Cachet - Cocoa Nibs Dark Chocolate 70% Cocoa bar - March 7, 2018

Chocolate(s) of the Day: 

Honey Mama's

Nibs and Coffee Cacao-Nectar Bar

Good - Good +

Weight: 1.25 oz. (35.4 g.) / 2.5 oz. (70.8 g.) total bar

Calories: 175.5 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar

Cost: $6.29 for 1 bar

Purchased from: Piazza's Fine Foods, Palo Alto, CA

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

Today's Nibs, Coffee and Coconut Nectar cocoa treat was from Honey Mama's (Portland, OR). This raw honey-sweetened chocolate confection was softer and more textured than a conventionally tempered chocolate bar. It did not break with a hard snap; but it was full of natural flavors.

If you like coconut, you'll like the natural shredded "coconut meat" flavor and virgin coconut oil in today's chocolate. Coffee and cocoa nibs provided additional taste and texture.

*Ingredients: raw, local honey; shredded Organic coconut; unrefined Organic coconut oil; Organic Dutch alkalized cocoa powder; Organic roasted cocoa nibs; single estate ground coffee; vanilla; and Himalayan pink salt.

Honey Mama's bars are free from gluten, soy, eggs, dairy and grains.

Ghirardelli Chocolate - Intense Dark Cocoa Nibs bar - March 6, 2018

Chocolate of the Day:

Ghirardelli  Chocolate Company
Intense Dark Cocoa Nibs bar
Good +
Weight: 1.5 oz. (42.5 g.) / 3.5 oz. (100 g.) in total bar
Calories: 212.5 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $1.99 (estimate) for 1 bar
Purchased from: Grocery Outlet Bargain Market, Palo Alto, CA

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

Today's Intense Dark Cocoa Nibs bar was from Ghirardelli Chocolate Company (San Leandro, CA).

Long before the new American chocolate makers* were making small batch, bean-to-bar chocolate, Domenico "Domingo" Ghirardelli was in the Americas, and came to California in 1849 during the height of the gold rush.

Ghirardelli sold chocolate/drinking chocolate to gold rush miners in Stockton (northern) California, and fortunately for us decided to stay after the gold boom.

Ghirardelli Chocolate Company settled in and expanded their facilities in San Francisco, and a household chocolate brand took shape. It is a testament to any company that stays independent for over a century** And, with luck, the Ghirardelli brand will be around for their 200th anniversary in the mid 2000s.

In the meantime, let's enjoy their dark Cocoa Nibs chocolate bar with bits of crunchy, roasted nibs (crushed bits of shelled cocoa beans). The bar was made from semi-sweet chocolate (sugar, unsweetened chocolate, cocoa butter, milk fat, soy lecithin and vanilla) and nibs.

The vanilla and sugar gave the chocolate a sweet flavor and aroma and a warm quality to it. The nibs provided soft crunchy texture.

* The reference here is to the wave of new American chocolate makers that saw an upsurge in the 1990s and has continued.

**In the 1963, the company was sold. And in the early 1990s, The Ghirardelli Chocolate Company became part of a Swiss chocolate maker's portfolio. Ghirardelli Chocolate Company is currently a U.S. Division of Lindt and Sprungli.)

Soul Sprout - Wow Cacao Nib Sprouted Nut Bar - March 5, 2018

Chocolate of the Day: 

Soul Sprout 

Wow Cacao Nib - Nut Bar - Sprouted

Good ++

Weight: 1.5 oz. (43 g.) in total bar

Calories: 220 calories in 1 bar

Cost: $0.99 (estimate) for 1 bar

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

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

Today's Soul Sprout Wow Cacao Nib Nut Bar was created by Two Moms in the Raw, Inc. (Longmont, CO).  The company produces a variety of nut and granola bars, 

The base of this snack bar consisted of sprouted* raw nuts (almonds, pecans, walnuts). Cacao nibs are what chocolate is made of; and a generous helping of cacao nibs—along with cacao butter and cocoa powder—in this bar supplied the chocolate flavor.

Coconut syrup helped to sweeten and hold this pressed bar together. Other ingredients included pumpkin seeds, chia seeds and buckwheat groats, sea salt and sunflower lecithin.

The Wow Cacao Nib bar was Certified gluten free, organic, and Non GMO Project Verified.

*Sprouting nuts, grains and legumes can produce enzymes that can aid in the digestion of raw foods, in part because the sprouting process helps break down compounds found in plants like phytic acid and enzyme inhibitors.

The Grenada Chocolate Co. - Nib-A-Licious bar - March 4, 2018

Chocolate of the Day: 

The Grenada Chocolate Company

Organic Dark Chocolate Nib-A-Licious nibs in 60% chocolate bar

Good +++ - Very Good

Weight: 1.5 oz. (42.5 g.) / 3 oz. (85 g.) in total bar

Calories: 220 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar

Cost: $10.00 for 1 bar

Purchased from: The Chocolate Garage, Palo Alto, CA

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

Today's Organic Dark Chocolate Nib-A-Licious crispy cocoa nibs in 60% chocolate bar was made by The Grenada Chocolate Company (Hermitage, St. Patrick, Grenada).

