Ancestral Roots - Organic Cacao Nibs - Aug. 10, 2020

Chocolate of the Day

Ancestral Roots

Organic Cacao Nibs

Good ++

Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) / 8 oz. (226 g.) in total package

Calories: 130 calories in 1 oz. (28.3 g.) serving

Cost: $7.99 (estimate) for 1 package

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

Welcome to Day #7 of Cocoa Nibs Theme Week.

Today's Ancestral Roots Organic Cacao Nibs were distributed by OMG! Food Company LLC (Los Angeles, CA).

These unroasted, unsweetened* cacao bean pieces had rich cacao (faint brownie), clean and clear (fresh) green and fermented aroma notes. 

Unroasted (and "raw"), but lightly fermented and dried, cocoa nibs are the least processed form of chocolate most people will have the opportunity to sample. (Cacao beans (actually seeds) plucked out of freshly harvested cacao fruit/pulp contain more tannins and are relatively bitter. Fermentation and drying breaks down tannins, making the cacao beans more edible.)

Fermentation...how and why it matters

Fermentation happens naturally with most fruits. And cacao beans are seeds from cacao fruits. One reason why you don't see fresh cacao fruit (pods) in local markets (unless you live in Hawaii or a country located near the Equator) is that cacao fruit starts to ferment very quickly after it's harvested--resulting in a short shelf life.

Fermentation temperatures for raw cacao are controlled to help preserve nutritional content and more delicate cacao flavors (e.g. floral notes) that may be lost with higher heat. (Antioxidant levels can drop more than 40 percent with high temperatures associated with fermentation and roasting in the chocolate-making process.)

Back to the nibs

Back to the nibs...Today's cacao nibs had an unroasted green freshness, and a resilient, crunchy, uniform texture and nice clean "bite," indicative of quality beans, careful drying and humidity control, and good storage and sorting.

The flavor included even, clean/clear lightly fermented, green cacao notes. There were no off notes. (Off notes can occur if beans aren't carefully sorted and an inferior bean piece slips through before/as nibs are created.) The finish was clean, clear and subtle as well.

Cacao Nibs and food and dessert pairing considerations

Roasted nibs tend to have a richer, roasted flavor, but unroasted cacao nibs have their own charm. When I think of roasted nibs, I think of red wines, fall and winter, and grilled items. When I think of unroasted/raw nibs, I think of white wines, spring greens and summer fruits. It's similar to espresso and coffee, where roasting conjures up different flavors.

I enjoy roasted cacao nibs over conventional baked brownies with bolder flavor (and roasted nibs soaked in whiskey over vanilla ice cream). Unroasted nibs might be better with a light spring salad accented with flowers and fresh green pea shoots and a glass of chilled white wine grape juice; or a light vanilla cream/custard topped with fresh peach and strawberry. 

Either way, cacao nibs offer a lot of flavor with no added sugar, all with just one ingredient.

*Ingredients: "Certified Organic Cacao Nibs (Theobroma cacao)." 

Laboratorio Artigianale - Raw Organic Chocolate - Pink Himalayan Salt and Cacao Nibs (bar) - Aug. 9, 2020

Chocolate of the Day

Cacao Crudo S.r.l. 
Raw Organic, Artisan Chocolate
Pink Himalayan Salt and Cacao Nibs (bar)
Good + - Good ++
Weight: .88 oz. (25 g.) / 1.76 oz. (50 g.) in total bar
Calories: 160 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $6.49 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Rainbow Grocery, San Francisco, CA

Welcome to Day #6 of Cocoa Nibs Theme Week.

Today's Raw Organic Chocolate Pink Himalayan Salt and Cacao Nibs bar was made in Italy by Cacao Crudo S.r.l.* (Roma (Rome), Italy) and imported to the U.S. by Ritrovo Italian Regional Foods (Seattle, WA).

This 75% cocoa raw chocolate bar was made using ground Criollo cacao, a heritage variety of cacao famous for its delicate, varied flavors (with notes of stone fruits like peach, fresh plum, and caramel, cream). True to its description, this bar had a friendly dark chocolate aroma and a subtle complexity with light green and light concentrated/fermented fruit-floral notes (Ecuador Arriba cacao like but with something more).

 Criollo cacao manages to be at once light and delicate and rich and complex. And not roasting these Criollo beans helped to preserve some of these more delicate flavors.

The sweet (concentrated coconut flower sap) and salt (Himalayan pink rose salt) flavors were nicely balanced and restrained, allowing the natural Criollo cacao flavors to shine through. (There were only 5 grams of total sugars in 1/2 bar.) The use of Criollo cacao nibs (that added bits of texture) and Criollo cocoa butter** helped reinforce this flavor profile.

