Raaka - Cabernet Sauvignon Peru 68% bar - Nov. 16, 2017

Chocolate of the Day: 

Raaka
Cabernet Sauvignon Peru 68% Cacao bar
Good +
Weight: .9 oz. (25 g.) /1.8 oz. (50 g.) in total bar
Calories: 129 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $7.95 (estimate) for 1 bar
Purchased from: Raaka, online order

Welcome to Day #26 of South American Chocolate Theme Weeks.

Today we're deviating from single origin bars with no flavor inclusions, to include a Cabernet Sauvignon Peru bar from Raaka Chocolate (Brooklyn, NY).

It's challenging to find a good match between red wine and dark chocolate. Often the strong notes in one will drag the other sideways. However, Raaka makers have found a unique and harmonious way to blend these two great-tasting, fermented edibles. This 68% Cacao bar with pleasant red wine grape flavor was made by steaming cacao over simmering red wine.* 

The Peruvian-grown cacao for today's bar was from CAC Pangoa, an agricultural cooperative that produces coffee, cacao and honey, and supports sustainability in the Central Amazon region of Peru.

*Today's gluten free, soy free and vegan bar contained just four ingredients: "organic cacao beans, organic cane sugar, organic cacao butter (and) cabernet sauvignon."

Shattell - 85% Dark Piura Peru Single Origin bar - Nov. 15, 2017

Chocolate of the Day: 

Shattell Chocolate
(Produced by Qulinaria Peru S.A.C.)
85% Dark (Noir) Cacao Piura Single Origin bar
Good +
Weight: .82 oz. (23.3 g.) / 2.46 oz. (70 g.) in total bar
Calories: 125 calories (estimate) in 1/3 bar
Cost: $4.99 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocolate Stars USA, online order

Welcome to Day #25 of South American Chocolate Theme Weeks.

Today's Shattell Chocolate 85% Dark (Noir) Cacao Piura Single Origin bar was produced by Qulinaria Peru S.A.C. (Lima, Peru).

Shattell is an "artisan chocolate factory" located in Lima that specializes in making craft chocolate from beans grown in the Peruvian Amazon.

The cacao used to make this organic bar was grown in the Piura region of Peru; and the bar was a product of Peru as well—rather than coming from an American or European maker. Piura is a coastal region in northwestern Peru, one of several regions where cacao is grown in a country that has seen cacao production climb significantly in the last decade.

Today's ultra-dark Piura bar had an aroma with roasted coffee, acidic dried fruit (dried cherries, raisins) and cocoa notes.

The taste was smoother than the bold aroma, with not as much of an acidic bite and/or bitterness as expected. It did have a slight coffee aftertaste. The texture was relatively creamy and uniform.

Frederic Blondeel - Tablette VII - 75% Peru Dark Chocolate bar - Nov. 14, 2017

Chocolate of the Day:

Frederic Blondeel
Tablette VII - 75% Peru Dark Chocolate bar
Good +
Weight: .636 oz. (18 g.) / 1.59 oz. (45 g.) in total bar
Calories: 97 calories (estimate) in 2/5 bar
Cost: $6.95 (estimate) for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocolate Stars USA, online order

Welcome to Day #24 of South American Chocolate Weeks. This week, we're virtually visiting Peru—via bars made with cacao grown there.

Today's Tablette VII* 75% Peru Dark Chocolate bar had an aroma with notes of chocolate, dried fruit (raisins, plums, fig jam) and a hint of tropical fruit (guava, passion fruit) and green.

The thin chocolate bar allowed immediate access to a cocoa buttery-soy lecithin texture and rapid melt—showing once again that bar thickness or thinness can influence the tasting experience. There were occasionally, in contrast to the buttery-ness, tiny crunchy particles (of either cocoa nib or sugar?) but they weren't off-putting.

It was a pleasant and surprisingly light bar.

*The Frederic Blondeel line, manufactured in Belgium, includes a single origin series of at least 10 different tablettes (bars numbered from I to X).

Zak's Chocolate - 70% Cacao Peru San Martin bar - Nov. 13, 2017

Chocolate of the Day: 

Zak's Chocolate
70% Cacao Peru San Martin bar
Good ++ - Very Good
Weight: .9 oz. (25 g.) /1.8 oz. (50 g.) in total bar
Calories: 140 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $9.75 (estimate) for 1 bar
Purchased from: Zak's Chocolate, Scottsdale, AZ

Welcome to Day #23 of South American Chocolate Theme Week.

Today's 70% Cacao Peru San Martin dark bar was hand-crafted by the makers at Zak's Chocolate (Scottsdale, AZ).

I really liked this bar. It was well-crafted, and consistently good. It had an aroma with green, spice (the tasting notes suggest cinnamon/autumn spice, mild nutty) and chocolate notes. The texture was smooth and a creamy* throughout.

This 70% dark Peru bar was a finalist at the 2016 International Chocolate Awards. The single origin bar was gluten free and made with organic cocoa beans, organic sugar and organic cocoa butter.

*Zak's Chocolate is one of a small handful of bean-to-bar craft chocolate companies making single origin bars that also incorporate single origin cocoa butter, that they press themselves. (Arete Fine Chocolate in Milpitas, CA, also does this.) 

