Tabal Chocolate - Bolivia 58% Cacao (bar) - Aug. 24, 2020

Chocolate of the Day

Tabal Chocolate
Bolivia 58% Cacao (bar)

Good +

Weight: 1.5 oz. (42.5 g.) / 3 oz. (85 g.) in total bar

Calories: 390 calories in 1/2 bar

Cost: $12.00 for 1 bar

Purchased from: Chocolate Covered, San Francisco, CA

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

Today's Organic Bolivia 58% Cacao (bar) was made bean to bear with stoneground cacao by Tabal Chocolate  (Wauwatosa, WI).

This chocolate had a sweet, dark chocolate aroma (with very faint bright fruit and spice notes) and a smooth, stoneground* texture. It was hard to tell whether the "brightness" in this thick, sweet (58% cacao) chocolate bar was due to fruit notes or sugar, or both. There was a pleasant, chocolate cake like taste, encouraged by a faint hint of vanilla in addition to a relatively high sugar level.

Ingredients: Organic cacao, organic cane sugar, organic cocoa butter, organic vanilla bean.

*Stoneground cacao often has a rustic, thick, almost grainy texture. But, the stoneground process (using a granite/stone wheel or mortar) may also help to maintain cacao flavors--as the smaller the cacao bean particles become (as they are ground into a smooth paste in chocolate-making), the more particle surfaces are exposed to air and oxidation (and potential flavor loss). Grinding cacao longer may offer smoother texture, but more delicate (e.g. floral) notes may attenuate with longer grinding times. Today's stoneground chocolate was slightly thicker in texture, but still smooth (i.e. not rough or coarse), in part due to added cocoa butter. 

Crow and Moss - Bolivian Rose Salt 67% (bar) - Aug. 23, 2020

Chocolate of the Day

Crow and Moss
Bolivian Rose Salt 67% (bar)

Good ++

Weight: 1.235 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 #1 of Chocolate and Bolivia Theme Week.

Today's Bolivian Rose Salt Chocolate 67% bar was from Crow and Moss Chocolate (Petoskey, MI). The firm specializes in hand-crafted bean-to-bar chocolate bars. 

This bar was made from Colombian Aruaca cacao beans and Bolivian Rose Salt from the Andes, and the chocolate had an aroma with dried fruit (nectarines, peaches) and pleasant sweet notes.

Last week's Ghana and Ivory Coast bars were full of bold, deep dark Forastero and Forastino cacao flavors. Today marked a change to lighter and brighter chocolates. 

This bar had a flavor with mild stone fruit; fleeting cream/faint fermented milk notes; a light array of savory salt sparkles (with a fleeting pepper note as well); and a relatively subtle finish. The sweetness was nicely balanced with the salt.

Ingredients: Cacao blend, Bolivian rose salt, organic cane sugar.

Domori - Chacao Organic Milk Chocolate 42% Cacao (bar) - Aug. 22, 2020

Chocolate of the Day

Domori 
(Chacao line)
Cioccolato Al Latte Bio 
Organic Milk Chocolate (bar)
Good ++ - Good +++
Weight: .88 oz. (25 g.) / 1.76 oz. (50 g.) in total bar
Calories: 295.5 calories in 1 bar; 147.75 cals. in 1/2 bar
Cost: $6.50 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocosphere.com, online order

Welcome to Day #10 of Ghana and Ivory Coast Theme Week.

Today's Cioccolato Al Latte Bio (Organic Milk Chocolate) Ivory Coast bar was from Domori (None, Torino, Italy). 

This bean-to-bar, organic dark milk 42% bar was made from "Forastino" cacao, a complex and interesting variation on popular Forastero cacao beans, grown in Cote de Ivoire (Ivory Coast).

The dark milk chocolate had an aroma with slight green, followed by nut, caramel and warm spice and floral honey notes.

This bar's complex dark milk chocolate flavor included caramel and nut notes, and a lingering sweet finish. The sweetness was balanced by a muffled undercurrent of dark chocolate bitterness.

Ingredients: organic cane sugar, organic cocoa butter, organic milk powder, organic cocoa mass, emulsifier (soy lecithin).

Domori - Chacao Organic Dark Chocolate 85% bar - Aug. 21, 2020

Chocolate of the Day

Domori srl
(Chacao line)
Cioccolato Fondente Bio 85%
(Organic Dark Chocolate 85% (bar))
Good ++ - Good +++
Weight: .88 oz. (25 g.) / 1.76 oz. (50 g.) in total bar
Calories: 300.5 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $6.50 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocosphere.com, online order

Welcome to Day #9 of Ghana and Ivory Coast Theme Week.

