Cocanu - Nibs, Pop Rocks bar - Sept. 19, 2016

Chocolate of the Day:

Cocanu Chocolate
Moonwalk - Dark chocolate, cacao nibs, Pop Rocks(R) bar
Good +++
Weight: .4 oz. (12.5 g.) / .8 oz. (25 g.) in total bar
Calories: 60 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $5.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: The Meadow (Mississippi location), Portland, OR

Welcome to Day #6 of Nibs Theme Week.

Today's Moonwalk bar from Cocanu Chocolate (Portland, OR) was a dark chocolate bar with cacao nibs "dreaming of walking on the moon." A few days ago we had a gorgeous full, pumpkin-colored moonrise, that a friend and I observed from a hilltop in San Francisco, so this Moonwalk bar had special appeal.

Normally, nibs pep up a bar all by themselves. However, the Nacional nibs from Ecuador in this 65% dark bar received a subtle boost from some embedded Pop Rocks. The tiny edible bursts were not enough to break out of earth's orbit, but provided a bit of subtle concept fun.

The bar's dark chocolate base was crafted from Venezuelan Criollo cacao and had a complex, balanced and subtly sweet, almost smoky, earthy, fruity aroma and flavor. The chocolate had an even melt and relatively creamy texture. There was one tiny off note, perhaps from a nib.

The Pop Rocks yielded a few small sweet, crunchy bits, but may have lost some of these sizzle during the long flight to the moon.

The finish lingered in a pleasant way for about 20-30 seconds after the last bite. And now, thanks to this Moonwalk bar, I'm leaving for a chocolate-powered walk, here on Earth.

Ritual Chocolate - The Nibs Bar 75% cacao - Sept. 18, 2016

Chocolate of the Day:

Ritual Chocolate
"The Nibs Bar" 75% Cacao
Good
Weight: .53 oz. (15 g.) / 2.12 oz. (60 g.) in total bar
Calories: 79 calories (estimate) in 1/4 bar
Cost: $7.50 for 1 bar
Purchased from: SweetE Organic, Mill Valley, CA

Welcome to Day #5 of Nibs Theme Week.

Today's dark chocolate bar was made with cacao beans from the Toledo district of Southern Belize. "The Nibs Bar" from Ritual Chocolate (Park City, UT) had a faintly sweet, earthy dark chocolate and coffee aroma, and a fairly strong coffee flavor with a hint of dried and/or citrus fruit.

This two-ingredient bar was made from cacao and organic cane sugar. I knew this, and yet I found myself re-checking the ingredients, to make sure the cacao nibs weren't coffee nibs. If you like coffee, you'll like this bar.

The bar's packaging (and bar) were very well designed. Every side and surface contributed to the company's story, from the mountain peak motif and the sparkly stars above*, to the cacao pod nestled in the middle of a diamond shape.

*The company crafts their chocolate in the mountains at 7,000 feet (2,133 meters). While it can be difficult to make chocolate in a hot climate, making chocolate in the snowy mountains (despite a temperature-controlled inside) must also require some re-calibrations for altitude, relative dryness, and weather. Fortunately, the team at Ritual has had practice. They moved to Park City, UT from Denver, CO.

Creo Chocolate - Ecuador Arriba Nacional Cacao Nibs - Sept. 17, 2016

Chocolate of the Day:

Creo Chocolate
Ecuador Arriba Nacional Cacao Nibs
Good +++ - Very Good
Weight: 2 TB, 1 oz. (28 g.) / 8 oz. (226 g.) in total package
Calories: 125 calories (estimate) for a 2 TB serving
Cost: $10.00 (estimate) for 1 package
Purchased from: Creo Chocolate, Portland, OR

Welcome to Day #13 of Ecuador Chocolate, and Day #4 of Nibs Theme Week.

Sometimes it pays to go back to basics with foods and sweets.

Chocolate is made from fermented and dried cacao (or cocoa) beans. In almost all cases*, these beans are then roasted, winnowed and then ground into smaller pieces called cocoa nibs. And, nibs are the basic component of chocolate that we're focused on this week.

Today, my chocolate of the day is...a handful of Ecuador Arriba Nacional Cacao Nibs from Creo Chocolate (Portland, OR) eaten plain, and over vanilla ice cream and other items.

These nibs were smooth and even, with no off flavors. They had a nice soft crunch with earth, chocolate, fruit, and wine flavor notes.

These were eaten straight out of the bag, over vanilla ice cream and over Nutella brownies. I can highly recommend all three choices. (Thank you to Julie for the tasting help!)

*In some cases, chocolate makers and chocolatiers are using unroasted or partially roasted beans either to make "raw" chocolate or chocolate with a different nutritional/flavor profile.

Creo Chocolate - 73% Ecuador Nibs and Sea Salt bar - Sept. 16, 2016

Chocolate of the Day: 

Creo Chocolate
73 percent Ecuador Cacao Nibs and Sea Salt bar
Good ++ - Very Good
Weight: .875 oz. (25 g.) / 1.75 oz. (50 g.) in total bar
Calories: 131 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $8.00 (estimate) for 1 bar
Purchased from: Creo Chocolate, Portland, OR

Welcome to Day #12 of Chocolate and Ecuador Theme Week, and Day #3 of Nibs Theme Week.

Today's 73 percent Ecudaor Cacao with Nibs and Sea Salt bar from Creo Chocolate (Portland, OR) was made from Heirloom Arriba Nacional cacao, a fine-flavored cacao from Ecuador known for its floral flavor.

I purchased this bar earlier this year while on a trip to Portland; and I was able to visit some makers, like Creo, in person. With only a few days in the city of roses, I barely scratched the surface of the chocolate making scene there.

