Signature Select - Dark Chocolate Sea Salt Almond Nougat bar - May 6, 2016

Chocolate of the Day: 

Signature Select
Dark Chocolate with Sea Salt and Almond Nougat bar
Good - Good+
Weight: 1.41 oz. (40 g.) / 3.5 oz. (100 g.) in total bar
Calories: 210 calories in 4 squares, or 2/5 bar
Cost: $2.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Safeway, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #6 of Chocolate, Salt and Almond Theme Week.

Today's Signature Select Dark Chocolate with Sea Salt and Almond Nougat bar was made in Switzerland and distributed by Better Living Brands LLC (Pleasanton, CA).

Better Living Brands is a private label group affiliated with Safeway—a grocery chain that has also offered/offers chocolates with the Safeway Select brand.

The information available above may make it more difficult to decipher the supply chain, for those who want to know where their chocolate is coming from; but the bar was fairly good.

This relatively thin dark 55% cacao bar had a pleasant cocoa aroma and broke with a satisfying snap. It had balanced flavor and texture, with small crunchy, salty almond nougat pieces throughout the bar.

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

Kit's Organic - Dark Chocolate Almond Chile bar - May 5, 2016

Chocolate of the Day:

Clif Bar and Company
Kit's Organic Fruit + Nut Bar - Dark Chocolate Chili Almond
Good
Weight: 1.62 oz. (46 g.) in 1 bar
Calories: 190 calories in 1 bar
Cost: $unkown
Purchased from: unknown

Welcome to Day #5 of Chocolate, Salt and Almond Theme Week.

Salt can balance sweetness, bitterness, and other aspects of flavor. This magical ability is one reason why salt is used in bars, even where not explicitly mentioned in the bar's name.

For example, Kit's Organic Dark Chocolate Chili Almond bar from Clif Bar and Company (Emeryville, CA).

Ingredients: organic dates, organic almonds, organic unsweetened dark chocolate, sea salt, organic cinnamon, organic vanilla beans, organic cayenne pepper.

The salt in today's bar helped cut the acidic sweetness of dried fruit (dates)—the number one ingredient in this Fruit + Nut Bar —that also contained chopped almonds, and chocolate.

The salt was just right. And the chili gave the bar a uniform spicy kick that lasted from first bite to last; and chili, salt and almonds (and chocolate) also blended well together. Add any more salt, and you'd start to have a hint of the same dark richness you might find in a mole sauce.

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

Salazon Chocolate - 72% Dark Chocolate with Sea Salt and Almonds bar - May 4, 2016

Chocolate of the Day: 

Salazon Chocolate Co. LLC
Trail Series - 72% Dark Chocolate with Sea Salt and Almonds bar
Good+++
Weight: 2.75 oz. (78 g.) in total bar
Calories: 408 calories in 1 bar
Cost: $4.50 for 1 bar
Purchased from: SweetE Organic, Mill Valley, CA

Welcome to Day #4 of Chocolate, Salt and Almonds Theme Week.

I can't have a salt-focused week without mentioning Salazon Chocolate Co. LLC (Eldersburg, MD). This company was created specifically to honor the fusion of chocolate and salt.

The company tagline -- "the original salted chocolate" may be a slight exaggeration, but they've earned their bragging rights.

I'm partial to the company's other tagline(s): "Roam the Earth. Eat Chocolate."— a motto that summarizes my desire to travel and hike outdoors in the past 10 years.

Being out in the fresh air in the mountains or on a trail somewhere new inspires me, and the experience is even better with great chocolate and food and good company. Salazon founder, Pete Truby, was backpacking in Utah, when he had the idea of creating Salazon.

Today's Salazon 72% Dark Chocolate with Sea Salt and Almonds bar, part of the company's Trail Series*, was embossed with a map of the world.

This organic dark salt bar had surprising complex flavor, that I rarely experience in a "salt" bar. The single origin Dominican Republic chocolate was the star. The chocolate had a not unpleasant, fresh, fermented cacao aroma. It melted slowly but evenly, releasing green, mild fruit and then surprisingly floral notes.

I was, perhaps, expecting to have salt crowd out any nuances of chocolate flavor, but instead small crystals of sea salt twinkled patiently in the background, sharing the scene with chopped bits of almond.

The maker here has, instead, honored all the ingredients from across the world in this bar, in a marvelous way, blending them together to make something unique and interesting.

*"At least 2 percent of gross sales" of Salazon Trail Series bars will go to "support the Triple Crown of National Scenic Trails."

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

John Kelly Chocolates - Dark Chocolate Roasted Almonds & Pink Himalayan Salt bar - May 3, 2016

Chocolate of the Day: 

John Kelly Foods, Inc.
Dark Chocolate Roasted Almonds and Pink Himalayan Salt bar
Good
Weight: .46 oz. (13 g.) / 2.3 oz. (65 g.) in total bar
Calories: 66 calories in 1/5 bar
Cost: $7.50 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Studio 41, Benicia, CA

This month Chocolate Banquet has a salt focus, with three weeks dedicated to the subject. Last week, bars and chocolates with salt were highlighted. This week we're featuring chocolate offerings with salt and almonds. And next week, we'll explore chocolate and salted caramel.

