Friis-Holm Chokolade - O'Payo Milk Liquorice 50% (bar) - Dec. 13, 2020

Chocolate of the Day

Friis-Holm Chokolade
O'Payo Milk Liquorice 50% (bar)
Good + - Good ++
Weight: 1.76 oz. (50 g.) / 3.52 oz. (100 g.) in total bar
Calories: 285 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $19.99* for 1 bar
Purchased from: Village Market, Ferry Building, San Francisco, CA 

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

Today's O'Payo Milk Liquorice 50% "Chunky Salty" (bar) was from Danish bean-to-bar manufacturer Friis-Holm Chokolade (Hvalso, Denmark). Chief chocolate maker and founder, Mikkel Friis-Holm, is a trained chef who, in the 1990s had a relationship with artisan chocolate pioneer, Scharffenberger, in the San Francisco Bay Area.

The aroma for this bar was true to its description: sweet milk chocolate, with a dark, salty black licorice candy note. 

A creamy, sweet milk chocolate base was studded with a generous handful of small, chewy chunks of salty black licorice--allowing one to really taste the licorice--unlike most previous chocolate licorice bars I've featured where these two bold flavors (chocolate and licorice) were fully melded and the blend of the two created its own magic. Both approaches can work well: layered flavors and blends. It's fun to try both.

I was afraid this 50% cacao chocolate might be too sweet for my taste. However, the flavors were balanced; and a hint of salt in a dark milk chocolate helped balance out the sugar.

Ingredients: Cacao beans (Nicaragua), sugar, milk powder, cocoa butter, liquorice (8%).

*Yes, chocolate prices have continued to rise as chocolate makers compete for the best cacao from farmers in cacao-growing countries. And while $19.99 (USD) seems pricey for a single chocolate bar. This generously sized 100 g. (3.52 oz.) bar would be comparable to paying $10 (USD) for a 50 gram (1.76 oz.) craft chocolate bar, about what a high-end bar is going for these days. 

One could argue that a high-end craft chocolate bar is still less expensive than a bottle of good wine; but making this comparison can spark a spirited conversation among wine-loving friends who see wine grapes as occupying a higher tier on the vice ladder than cacao fruit. So I'll simply say: skilled makers are required for both wine and chocolate. 

Apologies to licorice makers for leaving you out of this discussion. Thank you to whoever contributed this component.

Svenska Kakaobolaget - Lakrits (Licorice) Dark milk 55% (bar) - Dec. 12, 2020

Chocolate of the Day

Svenska Kakaobolaget 

The Swedish Cacao Company

Lakrits (Licorice) Dark milk 55% (bar)

Good ++ - Good +++

Weight: 1.7 oz. (50 g.) for 1 bar (per label)

Calories: 290 calories in 1 bar

Cost: $12.00 for 1 bar 

Purchased from: Chocolate Covered, San Francisco, CA 

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

Today's Lakrits (Licorice) Dark milk 55% (bar) was made from bean-to-bar by Svenska Kakaobolaget (The Swedish Cacao Company) in Osterlen, Sweden. 

Lakrits (lah' kreet(h)s), or licorice, is big in Sweden and other Nordic countries. How big?

There are spirits flavored with licorice root, anise and/or fennel, including Salmiakki Koskenkorve, a licorice flavored liqueur (from Finland). There is salmiak,* a salty licorice confection, as well as salty licorice flavored ice cream (Saltlakritsglass) and gum. 

Did I mention there is an impressively large, annual licorice festival that's been held in Stockholm, Sweden since 2009? (There are licorice and chocolate offerings on display there.) 

Today's Lakrits bar had a hearty, dark milk chocolate aroma accompanied by bold but balanced salty licorice notes (bittersweet, authentic licorice herbal/spice). The melt was satisfyingly, almost velvety smooth (largely due to the milk powder). The flavor of the melted chocolate (in one's mouth) had a dark, seductive, liqueur-like richness. If you like licorice and chocolate, give this bar a try. 

One cacao, different results

The Swedish-made Lakrits (Licorice) 55% dark milk chocolate was made using cacao beans (possibly a blend of Criollo, Trinitario and Nacional varieties) obtained from Oko Caribe in the Dominican Republic. 

Yesterday's Kardemumma (Cardamom) bar--from the same Swedish bean-to-bar maker--used cacao from the same source (Oko Caribe) in the Dominican Republic. The maker skillfully used this cacao to produce unique and successful results/effects with each bar. (And I suspect the same could be said for their other single origin cacao bars.)

