Goodnow Farms Chocolate - 77% Cacao El Carmen Dark Chocolate Nicaragua bar - June 9, 2019

Chocolate of the Day:

Goodnow Farms Chocolate
77% Cacao El Carmen Nicaragua Premium Dark Chocolate bar
Good +
Weight: .97 oz. (27.5 g.) / 1.94 oz. (55 g.) in total bar
Calories: 146 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $10.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocolate Covered, San Francisco, CA

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

Today's 77% Cacao El Carmen Nicaragua Premium Dark Chocolate bar was from Goodnow Farms Chocolate (Sudbury, MA).

This bar had a dark chocolate aroma with a very faint and fleeting savory earth note.

It had wonderful firm, creamy melt and creamy smooth delectable texture.

The flavor was uniform and smooth dark chocolate with a bit of relatively low, balanced fruit acidity, a very faint nutty plant (tiger nut) note and a mild finish.

The maker's description read in part..."Working closely with local partners, we've developed a custom drying technique that perfectly highlights the unique blackberry, raisin and cocoa flavors of this cacao."

Ingredients: Cocoa beans, Organic sugar, cocoa butter.

Argencove Fine Artisan Chocolate - Saffron 70% Cacao Dark Chocolate Nicaragua bar - June 8, 2019

Chocolate of the Day: 

Argencove Fine Artisan Chocolate
Saffron 70% Cacao Dark Chocolate Nicaragua bar
Good - Good+
Weight: .88 oz. (25g.) / 1.76 oz. (50 g.) in total bar
Calories: 132 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $18.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocolate Covered, San Francisco, CA

Welcome to Day #16 of Chocolate and Flowers Theme Week, and Day #1 of Chocolate and Nicaragua Theme Week.

Today's Saffron 70% Cacao Dark Chocolate Nicaragua bar was from Argencove Fine Artisan Chocolate* (Granada,** Nicaragua).

The company had its start with three Australian families who "embarked on a journey of taste through Central America."

This three ingredient bar (cacao, sugar and saffron) had an slightly fruit, dark chocolate aroma with faint green plant and spice notes. (Saffron, a spice with a luscious golden, red-orange color, comes from a purple crocus flower.)

Balanced tart red fruit (cherries) and very slight, well-managed earthy flavor notes permeated this chocolate that was not overly sweet (thank you). It also had a very slight hint of savory spice, that you might smell in saffron rice or a light golden curry.

*Manufactured by C y B Productos Acricolas S.A. in Granada, Nicaragua.

**The three largest/most well-known cities in Nicaragua all are located in the Western half of the country: Managua, Leon and Granada (All three have been the capital city of Nicaragua at some point in history.) Granada is located just east of the largest lake in Central America, Lake Nicaragua, aka Lake Cocibolca (sweet tea). The country's rich, volcanic soils are good for growing cacao, which has a long history here.

Chuao Chocolatier - Dark Chocolate Organic Coconut Hibiscus 72% bar - June 7, 2019

Chocolate of the Day: 

Chuao Chocolatier
Dark Chocolate Organic Coconut Hibiscus 72% bar
Good
Weight: 1.4 oz. (40 g.) / 2.1 oz. (60 g.) in total bar
Calories: 210 calories in 1 serving
Cost: $2.99 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Grocery Outlet Bargain Market, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #15 of Chocolate and Flowers Theme Week.

Today's Dark Chocolate Organic Coconut Hibiscus 72% bar was from Chuao* Chocolatier (Carlsbad, CA).

The organic dark chocolate was crunchy, sweet and chocolatey with coconut and very light tangy floral and faintly earthy flavors (organic hibiscus flowers). This bar was quite sweet (sweetened coconut, cane sugar, maple sugar) for a 70%+ chocolate bar.

*Chuao (pronounced Chew-WOW') Chocolatier was founded over 17 years ago by two Venezuelan brothers.  One, Michael Antonorsi, was trained as a Master Chef. Both brothers recall the strong tradition of chocolate from their home country. (Relatives had been involved in cacao farming.) And the company name (Chuao) is a tribute to a village (Chuao) established in the 1500s, that grew to become a famous cacao producing region in Venezuela.