Although the history of sweets paired with salt is long, with the growing number of salt-sprinkled chocolates over the past decade, it's almost hard to remember a time when we didn't have so many high-quality chocolate and salt bars, confections and caramels.

My first real memory of chocolate + salt was biting into a chocolate-covered caramel square sprinkled with gray sea salt from Fran's (Seattle, WA) over 10 years ago. (Fran introduced Gray Salt Caramels in 1999.) What's yours?

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

The Dark Chocolate Roasted Almonds and Pink Himalayan Salt bar from John Kelly Chocolates (Los Angeles, CA) contained small, crunchy, pink Himalayan salt crystals in every other bite—enough of a pause to enjoy the chocolate in between salt sparkles.

This 73% cacao (gluten-free, non-GMO and soy free) dark chocolate bar broke with a hard snap, had a slightly roasted flavor, and was not too sweet. Bits of dry-roasted almonds, and the aforementioned salt, helped create a balanced bar.

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

Seattle Chocolates - Salted Almond Truffle Bar - May 2, 2016

Chocolate of the Day:

Seattle Chocolate Company
Salted Almond - Dark Chocolate Truffle Bar
Good
Weight: .625 oz. (17.5 g.) / 2.5 oz. (70 g.) in total bar
Calories: 95 calories in 1/4 bar
Cost: $3.50 for 1 bar
Purchased from: SweetE Organic, Mill Valley, CA

Welcome to Day #2 of Chocolate, Salt and Almonds Theme Week.

Today's Salted Almond bar from Seattle Chocolates (Seattle, WA) was part of the company's Truffle Bar line—scored bars filled with a softer middle. This one was decorated with a modern, wavy linear pattern (vaguely reminiscent of woodgrain or ripples across a lake) on the outside.

This bar smelled and tasted like salted dark milk chocolate (although it contained no dairy ingredients); and it had chunks of dry roasted almonds embedded in the creamier chocolate middle inside, with a hint of sea salt.

This Gluten-Free, Vegan and Non-GMO bar was made with Rainforest Alliance Certified cocoa and bore the Kosher dairy symbol.

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

Chocolove - Dark Chocolate Covered Salted Almonds - May 1, 2016

Chocolate of the Day:

Chocolove
Dark Chocolate Covered Salted Almonds
Good - Good+
Weight: 2.5 oz. (70.75 g.) / 3 oz. (85 g.) in total box/package
Calories: 375 calories in 2.5 oz. serving
Cost: $3.99 (estimate)
Purchased from: Piazza's Fine Foods, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #7 of Chocolate and Salt Theme Week, and Day #1 of Chocolate, Salt and Almond Theme Week.

Today I enjoyed a few handfuls of Dark Chocolate Covered Salted Almonds from Chocolove (Boulder, CO).

The thick, rich 55% cocoa Belgian chocolate coating the almonds was made with certified "For Life*" cocoa. This dark chocolate was a bit more flavorful than many other chocolate confection coating materials.

The combination was tasty. The roasted/toasted almonds at the center of each piece provided a pleasing nutty crunch; however, the subtle nut flavor was somewhat overshadowed by the more robust dark chocolate and even the salt, that was fairly evenly incorporated throughout these almonds. Still, it's hard to go wrong with this combination.

*"For Life" cocoa means "it was farmed in a socially responsible and ethical manner" according to the packaging.

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

Santosha Chocolate - Coconut and Hawaiian Pink Salt bar - Apr. 30, 2016

Chocolate of the Day: 

Santosha Chocolate
(Produced by Raw Shakti Chocolate LLC)
Coconut and Hawaiian Pink Salt Raw 70% Cacao bar
Good - Good +
Weight: 1 oz. (29 g.) in 1 bar
Calories: 130 calories in 1 bar
Cost: $3.99 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Piazza's Fine Foods, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #6 of Chocolate and Salt Theme Week.

Chocolate bars with salt are no longer difficult to find.

One can be further selective and specify a Vegan, Organic, Non-GMO, Gluten Free, Low Glycemic, Nut Free and Soy Free, 70% cacao, raw dark chocolate bar with pink salt. Even with this criteria, there are at least a handful of different bars that might be a match.

If you add coconut to the mix, and specify Hawaiian pink salt, that would further narrow down the field; and there's a good chance a search for this bar might yield today's Santosha Chocolate Coconut and Hawaiian Pink Salt Raw 70% Cacao bar (produced by Raw Shakti Chocolate LLC, based in Asheville, NC).

This bar had a natural coconut and dark chocolate aroma, and was carpeted on the back with an even layer of finely grated coconut. The coconut wasn't too sweet, and I appreciated that. The grated coconut bits on one side gave the bar a mild chewiness.

Organic, raw Peruvian (heirloom) cacao beans were used to the craft the 70% cacao dark chocolate–that had a slight tang of fruit acidity.

Vanilla and a slight caramel/brown sugar taste (from the coconut palm sugar) gave the bar a touch of warm comfort flavor; and the bar had a pleasant clean finish. The Hawaiian sea salt contributed to a nicely balanced bar.

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