Theo Chocolate - Salted Black Licorice 70% Dark Chocolate bar - Jan. 18, 2018

Chocolate of the Day: 

Theo Chocolate, Inc.

Organic and Fair Trade Salted Black Licorice 70% Dark Chocolate bar

Good ++

Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) / 3 oz. (85 g.) in total bar

Calories: 166 calories in 1/3 bar

Cost: $4.99 (estimate) for 1 bar

Purchased from: missing information 

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

Some people may be surprised by chocolates with licorice, fennel or anise flavoring. But, in fact, great chocolate + licorice blends exist in candies, cakes, cookies and, of course, bars.*

Today's Organic and Fair Trade Salted Black Licorice 70% Dark Chocolate bar was from Theo Chocolate (Seattle, WA).

Warning: if you like licorice, you may find this bar—flavored with star anise essential oil and licorice root extract—mildly addicting. 

Once again, the origin story for this chocolate is multi-faceted. The dark chocolate 70% cacao base was made with cacao sourced in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Peru. The touch of vanilla was sourced in Indonesia; and the licorice root was sourced in the USA**.

Tasting note on the packaging read: "sweet, salty and complex."

This was a well balanced bar with an aroma and initial flavor of licorice. After the first bite, the dark chocolate flavors gently blossomed into prominence; and the touch of salt was just right.

This bar was Organic, Fair for Life, Soy Free, Kosher, Vegan and Gluten Free.

*Askinosie Chocolate and Patric Chocolate (bean-to-bar makers located in Missouri) have both produced bars with licorice in the past.
**Ingredients: Cocoa Beans, Cane Sugar, Cocoa Butter, Sea Salt, Star Anise Essential Oil, Ground Vanilla Bean, Licorice Root Extract

Ultimate Superfoods - Ojio Shape Shifter Cayenne bar - Jan. 17, 2018

Chocolate of the Day: 

Made for: Ultimate Superfoods, Inc.
Ojio Shape Shifter Cayenne Metabolism 66 percent bar
Good + - Good ++
Weight: 1.16 oz. (33 g.) / 1.76 oz. (50 g.) in total bar
Calories: 193 calories in 2/3 bar
Cost: $5.95 (estimate) for 1 bar
Purchased from: Country Sun Natural Foods, Palo Alto, CA

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

Today's Ojio Shape Shifter Cayenne Metabolism bar from Ultimate Superfoods, Inc. (Moorpark, CA) looked exciting and a little scary. Do I really want to be a shape shifter?

In addition to spices like turmeric and cinnamon, this 66% cacao chocolate was powered by some cayenne pepper heat and many other flavor and functional inclusions (ginseng, green coffee, garcinia cambogia, pine bark extract, etc.).

Surprise! There was no need to fear. This was a well-tempered bar that broke with a hard snap. And it had well-balanced, rich chocolate and spice flavors. There was no strange medicinal flavor, and this offering did not take the "fun" out of functional chocolate.

Domori - 100% Criollo Cacao bar - Jan. 16, 2018

Chocolate of the Day: 

Domori

100% Criollo Cacao bar

Good ++

Weight: .66 oz. (21 g.) / .88 oz. (25 g.) in total bar

Calories: 117 calories in 3/4 bar

Cost: $ N/A - gift from a friend

Purchased from: N/A - gift (Apple store, Cupertino, CA)

Welcome to Day #3 of Chocolate and Surprise Theme Week.

Just when it crossed my mind that maybe 11 years of chocolate might be enough, surprise! This generous gift from a friend arrived. 

Today's single-ingredient,* 100% Criollo Cacao bar from Domori (None, Italy) was purchased by said friend at an Apple Computer store adjacent to the company's Cupertino headquarters. Disk drives and Domori. Interesting combination.

This bar had a slightly bitter, earthy tobacco aroma. The relatively thin bar allowed access to a flavor profile (similar to the aroma) right away; and the chocolate broke with a had snap (a sign of a well-tempered bar). The melt was rapid and even; and the texture was smooth, almost creamy. 

For such a powerful dark aroma and flavor profile, it was surprisingly mild in terms of bitterness and lacked the astringent pucker one might expect. It was like a ship in heavy seas that you expect might founder but it kept miraculously righting itself.

The flavor was very even and persisted with a similar aftertaste for several seconds, then tailed off gradually. 

Tasting notes printed on the packaging read: "...dried fruit with low bitterness and astringency, and an almost immediate balance." It was all of these, but without some of the more delicate dried, fruit acidity at the beginning that is ofter present with bars made with pure Criollo** cacao. 

*One ingredient: cocoa mass, gluten free

**Criollo, a variety of cacao, is known for its subtle, exquisite, usually balanced flavors. Fruits for this tree tend to be slightly smaller, and it is often more delicate, and less disease resistant than Forestaro and Trinitario varieties.

Lindt and Sprungli - Gingerbread Milk Chocolate Truffles - Jan. 15, 2018

Chocolate of the Day: 

Lindt and Sprungli 

Lindor Limited Edition - Gingerbread Milk Chocolate Truffles

Good +

Weight: .848 oz. (24 g.) / 5.1 oz. (144 g.) in total package of 12

Calories: 147 calories in 2 pieces

Cost: $ missing information

Purchased from: Michaels, Mountain View, CA

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

It's always a surprise to discover holiday-related chocolates in mid-January. Normally they evaporate by New Year's Day. However, chocolate and gingerbread are favorites here, all year long.

