Chocolita - Dark and Sweet 80% bar - Nov. 6, 2018

Chocolate of the Day: 

Chocolita
Dark and Sweet 80% bar
Good
Weight: .625 oz. (17.5 g.) / 1.25 oz. (35 g.) in total bar
Calories: 80 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $4.59 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Country Sun Natural Foods, Palo Alto, CA

Bienvenidos a (welcome to) Day #1 of Chocolate and Ecuador Theme Week.

Today's Dark and Sweet 80% raw dark chocolate bar was handcrafted by Sarah Ann Lesslie and the team at Chocolita (Sedona, AZ).

The maker indicates that the stoneground cacao used to make this bar (Arriba Nacional Ecuadorian Fina de Aroma Cacao) is associated with floral and fruity flavor notes, with hints of nutty and malty flavor. The high percentage of cacao (80%) used in this bar allowed some of the above flavors to come through; however, the overall flavor was fairly mild (as is often the case with unroasted/raw cacao).

This Organic, paleo, gluten free and vegan bar was made with fair trade ingredients. The bar was sweetened with coconut sugar and seasoned with a touch of vanilla and sea salt.

And now a second Chocolita bar; however, this one is an alternative take on white chocolate.


Chocolita
Pine Pollen and Lemon (raw white chocolate) bar
Good - Good +
Weight: .625 oz. (17.5 g.) / 1.25 oz. (35 g.) in total bar
Calories: 70 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $4.59 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Country Sun Natural Foods, Palo Alto, CA

This lemon infused "white chocolate" bar was also from Chocolita (Sedona, AZ). This brown sugar-colored bar had a very subtle and harmonious pine accent—and the flavor combination was a refreshing change of pace.

The bar had a slow, relatively smooth melt and, unlike most white chocolate sold, it did not immediately result in a sugar buzz (thank you). It was sweetened with coconut sugar; and it was (and felt) lower on the glycemic index than conventional white chocolate bars made with refined white sugar.

Ingredients: cacao butter, coconut sugar, lucuma, vanilla, lemon essential oil, sea salt, pine pollen

Michel Cluizel - Plantation Riachuelo (Brazil) 51% Milk Chocolate bar - Nov. 5, 2018

Chocolate of the Day: 

Michel Cluizel

Plantation Riachuelo (Bresil) Chocolat Lait 51% bar

Good +++ - Very Good

Weight: 1.23 oz. (35 g.) / 2.46 oz. (70 g.) in total bar

Calories: 214 calories in 1/2 bar

Cost: $8.25 for 1 bar

Purchased from: Chocosphere, online order

Welcome to Day #8 of Single Origin Milk Chocolate Theme Week.

This 51% Milk Chocolate bar from Michel Cluizel (made in Mesnils Sur Iton, France) was a scrumptious, French, dark milk bar, made with cacao grown on Riachuelo Plantation in Brazil. 

Was it creamy and smooth? Oui. Flavorful? Oui. The maker's tasting notes read as follows: 

"A creamy, tender texture, with sweet notes of milk, cream and caramel, mingling with notes of red fruits and cocoa, with a spicy and fresh lingering flavor." 

All true. A hint of Bourbon vanilla bean and spice (a very subtle hint of something like warm ginger) created an uplifting feel and finish to this tasty bar. There seemed to be a faint hint of salt (the entire bar contained 80 g. of sodium*); although no salt was listed in the ingredients.*

Ingredients: "whole milk powder, cocoa from plantation 'Riachuelo' (Brazil), cocoa butter, sugar, Bourbon vanilla pod."

*Most, higher cacao percentage, dark chocolate bars (without added salt) are low in sodium (0-5 mg. in a 1 oz. bar). Milk chocolate bars are higher (25-40 mg. in a 1 oz. bar). Milk naturally contains sodium, and the sodium content is concentrated when milk is dried into a powder to add to chocolate. We like our snacks sweet and salty, which may help explain cravings for milk chocolate.

