Raaka - Lapsang Chai Bolivia bar - Sept. 18, 2015

Chocolate of the Day: 

Raaka Chocolate
Lapsang Chai Bolivia bar
Good +
Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) / 1.8 oz. (50.9 g.) in total bar
Calories: 144.4 calories in 1 oz. (28.3 g.) of bar
Cost: $7.99 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Bristol Farms, Westfield Centre, San Francisco, CA

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

This Lapsang Chai Bolivia 66% cacao bar was made (bean-to-bar) by Raaka Chocolate (Brooklyn, NY), using unroasted cacao.

The lapsang souchong tea and chai spices (cardamom, coriander) were very subtle, and the flavor additions seemed to spring from the cacao itself -- with a very slight hint of floral tea and spice and light marshmallow. (The bar did contain some marshmallow root.)

Even the normally dominant smoky flavor of lapsang souchong tea (which I love) seemed to disappear in a relatively balanced way into the overall flavor profile. Artful flavor blending.

The texture was very slightly grainy, like one might find in flavorful, stoneground chocolates.

This bar with the graphically pleasing wrapper was also soy, nut and gluten free, and vegan.

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

El Ceibo - 75% Bolivia bar; Raaka Bolivia bar - Sept. 17, 2015

Chocolate(s) of the Day: 

El Ceibo
Bolivia - 75% Organic Cocoa Beans bar
Good ++ - Very Good
Weight: 1.12 oz. (32 g.) / 2.8 oz. (80 g.) in total bar
Calories: 168 calories (estimate) for 2/5 bar
Cost: $9.00 (estimate) for 2/5 bar
Purchased from: The Chocolate Garage, Palo Alto, CA

Today was Day #6 of Chocolate and Bolivia Theme Week -- and it's a two bar day.

I found this wonderful El Ceibo 75% cacao (Bolivia) bar in the back of my chocolate vault. The recommended "consume by" date had come and gone, but it was still a great bar.

The chocolate, made with beans from El Ceibo Cooperative in the Covendo Region of Alto Beni, Bolivia, was robust with balanced, complex flavors -- with hints of plum fruit, coffee, earth and olive -- and creamy smooth in texture.


Raaka Chocolate
Maple and Nibs bar
Good ++
Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) / 1.8 oz. (50.94 g.) in total bar
Calories:  147 calories in 1 oz. (28.3 g.) of bar
Cost: $7.99 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Bristol Farms, Westfield Centre, San Francisco, CA

Because I wasn't sure if I tried the El Ceibo bar (above) before or not, I decided to include a second bar made with Bolivian cacao.

This Maple and Nibs bar from Raaka Chocolate (Brooklyn, NY) was made with unroasted cacao beans. Using a lower temperature process preserves some flavors, and leaves other flavors (that would be brought out in the roasting process) undeveloped. If you fancy a raw foods diet, unroasted cacao may be of interest.

This bar had a lovely, very subtle maple and smoke aroma, and a flavor that blossomed about 5-10 seconds after taking a bite.

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

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.