LetterPress Chocolate - San Juan Mint 70% Dark bar - March 21, 2018

Chocolate of the Day: 

LetterPress Chocolate LLC

San Juan Estate Mint 70% Dark Chocolate bar

Good + - 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: $10.00 (estimate) for 1 bar

Purchased from: Chocolate Covered, San Francisco, CA

Welcome to Day #12 of Chocolate and Mint Theme Week.

Today's small batch San Juan Estate Mint 70% Dark Chocolate bar (Batch 0072) was crafted by bean-to-bar maker LetterPress Chocolate LLC (Los Angeles, CA).

And it was another very aromatically mint dark bar. The menthol notes eclipsed the subtleties of the chocolate flavor, and gave the bar a "clean" tasting, lasting finish and conveyed more sweetness than likely was actually present in this 70% cacao bar.

Tasting Notes printed on the packaging read: mint, marshmallow, vanilla. Ingredients: organic cacao beans, organic unrefined sugar, organic cocoa butter, organic mint oil.

The Trinitario cacao used to make this bar was grown in the Gran Couva area of central Trinidad.* And this Trinitario cacao was "the first to be made into a single estate bar by the Valrhona Chocolate company." Careful cultivation by early chocolate makers like Valrhona has contributed to today's stock used by craft chocolate makers like LetterPress.

Happily, chocolate consumers benefit from cumulative expertise and sharing of knowledge.

*The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is a two-island nation located in the southern Caribbean Sea. Three varieties of cacao dominate most of the chocolate world. This bar was made with Trinitario cacao, a hybrid of Forastero and Criollo cacao, and likely first evolved in this part of the Caribbean.

Summerdown Mint - Chocolate Peppermint Cream Dominoes - March 20, 2018

Chocolate of the Day:

Summerdown Farms Ltd
Summerdown Mint 

Chocolate Peppermint Cream Dominoes

Good +

Weight: 1.174 oz. (33.3 g.) / 7.05 oz. (200 g.) in total package

Calories: 159 calories in 3 pieces 

Cost: $18.00 for 1 box/pkg. of 18 pieces

Purchased from: Chocolate Covered, San Francisco, CA

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

Today's Chocolate Peppermint Cream Dominoes were from Summerdown Farms Ltd. (Hampshire, UK).

The company is known for its farm, where pure English single estate Mitcham peppermint is grown in the foothills of the Hampshire Downs. This mint is also used to make chocolates and herbal teas.

The thin, domino-shaped pieces (embossed with a mint sprig design) had a very minty aroma that was detectable before the box was even opened. And each piece contained an ultra-thin, light-colored sweet, creamy peppermint-infused filling.

Ingredients: sugar, cocoa mass, glucose syrup, invert syrup, emulsifier, humectant: glycerol, Black Mitcham Peppermint

Living Raw - Power Mint Patty - Chocolate Chip - March 19, 2018

Chocolate of the Day: 

Living Raw

Power Mint Patty - Chocolate Chip

Good + 

Weight: .84 oz. (24 g.) in total bar

Calories: 140 calories in 1 package 

Cost: $3.29 for 1 package

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

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

Today's PowerMint Patty (Chocolate Chip flavor) was from Living Raw (Franklin, TN).

This single patty was a variation on the PowerMint Patty (Original Dark flavor) featured two days ago, with slightly less chocolate and slightly more mint-infused "coconut butter" visible in the filling.

It was, like its PowerMint Patty sibling, sweetened with coconut sugar; vegan, paleo friendly, gluten free, dairy free and soy free; and was made using fair trade and Non GMO ingredients.

The Chocolate Conspiracy - Mint Chip Chocolate Bar - March 18, 2018

Chocolate of the Day: 

The Chocolate Conspiracy  

Mint Chip Chocolate Bar 75% cacao

Good ++dark chocolate

Weight: .625 oz. (17.5 g.) / 1.25 oz. (35 g.) in total bar

Calories: 110 calories in 1/2 bar

Cost: $8.50 for 1 bar

Purchased from: Chocolate Covered, San Francisco, CA

Welcome to Day #9 of Chocolate and Mint Theme Week.

Today's Mint Chip Chocolate Bar from The Chocolate Conspiracy (Salt Lake City, UT)

Utah's state emblem is a beehive. Today's dual-star-shaped dark chocolate 75% cacao bar was scored into hexagonal sections. 

And it was sweetened with honey, that gave the chocolate a subtle sweetness. The honey also interacted with the smooth chocolate and fresh mint flavor in such a way that it gave it a little warm floral/spice zing. 

Cocoa nibs on the back of the bar added some crunchy texture.