Donnelly Chocolates Rose, Lavender Dark Chocolate bars; Sweet55 Florentiner; Only Child Chocolate Rose bar - June 6, 2019

Chocolate(s) of the Day:

Richard Donnelly Chocolates

Rose Dark Chocolate Bar
Good ++++ - Very Good
Weight: .4 oz. (11.25 g.) / 1.6 oz. (45 g.) in total bar
Calories: 60 calories (estimate) in 1/4 bar
Cost: $7.50 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Donnelly Chocolates, Santa Cruz, CA

Dark Chocolate Lavender Bar
Good ++
Weight: .4 oz. (11.25 g.) / 1.6 oz. (45 g.) in total bar
Calories: 60 calories (estimate) in 1/4 bar
Cost: $7.50 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Donnelly Chocolates, Santa Cruz, CA

Welcome to Day #14 of Chocolate and Flowers Theme Week.

Today's Rose Dark Chocolate Bar and Dark Chocolate Lavender Bar were created by Richard Donnelly and team at Donnelly Chocolates (Santa Cruz, CA). The bars were attractively packaged (with beautiful outer craft paper wrappers). A version of these two Donnelly flavors were enjoyed in bark form several years ago. Both bars were suffused with natural, balanced floral scents. Today's Rose bar was especially creamy and smooth in melt and texture as well.

But, that's not all...Also sampled as part of our Chocolate Banquet bouquet today: two other West Coast "floral" chocolates, as we reluctantly conclude this two-week long theme "week." Not all chocolate fans appreciate floral flavors inclusions. We love trying flowers paired with, and botanical adds to, chocolate.

Sweet55 - Swiss Chocolates and Confections

Sweet55
Florentiner
Very Good
Weight: .35 oz. (10 g.) / 2.8 oz. (80 g.) in total box of 8
Calories: 55 calories (estimate)
Cost: $12.00 (estimate) for 1 box of 8 florentines
Purchased from: Sweet55, Half Moon Bay, CA

Sweet55 is a relatively new, Swiss chocolate shop in Half Moon Bay, CA (worth the trip over to the coast to enjoy their chocolates and views of the Pacific Ocean.)

If you are in the neighborhood, one item at Sweet55 I'd recommend highly would be the Sweet55 Florentiner.

Sold in a package of 8, these rich, dark chocolate, orange and almond (flourless) florentines were a cross between a flavorful mendiant*-style confection and a dark chocolate "cookie"—with a soft, chewy crunch from very thinly sliced almonds, natural orange bits (with a faint, refreshing pineapple note)—all precisely layered on a slim dark chocolate disc.

The image currently adorning the top of the first page of the Sweet55 website featured chocolates surrounded by a red rose, and rose petals.

I'd suggest "pairing" (any of) the company's fine chocolates with roses if you're looking for a classy, high-impact gift experience. (Continuing on the floral them, Sweet55 also offers a chocolate bar "Thank you card" with daisy-style chocolate flowers.)

Only Child Chocolates - white chocolate bar with rose

A bonus shout out today to the "Rose Colored Sunglasses" bar we sampled from Only Child Chocolate (Portland, OR).

This pretty pink and sweet "White Chocolate with Cranberry, Rose and Pistachio" bar did not contain cocoa solids (i.e. the darker brown colored portion of the cocoa bean). However, it was fun to look at and interesting to try.

Yana, Only Child's chief chocolatier, and self-described lover of puns and all things chocolate, also makes milk and dark chocolate bars.

*Mendiants are French-style chocolate discs topped with fruit and nuts.

Fossa Chocolate - Honey Orchid Dancong Hongcha bar - June 5, 2019

Chocolate of the Day: 

Fossa Chocolate
Honey Orchid Dancong Hongcha bar
Good ++
Weight: .824 oz. (23.31 g.) / 1.23 oz. (35 g.) total bar
Calories: 123 calories (estimate) in 2/3 bar
Cost: $14.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocolate Covered, San Francisco, CA

Welcome to Day #13 of Chocolate and Flowers Theme Week.

Today's Limited Edition Honey Orchid Dancong Hongcha milk chocolate bar was crafted in Singapore by Fossa Chocolate.

It was a collaboration between Fossa and rare tea curator, Pekoe and Imp (a high-end tea shop that sources single origin teas and hosts tea tastings and workshops).

Earlier this week, we sampled Fossa Chocolate's Pistachio Rose Cranberry bar which was very good. Today's Fossa bar did not technically contain any flowers, but it was infused with the beautiful aroma of Dancong Hongcha tea, known for it's naturally sweet and fragrant fruit and floral notes.

The makers paired this lovely Honey Orchid tea with cacao from Tanzania (via Kokoa Kamili, a cacao farmers cooperative in Tanzania, Africa). This cacao was selected in part for its resulting "biscuity" notes. (Fossa's Maker's Tasting Notes read: "Lingering lychee sweetness with a biscuity undertone.")

