Chokola Bean to Bar LLC - Belize Maya Mountain Bar; Taos Bakes Pinon Coffee Dark Chocolate (bar) - Aug. 2, 2019

Chocolate of the Day: 

Chokola Bean to Bar LLC
Belize Maya Mountain 70% bar
Good ++
Weight: 1.02 oz. (29 g.) / 2.04 oz. (58 g.) in total bar
Calories: 160 calories (estimate) in 1 bar
Cost: $12.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chokola, Taos, NM

Welcome to Day #9 or Chocolate and Cowgirl Theme Week, and Day #1 of Chocolate and New Mexico Theme Week.

Taos, a mountain town in northeast New Mexico, has a population of almost 6,000 residents.* There are real cowgirls in Taos, a city that has small businesses and organizations like Cowgirl Designs, a small shop that offers graphic design and branding services to the Taos community; the Taos Rodeo (with junior cowboy and cowgirl categories); and cowgirl farmers we met.

We passed several locations and ranches on the outskirts of town that could have been featured in Western films.

There are also a growing number of craft chocolate makers in New Mexico, including at least one in downtown Taos: Chokola Bean to Bar LLC.

We picked up a few Chokola items, including today's Belize Maya Mountain 70% cacao bar, adorned with an image of what resembled a Pronghorn** in their shop. They offered single origin bars, filled chocolates, drinking chocolates and a chocolate pudding bar. Customers could also purchase a chocolate flight to try items side-by-side.

This chocolate had a true chocolate and concentrated fruit aroma and a fairly bright but acidic fruit flavor (think lemon, apricot, and fresh pineapple) that was present throughout the tasting experience. The texture was smooth and fairly creamy, almost fudgey.

The makers tasting notes read: "pineapple, honey and caramel."

We also re-tasted a second New Mexico bar today: the Pinon Coffee Dark Chocolate (bar) from Taos Bakes (Questa, NM), pictured with the Chokola bar at right. We'd tried a very similar version of this energy bar back in 2018, under the company name Taos Mountain Energy Bar. Same location and company, but they decided to re-brand). Pinon coffee is made with a blend of real coffee plus a hint of toasted pine nuts from pinon (aka pinyon) pine trees--commonly seen growing in the Land of Enchantment.

*Taos, New Mexico, according to 2017 numbers had a population of 5,668. There are, at certain times of the year, many out of town visitors as well, who come to sightsee, enjoy the relatively moderate SW climate and the mountain scenery, and to ski in the winter. 

** While the image may not have been of a Pronghorn, frequently called Pronghorn Antelope, an animal native to the Western U.S. that can run up to 65 miles per hour, it reminded us of its story. This animal once lived and grazed in grasslands across the the Western U.S. and midwest. Their range and their decline paralleled that of the American Bison.

Cowgirl Chocolates - Mild Dark Chocolate 75% Cocoa Chocolate Bar - Aug. 1, 2019

Chocolate of the Day: 

Cowgirl Chocolates
Mild Dark Chocolate 75% Cocoa Chocolate Bar
Good - Good +
Weight: .625 oz. (17.5 g.) / 1.25 oz. (35 g.) in total bar
Calories: 95 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $5.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocolate Covered, San Francisco, CA

Welcome to Day #8 of Chocolate and Cowgirl Chocolates Theme Week.

Today's Mild Dark Chocolate 75% Chocolate Bar was from Cowgirl Chocolates (Pilot Point, TX).

It had a smooth melt and texture. And, as promised, this dark chocolate bar had a relatively mild, true chocolate (fudge, brownie) flavor. The chocolate was not acidic or bitter, and had a fairly sweet taste as well.

Each square was inscribed with the inspirational word "Dream."

Cowgirl Chocolates - Mild Milk Chocolate Sarsaparilla 33% Cocoa Sarsaparilla Chocolate Bar - July 31, 2019

Chocolate of the Day: 

Cowgirl Chocolates
Mild Milk Chocolate Sarsaparilla 33% Cocoa Chocolate Bar
Good - Good +
Weight: .625 oz. (17.5 g.) / 1.25 oz. (35 g.) in total bar
Calories: 93 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $5.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocolate Covered, San Francisco, CA

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

Today's Mild Milk Chocolate Sarsaparilla 33% Cocoa Chocolate Bar was from Cowgirl Chocolates (Pilot Point, TX).

This bar had a relatively creamy melt and texture, and a sweet sarsaparilla/root beer aroma and flavor blended in nicely with the milk chocolate.