Maverick Chocolate - 80% Dark Chocolate bar - Nov. 12, 2017

Chocolate of the Day: 

Maverick Chocolate Co.  

80% Dark Chocolate bar

Good ++

Weight: 1.15 oz. (32.5 g.) / 2.3 oz. (65 g.) in total bar

Calories: 172 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar

Cost: $11.00 for 1 bar

Purchased from: The Chocolate Garage, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #22 of South American Chocolate Weeks.

After exploring Ecuadorean cacao bars and blends for several days, we've moved to Peru. 

Today's 80% Dark Chocolate bar was from the Maverick Chocolate Co., a family-owned and operated bean-to-bar chocolate factory located in Cincinnati, OH.

The cacao used to make this 80% two-ingredient (80% organic cocoa beans, 20% organic cane sugar) bar came from San Martin, Peru.

This ultra-dark bar had an aroma with citrus (grapefruit), bitter + slightly sweet, deep chocolate notes. The chocolate had a pleasant creamy uniform texture, melt and flavor.

Unlike the 80%+ cacao Ecuador bars (this past week) with sweet aromas and more serious flavor, today's Peru bar had a bolder, more bitter aroma and a more friendly taste. It was well-crafted and had a relatively clean, mellow bittersweet finish.

Alter Eco 85% Dark Blackout, SOMA Black Science Camino Verde bars - Nov. 11, 2017

Chocolate(s) of the Day: 

Alter Eco
Dark Blackout 85% Cocoa bar
Good +++
Weight: .94 oz. (26.6 g.) / 2.82 oz. (80 g.) in total bar
Calories: 160 calories in 1/3 bar
Cost: $N/A - gift (Thank you Bill)
Purchased from: N/A - gift

SOMA Chocolatemaker
Black Science Camino Verde (Ecuador) 70% Cacao bar
Good +++
Weight: 1.15 oz. (32.5 g.) / 2.3 oz. (65 g.) in total bar
Calories: 175 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $13.00 (estimate) for 1 bar
Purchased from: The Chocolate Garage, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #21 of South American Chocolate Theme Weeks. This month we've been taking an edible tour of this great continent, filled with cacao-growing regions that date back to the origin of cacao.

Before moving on from Ecuador to Peru, we'll taste two more bars made from Ecuadorean cacao. Drawing this pair of black aces from the depths of the Chocolate Banquet vault would be considered lucky by anyone with a superstitious chocolate bone in their body. And if it isn't considered so, it should be.

Alter Eco - 85% Cocoa Dark Blackout bar
The 85% Cocoa Dark Blackout bar from Alter Eco (San Francisco, CA) was made from organic, fair trade cocoa grown on the coast of Ecuador. The resulting (gluten-free) ultra-dark bar had complex aroma with notes that included: true dark chocolate (fudge brownie), chocolate covered dried fruits, and a trace of smoked salt.

The chocolate had a creamy, cocoa buttery melt, and a uniform, satisfying deep chocolate flavor with occasional light berry jam notes. Last, but not least, it was devilishly light on sugar.

SOMA Chocolatemaker - Black Science Camino Verde bar
The 70% Black Science Camino Verde (Ecuador) bar had an aroma with lush green forest and bittersweet chocolate notes.

Tasting notes read: "roasted cashews (and) baked bread." The latter did show up a bit in the tasting arc, perhaps aided by a higher sugar percentage content (70%) vs. the ebony-colored 80%+ bars we've been tasting this week.

The cashew was a more subtle, a difficult note to catch. If this bar did have a light sweet nutty note, cashews would be the right nut to describe that.

The "Black Science" term should be a tribute to the the farm, the fermentation expert (Vicente Norero), and the makers at SOMA Chocolatemaker (Toronto, ON, Canada).  Chocolate-making is both artful skill and science. Successful chocolate demands both.

Coracao Chocolate - 81% Heirloom Cacao Sea Salt, Almonds bar - Nov. 10, 2017

Chocolate of the Day:

Coracao Chocolate
81% Heirloom Cacao Sea Salt, Almonds, Dark Chocolate bar
Good +
Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) / 2 oz. (57 g.) in total bar
Calories: 180 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $5.59 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Monterey Market, Berkeley, CA

Welcome to Day #20 of South American Chocolate Theme Weeks.

Today's 81% Heirloom Cacao Sea Salt, Almonds and Dark Chocolate bar was made by Coracao Chocolate (Oakland, CA) with a blend of cacao grown in Ecuador and Peru.

The bar's aroma was a sweet blend of aromas (fruit, floral, faint coconut dried fig spice cookie) plus a very faint hint of savory nuttiness.

The flavor was surprisingly dark, not for a 81% cacao ultra-dark bar, but for a bar that smelled quite sweet.

The company's organic chocolate bars are sweetened with coconut sugar, and this bar also contained sea salts (smoked and Himalayan). Organic, California (Kashiwase Farms) almond pieces added some crunchy texture.

The base chocolate had a buttery dark melt, but subtler cacao notes were competing a bit with the salts and almonds. Try the plain Coracao 81% Heirloom bar (profiled yesterday) for an interesting side-by-side comparison.