*Prodotto In Laboratorio Artigianale; Lavorato A Freddo in Tutte Le Fasi

** Cocoa beans are about half fat, and can be separated into ivory colored cocoa fat (aka cocoa butter) and darker cocoa solids. Some cocoa beans are "leaner" than others, and may benefit from added fat to give it a creamier mouthfeel and melt. In fact, many makers do add cocoa butter for creamier texture (and occasionally to muffle stronger, rougher flavor elements). But if they have a small bean batch size, they may need to obtain additional cocoa butter from a another source.

Cocoa butter has a milder flavor profile than the darker cocoa solids, but it can influence the overall taste (and texture) of finished chocolate--which is one reason why cocoa butter sourcing and processing also matters. 

Some intrepid makers press their own cocoa butter from the same batch of cocoa beans used for cocoa solids/mass to ensure they have a uniform, undiluted single origin flavor profile. And when you have really great cocoa beans, great cocoa butter enhances the goodness.

Ingredients: Organic unroasted cacao Criollo beans paste, organic concentrated coconut flower sap, organic cacao Criollo butter from not roasted beans, organic not roasted cacao Criollo nibs (5%), Himalayan rose pink salt (1.5%).

K+M Extravirgin Chocolate - Milk Chocolate Cocoa Nibs (bar) - Aug. 8, 2020

Chocolate of the Day: 

K+M Extravirgin Chocolate

(Thomas Keller + Armando Manni)

Milk Chocolate Cocoa Nibs (bar)

Good + - Good ++

Weight: 1.25 oz. (35 g.) / 2.5 oz. (70 g.) in total bar

Calories: 200 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar

Cost: $11.99 for 1 bar

Purchased from: Rainbow Grocery, San Francisco, CA

Welcome to Day #5 of Chocolate and Cocoa Nibs Theme Week.

K+M Extravirgin Chocolate's Milk Chocolate with Cocoa Nibs (bar)--a collaboration between Chef Thomas Keller and olive oil expert and supplier, Armando Manni--was made in Napa, CA.

Today's milk chocolate bar (no cacao percentage listed) had a subtle aroma and a rich, luxuriously smooth and creamy texture (from extra virgin olive oil and whole milk*), accented by a soft crunchy texture from a field of relatively finely ground cocoa nibs. 

The small amount of olive oil replaced some of the cocoa butter, and contributed a silkiness and softness to the texture.

The flavors were more pronounced than the faint aroma would indicate. Clear dairy milk, rich sweet chocolate and ample caramel notes lingered into the finish.

This bar was well balanced and confection-level sweet; however, the quality of the chocolate, milk and olive oil were high enough to save it from sugar purgatory.

*Ingredients: cocoa beans, RBST-free whole milk powder, organic sugar, organic cocoa butter, organic Manni extra virgin olive oil (Tuscany, Italy), cocoa nibs, organic soy lecithin.

Solstice Chocolate - 70% Wasatch Blend with Sweet Nibs (bar) - Aug. 7, 2020

Chocolate of the Day:

Solstice Chocolate

70% Wasatch Blend with Sweet Nibs (bar)

Good +

Weight: 1.15 oz. (32.5 g.) / 2.3 oz. (65 g.) in total bar

Calories: 190 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar

Cost: $7.00 for 1 bar

Purchased from: Solstice Chocolate, online order

Welcome to Day #4 of Cocoa Nibs Theme Week.

Today's 70% Wasatch* Blend with Sweet Nibs (bar) was made by bean-to-bar maker, Solstice Chocolate (Salt Lake City, UT).

This uniform, sweet-tasting 70% dark bar (with notes of chocolate and nuts) was adorned with a sprinkle of sweetened cacao nibs that added crunchy texture.

*Wasatch is a Ute Indian word that refers to a low pass in a high mountain area. The Wasatch (Mountain) Range is part of the southeastern Rocky Mountains and extends from Idaho into Utah, not that far from where Solstice Chocolate is based.

Solstice Chocolate - Cacao Bean Sweet Nibs - Aug. 6, 2020

Chocolate of the Day: 

Solstice Chocolate 

Cacao Bean Sweet Nibs

Good + - Good ++

Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) serving / 2.3 oz. (65 g.) total package

Calories: 165 calories in 1 oz. (28.3 g.) serving

Cost: $8.00 for 1 package 

Purchased from: Solstice Chocolate, online order

Welcome to Day #3 of Cocoa Nibs Theme Week.

Today's Cacao Bean Sweet Nibs were from bean-to-bar makers, Solstice Chocolate (Salt Lake City).

These sweetened bits of cacao bean had an aroma of sweet brownies, fresh out of the oven with a hint of sweet tobacco and vanilla, and a crunchy, nutty texture.

The nibs had an initial sweetness that gently faded into true chocolate, bolder, deeper flavor, then into a very mild, balanced bitter note. It was a nice progression, and a tasting curve I wouldn't expect with a more homogenized, finished bar. (Well executed layers of flavor are good.) Unlike finished chocolate, the sugar is located more on the outside surfaces of nib pieces, so you get to taste both sweetened and unsweetened parts of the bean when you chew on them.