Dick Taylor - 58% Madagascar Milk Sambirano bar - Nov. 4, 2018

Chocolate of the Day: 

Dick Taylor
58% Milk Madagascar Sambirano bar
Good+++-Very Good
Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) / 2 oz. (57 g.) in total bar
Calories: 150 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $7.20 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Dick Taylor (online order)

Welcome to Day #7 of Single Origin Milk Chocolate Theme Week.

Today's 58% Milk Madagascar Sambirano bar was made by Dick Taylor Craft Chocolate (Eureka, CA), a bean-to-bar maker who produces bars in small batches in Northern California.

One of the first things we noticed after opening up the packaging and foil inner wrapping: the bar had a reddish appearance (a color associated many single origin* Madagascar bars); and pleasing aroma; smooth melt and texture.

As hoped for, the relatively high cocoa content (58%) allowed for a more enjoyable flavor ride. A smooth melt and texture was followed by bright, balanced, almost tangy dried fruit, and lightly caramelized milk* flavor notes.

The maker's Tasting Notes read as follows: "Prunes, Almond Butter, Caramel."

Dick Taylor package design and artwork is always noteworthy. The illustration on this bar told the origin story of the cacao (treasure map style, with depictions of Madagascar), and of the milk. The packaging was graced with a single cow, and a beautiful scene depicting the Northern California Coast with grazing milk cows who could have produced the milk for today's dark milk chocolate.

*The cacao for this single origin milk bar came from a Single Estate, Akesson Plantation, located in the Sambirano Valley in Madagascar. The milk came from Humboldt Creamery in Northern California.

Chocolate Always - 36% Cacao Organic Milk Chocolate Bar - Nov. 3, 2018

Chocolate of the Day: 

Chocolate Always
36% Cacao Organic Milk Chocolate Bar
Good - Good +
Weight: .875 oz. (25 g.) / 3.5 oz. (100 g.) in total bar
Calories: 140 calories in 1/4 bar
Cost: $2.99 (estimate) for 1 bar
Purchased from: Grocery Outlet Bargain Market, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #6 of Single Origin Milk Chocolate Theme Week. Most of this week's bar have been dark milk chocolate. Today we'll try something on the lighter side.

Today's 36% Cacao Organic Milk Chocolate Bar was a product of Peru, made for Chocolate Always (Weston, FL).

How low can you go (percentage wise) and still have a bar with fine chocolate flavor?

This well tempered bar was, as expected, very sweet, with caramel/toffee notes in the aroma and taste. While a bit too candy-sweet for my taste, it was still a cut above many other 36% chocolate items.

Also, any chocolate made in the country of origin (Peru in this case), is still worth noting, as it's not the norm; and it's a plus in that, one hopes, more income stays in producing countries (also not the norm).

Sirene Chocolate - 65% Madagascar Soma Plantation Bar - Dark Milk - Nov. 2, 2018

Chocolate of the Day: 

Sirene Chocolate
65% Madagascar Soma Platation Bar - Dark Milk
Good ++
Weight: 1.06 oz. (30 g.) / 2.12 oz. (60 g.) in total pkg. of 2 different bars
Calories: 159 calories (estimate) in 1 bar
Cost: $10.00 for 1 package of two different dark milk bars
Purchased from: The Chocolate Garage, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #5 of Single Origin Dark Milk Chocolate Theme Week.

This morning's chocolate,  a 65% Madagascar Somia Plantation Bar - Dark Milk, was the sibling of yesterday's chocolate from Sirene Chocolate (Victoria, B.C., Canada). Sirene offers some great side-by-side tasting opportunities, with two, individually-wrapped, single origin bars in one package.

The Maker's notes about the cacao beans from Madagascar:

"In the Sambirano Valley of Northern, Madagascar, the Akesson family harvest a bean enriched with volcanic minerals and nutrients. With its strong, fruity flavours, including hints of citrus and berry, the cacao is clearly a product of climate, soil and the dedication of a family that has been farming cacao for generations."