Yesterday's 71% dark(er) bar containing more cocoa solids was, not surprisingly, more cacao forward. There was also no added milk to mute or soften cacao and inclusion flavors in this dark bar. And the cardamom in yesterday's bar did not seem to block or neutralize any of the cacao nuances. One could clearly taste the cacao's medium-bold fruit acidity (red berry, cranberry, citrus)...in addition to spice (cardamom), and (interestingly) faint savory (salty licorice spice) notes. 

Today's 55% dark milk bar was a powerful, unified blend, where its overall taste transcended that of individual flavor nuances. It was only at the tail end of this dark, sweet comet (finish) were there was a rare, tiny spark of an individual constituent element (earthy spice or acidity).

Ingredients: Cacao beans, cane sugar, powdered milk, cocoa butter, licorice.

*Licorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra)--also spelled liquorice in other parts of the world--is an herb/spice made from the root of the licorice plant--a member of the Legume/pea family. (While the market for many licorice treats may lie to the north, licorice is grown in sunnier countries, such as India, Iran, Italy, Afghanistan, China.)

**Salmiak is a popular salty licorice in Sweden flavored with ammonium chloride (sal ammoniac), a salt said to add a slight tannic bitterness/astringency. Often available as black, diamond-shaped confection, this shape dates back to an era where Swedish drug stores made their own versions of licorice cough drops/confections for customers.

Svenska Kakaobolaget - Kardemumma (Dom. Repub.) 71% (bar) - Dec. 11, 2020

Chocolate of the Day

Svenska Kakaobolaget 

The Swedish Cacao Company

Kardemumma (Cardamom) 71% Dominican Republic, Oko Caribe (bar)

Good +

Weight: 1.7 oz. (50 g.) for 1 bar (per label)

Calories: 225 calories in 1 bar

Cost: $12.00 for 1 bar 

Purchased from: Chocolate Covered, San Francisco, CA 

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

Today's Kardemumma (Cardamom) Dominican Republic Oko Caribe 71% (bar) was made from bean-to-bar by Svenska Kakaobolaget (The Swedish Cacao Company). The company produces their chocolate in a "...late 1800's school house factory in a small town (Osterlen) in rural southern Sweden."

Scandinavians experience long dark winters. One way to brighten things up a bit is to add a touch of exotic warming spices to a favorite food or beverage. Swedish cardamom* cookies (often with a dash of cinnamon) are one example of this tradition. 

Today's Swedish-made Kardmumma 71% dark chocolate was infused with this same aromatic spice, to help warm up cold winter days and evenings, perhaps around a crackling fire. 

The cacao beans came from Oko Caribe, in the Dominican Republic. This bar had a uniform melt and texture and rich, dark chocolate flavor with medium-bold fruit acidity (red berry, cranberry, citrus), spice (cardamom), and faint savory (salty licorice spice) notes.

Ingredients: Cacao, cane sugar, cardamom.

*Cardamom is a spice made from the seeds (and occasionally seedpods/"fruit" with seeds) of a few different plants (from the Elettaria genus (green cardamom) and the Amomum genus (black cardamom)) originally from India and China, respectively. Cardamom is part of the ginger family.

Lonohana Estate Chocolate - Milk and Ginger 50% Dark Milk (bar) - Dec. 10, 2020

Chocolate of the Day

Lonohana Estate Chocolate
Milk and Ginger 50% Dark Milk (bar)
Good ++

Weight: 1.15 oz. (32.5 g.) / 2.3 oz. (65 g.) in total bar
Calories: 180 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $ missing information
Purchased from: Lonohana (and The Chocolate Garage) 

Welcome to Day #19 of Chocolate and Hawaii Theme Weeks, and Day #2 of Chocolate and Spices Theme Week. 

Today's Milk and Ginger 50% Dark Milk (bar) made with cacao from Honduras and Ecuador, was from Lonohana Estate Chocolate (Honolulu, HI).

I've tried growing ginger on my patio in northern California, and it is possible to get lovely green shoots and more ginger this way. But, Hawaii seems like it would be a far better place to grow this wonderfully spicy item that complements chocolate so nicely.

Lonohana's luxuriously creamy, dark milk chocolate (bar) was infused with natural, warm, fragrant, natural ginger spice, a hint of caramel and very faint citrus (lemongrass) aroma and flavor notes.

The amount of toasted coconut and ginger essential oil(s) tasted just right. Not too much, not too little. 

This chocolate was sweet enough (the increased sugar in a 50% cacao chocolate is generally at my limit) that it was difficult to pick up the flavor nuances of the cacao (from Honduras and Ecuador). The milk chocolate was very smooth and pleasantly balanced. And there were certainly no "off" flavors that I could detect.

Ingredients: Cacao, organic cocoa butter, organic cane sugar, organic whole milk powder,  roasted coconut and ginger oil. 