It powered a hike into a beautiful, iconic western white rock canyon that was so quiet, one could hear a single leaf move on a tree.

This chocolate also brought back childhood memories of summertime root beer floats and root beer popsicles. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, we left our room with a view of horses and hard-working horseback riders (and cowgirl), in Abiquiu and moseyed on to Taos, New Mexico, in search for a few more chocolates.

Cowgirl Chocolates - Spicy Milk Chocolate Mint 33% Bar - July 30, 2019

Chocolate of the Day: 

Cowgirl Chocolates
Spicy Milk Chocolate Mint 33% Cocoa Chocolate Bar
Good
Weight: .625 oz. (17.5 g.) / 1.25 oz. (35 g.) in total bar
Calories: 93.5 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $5.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocolate Covered, San Francisco, CA

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

Today's Spicy Milk Chocolate Mint 33% Cocoa Bar was from Cowgirl Chocolates (Moscow, ID).

This bar was sweet and creamy with natural mint (mint oil) flavor and a hint of spicy cayenne pepper.

Today's bar was sampled near a horse pasture in New Mexico (with a tiny herd of micro cattle on the table in the foreground, for effect). We also enjoyed meeting a real cowgirl, Ellie, who helps care for and train these wild horses in Abiquiu, NM, near the Abiquiu Inn and Georgia O'Keeffe's home. (She also leads trail rides.) Real hat and boots, and the real deal too.

I also realized today that my mother, a real horsewoman and cowgirl in her day, was likely the inspiration for this theme week, and would have loved this view if she were here. Thanks mom!

Fine and Raw Chocolate - Espresso (bar) and Hazelnut Butter (bar) - July 29, 2019

Chocolate of the Day:

Fine and Raw Chocolate
Espresso 70% cacao (bar)
Good ++
Weight: 1 oz. (28 g.) in total bar
Calories: 171 calories (per label) in 1 bar
Cost: $25.00 for 5 bar set
Purchased from: Fine and Raw Chocolate, online order


Fine and Raw Chocolate
Hazelnut Butter 49% cacao (bar)
Good ++
Weight: 1 oz. (28 g.) in total bar
Calories: 159 calories in 1 bar
Cost: $25.00 for 5 bar set
Purchased from: Fine and Raw Chocolate, online order

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

Today's Espresso 70% cacao and Hazelnut Butter 49% cacao bars, from Fine and Raw Chocolate (Brooklyn, NY), were both great bars to sample after getting up in the middle of the night to catch a plane to New Mexico where cowboys and cowgirls still exist. Some caffeine and theobromine will help to stay awake and to drive across this beautiful state.*

If cowboy coffee is made with a pot on hot coals, then perhaps cowgirl espresso is a bit more refined...something like today's Espresso bar. Coffee has been part of ranch and cattle drive culture for some time. (Yesterday we talked about mesquite coffee, which also has a long tradition in the Southwest U.S.)

These two bars were part of the company's Brooklyn Bonnie collection, and were adorned with drawings of girls from the wild west, many of them endowed with a cowgirl spirit.

Both were sweetened with coconut sugar and were made with 50% raw and 50% roasted cacao and had pleasing espresso and hazelnut aromas, respectively. Both bars had a creamy melt and had balanced (and complementary) flavors. (Eating them together was like enjoying a hazelnut latte.)

The Espresso bar contained small chewy bits of coffee. And the Hazelnut Butter bar had tiny bits of ground nuts, but were otherwise quite smooth.

Both had a pleasing finish as well.

Sweet 55 - Bonus Chocolates, Cowgirl Creamery for July 28, 2019

Chocolate(s) of the Day (Bonus Entry):

Sweet55

1. Eiger - milk chocolate
2. Eiger - dark chocolate
3. Heart - filled chocolate

Welcome to a bonus, evening entry, as part of Chocolate and Cowgirl Theme Week.


A surprise find of cheese from Cowgirl Creamery (Point Reyes Station, CA) this evening led to the decision to feature a cheese and fruit plate with three flavors of filled chocolates from Sweet55 (Half Moon Bay, CA).

Cowgirl Creamery

Cowgirl Creamery (Point Reyes Station, CA) specializes in making artisan, organic cheeses. While they do have a few chocolate items (high end chocolate milk, and an occasional panna cotta or dessert with chocolate), their wonderful local cheeses are a welcome addition to any chocolate and fruit platter.

And that includes Cowgirl Creamery's Clabbered* Cottage Cheese, made "the traditional way with pillowy non-fat curds tossed in a dressing of cultured cream and organic milk..."