The company's tagline printed on the label for this bar was "The Original Tree-to-Bar Cooperative." A fair claim.

The company, founded in 1999,* was a pioneer in organic and sustainable, bean-to-bar production. Their chocolate bars serve as a great example of chocolate being made "in-country," this is, manufactured in the same country where the cacao was grown. 

This thick, dairy-, gluten-, and nut-free bar was laden with true chocolate flavor (brownies, fudge) and pleasant cacao fruitiness. Crunchy nibs added extra texture and pure chocolate flavor depth.

*Mott Green founded The Grenada Chocolate Company in 1999. Unfortunately, Green died in 2013; but, happily for us, and for Green's legacy, the chocolate lives on.

Cavalier NV - Dark Cocoa Nibs bar No Sugar Added - March 3, 2018

Chocolate of the Day: 

Cavalier NV

Dark Cocoa Nibs - No Sugar Added bar

Good +

Weight: .7 oz. (20 g.) / 1.4 oz. (40 g.) (per label) in total bar

Calories: 85 calories in 1/2 bar

Cost: $5.00 for 1 bar

Purchased from: Pebble Beach Market, Pebble Beach, CA

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

Today's bar was made without conventional sweetener (cane sugar). Instead, this Dark Cocoa Nib - No Sugar Added bar from Cavalier NV (made in Belgium), was sweetened with a blend of ingredients.*

The long ingredients list was a little off-putting, but there were no off notes in this dark chocolate bar.

The melt and texture was a bit interesting: slightly smooth and buttery, but slightly granular as well. However, much of this contrast is explained by the the pairing of chocolate and crushed bits of cocoa nibs.

*Ingredients: Unsweetened Chocolate, Dextrin, Erythritol, Cocoa Butter, Inulin, Oligofructose, Roasted Cocoa Beans, Soy Lecithin as an emulsifier, Natural (vanilla) Flavor, and Steviol Glycosides as a sweetener."

Bisou Chocolate - Dark Chocolate Nibs, Matagalpa 87% bar - March 2, 2018

Chocolate of the Day:

Bisou Chocolate

Dark Chocolate Nibs Matagalpa 87% bar

Good ++ - Good +++

Weight: 1 oz. (30 g.) (per label) in total bar

Calories: 155 calories (estimate) in 1 bar

Cost: $ Not Applicable - gift 

Purchased from: Not applicable - gift from friend (Thank you Gary!)

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

Bisou Chocolate (Oakland, CA) is a San Francisco Bay Area-based company that creates hand-crafted, dark chocolate bars from sustainably sourced cacao grown in multiple origin countries. Thank you to Gary and Pat for this bar and the introduction to Bisou. Always delighted to discover new chocolates and chocolate makers, in our own backyard no less.

Today's Bisou Dark Chocolate Nibs Matagalpa (Nicaragua) 87% cacao bar* had a smooth, slightly creamy and crunchy texture and a dark, deep slightly earthy flavor.

This three-ingredient bar was made from: cocoa beans, organic whole cane sugar and organic cocoa butter. 

*Note: As of today, the 87% Nibs Matagalpa bar from Bisou Chocolate is sold out (on their website). However, one can hope that it (or a similar batch bar) might reappear in the future.

White Label Chocolate - Sea Salt and Roasted Nib 70% bar - March 1, 2018

Chocolate of the Day: 

White Label Chocolate

Sea Salt and Roasted Nib 70% bar 

Good + - Good ++

Weight: 1.32 oz. (37.5 g.) / 2.65 oz. (75 g.) in total bar

Calories: 198 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar

Cost: $12.00 for 1 bar

Purchased from: Mutari Chocolate, Santa Cruz, CA 

Welcome to Day #1 of Chocolate and Nibs Theme Week.

Today's White Label Chocolate Sea Salt and Roasted Nib 70% bar represented what has become a classic combination of flavors and textures in the craft chocolate industry.

A dark chocolate bar base (with a touch of sugar and sea salt) was studded with nibs—the crunchy essence of cacao. The cacao beans used to make this bar were from the Dominican Republic and the nibs came from Venezuela. 

The resulting savory-sweet dark bar had notes of true chocolate, yellow fruit (banana, golden raisins), and a fleeting trace of light floral and spice.*

The cocoa nibs made this a less sweet chocolate than one might expect for a 70% cacao bar. This may delight those who like darker bars and slightly vex those who like sugar, to provide the entire, conventional sweet and salty snack experience.

The sparkles of sea salt and crunchy nibs were balanced and fairly uniform (a hard thing to achieve when applying salt crystals and nibs by hand), and there were no off notes.

Thank you to the chocolate makers in Santa Cruz. They've created a series of thoughtful, single origin bars and a welcoming retail space with high-end drinking chocolates and other items.

*Tasting Notes printed on the packaging: Chocolate, Vanilla, Banana, Salt