Today's Cioccolato Fondente Bio 85% (Organic Dark Chocolate 85%) bar was from Domori (None, Torino (Turin), Italy).

Note: Please take your time with this bar. It will be worth it.

The aroma of this bar had bold dark chocolate with sweet spice, green, wax and coconut notes and a very faint bitterness. This chocolate had a relatively complex aroma that shifted a bit over time.

The melt and texture were relatively smooth with a balanced and relatively soft astringency and bitterness for an 85 percent made using (what I thought was a) bold Forastero* cacao grown in Cote de Ivoire (Ivory Coast). 

The flavor was bold and dark and not too sweet (thank you!). There were also balanced roasted and earth notes that unfolded during the tasting process. It was as if there were two different roasts (dark and light) that had been blended--to great effect. (There were some borderline charcoal-leaning notes in the flavor and yet some green in the aroma.) 

The roast profile chose may not have worked with a Criollo or even a Trinitario variety of cacao, but whatever it was it worked with today's with a bolder, darker (yet complex) cacao variety.*

The finish was lingering with an interesting expansive quality to it that was not quite bitter or sour, but similar to a nice, round, ripe, sweet grapefruit. It was not unpleasant and a little fascinating. It was as if, after a walk down a relatively dark corridor, someone opened a door in the ceiling and some interesting light was revealed. Perhaps this was true metaphorically as well as literally.

Having tasted many bold, densely dark Forastero* cacao bars before, this was one of the most fascinating ones. Savor this slowly, and you might appreciate the often unappreciated profundity of this cacao variety--thanks for the skill applied by the chocolate makers (and likely the in-country suppliers/growers as well). 

It was not flitty and fruity; but it had quite a bit to say if you slowed down and listened. (Moments later after I thought the finish had tailed off, there was a belated nutty (peanut butter) note. This bar never ceased to amaze.) All this with just two ingredients.**

This chocolate belongs in a tasting flight, to help illustrate what this cacao variety (and origin) are all about.

Maker's tasting notes: "A strong chocolate in which notes of ripe fruit stand out, supported by a dominant note of cocoa."

*Thank you to Chocosphere.com, a U.S. distributor for Domori. They provided more information on the cacao in this bar. The cacao variety used was organic "Forestino," from the Scay Cooperative in Cote de Ivoire. This Forestino cacao "...selected by Domori for this project comes from...the area between the villages of Toumodi, Oulaidon, Taabo and Liebe, not far from the seashore. Most of the plantations in this area are smaller and grow the Forestino (or French) cacao variety created in the early 20th century as a hybrid of the Brazilian Amelonado and the Guaiana from French Guaiana. Some plantations even preserve and harvest traces of pure Guaiana varieties." 

**Ingredients: Organic Cocoa mass, organic cane sugar

Wm. Chocolate - Ghana 75% Dark bar - Aug. 20, 2020

 Chocolate of the Day

Wm. Chocolate
Ghana 75% Chocolate bar 
Good ++ - +++
Weight: 2 oz. (56.6 g.) in total bar
Calories: 310 calories (estimate) in 1 bar
Cost: $7.95 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocosphere.com, online order

Welcome to Day #8 of Ghana and Ivory Coast Theme Week.

Today's Ghana 75% Dark bar was made by Will Marx, founder and chocolate maker at Wm. Chocolate (Madison, WI).

The cocoa beans used to craft this bar came from the ABOCFA cooperative in Ghana. 

The bar broke with a snap, and had an aroma of rich, dark chocolate sauce with a light dash of cinnamon spice. It had a thick, creamy (almost finely ground, smooth nut butter) texture. 

The flavor vibrated with true chocolate (fresh baked brownie) with a faint cereal/malt note; and it had seamless, balanced fruit acidity (light cherry and very light sweet citrus). The roast selected seemed optimal: not too green, not over-roasted. The finish was a lighter version of this true chocolate. The chocolate was sweet, but not overly so (thank you).|

Maker's tasting notes: "chocolate pudding, malt, peanut butter."

"Smooth, full-bodied dark chocolate with moderate sweetness and little bitterness. Heavy roast for extra intensity."

Ingredients: cocoa beans, organic unrefined cane sugar, organic cocoa butter.

Domori - Land Costa d'Avorio (Ivory Coast) organic 70% dark bittersweet (bar) - Aug. 19, 2020

 Chocolate of the Day

Domori S.p.A.
Land Costa d'Avorio (Ivory Coast) organic 70% dark bittersweet (bar)
Good 
Weight: .88 oz. (25 g.) in 1 bar
Calories: 132 calories (estimate) in 1 bar
Cost: $4.50 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocosphere.com, online order 

Welcome to Day #7 of Ghana and Ivory Coast Theme Week.