There was no "off" taste to any of today's nibs--which spoke to the quality of the cacao beans, and to careful sorting and removal of any less desirable pieces in a shipment. Judging from the quality, these nibs likely would have been good either with or without sweetener. The lack of a mention of an origin also gave/gives the maker some flexibility to pick the best blend or batch of beans for this product over time.

Sugar and Nibs: To Sweeten or Not to Sweeten?

Occasionally, I'll get the question: "If cacao nibs are so great, why add sugar to them? The answer to this question often lies in a Goldilocks chocolate balance zone (not too much, and not too little), and/or is a matter of personal preference. It also depends on the quality of the cacao.

In a finished chocolate bar (where beans/nibs are ground into fine particles with sugar), too much sugar can mask or overpower certain cacao flavors. However, just the right amount of sugar can help brighten or even highlight certain fruit and other notes in a chocolate bar. 

The amount of sugar in today's sweetened nibs was akin to a high-quality 70% cacao bar made with just three ingredients.* (It must be remembered that finished chocolate bars may also contain added cocoa butter to make the chocolate smoother or creamier. Fat is part of flavor too. Cacao beans/nibs may naturally contain 45-50%, fat content, before any extra cocoa butter is added.) 

Unsweetened cacao nib flavor can be more like a 100% (unsweetened) chocolate bar, and is sometimes better, as quality for a "naked" item is demanded. There is no cocoa butter to hide behind. 

Today's high-quality nibs managed to land in the Goldilocks zone. This offering embodied some advantages of both unsweetened and sweetened. Now it's just up to you to decide whether you might prefer sweet or savory/nutty, as nibs can rock either way. 

*Ingredients: Organic cacao bean, cane sugar, vanilla.

Venchi - GranBlend Montezuma 75% with nibs (squares) - Aug. 5, 2020

Chocolate of the Day: 

Venchi 

GranBlend Montezuma 75% with nibs 

Good ++

Weight: .53 oz. (15 g.) for 2 squares (.265 oz. (7.5 g.) in 1 square)

Calories: 79.5 calories (estimate) in 2 squares

Cost: $2.40 for 2 squares ($1.20 for each)

Purchased from: Chocosphere.com, online order

Welcome to Day #2 of Chocolate and Cacao Nibs Theme Week.

Today's GranBlend Montezuma 75% with nibs (squares) were from Venchi S.p.A. (Castelletto Stura, Cuneo, Piedmont, Italy).

These two small, thin chocolate squares had flavor to savor. Cocoa nibs contain more unprocessed cacao bean flavor. And eating these chocolates with nibs more slowly yielded a more interesting tasting experience.

Together, the two squares had aroma and flavor notes that included balanced chocolate nut brownie, earth, light leather. The second one had more faint sweet fruit and green notes. Cocoa nibs added a soft crunchy texture in both cases (slightly softer and nuttier in the first square). Some of the very subtle flavor differences between the two came from the nibs. (Different batches of beans/nibs or origins perhaps.) 

How does one handle "unpredictable" nibs?

Both of today's squares with nibs were good with no "off" flavors. But, all it takes is one funky piece of coca bean (nib) to throw flavors off. Most artisan chocolate makers sort their beans and nibs very carefully to avoid this. 

The other strategy, employed by many high-volume chocolate producers is to increase processing and homogenize batches of cocoa nibs/beans so thoroughly (and grind/conche them for so long--sometimes many days) that any "off" flavors will be greatly reduced or attenuated, even if some desirable or more delicate flavors disappear as well. This leads to a consistent, more predicable flavor over time, but one that can be much less exciting, and one where subtle varietal, harvest and origin flavors can be lost.

Slitti - GranCacao 70% Ecuador Arriba con granella di cacao (nibs) - Aug. 4, 2020

Chocolate of the Day: 

Slitti

GranCacao 70% Ecuador Arriba con Granella di Cacao (bar)

Good +

Weight: 1.75 oz. (50 g.) / 3.5 oz. (100 g.) in total bar

Calories: 288.5 calories in 1/2 bar

Cost: $9.75 for 1 bar

Purchased from: Chocosphere.com, online order

Welcome to Day #1 of Chocolate and Cacao Nibs Theme Week, where pieces of cocoa bean (nibs) grace the presence of chocolate bars and confections.

Today's GranCacao 70% Ecuador Arriba con granella di cacao (grains of cocoa (bean), aka cocoa nibs bar) was from Slitti Cacao Pregiati (Tuscany, Italy).

This chocolate bar had an aroma and flavor with green, coconut, bright tropical fruit (pineapple), light spice, fermented dairy (yogurt) and dark chocolate nut brownie notes. Every third or fourth bite, I could detect a small soft crunchy cocoa nibs or two or three--adding some, slightly nutty, essence of cocoa bean flavor and texture.

Ingredients: Cocoa mass (Ecuador), sugar, cocoa powder, grains of cocoa (aka cocoa nibs) (2%).