Zokoko - Goddess Dark Chocolate Mint bar - March 17, 2018

Chocolate(s) of the Day: 

Zokoko
Goddess Dark Chocolate with Mint bar
Good ++
Weight: 1.145 oz. (32.5 g.) / 2.29 oz. (65 g.) in total bar
Calories: 170 calories in 1/2 bar (2 1/2 segments)
Cost: $11.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocolate Covered, San Francisco, CA

Welcome to Day #8 of Chocolate and Mint Theme Week.
Happy St. Patrick's Day to all who celebrate this green-themed holiday. Great timing too. We still have green lawns here in California in winter.

Today's Goddess Dark Chocolate with Mint bar was created by Zokoko (Emu Heights, Australia).

This bar consisted of a creamy, flavorful dark chocolate with "deep cocoa notes" with a hint of "crisp mint" flavor.

Urban Remedy
Raw Cacao Mousse
Good ++
Weight: .5 oz. (14.1 g.) / 4.06 oz. (115 g.) in total container
Calories: 30 calories (estimate) in 1 bite
Cost: $N/A - gift bite (Thank you Megan!)
Purchased from: N/A - gift (Whole Foods Market)

This Raw Cacao Mousse from Urban Remedy (Richmond, CA) was a bonus for St. Patrick's Day.  While, it was already featured back in December 2017, it was a gift, and it contained Irish Moss.

Like the company's other desserts, this creamy, organic mousse was free of grain, gluten, dairy and white sugar. It was made with almond milk, date syrup, coconut oil, raw cacao powder, vanilla, Irish Moss, sunflower lecithin and Himalayan salt instead.

After an unsuccessful search for 4-leaf clovers in the yard, we enjoyed bites of this naturally sweet mousse.  (For those desiring more green, Urban Remedy also makes a Grasshopper Pie dessert flavored with cacao and mint, and colored with spinach and actual greens.)

Living Raw - Power Mint Patty Original Dark - March 16, 2018

Chocolate of the Day: 

Living Raw

Organic PowerMint Patty - Original Dark

Good ++

Weight: .84 oz. (24 g.) in total bar

Calories: 140 calories in 1 package 

Cost: $3.29 for 1 package

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

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

Today's PowerMint Patty - Original Dark flavor - from Living Raw (Franklin, TN) contained just the right blend of chocolate, sweetness (not too much) and authentic peppermint flavor.

The organic, raw patty with a pleasing, light natural mint aroma, was sweetened with coconut sugar,* bringing down the "buzz" one feels when eating similar confections containing processed cane sugar.

When broken in half, this round, "cup"-shaped patty, revealed a fascinating pattern--made of incredibly thin alternating light mint-infused coconut butter and dark chocolate layers. In addition to being visually interesting, the layering offered a more integrated chocolate-mint tasting experience than other mint-filled chocolates.

This six-ingredient patty (organic cacao, organic coconut butter, organic coconut sugar, organic cacao butter, organic peppermint essential oil, organic sunflower lecithin) was vegan, paleo-friendly, gluten free, soy free and dairy free. Yes, it's a bit pricey for a patty, but it did make us think we'd enjoy eating more like this on a regular basis.

*Coconut sugar is lower on the glycemic index. It's absorbed less rapidly than processed/white cane sugar. If you're not fond of coconut, you might try this anyway. This patty contained both coconut butter and sugar, but did not have a strong coconut flavor.

Ticket Chocolate - Grasshopper Pie Bar - March 15, 2018

Chocolate of the Day: 

Ticket Chocolate 

Grasshopper Pie Bar

Good +

Weight: .5 oz. (14.1 g.) / 2.25 oz. (63.8 g.) in total bar

Calories: 75 calories (estimate) in 1/2 oz. of bar

Cost: $6.50 for 1 bar

Purchased from: Peet's Coffee and Tea, Charleston, Palo Alto 

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

What is a Grasshopper Pie? It's a chilled Creme de Menthe-flavored marshmallow pie with a chocolate cookie crust. Today's featured Grasshopper Pie Bar from Ticket Chocolate (Loomis, CA) was a chocolate bar version of this popular pie from last century.*

The bar contained "crunchy dark chocolate cookies in minty creamy milk chocolate...and no grasshopper pieces."

Unfortunately, this bar also contained gluten (cookies), so only a small bite was sampled.
Chocolate cookie pieces added some texture and crunch to a sweet milk and colorful minty green chocolate bar base.

*Other Ticket Chocolate "Beloved Bar" flavors with a hint of tribute nostalgia included the Mom's Apple Pie Bar, Waffle Pecan Chocolate Bar, Roasted Chesnut Beloved Chocolate Bar and a Hazelnut Cherry Stuffing Bar.