Mission Chocolate - Three Theos - Cacao, Bicolor, Cupuacu bar - June 17, 2020

Chocolate of the Day: 

Mission Chocolate
Three Theos - Cacao, Bicolor, Cupuacu (bar)
Good +
Weight: 2.12 oz. (60 g.) in total bar
Calories: 330 calories (estimate) in 1 bar
Cost: $11.00 (estimate) for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocolate Covered, San Francisco, CA

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

Today's "Three Theos - Cacao, Bicolor, Cupuacu" dark chocolate bar was created by Mission Chocolate (Sao Paulo, Brazil).

This 70% dark chocolate bar was made with conventional cacao (Theobroma cacao solids and cocoa butter)--and with two related Theobroma* flavor inclusions: cupuacu fruit and candied bicolor seeds. The result was a unique Theobroma and Brazil immersion experience. (Virtual travel through food. Skip the jet lag, and enjoy the flavors.)

The chocolate bar aroma had notes of honey, fruit vinegar, chocolate, molasses and faint spice.
The first bite was enough to reveal an interesting melange of tastes and textures.
A generous constellation of sweet, tart squares of cupuacu fruit with sweet tangerine, light pineapple, candied papaya, and cacao fruit notes occupied the back side of this bar. Nestled among the fruit were
good-sized pieces of light-colored and lightly caramelized bicolor seeds--that added soft crunch and mild flavor. Echoes of fruit and seed lingered in the finish and aftertaste

*The name of this bar is based on botanical contributions from three members of the Theobroma genus: Theobroma cacao, Theobroma bicolor and Theobroma Cupuacu. The first of these three is the most well-known and its seeds/beans are used to make milk and dark chocolates.

Species in the Theobroma genus are part of the Malva or Mallow (Malvaceae) family of plants.

Gallette Chocolates - 40% Milk Chocolate bar - June 16, 2020

Chocolate of the Day: 

Gallette Chocolates
40% Milk Chocolate bar
Good +
Weight: 3.5 oz. (100 g.) in total bar
Calories: 500 calories in 1 bar
Cost: $9.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocosphere.com, online order

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

Today's 40% Milk Chocolate bar was from Gallette Chocolates (Sao Paolo, Brazil)--and it was the third Gallette chocolate bar made with Brazilian cacao that I've featured this week.

This 40% milk chocolate confection had a delightful caramel aroma. It was smooth and unapologetically sweet. Could I taste the chocolate underneath? No, not really. Maybe a tiny, slightly tart spark of Trinitario cacao (Bahia) fruit flavor with a micro-sliver of green fuel. At only 40 percent cacao solids....chocolate becomes more about the sugar. 

Earlier this week, I sampled a Gallette 70% robust Forastero bar from Bahia. And yesterday's Gallette 56% dark milk chocolate bar attempted a high dive into the middle of the Goldilocks zone* of the chocolate pool--running a risk of failing to satisfy tastes on either end. One could catch a glimmer of the cacao origins through the sweetness in the 56%-er where some cacao and milk/dairy flavors were still detectable.**

Today's 40% cacao honey-red toned beauty, dripping with caramel, lounged at the shallow end of the pool, shrugging its shoulders. It seemed to say: "What do you want? I am beautiful. I come from a good family, I engage in sustainable and fair trade practices. Take me or leave me; but your hankering for caramelized sugar, whole milk with a hint of cocoa will be satisfied." (Indeed it was.)***

*Goldilocks might have enjoyed tasting chocolates...

The Goldilocks zone reference dates back to a fairy tale,"Goldilocks and the Three Bears," from the 1800s. An early version was written by an Englishman, John Southey, and first was published as "The Story of the Three Bears" in the 1830s. A young Goldilocks (girl) character became more developed as the story grew more child-friendly in subsequent retellings.

In the story, Goldilocks visits a bears' home while the bears are away; and she searches for things that are not too hot or cold (bowls of porridge), not too big or small (chairs), and not too hard or soft (beds), ....until she finds things that are just right for her tastes.

More recently, the "Goldilocks zone" has come to mean an area around a star that might be habitable by life as we know it. A planet ripe for further study needs to be: not too hot (too close to a star, and not too cold (too far away from a star); and it needs to have the right amount of water; etc. 

The phrase "Goldilocks principle" has also been used in other contexts to refer to a balanced, middle ground (or something that is "just the right amount" as far as physical traits/parameters are concerned, and to quests for an impossible perfect middle, as in a search for the perfect mate.

**I look forward to trying higher percentage Gallette Chocolates bars made with Brazilian cacao (and other origins) in the future; and thank you to the family/founder(s) for helping to bring back great Brazilian cacao.

