Chapon Chocolatier - Rio Caribe Venezuela 100% bar - May 15, 2019

Chocolate of the Day: 

Chapon Chocolatier
Pure Origin Rio Caribe, Venezuela 100% cocoa bar
Good +++ - Very Good
Weight: 1.325 oz. (37.5 g.) / 2.65 oz. (75 g.) in total bar
Calories: 208 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $15.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocolate Covered, San Francisco, CA

Welcome to Day #8 of Chocolate and Venezuela Theme Week.

Today's Pure Origin Rio Caribe Venezuela 100% bar was from Chapon Chocolatier (Chelles and Paris, France).


This bar had a bold, intriguing aroma with dried, fermented fruit, roasted coffee, light earthy forest and light nutty notes. The melt and texture were creamy.

And, surprisingly, the acid (and acidic fruit) levels was lower than expected and the flavor was balanced and satisfying, incorporating many of the same notes as were in the aroma (roasted coffee, light kindling wood. It was a very smooth,  deep, still and slightly bitter chocolate. With no added sweet (thank you for making this!).

The chocolatier's tasting notes read as follows: "Aromatic power, low acidity, bitterness and astringency medium. From Venezuela, this bar of chocolate reveals notes of dried fruits and wood."

Rozsavolgyi Csokolade - Porcelana cacao criollo Venezuela bar - May 14, 2019

Chocolate of the Day:

Rozsavolgyi Csokolade
Porcelana cacao criollo Venezuela 71% bar
Good +++
Weight: 1.235 oz. (35 g.) / 2.47 oz. (70 g.) in total bar
Calories: 186 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $20.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocolate Covered, San Francisco, CA

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

Today's Porcelana criollo cacao Venezuela 71% bar was from Rozsavolgyi Csokolade (Budapest, Hungary).

This three-ingredient* bar had a pleasing, balanced, complex yet rather delicate, dark aroma with a very faint brown butter note. The flavor had chocolate, light fruit (peach, champagne grape, light berry) and earthy, forest floor notes.

Earthiness is a tough flavor element to manage, and the presence of this note often goes back to fermentation (which the maker may not have been present for). Too much earth is too much, but this was handled quite nicely.

*Ingredients: cocoa beans, organic cane sugar, organic cocoa butter

Fresco - Limited Release Carupano Pintao Venezuela 72 percent bar - May 13, 2019

Chocolate of the Day:

Fresco Artisan Chocolate
Limited Release Carupano Pintao Venezuela 72% bar
Good ++ - Good +++
Weight: .9 oz. (25 g.) / 1.8 oz. (50 g.) (estimate) in total bar
Calories: 140 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $16.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocolate Covered, San Francisco, CA

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

At the beginning of this theme week, we talked about the potentially short lives of craft chocolate bars based on annual harvests (similar to wine) at smaller plantations and possible fluctuating circumstances in source countries themselves. Bars made from a small batch or harvest that are here today may be unavailable tomorrow. Makers successfully obtain a small batch of great cacao beans, but after that quantity is used up, that may be it.

Today's Limited Release Carupano Pintao Venezuela 72 percent bar was from Fresco Artisan Chocolate (Lynden, WA). The cacao for this bar was lightly roasted and had a "subtle conch."

The chocolate had a pleasant chocolate aroma with dried fruit, browned butter, very light spice and very faint green notes. The flavor was chocolatey with dried fruit and some earthiness.

Idilio Origins - Trinchera 74% Las Trincheras, Venezuela bar - May 12, 2019

Chocolate of the Day: 

Idilio Origins GmbH

Trinchera 74% (cacao) Las Trincheras, Venezuela bar

Good ++ - Good +++

Weight: 1.4 oz. (40 g.) / 2.8 oz. (80 g.) in total bar

Calories: 235 calories in 1/2 bar

Cost: $16.00 for 1 bar

Purchased from: Chocolate Covered, San Francisco, CA

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

Today's "Trinchera 74% (cacao), 48 hour traditional conche, Las Trincheras, Venezuela" bar was from Idilio Origins GmbH Premium Swiss Chocolate (Basel, Switzerland).

This bar had a pleasant chocolately aroma and flavor with faint balanced earth, green, nutty and fruit notes. 

