Pascati Artisan Chocolate - Orange Cinnamon Hazelnut 60% organic (bar) - Apr. 23, 2020

Chocolate of the Day: 

Pascati Artisan Chocolate
(Pascati Foods India LLP)
Orange Cinnamon Hazelnut Dark 60% Cocoa Organic Chocolate (bar)
Weight: 2.65 oz. (75 g.) total bar
Calories: 398 calories in 1 bar
Cost: $8.50 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocosphere.com, online order

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

Today's Orange Cinnamon Hazelnut Dark 60% Cocoa Organic Chocolate bar was from Pascati Artisan Chocolate / Pascati Foods India LLP (Maharashtra, India).

This dark chocolate had a smooth texture, fairly dark chocolate flavor for 60%, and very subtle citrus and spice aroma and flavor. Small pieces of hazelnut added some nutty crunch. About every third bite you got a bit of identifiable hazelnut and/or orange flavor. Otherwise these organic flavor inclusions were very unobtrusive.

About 58% of the ingredients (cocoa and cinnamon) were fair trade.

Ingredients: organic cocoa beans, organic sugar, organic cocoa butter, organic hazelnuts, organic orange flavour, organic cinnamon powder.

Pascati Artisan Chocolate - Mango Dark 60% Organic Chocolate (bar) - Apr. 22, 2020

Chocolate of the Day: 

Pascati Artisan Chocolate
(Pascati Foods India LLP)
Mango Dark - 60% Cocoa Organic Chocolate (bar)
Good ++
Weight: 2.65 oz. (75 g.) total bar
Calories: 384 calories in 1 bar
Cost: $8.50 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocosphere.com, online order

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

Today's Mango Dark Chocolate 60% Cocoa Organic Chocolate (bar) was made by Pascati Artisan Chocolate / Pascati Foods India LLP (Maharashtra, India).

The company, founded in 2015, was the first bean-to-bar, USDA organic and fair trade chocolate company in India. Pascati sources organic cacao grown in Kerala, in southern India.

This organic chocolate had visible "Bijou pieces of freeze-dried mango tucked into dark chocolate." The 60% dark chocolate had a smooth, uniform texture and dark, dense (forastero*-like) flavor with a faint earth note.

India, is known for their mangoes. And the mango pieces included in this bar were delicious. Authentic mango fruit perfume and flavor elevated this chocolate to the next level.

*Forastero is the most commonly grown variety of cacao (representing approximately 80% of the world's supply). It is associated with a relatively bold, robust dark flavor. It's cultivated in Africa, Brazil and many other cacao-growing regions and is valued over more delicate, heritage varieties (e.g. Criollo) for its ability to resist disease and rot.

Pascati Chocolate - Rose Almond 60% Organic Chocolate (bar) - Apr. 21, 2020

Chocolate of the Day: 

Pascati Artisan Chocolate
(Pascati Foods India LLP)
Rose Almond Dark - Organic Dark Chocolate 60% Cocoa (bar)
Weight: 2.65 oz. (75 g.) total bar
Calories: 396 calories in 1 bar
Cost: $8.50 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocosphere.com, online order

Welcome to Day #1 of Chocolate and  India Theme Week.

Today's Rose Almond Dark - Organic Dark Chocolate 60% Cocoa (bar) was from Pascati Artisan Chocolate / Pascati Foods India LLP (Maharashtra, India)--India's first USDA organic and fair trade bean-to-bar chocolate company.*

I expected I might smell a more floral rose scent, but this organic dark chocolate had a very subtle "organic natural flavor" rose aroma and flavor.

The dark chocolate had a smooth, even dark taste and wasn't overly sweet (thank you). In fact, it tasted more like a 70% bar. Organic almond pieces added an occasional bit of satisfying crunchy nut texture and flavor.

This chocolate was made from bean to bar in India (Product of India) using cacao "sourced from select plantations." It was not clear if all of the cacao had been grown in India or not; however, Pascati has said before they use cacao from Kerala's Indukki and Malabar regions in southern India. It's exciting enough that more Indian-made chocolates have become more available, to more chocolate lovers around the globe.

Previously, when I asked friends from India about chocolate there they would frequently mention Cadbury chocolate candy/bars and other British and European brands, often adding that Indians had their own rich history of desserts and confections that didn't usually include chocolate.

Times have changed. This year I'm happy to again have seven "new" Indian chocolates to feature as part of a 2020 Chocolate and India Theme Week. This was not possible when I started Chocolate Banquet 13+ years ago in 2006.

*Pascati was founded in 2015 by Devansh Ashar (who had a background in the hospitality industry and trained as a chocolate maker at Ecole Chocolat). The company name comes from the Sanskrit phrase "pascat parivasya" that means a "sweet meal."

Ingredients: Organic cocoa beans, organic sugar, organic cocoa butter, organic almonds, organic rose flavour

Eclat Chocolate + Fruition Chocolate - 80% Noe Peru (bar) - Apr. 20, 2020

Chocolate of the Day: 

Fruition Chocolate + Eclat Chocolate 

80% Noe Peru (bar)

Good +++

Weight: 1.06 oz. (30 g.) / 2.12 oz. (60 g.) in total bar

Calories: 180 calories in 1/2 bar

Cost: $17.00 for 1 bar

Purchased from: missing information

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

Today's 80% Noe Peru (bar) was a collaboration between Eclat Chocolate (West Chester, PA) and Fruition Chocolate (Shokan, NY). 

