a simple instruction card. One or more bars could be mixed with a small amount of boiling water and stirred to make a rich, thick small cup of drinking chocolate.

Or, bars could be melted to make a rich, chocolately syrup.  Although the chocolate will harden up fairly quickly once cooled. (Once melted, I've found stirring in a teaspoon of unsweetened, organic extra virgin coconut oil keeps the syrup a softer, smoother texture if you have left-overs.)

The resulting hot chocolate had a faint chocolate caramel note in the aroma, and was much richer in chocolate flavor that hot cocoa you might find in most of the U.S. The texture was quite thick (consistent with stoneground and/or rustic drinking chocolate from Mexico and Central America), and not too sweet.

The content and images on this post belong to ChocolateBanquet.com.

Rogue Chocolatier - Tranquilidad (Bolivia) 75% bar - Sept. 15, 2015

Chocolate of the Day: 

Rogue Chocolatier
Tranquilidad (Bolivia) 75% bar
Good ++ - Very Good
Weight: 2.12 oz. (60 g.) in 1 bar
Calories: 318 calories (estimate) in 1 bar
Cost: $19 for 1 bar
Purchased from: The Chocolate Garage, Palo Alto, CA

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

The aptly named Tranquilidad (tranquility) 75% cacao bar from Rogue Chocolatier (Three Rivers, MA) was made with cacao beans from Hacienda Tranquilidad in the Bolivian Amazon Basin.

I experienced none of the brash, acidic boldness of Bolivian cacao in this bar that I found in other Bolivian cacao bars featured earlier this week. Instead, this bar had lovely, lilting, floral, marshmallow, and cream honey on toast aroma and flavor, with a clean finish.

Lest you think this flavor profile sounds too "sweet" -- I should add, it was not. It was just right. Well executed and well balanced.

I like floral flavors. But, many dark chocolate critics seem unimpressed with this floral + marshmallow + green banana profile, often associated with Ecuadorian cacao-based bars.

Some critics prefer bold flavors, the way a wine fan might prefer reds. However, today's bar exemplifies a successful execution of this lighter, floral cacao. Thank you to Colin Gasko at Rogue Chocolatier for his focus on quality and coaxing great flavor out of a variety of cacao types.

The content and images on this post belong to ChocolateBanquet.com.

twenty-four blackbirds - Palos Blancos 75 percent (Bolivia) bars - Sept. 14, 2015

Chocolate(s) of the Day: 

twenty-four blackbirds
Palos Blancos 75 percent (Bolivia) bar
Good - Good +
Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) / 1.4 oz. (40 g.) in total bar
Calories: 150 calories (estimate) in 1 oz. of bar
Cost: $6.75 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Sweet Shop, Los Altos, CA

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

twenty-four blackbirds is based in Santa Barbara, CA. This small operation turns carefully made, bean-to-bar chocolate bars and drinking chocolate.

These single origin bars were graced with tile-style letters and symbols -- the image of a single blackbird feather was pressed into a smaller version of the same bar. Both bars were carefully wrapped in brown craft paper.

Today's two Palos Blancos 75 percent bars were made from Bolivian cacao beans, and had a fairly smooth, well balanced flavor.  The bar had a faint aroma that evoked rainforest (green vegetation, rich soil), and the flavor had some of the bold acidity that other single origin Bolivia bars have had this week, with a very slight sour/bitter note.

The content and images on this post belong to ChocolateBanquet.com.

Lillie Belle Farms - The Wild Thing Bolivia bar - Sept. 13, 2015

Chocolate of the Day:

Lillie Belle Farms
The Wild Thing Bolivia bar
Good++ - Very Good
Weight: 2.5 oz. (70 g.) in total bar
Calories: 375 calories (estimate) in 1 bar
Cost: $8.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Lillie Belle Farms, Central Point, OR

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

There were several wild things about The Wild Thing 68% Bolivia bar artfully crafted by Jeff Sheperd at Lillie Belle Farms (Central Point, OR).

First, it must have been an honor to work with this special* batch of wild, Criollo cacao harvested from the rainforests of Bolivia.

Second, great bars made from Bolivian cacao sound wildly contradictory when I try to describe them. Bold or robust, but smooth. Acidic, but not. Earthy, but not "dirt" bars. Vexingly subtle flavors that appear halfway through that (if not squashed in the making process) can be difficult to identify.

For example, today's thick, 68% dark chocolate bar had a rich, cocoa, mild earthy aroma. And behind the robustness and mild/balanced acidity were some remarkable and fleeting subtler flavors that I couldn't quite identify. (And the wild thing was I ate the whole darn bar trying to figure them out.)

This was a thick bar. A case can be made for thin (quick access to flavors) or thick (patience yields a slower reveal of flavors). Thickness gave this bar a slow, creamy melt and did seem to reveal flavors more slowly.

