Sol Cacao Craft Chocolate - 70% Ecuador (Cedeno Farm) (bar) - Aug. 1, 2020

Chocolate of the Day:

Sol Cacao Craft Chocolate
70% Ecuador (Cedeno Farm) (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 #8 of Chocolate and Ecuador Theme Week.

Today's 70% Ecuador (Cedeno Farm*) (bar) was from Sol Cacao Craft Chocolate (Bronx, NY).

This ultra dark chocolate had delicate aroma notes: roasted green, spice, and floral and very light umami (leather). In tasting the bar, flavor notes were similar: dark chocolate, green, floral, light fermented fruit and dairy, and nicely balanced acidity.

The texture was smooth and uniform with a wee bit of balanced astringency.

This chocolate was full of flavor and was not too sweet (thank you!).

Ingredients: Cacao, Organic Cane Sugar, Organic Cocoa Butter, Vanilla Bean

*Cacao beans used to make this dark chocolate bar were grown on the Cedeno family farm in Santa Domingo De Los Tsachilas, Ecuador--an area known for Arriba Nacional variety cacao. (This bar was labeled as Sol Cacao Batch #6A.)

Taste Artisan Chocolate - Limited Edition Palo Santo 75% Ecuador (bar) - July 31, 2020

Chocolate of the Day: 

Taste Artisan Chocolate
Limited Edition Palo Santo 75% Ecuador (bar)
Good 
Weight:  1.5 oz. (42.5 g.) / 3 oz. (85 g.) in total bar
Calories: 225 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $9.95 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocosphere.com, online order

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

Today's Limited Edition Palo Santo 75% Ecuador (bar) was crafted by Taste Artisan Chocolate (Provo, UT).

This well-tempered, 75 percent cacao bar had a subtle aroma with polite dark chocolate notes and a hint of green forest. The chocolate had a uniformly smooth, almost creamy melt and texture. Flavor notes included a faint sour milk note, even fainter, green (green tea), marshmallow and light floral (vanilla) notes, muted true chocolate, and a very fleeting uptick of earth. 

There were no strong bitter or sour notes; so this might appeal to those who like a smoother dark chocolate that still has some identifiable flavor notes.

The finish was relatively mild with an almost undetectable amount of astringency (very mild throat tickle), and the bar was not overly sweet (thank you).

Ingredients: Cacao, Organic Cane Sugar, Organic Cocoa Butter, Vanilla Bean

Cemoi - Ecuador 50% cocoa rich milk chocolate (bar) - July 30, 2020

Chocolate of the Day: 

Distributed by Cemoi Inc. 

Ecuador 50% cocoa rich milk chocolate (bar)

Good +

Weight: 1.2 oz. (34 g.) / 3 oz. (85 g.) in total bar

Calories: 210 calories in 4 squares (1 serving) of bar

Cost: $1.49 for 1 bar

Purchased from: Grocery Outlet Bargain Market, Palo Alto, CA

Bonjour (good day) and welcome to Day #6 of Chocolate and Ecuador Theme Week.

Today's Ecuador 50% cocoa bar was produced in France and distributed by Cemoi Inc. (Pittsburgh, PA).

The aroma in this gluten-free and Non-GMO Project Verified chocolate featured earthy, fermented fruit (grapes being made into brandy) notes. The melt and texture were creamy, with a very slight gummy caramel chew.

Flavors included rich milk chocolate, fermented fruit notes present in the aroma, and unfolding caramel overtones, with a chocolate caramel finish.

I applaud the choice of going with the 50% dark milk chocolate. Anything less than 50 percent cocoa would have been too much sugar (for me); and more of the single origin (Ecuador) chocolate flavor notes would have been eclipsed by sugar. (E.g., yesterday's Cemoi 80% Ecuador bar had similar earthy fermented fruit notes. However it also had subtle floral and green notes (more delicate notes often associated with Ecuador cacao) that were absent in today's bar, or at least supplanted by sugar-related (caramel) flavor. 

The chocolate maker's tasting notes read: "Caramel, Dried Fruits, Woody Notes"

*Ingredients: whole milk powder, Ecuador unsweetened chocolate, cocoa butter, sugar, vanilla extract

Cemoi - Ecuador 80% cocoa (bar) - July 29, 2020

Chocolate of the Day: 

Distributed by Cemoi

Ecuador 80% cocoa (bar)

Good +

Weight: 1.2 oz. (34 g.) / 3 oz. (85 g.) in total bar

Calories: 210 calories in 4 squares (1 serving) of bar

Cost: $1.49 for 1 bar

Purchased from: Grocery Outlet Bargain Market, Palo Alto, CA

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

Today's Ecuador 80% cocoa bar was produced in France and distributed by Cemoi Inc. (Pittsburgh, PA).

The chocolate had dark, chocolate cake and frosting, very faint waxy chocolate initially, followed by wood, forest, floral (jasmine) and faint concentrated fruit (light citrus and plum) notes. Tasting the chocolate, these aroma notes continued with additional green and roasted cacao notes chiming in. 

This bar was complex and interesting. By choosing a high cacao percentage (80% cocoa), a range of flavor notes were preserved and were saved from drowning in too much sugar. (Thank you!) And the price ($1.49 USD) at an outlet store made this a very good value for an ultra-dark chocolate bar with some flavor depth and complexity.

The maker's tasting notes read: "Jasmin, Dried Fruits, Woody Notes"

Ingredients: Ecuador unsweetened chocolate, sugar, sunflower lecithins (emulsifier), vanilla extract.