Maker's tasting notes read: ripe banana; mild, earthy notes; and tropical wood; a wisp of vanilla.

Yes, vanilla. So true. I missed that. The ingredients list: cocoa, cane sugar and cocoa butter. No vanilla listed. But the flavor note was there.

L'Amourette Chocolatier - Wild Cacao Single Origin Venezuela 75% bar - May 11, 2019

Chocolate of the Day: 

L'Amourette Chocolatier
Wild Cacao Single Origin Venezuela 75% bar
Good ++
Weight: 1.1 oz. (31 g.) / 3.5 oz. (100 g.) in total bar
Calories: 160 calories in 1 oz. of bar
Cost: $7.99 (estimate) for 1 bar
Purchased from: missing information

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

Today's Wild Cacao Single Origin Venezuela 75% bar was from L'Amourette Chocolatier (San Francisco, CA).

L'Amourette's description of the wild cacao used for this bar read as follows:

"The special cacao beans from which this bar is made sets is apart from our other bars. The Amazonas cacao originates from the same area of South Venezuela as the original Criollo cacao, in the rainforest close to the source of the Orinoco River. Here, during the rainy season, the indigenous Piaroa people harvest the cacao deep in the jungle. It takes two days to transport it by canoe to the nearest road. A subtle note of burnt caramel defines the wild Amazonas cacao beans; it gives our 75% dark chocolate depth and an intricate flavor."

This bar* did indeed have a dark chocolate aroma with a hint of burnt caramel. The chocolate also had a balanced flavor blend of chocolate and light sweet and tart fruit notes.

* There was only three ingredients in this soy-free, gluten-free and vegan bar: Venezuelan cacao beans (Amazonas), Venezuelan cacao butter and organic cane sugar.

L'Amourette Chocolatier - Trinitario Single Origin Venezuela Trincheras 70% bar - May 10, 2019

Chocolate of the Day: 

L'Amourette Chocolatier
Trinitario Single Origin Venezuela Trincheras 70% bar
Good
Weight: 1.1 (31 g.) / 3.5 oz. (100 g.) in total bar
Calories: 160 calories in 1 serving of bar
Cost: $7.99 (estimate) for 1 bar
Purchased from: missing information

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

Today's Trinitario Single Origin Venezuela Trincheras* 70% cacao bar** was from bean-to-bar maker,  L'Amourette Chocolatier (San Francisco, CA).

This soy and gluten free, and vegan, bar had a dark chocolate aroma with dried fruit, and very faint bitter, citrus notes. And it had a relatively uniform bold dark chocolate flavor with dried fruit notes with hints of grapefruit and a slight earthiness.

*Trincheras, Venezuela, is located in a small mountain valley, and has a history of coffee and cacao production. The description printed on the packaging of today's bar explains that the name "Trincheras" came from clay trenches that were used for cacao fermentation.

**Ingredients: Trinitario cacao beans (Trincheras), Venezuelan cacao butter, Organic cane sugar

Bisou Chocolate - "Nibs" Chuao 87% Dark Chocolate bar - May 9, 2019

Chocolate of the Day: 

Bisou Chocolate
"Nibs" Chuao 87% Dark Chocolate bar
Good - Good +
Weight: .5 oz. (14 g.) / 1 oz. (28 g.) total bar
Calories: 75 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $7.00 (estimate) for 1 bar
Purchased from: Bisou Chocolate, online order

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

Today's "Nibs" Chuao 87% Dark Chocolate bar was made, from bean-to-bar, by Bisou Chocolate (Berkeley/Oakland, CA).

The company makes attractively-packaged, single origin bars (and truffles) and primarily sells their chocolates at local Bay Area Farmers Markets.

This chocolate was made with cacao grown in the Chuao region of Venezuela, known for its fine flavor beans*. This bar had a relatively friendly and complex flavor profile for ultra-dark 87% cacao chocolate. It did have some rustic elements as well—tiny revelations of cacao fermentation notes (think wine grapes turning into wine) in the smooth dark base and the embedded nibs—which gave the bar a soft crunchy texture.

Ingredients: Cocoa beans, organic whole cane sugar, cocoa butter

*Cacao seeds (semillas de cacao) actually; but we call them cacao beans here as that is the term mostly commonly used in North America.