Today's Land Costa d'Ivorio (Ivory Coast) organic 70% dark bittersweet (bar) was from Domori S.p.A. (None, Torino (Turin), Italy).

West African Cacao Power

Ivory Coast--the top cacao producing country in the world--supplies almost 1/3 of the world's cacao. Yes, one rarely sees "Ivory Coast" identified as the source of cacao on chocolate bar packaging. Not that often. I was happy to find three Ivory Coast bars this week.

It's easier to find chocolate made with cacao grown in Ghana (World's #2 cacao supplier). Together these two West African countries produce approximately half of the world's cacao. 

Today's organic, Ivory Coast 70 percent dark bittersweet bar had a rich dark chocolate with a trace of bitterness and a faint spice/molasses note. The melt and texture of this bar was smooth. 

The flavor was powerful with heavy roast (light singed toast*) notes with a medium, lingering acidity (acidic, concentrated/dried plums, citrus). A thinner bar made flavors more accessible.

Maker's tasting notes for this two-ingredient chocolate (70% cocoa mass, cane sugar) read as follows: "Cacao harvested in the area between the villages of Oulaidon and Lilebe" (in the Republic of Cote d'Ivoire, aka Ivory Coast). "Dominant note of cocoa, accompanied by coconut, hazelnut, bread crust and spices."

*Note: Heavy fires burning in California this week have resulted in smoke wafting across five counties including where I live. These conditions can affect taste and smell. I try to consider ambient conditions when tasting, and today was one time where a "clean" tasting environment was not possible. The faint heavy roasted, burned or singed/charcoal notes I mentioned above could have been amplified by "real" smoke.

Divine Chocolate - Dark Chocolate 85% (bar) and White Chocolate with Strawberries (bar) - Aug. 18, 2020

Chocolate of the Day

Divine Chocolate Inc.
Exquisitely Rich Dark Chocolate 85% Cocoa (bar)
Good
Weight: 1.5 oz. (42.5 g.) / 3 oz. (85 g.) in total bar
Calories: 255 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $ missing information
Purchased from: missing information

Divine Chocolate Inc.
White Chocolate with Strawberries (bar)
Good
Weight: 1.75 oz. (50 g.) / 3.5 oz. (100 g.) in total bar
Calories: 275 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $ missing information
Purchased from: missing information

Welcome to Day #6 of Ghana and Ivory Coast Theme Week. 

Today's 85% Cocoa Dark Chocolate and White Chocolate with Strawberries (bars) were made in Germany and distributed by Divine Chocolate Inc. (Washington, D.C.).

The company is partly owned (44%) by cacao farmers--who also share in the profits--and has focused on fair trade practices. They offer a variety of bars, many with flavor inclusions.

Today's two Divine chocolate bars were both swaddled in shiny foil wrappers and had outer wrappers adorned with West African traditional Adrinka symbols.* And both contained cacao from Ghanaian farmers. But, the similarities ended there. 

Dark Chocolate 85% (Ghana)

This ultra-dark bar had an aroma with bold, dense dark chocolate, slightly bitter roasted cereal grain, and faint brown sugar spice notes.

Biting into this ebony-colored bar revealed a very creamy, smooth nut-butter like melt and mouthfeel (think finely ground, very creamy peanut butter). A generous amount of cocoa butter helped coat and tame any bitter flavor notes. The slightly muted, bitter dark chocolate was fairly uniform (in texture and flavor) throughout the tasting experience.

White Chocolate with Strawberries

The first two ingredients in this bar: sugar, followed by cocoa butter. (No cocoa solids that give the dark brown color to chocolate.) Happily, this white chocolate confection of a bar was made with real cocoa butter (and not cheaper oil substitutes as is often the case in the industry).

Whereas the first 85% cocoa bar was densely dark--almost austere--with very little sugar, this white chocolate bar was downright effervescent: ivory embedded with dark pink bits. It smelled and tasted like vanilla and strawberry cake or, perhaps more accurately, like the thick layer of thick, buttercream vanilla and strawberry frosting that might top such a cake.

The sweet "cake" finish lingered a bit after the last bite. While some may find today's first Divine 85 percent bar too severe and may delight in this white confection of a second bar, the latter was too sweet for me. Or, perhaps it was just too much of a contrast between the two bars.

*West African Adrinka symbols are pictorial representations of conceptualized objects. For example, the symbol known as a reconciliation knot symbolizes reconciliation, peace and harmony; and an Adrinka fern symbol stands for endurance, perseverance and peaceful coexistence. For more information about Adrinka symbols, go to www.divinechocolate.com/adrinkas.