Part of the wild thing about Criollo (fine flavor, heritage) cacao beans is that they are subtle and yet full of interesting flavor. However, they can be more delicate, more disease prone when subject to denser, human-cultivated planting areas, and the trees often bear smaller pods (fruit). I hope these great beans are kept alive and unadulterated as long as is possible, so we don't have to say, the wildest thing of all is that these heritage strains still exist at all.

*Note: Unfortunately, The Wild Thing bar may no longer be available; it was not listed on the Lillie Belle Farms website when I wrote this review.

The content and images on this post belong to ChocolateBanquet.com.

Cello Chocolate - 70% Cacao bar - Sept. 12, 2015

Chocolate of the Day:

Cello Chocolate
70% Bolivia bar
Good ++
Weight: .8 oz. (22.64 g.) / 2 oz. (57 g.) in total bar
Calories: 120 calories (estimate) in 2/5 bar
Cost: $36.00 for set of 6 different single origin bars
Purchased from: Cello Chocolate, online order

Welcome to Day #1 of Chocolate and Bolivia Theme Week.

Today's 70% cacao Bolivia dark chocolate bar was from Cello Chocolate (Nevada City, CA). The bar had well-rounded, robust, dark earthy and sweet chocolate aroma and flavor.

The maker's notes: Deep creamy and bold, with cedar undertones.

This Bolivia bar was part of a set of six, different single origin bars, crafted by Cello Chocolate founder and chocolate maker, Ned Russell -- and carefully wrapped by Debi Russell.

Russell made this chocolate from scratch (bean-to-bar), in a home kitchen with just three ingredients: certified organic cocoa beans; sugar; and cocoa butter.

The content and images on this post belong to ChocolateBanquet.com.

Carre2 Chocolat - Aragua Venezuela bar - Sept. 11, 2015

Chocolate of the Day:

Carre2 Chocolat
Aragua Venezuela 78 percent bar
Good ++
Weight: .626 oz. (17.7 g.) / 2.82 oz. (80 g.) in total bar
Calories: 94 calories (estimate) in 2/9 bar
Cost: $18.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: CocoaBella Chocolates, San Francisco, CA

Welcome to Day #10 of Chocolate and Venezuela Theme Week.

Today was another delicious milestone in the Chocolate Banquet journey. I had a birthday. But, more important, today marked nine years that I've been eating a different chocolate every day.

And enjoying a series of single origin bars from Venezuela this week has been an excellent way to celebrate my ninth year of chocolate.

This Limited Edition Aragua 78% bar made by Pierre Marcolini (Brussels, Belgium) was sold as an exclusive for/at CocoaBella Chocolates, located in Westfield San Francisco (Shopping) Centre* (San Francisco, CA).

This bar had a pleasing flavor and thick, but smooth melt (likely influenced by amount/type of soy lecithin and cocoa butter). The "fat" seemed to obscure the full impact of the potential flavors, but it could have been that the "fatter" mouth feel was the right way to go for this particular batch. It might have balanced out other flavor elements or because they wanted a richer melt. I wasn't there tasting the beans, so I don't want to second guess the chocolate maker.

Aragua is a state (estado) in Venezuela. And the Criollo Primitif (heritage?) cacao beans came from Hacienda Chuao. It is: "Chocolat Puissant, Fraicheur Acidulee et Fruitee."

Chuao is a small, relatively inaccessible village in the northern coastal range in Venezuela, known for its cacao plantations. One can't drive there; access is by boat or by foot.

*CocoaBella Chocolates has a second location, further south, in Westfield Valley Fair shopping center, Santa Clara, CA.

The content and images on this post belong to ChocolateBanquet.com.

Cacao de Origen - Trinidad 74 percent bar - Sept. 10, 2015

Chocolate of the Day: 

Cacao de Origen
Trinidad 74 percent Miranda - Venezuela bar
Good+
Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) / 1.94 oz. (55 g.) in total package of 2 bars
Calories: 150 calories (estimate) for 1 package of 2 bars
Cost: $14.00 (estimate) for 1 package (2 bars)
Purchased from: The Chocolate Garage, Palo Alto, CA

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

Today's Trinidad 74% cacao bar from Cacao de Origen (Hacienda La Trinidad, Caracas, Venezuela), was crafted with cacao beans from Hacienda Trinidad, grown in the northern coastal mountains of Miranda, Venezuela.

The thin bar (one of two in a sealed silver package), enabled easy access to flavors when tasting. This chocolate was smooth and full of flavor -- very faint green vegetation and floral notes, tart citrus acidity, and smooth earth flavor notes, and a smooth, full-bodied lingering finish.

The content and images on this post belong to ChocolateBanquet.com.