***Ingredients: cocoa beans, sugar, whole milk powder, cocoa butter and soy lecithin (emulsifier)

Gallette Chocolates - Para Parazinho (Brazil) 56% Dark Milk Chocolate bar - June 15, 2020

Chocolate of the Day: 

Gallette Chocolates
Para Parazinho (Brazil) 56% Cacao Dark Milk Chocolate bar
Good 
Weight: 3.5 oz. (100 g.) in total bar
Calories: 545 calories in 1 bar
Cost: $9.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocosphere.com, online order

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

Today's Para Parazinho (Bahia, Brasil) 56% Cacao Dark Milk Chocolate bar was from Gallette Chocolates LTDA (Sao Paulo, Brazil). 

Like yesterday's 70% (Brazil) bar from Gallette, the cacao used to make this bar was grown in the Brazilian state of Bahia--the largest cacao-producing state in the country.

This chocolate had a dairy milk and sweet caramel aroma and flavor; and a creamy. slightly waxy melt and smooth texture. Hidden under the milk, sugar and cocoa butter was a faint earthy, bold chocolate note, and a clean finish.

Ingredients: cocoa mass, sugar, whole milk powder, cocoa butter and soy lecithin (emulsifier)

Gallette Chocolates - Bahia (Brazil) Forastero 70% Chocolate bar - June 14, 2020

Chocolate of the Day:

Gallette Chocolates
Bahia Forastero 70% Chocolate bar
Good - Good +
Weight: 1.52 oz. (43 g.) / 3.53 oz. (100 g.) in total bar
Calories: 230 calories in 1 serving (9 squares) of bar
Cost: $9.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocosphere.com, online order

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

Today's Bahia Forastero 70% Chocolate bar was from Gallette Chocolates LTDA (Sao Paolo, Brazil). 

Bahia is a state in northeastern Brazil (bigger than California, but smaller than Texas), is currently the largest producer/exporter of cacao in Brazil (a country about 86.6% the size of the U.S.).

Brazil, the world's sixth largest cacao producer once occupied the number two spot. However, a fungal disease decimated cacao trees and caused a decades-long steep decline in Brazil's cacao market from starting around 1989. The Forastero variety/strains of cacao, known to be more robust and disease-resistant (than more delicate heritage varieties), have played a large part in the country's rebounding cacao industry in recent years.

Today's Forastero 70% dark bar had an aroma with deep cocoa (dark drinking chocolate), light umami* and very faint, almost tart, processed green/green fuel notes. The melt was smooth with a very slight astringency/roughness in the texture--that was not really objectionable and almost vanished after the first bite or two. 

In fact the overall flavor of this chocolate seemed to improve as the tasting progressed. 

Iniitally all I tasted was deep and dark with a slightly roasted cocoa flavor and a mellow, almost marshmallow sweet overtone I associate with Forastero cacao-based chocolate. It had a nicely balanced bitterness to it.

After four tastings over as many hours I was tasting a bit of fruit (cherry notes) and a hint of nuts (walnut). Always re-taste chocolate over the course of the day if you can hold back that long. Flavors do evolve.

Forastero flights of fancy

You flavor fanciers may have enjoyed wine, beer and whiskey tasting flights, no? Well, this works with fine flavored chocolates as well.

This Gallette 70% chocolate made me want to pair this bar with other makers' Forastero-based 70% (or thereabouts) chocolate bars. Side-by-side tastings make it easier to detect subtle flavor nuances. Forastero cacao beans are known for their bold and "dense" flavor. So, rather than compare a Forastero-based chocolate with, e.g., a delicate complex rose of a Criollo heritage bar where the two might obliterate or depreciate each other, a flight of Forastero bars might be more edifying.

Umami

*Umami, or slightly savory, flavor(s) in chocolate are thought to be undesirable, a flaw if you will, by some chocolate tasters. I've always appreciated these flavor notes myself when they are well-behaved. Certain flavors arrive as unwanted dinner guests at some dinner tables. As long as they're relatively well-behaved and not too loud (and keep one foot on the floor at all times), I consider umami aroma/flavor notes to be interesting company. Otherwise we'd all be forced to eat the same dark chocolate pudding day after day. And wouldn't that be dull? 

BTW, I see on the Gallette website a box of small wedge-shaped chocolate confections that look like a cheese box filled with "cheese" wedges...If I can ever find this Gallette offering in the U.S., I will include these in my next Chocolate and Umami Theme Week.

Crow & Moss - Brazilian Santos Coffee 67% Chocolate bar - June 13, 2020

Chocolate of the Day:

Crow and Moss
Brazilian Santos Coffee 67% Chocolate bar
Good +++ - Very Good
Weight: 1.23 oz. (35 g.) / 2.47 oz. (70 g.) in total bar
Calories: 185 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $8.75 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocosphere.com, online order

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

Today's Brazilian Santos Coffee* 67% Chocolate bar was from Crow and Moss (Petoskey, MI).