Classic Akesson-farm Madagascar flavor notes, red raspberries and pleasing citrus, were indeed part of this tasting experience. And they were muted only slightly by the addition of creamy milk flavor and texture.

Apologies to Sirene. This bar received a bright intense beam of early morning sunshine right before it was photographed, so it started to melt and the bar, wrapped in gold foil, looks a bit wrinkled. It was certainly crisp, flat and professionally wrapped moments before this.

Sirene Chocolate - 65% Lachua, Guatemala Dark Milk bar - Nov. 1, 2018

Chocolate of the Day: 

Sirene Chocolate
65% Lachua, Guatemala Bar - Dark Milk
Good++
Weight: .53 oz. (15 g.) / 2.12 oz. (60 g.) in total pkg. of 2 different bars
Calories: 79.5 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $10.00 for 1 package of two different dark milk bars
Purchased from: The Chocolate Garage, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #4 of Single Origin Dark Milk Chocolate Theme Week.

Today's 65% Lachua, Guatemala Dark Milk Bar from Sirene Chocolate (Victoria, B.C., Canada) was one of two single origin dark milk bars in one package.

This Sirene bar was exactly what you'd hope for from a single origin dark milk bar, it was smooth and flavorful, with an added slight creaminess and a hint of caramel from milk.

The maker's tasting notes about the origin of the cacao beans were as follows:

"In the lush, mountainous department of Alta Verapaz, Guatemala, generations of knowledge and a heritage tracing back to cacao's origin in the Mayan civilization, to into the cultivation of these cacao trees. For these farmers, access to a burgeoning, international market allows them to benefit from a real economic opportunity while producing a beautiful cacao bean."

Taste Artisan Chocolate - 58% Madagascar Milk Chocolate bar - Oct. 31, 2018

Chocolate of the Day: 

Taste Artisan Chocolate
58% Madagascar Milk Chocolate bar
Good ++
Weight: 1.5 oz. (42.5 g.) / 3 oz. (85 g.) in total bar
Calories: 225 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $7.96 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocosphere, online order

Happy Halloween! And welcome to Day #3 of Single Origin Milk Chocolate Theme Week.

Nope, no chocolate pumpkins or scary cocoa ghosts this year. We're going for tasty, comfort chocolates.

The chocolates featured this week are dark milk chocolate bars that contain a higher percentage cacao (solids) than most milk chocolate bars on the market, above 40% cacao. The more cacao, the more true chocolate flavor. (By contrast, some milk chocolates may contain only 10%-12% cacao—the approximate threshold that a chocolate manufacturer must meet to call their product milk chocolate.)

Today's 58% Madagascar Milk Chocolate bar was from Taste Artisan Chocolate (Provo, Utah). Taste is a "food experience lounge," located in downtown Provo, and is next door to a manufacturing facility (Coleman and Davis, an operation managed by Char and Morgan Coleman and local chocolate expert Phil Davis) where Taste chocolate is made, from bean-to-bar.

This gluten free, four ingredient* dark milk bar was made with cacao grown in the rich, volcanic soils of Sambirano Valley region of Madagascar. An additional detail provided on the packaging: the cacao used from this region had "both Venezuelan and Mexican heritage (and) the natives call (it) "green gold." (Note: All cacao originally came from the Americas.)

The bar broke with a well-tempered snap, and had slightly malty, caramel, true chocolate notes. The texture was smooth and the melt and mouthfeel slow and luxurious.

The red fruit and berry notes often associated with Madagascar were more evident after the third small, careful bite; and, as expected, were muted a bit by the milk. The characteristic red color associated with cacao from this African island nation, however, was not. It could be seen immediately upon opening the silver foil wrapper. The bar had a pleasing finish with no off notes.

*Ingredients: Organic cacao, organic cane sugar, organic cocoa butter, milk powder.