Tillamook - Dark Chocolate Mint Ice Cream - July 12, 2017

Chocolate of the Day: 

Tillamook
Dark Chocolate Mint - Extra Creamy Ice Cream
Good - Good +
Weight: 1/2 cup (98 g.) / 15.5 fl. oz. (458 mL) in total container
Calories: 270 calories in 1/2 cup serving
Cost: $3.99 (estimate) for 1 container
Purchased from: Grocery Outlet, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to a bonus day, Day #8, of Chocolate and Mint Theme Week.

Today's Dark Chocolate Mint ice cream was from Tillamook County Creamery Association (Tillamook, OR).

This dark chocolate Oregon peppermint ice cream—with subtle swirls of ground, peppermint candy bits—was full of rich flavors that harmonized well.

It was flavored with "natural peppermint oil," made from cream and milk with "no artificial growth hormones," and appeared to have no artificial flavors.

It did have vegetable stabilizers (locust bean and guar gums); and while it did not explicitly include ingredients containing wheat or gluten, it was not labeled gluten free.*

*Made in a facility that processes other ingredients; may contain wheat.

Baskin-Robbins - Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream - July 11, 2017

Chocolate of the Day:

Baskin-Robbins
Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream
Good
Weight: 1/4 cup (44 g.) / 14 fl. oz. (414 mL) in total container
Calories: 105 calories in 1/4 cup serving
Cost: $3.99 (estimate) for 1 container
Purchased from: Safeway, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #7 of Chocolate and Mint Theme Week.

Fond childhood summer memories often include trips to an ice cream store, such as Baskin-Robbins (founded in Southern California, now based in Canton, MA).

Baskin-Robbins Mint Chocolate Chip is one of the company's top selling flavors.* Mint ice cream with semi-sweet chocolate chips is a great summer (or anytime) flavor.

Cream was the #1 ingredient. The rest of the ingredients were more predictable for traditional mass-produced ice creams: sugar, corn syrup, semi-sweet chocolate chips, natural flavor, cellulose gum, mono and diglycerides...guar gum, carrageenan, polysorbate 80, and artificial colors (blue 1, yellow 5).

*The company website listed Mint Chocolate Chip, after Vanilla and Chocolate, as the first three in a short list of top selling flavors.

Seely - Mint Patty - July 10, 2017

Chocolate of the Day: 

Seely Family Farm, Inc.
Mint Patty
Good - Good +
Weight: 1 oz. (28 g.) in total patty
Calories: 112 calories (estimate) in 1 patty
Cost: $2.65 for 1 patty
Purchased from: Draeger's Market, San Mateo, CA

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

This dark chocolate covered Mint Patty from Seely Family Farm, Inc. (Clatskanie, OR) was "hand-crafted with Seely Heirloom Peppermint Oil," and was pure peppermint heaven.

Rick's Rather Rich Ice Cream - Chocolate Chip ice cream + mint - July 9, 2017

Chocolate of the Day:

Rick's Rather Rich Ice Cream
Chocolate Chip Ice Cream
Good - Good+
Weight: 1/2 cup / 1 Quart container
Calories: 250 calories (guesstimate) in 1/2 serving
Cost: $9.00 for 1 Quart container
Purchased from: Rick's Rather Rich Ice Cream, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #5 of Chocolate and Mint Theme Week.

Today's Chocolate Chip ice cream from Rick's Rather Rich Ice Cream (Palo Alto, CA) didn't have any mint in it.

However, this satisfying, light and creamy ice cream with flecks of dark chocolate was whirled in a blender with fresh mint leaves and a splash of mint tea and transformed into a tiny, refreshing mint milkshake.

The subtle hint of mint (from the backyard) worked very nicely in the blender—resulting in a home-grown version of mint chocolate chip ice cream that was less sweet than most (a good thing).