This bar had a rich, roasted coffee aroma, with notes of roasted nut, chocolate and a very faint wisp of umami/savory/hickory smoke. There was a wonderful, naturally sweet aroma to the coffee that I've not found in cacao. (Sweetness in chocolate can be perceived via "fruit" flavor notes from cacao, but often comes from sugar or added sweetener.)

The Honduras-grown cacao Crow and Moss used to make this bar complemented the Brazilian coffee very well, offering a bit of tart, fruit or berry flavor, a faint green note, and a bit of the nut and roasted notes.

The texture was a blend of smooth and crunchy with each bite triggering a cascade of rich, lovely flavor(s). The grind was uniformly perfect (not too gritty, fresh-tasting--thank you!). This was a truly great bean-to-breakfast-bar.

And yes, 67% cocoa chocolate does have a fair amount of sugar, but the coffee helped reduce and balance the sweetness. The bitterness/bitter acidity level of this three-ingredient** coffee bar was relatively low allowing subtle flavors to be savored.

Coffee History, Parallels with Cacao
Brazil is currently the largest producer and exporter of coffee (more than 2.6 million metric tonnes per year in 2019). Coffee originated in Ethiopia, and made its way to Europe.

The Dutch and the French brought coffee to the Caribbean/Americas in the late 1600s and early 1700s and by the early 1700s, the first coffee plants were growing in Brazil. For cacao/chocolate fans, coffee's origin story will sound familiar. Sadly, slave labor was part of the spread of coffee, cocoa, sugar, tea and other crops to European colonies in the Caribbean/the Americas as well as to African, Asian and other island nations close to the Equator.

In 2020, (West) Africa is the largest producer/exporter of cacao--a crop that originated in Central and South America. And Brazil is the largest producer/exporter of coffee, a crop that had its start in (Northern) Africa.

*Santos Coffee from Brazil is said to be a descendant of Bourbon coffee (Coffea arabica) originally grown on the Isle of Bourbon (Reunion), east of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean. Santos is also the name of a port city in Brazil, through which a high volume of coffee exports have moved.

**Ingredients: Honduran cacao beans, organic cane sugar, Brazilian Santos Coffee.

Harper Macaw - Winter's Cheer 70% Dark Chocolate, Candied Orange Peel, Dried Cranberry bar - June 12, 2020

Chocolate of the Day:

Harper Macaw
Winter's Cheer
Good + - Good ++
Weight: 2.5 oz. (70 g.) in total bar
Calories: 375 calories (estimate) in 1 bar
Cost: $11.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Harper Macaw, online order

Welcome to Day #9 of Chocolate, Ginger and Citrus Theme Week, and Day #1 of Chocolate and Brazil Theme Week.

Today's Winter's Cheer 70% Dark Chocolate, Candied Orange Peel, and Dried Cranberry bar was from Harper Macaw (Washington, D.C.). The bean-to-bar chocolate makers hope that customers will savor the rainforest-grown, fine flavored cacao they use; and they help support threatened land and reforestation efforts near their cacao sources in Brazil.

Flavorful Brazil-grown cacao in today's bar complemented bright, citrus, tangy and tart sweet fruit flavors,* in an offering originally designed for fall and winter--when a Winter's Cheer bar would light up a gray day. But, this chocolate would be enjoyable any time of year.

"Ingredients: cocoa beans, cane sugar, cocoa butter, candied orange peel, and dried cranberry."

Atypic Artiste Chocolatier - 50% Milk Chocolate Lemon Myrtle (bar) - June 11, 2020

Chocolate(s) of the Day: 

Atypic Artiste Chocolatier

50% Milk Chocolate Lemon Myrtle (bar)

Good - Good +

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

Calories: 183 calories in 1/2 bar

Cost: $10.75 for 1 bar

Purchased from: Chocosphere.com, online order

Welcome to Day #8 of Chocolate, Ginger and Citrus Theme Week. 

This 50% Milk Chocolate Lemon Myrtle bar was from Atypic Artiste Chocolatier (South Melbourne Market, Victoria, Australia).

It had a green herbal/citrus (lemon verbena-like/myrtle) aroma with very faint, fleeting roasted, light plant latex, coconut and dairy notes. The melt was very creamy; and the flavor was all milk chocolate sweetness, but there were a few glimmers or authentic lemon myrtle flavor that were quite nice, and complemented the chocolate very nicely as botanical inclusions go.

*Lemon Myrtle (Backhousia citriodora) is a flowering plant native to Queensland, Australia, used in teas, liqueurs, and other beverages, breads, cookies and other confections.