This is not your bulk supermarket cottage cheese. It looks similar. But it was made with a shorter list of higher-quality ingredients and had a pleasingly authentic cheese flavor that big store brands lack.

The cheese was paired with fruit, nuts, gluten-free crackers and three types of filled chocolates.

Sweet55 Chocolates

We enjoyed the three creamy smooth chocolates from Sweet55, a Swiss-style chocolatier. All three paired nicely with fruit, nuts and cheese.

The first two of three chocolates on this cheese plate were milk chocolate and dark chocolate versions of the "Eiger"—filled with almond gianduja and orange caramel crunch. The company developed special 3D molds to accurately capture the shape of this impressive mountain in the Bernese Alps.**

The third chocolate was a pretty heart-shaped chocolate with a light filling.

*Clabbered cream is similar to creme fraiche and is added to the cottage cheese curds.

**The Eiger is a 3,967 meter (13,025 foot) mountain in Switzerland that draws climbers from around the world who are intent on reaching the top of this mountain.

Fine and Raw Chocolate - Mesquite No Sugar Added (bar); Ginger 67% (bar) - July 28, 2019

Chocolate of the Day: 

Fine and Raw Chocolate
Mesquite No Sugar Added 58% cacao (bar)
Good +
Weight: .5 oz. (14.1 g.) / 2 oz. (56 g.) in total bar
Calories: 63 calories (per label) in 1/4 bar
Cost: $8.50 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Fine and Raw Chocolate, online order

Fine and Raw Chocolate
Ginger 67% cacao (bar)
Good +
Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) in 1 bar
Calories: 164 calories in 1 bar
Cost: $25.00 for 5-bar collection set
Purchased from: Fine and Raw Chocolate, online order

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

Today's Mesquite No Sugar Added 58% cacao and Ginger 67% cacao bars were both made by Fine and Raw Chocolate (Brooklyn, NY).


Rounding up cows out on the range conjures up thoughts of hard work, dusty rides through high chaparral and mesquite tree country, and music around a fire. And speaking of mesquite...

Mesquite
...Mesquite wood smoke is used for barbeques. But lesser known is the fact that the beans these trees produce are edible and can be ground into a flour and eaten.

Roasted mesquite beans are said to have notes of slightly sweet vanilla, cream, caramel, coconut and/or chocolate. They were a food source for native peoples in Mexico and the Southwest U.S., who referred to mesquite as the tree of life, because of its many uses.

People continue to use mesquite flour ground from seeds (pods shown at right), bean pod pulp, in items including gluten free pine nut cookies, roasted mesquite bean "coffee," protein drinks/bars, mesquite bean jelly, and, of course, chocolates.

Today's raw Mesquite bar contained cacao and mesquite powder and none of the usual sugar sweeteners: i.e., coconut, cane, maple or birch sugar. Instead this chocolate was lightly sweetened with organic ground lucuma (a South American fruit with a mild sweet flavor and thick creamy, slightly starchy texture).

This Mesquite bar had a surprisingly sweet and warmly spicy chocolate aroma, and a faint trace of light fruit (apple custard), sweet potato and honey notes in the flavor and finish. The three American native plants: cacao, lucuma and mesquite worked well together. This chocolate had a thick, creamy texture and a very slight granularity.

Ginger
If you like ginger, you might like Fine and Raw Chocolate's 67% dark ginger bar, made with organic ginger powder.


The ginger was thoroughly incorporated and not visible to the naked eye. However, it was evident in the aroma and flavor of this bar and lingered into the finish. The melt was even, and the texture was slightly granular.

The added ginger gave the "50% raw and 50% roast(ed)" cacao bar a warm, satisfying zing. Ginger is from Asia originally, but we've adopted it as one of our own.* (Many of us have fond childhood memories of homemade ginger molasses cookies.)

We paired this Ginger bar with a sweet, spicy kick of music from Ginger Cowgirl, (aka Stacy Antonel, originally from the Bay Area, who moved to Nashville in 2017. We wish her well. She's got a great sound. (Photo source: Ginger Cowgirl website.)

*True, ginger is from Asia and not the wild west. However, there are very capable horsewomen—cowgirls in spirit—in Asia too. Just ask someone who has visited Mongolia or ridden in the Mongolian Derby. (Photo Source for image of Mongolian girl riding horse: Daily Travel Photos)

The spice closest to ginger that's native to the Americas and has co-evolved with chocolate historically would likely be allspice. Allspice is not uncommon in Caribbean-adjacent cuisines, local chocolates and drinking chocolate.