Creo, a word that translates into both "I believe" and "I create" is an apt name for a craft chocolate maker.

And these chocolate makers have created a 73 percent cacao dark bar containing a bouquet of aromas and flavors that I associate with Ecuador: slightly earthy, green, floral, sweet marshmallow, nutty, slightly woodsy, and a very small, pleasant, wine-y note in the last bite I had.

Nibs added tiny windows of unadulterated (unsweetened) cacao flavor, and crunchy texture to the smooth dark, well-tempered chocolate that had a nice, even melt. And for those that like a bit of salt, you'll get that some sparkles of that too.

Jordi's Chocolate - Dark Chocolate Cacao Nibs 63% bar - Sept. 15, 2016

Chocolate of the Day: 

Jordi's Chocolate
Tmava Cokolada Dark Chocolate (bar with nibs)
Good +++ - Very Good
Weight: .88 oz. (25 g.) / 1.76 oz. (50 g.) in total bar
Calories: 132 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $ difficult to calculate - part of subscription box
Purchased from: Cocoa Runners (UK)

Welcome to Day #11 of Ecuador Theme Week, and Day #2 of Nibs Theme Week. But who's counting, right?

I was delighted to try a dark chocolate single origin bar from one of the first (this century at least) Czech Republic craft chocolate companies, Jordi's Chocolate (Hadrec Kralove, Czech Republic). The company opened a chocolate parlour in the summer of 2010, and expanded their operations with a chocolate manufacturing facility in 2012.

I was able to obtain this bar thanks to a subscription from Cocoa Runners (UK), an outfit similar to a wine club that searches the globe for craft chocolate bars. Their selection philosophy: "Many are tasted, few are chosen."

Back to today's dark chocolate bar...an Academy of Chocolate Bronze Award winner in 2015.

This 63% cocoa solids, two-ingredient bar (cocoa beans and sugar) bar was crafted from beans grown in Ecuador. The tasting notes printed on the bar's packaging read:

"Dark chocolate with cocoa nibs. Smooth tones of coffee and red fruit. The result is quiet and live chocolate at the same time."

The bar had a very pleasant chocolatey, almost woody aroma and flavor with slight fruit lilt. This chocolate was deceptively subtle; it was more complex than the first bite would indicate. (It reminded me of my first sip of Kona coffee - deceptively mild and very good.)

The bar held up well as I re-tasted the bar throughout the day. And the nibs added depth and texture and a pleasant crunch, with well-balanced flavor, helping to balance the sweetness nicely.

The inside packaging contained the story of the company and a brief description of two other bars (a white chocolate bar and a milk chocolate bar—also adorned with the image of a wild animal).

The meerkat peering out at us on the front of the package lives in South Africa. These engaging and curious animals, seem to be always scanning the horizon, on the alert for predators, and planning food forays into nearby areas. Sounds like certain chocolate hunters I know.

SOMA Chocolatemaker - Little Big Man bar - Sept. 14, 2016

Chocolate of the Day:

SOMA Chocolatemaker
Little Big Man bar
Very Good
Weight: 1.1 oz. (32.5 g.) / 2.2 oz. (65 g.) total bar
Calories: 167 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $12.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: The Chocolate Garage, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #10 of Ecuador Theme Week, and Day #1 of Nibs Theme Week.

I can't think of a better bar for Chocolate Banquet's 10-year anniversary week. This Little Big Man bar from SOMA Chocolatemaker (Toronto, Canada) has so many great stories to be told.*

First, I feel very glad to be living in a world with so much great craft chocolate. Second, while a trip to Canada would be beautiful this time of year, there's a place right down the street from me where I can buy SOMA and other chocolates from dozens of different places. This still amazes me.

The chocolate makers at SOMA (David, Cynthia and team) have consistently been making creative and high-quality offerings as long as I've been writing about chocolate. Several years ago, I remember parking myself in their shop inside an old, brick whiskey factory, and buying pine-infused and olive oil truffles, and working with a very kind and patient employee at the counter to create a custom sundae, probably with nibs, and finally buying other chocolates that they carried from around the globe. I only left because they were closing.

Today's bar, sealed in a silver pouch, had its own unique story. On one side of this 73% dark blend bar (made with cacao beans from two continents: Ecuador and Madagascar) was a map of the Toronto waterfront that could serve as a treasure map for walkers. You've reached your destination when you arrive at SOMA. (Both walking and chocolate are both close to my heart.)

The bar's relatively low sugar content allowed for great cacao aroma and flavor to shine through: earthy, dark and very slightly nutty, with some surprise licorice (liquorice) sparkle.

But, wait, we're not done yet. On the other side of the bar was a smattering of cacao (or cocoa) nibs, bits of cocoa bean, that added crunchy texture and another dimension of cacao flavor.

*Little Big Man is also the name of a stage play and movie about storytelling.

Ritter - 35% Milk Chocolate Arriba Cocoa Ecuador bar - Sept. 13, 2016

Chocolate of the Day:

Ritter Sport
35% Fine Milk Chocolate with Arriba cocoa from Ecuador bar
Good ++
Weight: .575 oz (16.25 g. ) / 2.3 oz. (65 g.) in total bar
Calories: 86 calories in 1/4 bar
Cost: $9.99 for 1 box of 14 bars
Purchased from: Grocery Outlet Bargain Market, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #9 of Ecuador Chocolate Theme Week.

Today's 35 percent Fine Milk Chooclate bar from Ritter (Germany). was made with Arriba cacao from Ecuador.

This fairly thick bar could be broken into pieces to share. The milk chocolate had a relatively creamy melt and an aroma of sweet milk chocolate. The bar had a cooked milk cocoa flavor (more caramel than fruit), with a slight nutty flavor note.