The Oakland Chocolate Co. - Mint Crisp Bar - July 8, 2017

Chocolate of the Day: 

The Oakland Chocolate Company
Mint Crisp Bar - Jamaican Origin 70% Cacao
Good - Good +
Weight: 1 oz. (28.35 g.) in total bar
Calories: 155 calories (estimate) in 1 bar
Cost: $2.50 for 1 bar
Purchased from: The Oakland Chocolate Company, Oakland, CA

Welcome to Day #4 of Chocolate and Mint Theme Week.

Today's 70% Cacao Mint Crisp Bar was from The Oakland Chocolate Company (Oakland, CA). Chief chocolate maker, Nancy Nadel, makes bean-to-bar chocolates from scratch with cacao beans from Jamaica.

The company's chocolates can be ordered online, or purchased at some local haunts and farmers markets.

Summer is great fun, but not always for chocolate vendors. It's a challenge to sell or transport chocolate outdoors in hot summer weather.

But, Nancy Nadel at The Oakland Chocolate Company manages. She sells her chocolates on Fridays at the Old Oakland Farmers' Market in downtown Oakland, and was keeping her bars and confections in a cooler in the shade yesterday. I scurried back to an air-conditioned car with her chocolates after buying them as fast as possible.

The Mint Crunch Bar was a thick creamy bar with a slow melt, filled with earthy dark cacao bean flavor. A light sprinkling of candied cacao nibs (pieces of bean) supplied extra cacao flavor and crunchy texture. And peppermint oil provided a subtle hint of mint. Last, but not least, this bar wasn't overly sweet (a plus).

Divine Chocolate - 70% Dark Chocolate with Mint bar - July 7, 2017

Chocolate of the Day:

Divine Chocolate
70% Dark Chocolate with Mint bar
Good
Weight: 1.16 oz. (33.3 g.) / 3.5 oz. (100 g.) in total bar
Calories: 200 calories (per label) in 1/3 bar
Cost: $missing information
Purchased from: missing information

Welcome to Day #3 of Chocolate and Mint Theme Week. And, Happy World Chocolate Day in Europe/UK.

Today's Divine Chocolate 70% Dark Chocolate with Mint bar was made in Germany with Fairtrade cacao beans from the Kuapa Kokoo Farmers co-operative in Ghana (West Africa), and distributed by Divine Chocolate Inc. (Washington, D.C.). This was a true international bar.

The chocolate had a smooth, almost creamy texture, likely from a bit of added cocoa butter. The taste of tiny natural peppermint crisp pieces was authentic, pleasing, flavorful and even throughout the bar. An earthy dark chocolate flavor kept poking through the natural mint; otherwise the base chocolate was smooth in flavor as well.

Like other Divine Chocolate offerings, this dark mint bar was attractively packaged. The inside of the outer packaging, printed with colorful Adinkra (West African)-inspired symbols* contained educational information about the people/farmers behind the beans. Inside this outer wrapper the bar was covered in gold foil.

*Adrinka symbols often appear on West African cloth and hand-made crafts; and each symbol has its own meaning. (The only one I could decipher here meant "strength.")

Laraber Bites - Mint Chocolate Truffle - July 6, 2017

Chocolate of the Day: 

Larabar Bites
Mint Chocolate Truffle
Good
Weight: 1.06 oz. (30 g.) / 5.3 oz. (150 g.) in total package
Calories: 130 calories in 1 serving (4 pieces)
Cost: $2.99 for 1 package
Purchased from: Grocery Outlet Bargain Market, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #2 of Chocolate and Mint Theme Week.

Today's Mint Chocolate Truffle Larabar Bites were created by Larabar (Minneapolis, MN) and distributed by Small Planet Foods, Inc. (a division of General Mills).

These Bites came in bite-sized round ball shapes; and the most powerful flavors came from the mint, coconut and dried fruit/dates. Chocolate was more of a background flavor and texture.

The straight-forward ingredients list included just six items: dates, almonds, fair trade chocolate chips, cocoa powder, peppermint oil and coconut flour.