This (Batch #1) bar was named for a Peruvian farmer (Noe Vasquez) who produced the Nacional - Criollo variety of cacao used to make this bar. These beans were described as the "perfect cross between Nacional and Criollo varieties" of cacao, yielding a "light, yet sophisticated flavor."

There were just two ingredients: cacao beans and cane sugar; but oh, what flavor and texture. Savor this slowly, or you'll miss the ride.

The aroma and flavor were similar; both with relatively uniform complexity...and creamy, nutty, earthy and muted fruit (cherry) and faint biscuit notes. The texture was creamy. And the ready melt and access to flavor were aided by the relative thinness of the bar.

The subtleties of this well-crafted bar became more apparent with each bite. On the one hand, the bar's flavor didn't seem to change, and left a clean finish that was an extension of the initial flavor range. On the other hand, the full flavor seemed to mysteriously expand and unfold in a way that made it taste better and better. The subtle fruit and balanced sweetness came more to the front and the light earthiness/fermented milk/cream notes seemed to recede. (I am a sucker for balanced layered flavor like this.)

This tasting experience (and perceived unfolding) was due in part to the higher percentage of cocoa solids (80%) in this bar -- and the cocoa itself. Other cacao beans would have tasted much bolder and less nuanced. Less sugar meant the more delicate but rich nuances weren't overwhelmed by sweetness.

Eclat Chocolate's chief chocolatier and pastry chef (Christopher Curtin) brings high product standards, artful packaging and presentation to this collaboration; and Fruition's chocolate maker (Bryan Graham) has mad maker skills. Judging from the results, this was the right combination of talent to bring this fine Peruvian cacao to market.

Sol Cacao Craft Chocolate - 70% Peru (bar) - Apr. 19, 2020

Chocolate of the Day: 

Sol Cacao Craft Chocolate
70% Peru (bar)
Good +
Weight: 1.86 oz. (52.7 g.) in total bar
Calories: 279 calories (estimate) in 1 bar
Cost: $7.75 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocosphere.com, online order

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

Today's 70% Peru (bar) was from bean-to-bar maker Sol Cacao Craft Chocolate (Bronx, New York).

This bar had bolder flavors than some others made with Peruvian cacao this week. The dark, complex chocolate flavors spanned fruity (citrus, red berry) tart bitterness with balanced fermented milk, earth, and slightly green nut astringency notes and a very faint whisp of star anise. The bar had a lingering finish as well.

Maker's tasting notes for this bar (Batch #7A) read as follows: Sweet floral notes, almonds and walnut.

I find complex, balanced flavor profiles in chocolate interesting and satisfying. A small square is worth eating slowly, contemplating and enjoying. Thank you Maloney Brothers.

Ingredients: All this flavor came from just two ingredients: cacao (from Oro Verde, Peru) and cane sugar.

Chapon Chocolatier - Perou Gran Blanco mini bar - Apr. 18, 2020

Chocolate of the Day:

Chapon Chocolatier
Perou Gran Blanco mini bar
Good +
Weight: .176 oz. (5 g.) in 1 mini bar / 6.35 oz. (180 g.) in box of 36 mini bars
Calories: 27.7 calories for 1 mini bar
Cost: $45.00 for 1 box of 36 mini bars
Purchased from: Chocolate Covered, San Francisco, CA

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

Today's Perou Gran Blanco* 70% dark miniature bar was from Chapon Chocolatier (Paris, France). This smooth, chocolate morsel had fruit, balanced earth and true chocolate flavor notes. (*"Blanco" likely refers to ivory or white-colored Criollo variety cacao beans used to make this bar.)

As usual, Chapon packaging--and every illustrations in miniature, printed on tiny individual wrappers--was exquisite. These colorful, nature-oriented and lushly exotic scenes are the best kind of escape in today's world. On today's Perou (Peru) bar wrapper, indigenous people on horses become almost invisible against towering tropical foliage.

Marana Craft Chocolate - Cusco, Peru 50% Milk Chocolate (bar) - Apr. 17, 2020

Chocolate of the Day: 

Marana Craft Chocolate
Cusco, Peru Single Origin - 50% Milk Chocolate (bar)
Good +++
Weight: 1.25 oz. (35 g.) / 2.5 oz. (70 g.) total bar
Calories: 200 calories (per packaging) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $7.50 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocosphere.com, online order

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

Today's Cusco, Peru Single Origin 50% Cacao Milk Chocolate (bar) was made in Peru by Cacao Valley E.I.R.L./Marana Craft Chocolate (Lima, Peru).

This four-ingredient* bar had delicious peanut/nut butter and fruit notes, melded into rich, flavorful dark milk chocolate.

The maker's description read as follows: "Our Cusco collection is made from the finest "Chuncho" variety of cacao beans., grown in the fertile valleys of Quillabamba. With this chocolate, we offer an intense, nutty flavor that will transport you to the magical land of the Incas."

*Ingredients: cocoa mass, sugar, skim milk and cocoa butter