Today's Limited Edition Gingerbread Milk Chocolate Truffles were created by Lindt and Sprungli (Switzerland), and distributed by Lindt and Sprungli U.S. (Stratham, NH). 

These individually-wrapped, round milk chocolate gingerbread truffles were tasty and satisfying. The fillings inside the milk chocolate outer shells were creamy and smooth, and flecked with tiny crunchy bits. The gingerbread flavor was subtle and authentic.

Note to those who avoid gluten: These truffles did contain barley malt powder.

Bonaris Cacao de Peru - Chocolate Negro con aceite de oliva y sal - Jan. 14, 2018

Chocolate of the Day: 

Bonaris - Cacao de Peru
Dark Chocolate with Olive Oil and Salt 80% Cacao bar
Good - Good +
Weight: 1.16 oz. (33.3 g.) / 3.5 oz. (100 g.) in total bar
Calories: 176 calories (estimate) in 1/3 bar
Cost: $N/A - gift
Purchased from: N/A - gift

Welcome to Day #1 of Chocolate and Surprise Me Theme Week.

Surprises come in many forms. Sometimes wonderful chocolate surprises arrive by mail or via an acquaintance who has come back from a trip.

Today's Bonaris Dark Chocolate bar with Olive Oil and Salt was was purchased by a colleague who was visiting Barcelona, Spain.* (Thank you Eileen!)

The bar looked like a conventional dark bar, and had pleasing dark chocolate flavor. However, don't expect this to break with a hard snap, the sign of a fully tempered bar.

It was surprisingly soft and a wee bit granular; however the olive oil, and added cocoa butter, helped give this gluten and dairy free bar an almost velvety stoneground melt. This was labeled as an 80 percent cacao bar, but it was quite sweet and approachable for an ultra-high percentage bar.

A generous sprinkle of salt on the back yielded surprise bursts of salt sparkle, more on some bites than others.

This was a fun bar to try, with a great journey story to tell. And the repurposed envelope and inner wrapper packaging was clever, resourceful and functional.

*As far as I can tell, Bonaris bars (available in Spain in several flavors) are made in the Lleida Province of Catalonia in northeast Spain, using at least some cacao grown in Peru. These bars (or tabletas) are sold through Chocolates IVIS SL at outdoor markets in the region, including in Barcelona. Picture at right is from the company's Facebook page and shows the variety of bars they offer.

DeMet's - holiday turtle egg; Storck - Toffifay - Jan. 13, 2018

Chocolate of the Day: 

DeMet's Candy Company

Turtles - holiday eggs

Good

Weight: 1.2 oz. (33.96 g.) in 1 egg

Calories: 180 calories (estimate) in 1 egg

Cost: $ missing information 

Purchased from: missing information

August Storck AG

Toffifay

Good

Weight: .3 oz. (8.25 g.) / 1.2 oz. (33 g.) in total package

Calories: 45 calories in 1 piece (1/4 package) 

Cost: $0.79 for 1 package

Purchased from: Grocery Outlet Bargain Market, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #11 of Chocolate and Caramel Theme Week.

Today we're featuring two milk chocolate and caramel items—both acquired during the December holiday season.

DeMet's Turtles

The first item was a DeMet's egg-shaped chocolate and caramel "turtle," complete with milk chocolate, caramel and nuts (pecans and possibly hazelnuts).

DeMet's (Stamford, CT) has been making turtles* for decades. (These holiday turtles were a product of Turkey.)

These holiday eggs were wrapped with red and white festive holiday foil wrappings with images of polar bears and penguins. However, if you looked carefully before biting into the egg, it was possible to spot the likeness of the iconic DeMet's turtle character imprinted on the chocolate.

August Storck Toffifay

The second item: Toffifay, a chocolate, caramel and hazelnut cream, semi-spherical, sweet confection from August Storck AG (Germany).

The sweet caramel outer cup had a soft chew texture, and the chocolate center was slightly more firm. 

*The original chocolate, caramel and nut turtles resembled turtles; often pecans or nut pieces protruded (from the chocolate oblong body or "shell"), resembling a turtle's head and legs.

Chocolate and Love - Dark Chocolate Organic 55% Cocoa Sea Salt and Caramel bar - Jan. 12, 2018

Chocolate of the Day:

Chocolate and Love
Dark Chocolate Organic 55% Cocoa Sea Salt and Caramel bar
Good ++
Weight: 9 pieces (37 g.) / 3.5 oz. (100 g.) in total bar
Calories: 210 calories in 1 serving (9 pieces) bar
Cost: $6.99 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Whole Foods Market, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #10 of Chocolate and Caramel Theme Week.

Today's Dark Chocolate Sea Salt and Caramel bar was a good example of the international supply chain that exists with many chocolate bars.

This 55% Cacao, Organic Sea Salt and Caramel bar was made in Switzerland for Chocolate and Love Ltd. (Perth, UK) and imported by Belgium's Chocolate Source (Milton, MA). And it was purchased and eaten in California.

The bar was riddled with tiny caramel pieces (10%) (cane sugar, whole milk powder, butter, glucose* syrup) and sea salt crystals, making it rich and slightly crunchy.

It was a hit with those who provided tasting help. ((Thank you Trudi and Holly!)

*Not sure if this was gluten free.