Just to be clear, there was no biscuit or cookie added. (Ingredients list for this bar read: Organic cocoa beans, cane sugar, natural cacao butter, milk powder, tea leaves.) However, the resulting sweet milk chocolate offered a satisfying morning or afternoon tea and biscuit experience to be savored slowly, all in one bar.

The sweet chocolate had a very slight granular astringency in the melt/texture, likely due to tannins or other compounds in tea/chocolate, but it was not off-putting.

More about the tea
"Mi Lan Xiang (Honey Orchid) is a dancong tea cultivated in the Phoenix Mountain of Guangdong Province. This lot was hand-harvested from the Zhen Ya village in Spring 2018." This Hongcha tea would be considered a black tea in the West, and has "a characteristic lychee fragrance and red date sweetness."

Note: The photo, above, shows my hand holding a segment of today's bar in front of a website (screen) showing Honey Orchid tea leaves in the background. I used the Silk Road Teas (San Rafael, CA) website for the background. Silk Road Tea's website is highly recommended if you are a tea fan in the U.S., and includes interesting background and origin stories on many individual teas for sale.

Fu Wan Chocolate - 36% Rose Lychee Nibs bar - June 4, 2019

Chocolate of the Day: 

Fu Wan Chocolate
36% Rose Lychee Nibs bar
Good ++
Weight: 1.59 oz. (45 g.) in total bar
Calories: 238 calories (estimate) in 1 bar
Cost: $14.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocolate Covered, San Francisco, CA

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

Today's unique 36% Rose Lychee Nibs bar was from Fu Wan Chocolate (Taiwan). This bar had an aroma with dried fruit, dragonfruit herbal tea and floral notes—and an interesting color and texture.

The flavor was full of lychee (what tasted like smoke-dried lychee fruit pieces, with a soft fruity chew) and subtle rose (Pintung organic roses) notes and crunchy cacao nibs. It was a fun and fresh bar to sample.

The chocolate had a slightly speckled or marbled gray-burgandy hue; and it was similar to other high-end white chocolate (albeit less sweet, thank you!) bars made with cacao butter, milk and, instead of cocoa solids, ground coffee or other finely ground seed or nut substitute (used to replace or add to the darker cacao solids).

Not to say these "white" bars aren't interesting. Some are quite tasty in a novel way.*

Due to its rather unique composition, it had a rapid, almost waxy, but not unpleasant, soft melt. To be clear, it also had real cacao nibs (pieces of cacao bean) sprinkled across the back of the bar, so it did contain cacao solids. (Otherwise it would not be featured here on Chocolate Banquet.)

*We've had bars with cocoa butter and very finely ground coffee beans that were so skillfully executed they could easily have been mistaken for a conventional coffee-flavored dark chocolate bar. We have also tasted other botanically-based white chocolate bars and confections made with a variety of ground seeds and nuts, including: ground Tonka beans (Dipteryx odorata—illegal in the U.S.), Cupuacu seeds (Theobroma grandiflorum), Carob pods (Ceratonia siliqua), Jaquar Cacao or Pataxte (Theobroma bicolor), and even Jackfruit seeds and Kola nuts.

Fossa Chocolate - 60% Milk Pistachio Rose Cranberry bar - June 3, 2019

Chocolate of the Day: 

Fossa Chocolate
60% Milk Pistachio Rose Cranberry bar
Good +++ - Very Good
Weight: 1.41 oz. (40 g.) in total bar
Calories: 212 calories (estimate) in 1 bar
Cost: $14.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocolate Covered, San Francisco, CA

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

Today's 60% Milk Pistachio Rose Cranberry bar was crafted by Fossa Chocolate in Singapore.

The dark milk chocolate (made with cacao from Fossa friend Pak Eddy's single estate farm in Indonesia) was well tempered, had a smooth and creamy melt and pleasing, slightly nutty and complex, but well balanced cacao flavor and depth (unusual in most milk chocolate bars).

The flavor inclusions (pistachios, rose and cranberries) created an attractive field of color (and texture), and were well balanced with respect to each other.

California pistachio nut pieces added pale green color and nutty texture and flavor. French rose petals imparted a subtle, lighter floral accent than found in many rose-infused bars. And the ruby-colored, cranberries* were not overly sweet or dominating (thank you) but added refreshing, mildly tart, naturally sweet, red fruit/berry flavor.

This was a very nicely executed dark milk bar. Tasters notes printed on the bar's packaging included this text: "Nutty and floral with bits of cranberries" and "We like it with a cup of tea on a slow afternoon."

*Ingredients: "Cacao beans, cocoa butter, cane sugar, milk powder, pistachio, dehydrated cranberries, rose petals."