Chapon Chocolatier - Equateur (Ecuador) Los Rios 70% (bar) - July 28, 2020

Chocolate of the Day: 

Chapon Chocolatier

Equateur (Ecuador), Los Rios 70% (bar)

Good +

Weight: .175 oz. (5 g.) / 6.35 oz. (180 g.) in total package of 36 mini bars

Calories; 27.7 calories (estimate) in 1 mini bar

Cost: $45.00 for 1 package of 36 mini bars 

Purchased from: Chocolate Covered, San Francisco, CA

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

Today's Equateur (Ecuador) Los Rios 70% (mini bar) was from Chapon Chocolatier (Paris and Chelles, France).

This bar had an aroma with rich, sweet (brown sugar/molasses) chocolate and light spice notes.

The melt was fairly creamy. The flavor profile was well-balanced with light bittersweet and true chocolate notes with a faint fruit uplift/brightness.

The outer box, and inner (bar) packaging, for this Chapon assortment box supplied enjoyable eye candy. Lush, colorful fantasies of the natural world blended landscape and animal imagery with impressions of cacao origins. This was true even with these small bars, tiny canvases for this art (that is more well developed in larger Chapon bar wrappings).

The small 70% mini bar was just the right size for a satisfying sample.

Amedei - Cru Cioccolato Fondente Extra 70% (bar) - July 27, 2020

Chocolate of the Day:

Amedei srl
Cru - Cioccolato Fondente Extra - Dark Chocolate Extra 70% (bar)
Good 
Weight: 87.5 oz. (25 g.) / 1.75 oz. (50 g.) in total bar
Calories: 140 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $7.99 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocosphere.com, online order

Welcome to Day #10 of Italian Chocolate and Day #3 of Chocolate and Ecuador Theme Week

Today's Cru Cioccolato Fondente Extra - Dark Chocolate Extra 70% (bar) was from Amedei srl (La Rota, Pontedera (Pisa), Italy). 

This Mono Orgine (Single Origin) Ecuador (bar) was made using trinitario (variety of) cacao grown in Ecuador. The 70% chocolate had a warm sugar/sweet (brown sugar, molasses, hint of faint spice) aroma and flavor, and a smooth, uniform melt. 

The flavor was relatively sweet, uniform dark chocolate with slightly green (breakfast cereal, cereal box packaging, mild natural adhesive (chewing gum)) notes that lingered into the finish.

Ingredients: cocoa mass, cane sugar, cocoa butter.

Domori - Nacional 70% Ecuador Dark Chocolate; Arriba Milk Chocolate 45% with Sea Salt - July 26, 2020

Chocolate(s) of the Day:

Domori srl
Nacional 70% Ecuador Dark Chocolate (bar)
Good +++
Weight: 1.76 oz. (50 g.) in total bar
Calories: 276 calories in 1 bar
Cost: $6.75 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocosphere.com, online order

Domori srl
Cioccolato Al Latte Con Fior Di Sale (milk chocolate with fleur de sel)
Good ++ - +++ (reviewed a similar bar before - this is almost a re-tasting)
Weight: .88 oz. (25 g.) / 1.76 oz. (50 g.) in total bar
Calories: 300.5 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $6.75 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocosphere.com, online order

Welcome to Day #9 of Italian Chocolate Theme Week, and Day #2 of Chocolate and Ecuador Theme Week.

Today's Nacional 70% Ecuador Dark Chocolate (bar) was from Domori srl (None, Torino (Turin), Piedmont, Italy). Domori (founded in 1997 by Gianluca Franzoni) offers a variety of single origin bars, and a few bars with sea salt. In addition to the company's Arriba Nacional Ecuador bar, I sampled a Domori milk chocolate with sea salt bar that was very close in description to a similar bar featured previously on Chocolate Banquet.

Arriba Nacional 70% Ecuador bar
This Domori dark bar had a very enjoyable, surprising complexity. The aroma included slightly earthy, fermented stone fruits, light molasses, and rum-marinated dried fruit (raisin, prune) notes. 

I thought I knew how this 70% Ecuador (Hacienda Victoria) dark chocolate would taste, i.e. very similar to the aroma. But, this chocolate opened up further when I took the first bite.

It had a well-executed creamy, fudgey melt and smooth texture. And ooh the flavors: layers of tart, concentrated fruit (nectarine and citrus (sweet lemon, tangerine), balanced flourishes of green floral (very subtle versions of white jasmine, citrus blossom, other blooms), fudge brownie, and faint nut butter. 

The aroma and flavor notes lingered into the finish. 

All these flavors from just two ingredients: cocoa mass and cane sugar. Sometimes I get tired of uniformity and want a bit of well-executed, layered excitement. Today I felt rewarded. And, thank you Domori. This bar was not too sweet. 

The maker's notes read as follows: Hacienda Victoria has an extraordinary vision of cultivating three pure clones of Nacional cocoa, with their extreme elegance and delicate notes of white flowers.

Milk Chocolate Fleur de Sel 45% Arriba bar

This 45% dark milk chocolate (made with Arriba cacao) also was relatively complex and well executed. It was well balanced with faint, balanced, bitter earth, fruit and green notes in the aroma. It had a creamy melt and texture. 

The well-made chocolate was flavorful with fruit, fermented fruits (ripe fruit, very light citrus), milk chocolate with delicious rich caramel notes, with occasional, balanced wavelets of Guerande fleur de sel (sea salt) that lingered for a short while.

This was meant to be a sweeter, creamer bar; however, the sugar/sweet level was relatively restrained allowing more subtle flavors to shine through (thank you!).