Madre Chocolate - Coffee and Cardamom Lachua Guatemala dark (bar) + Horchata bar - Dec. 9, 2020

Chocolate(s) of the Day

Madre Chocolate
Coffee and Cardamom Lachua Guatemala dark chocolate (bar)
Good + - Good ++
Weight: 1.5 oz. (43 g.) in total bar
Calories: 228 calories (estimate) in 1 bar
Cost: $8.50 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Madre Chocolate, online order

Welcome to Day #18 of Chocolate and Hawaii Theme Weeks, and Day #1 of Chocolate and Spices Theme Week. What better confluence of these two themes than these two bars featured today from Madre Chocolate (Honolulu, HI).

Madre's Chocolate Flavormeister, Dr. Nat Bletter, strikes one as a one part explorer and life-time learner, one part botanical mad scientist-genius (in the best possible meaning of this term); and, thankfully, he loves sharing information* (and chocolate) with all the rest of us. 

He has researched, cacao, fruits and other botanical ingredients in Hawaii (and around the world) for possible inclusion in Madre chocolate offerings. I'm sure he spent time researching and gathering each of the ingredients in these two bars.

This Coffee and Cardamom chocolate (bar #1 of 2 featured today) was a study in contrasts that held my interest. A creamy velvet, medium sweet but robust 60% dark chocolate base co-existed with crunchy, coarse-ground organic Chiapas coffee bean pieces. 

The relatively "whole" inclusions (coffee, vanilla and perhaps the cardamom) created layers of bold, unique flavors. And this layering tended to hold my attention more than having everything finely ground and homogenized. For example, the whole vanilla here did not taste like manufactured vanilla extract. And while it harmonized well with the other flavors, it also had its own distinct, floral, earthy notes. 

This was a meeting of big, authentic flavors and each deserved a turn in the spotlight. A good "wake up" bar.

Ingredients for Coffee and Cardamom bar: Cacao, organic sugar, organic cocoa butter, coffee, whole vanilla, organic cardamom.

Madre Chocolate
Horchata golden chocolate (bar) 
Good +
Weight: 1.5 oz. (43 g.) in total bar
Calories: 230 calories (estimate) in 1 bar
Cost: $6.50 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Madre Chocolate, online order

This Horchata golden chocolate bar was "inspired by the popular Spanish and Mexican drink, horchata, made from rice milk, almonds, cinnamon, and vanilla."

Madre has fused these traditional horchata flavors with coconut--a taste I associate with Hawaii and, in recent years, with dairy-free bars. The aroma of this bar had coconut, spices, (cinnamon, chai), roasted, nutty and cocoa butter notes.

The bar's base had a smooth, rich melt and texture. This complemented the soft, chewy, quiet riot of flavorful bits on (and in) the bar that yielded a "white" chocolate with its own suave personality. 

Actually this bar was not "white." It was a lovely golden brown color. White chocolate is a name given to bars and confections made with cocoa butter (the creamy ivory-colored fat from cocoa beans), but without cocoa solids (that add much of the flavor and dark brown color to chocolate). But, it's not always that, well, black and white. As today's golden chocolate shows. There can be interesting shades in between.

Shout out to the perfectly roasted rice. This added an excellent flavor note that elevated the overall blend of  coconut and almond bits, and vanilla, cinnamon, and other ingredients.

Ingredients for Horchata bar: Organic Dominican cocoa butter, organic coconut, organic sugar, roasted rice, almonds, organic cinnamon, Mexican whole vanilla. 

Note: Madre makes chocolate bars in relatively small batches. Their bars may sell out; and they may or may not be available currently. Check their website (online) store for the current line-up.

*There are more cacao farm and chocolate tour options available in Hawaii now than when I started Chocolate Banquet many years ago. If you are visiting Hawaii, you might consider looking into one of Nat's cacao farm/botanical tours--and other farm tours that are now available. You'll gain a unique appreciation of how plants/cacao grow, how plants are made into offerings like chocolate, and why chocolates/foods taste the way they do. Not to mention all the love and hard work that go into these processes.

 

Lydgate Farms Kauai Chocolate - 50% Milk Coffee and Cacao Nibs (bar) - Dec. 8, 2020

Chocolate of the Day

Lydgate Farms Kauai Chocolate
50% Milk Coffee and Cacao Nibs (bar) - Wailua Single Estate
Good + - Good ++
Weight: 2.2 oz. (62 g.) in total bar
Calories: 336 calories (estimate) in 1 bar
Cost: $15.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocolate Covered, San Francisco, CA 

Welcome to Day #17 of Chocolate and Hawaii Theme Weeks.

Today's 50% Milk Coffee and Cacao Nibs (bar) was from Lydgate Farms* Kauai Chocolate (Kapa'a, Kaua'i, HI).

The chocolate had a rich aroma with green (seed, nut, banana), cream, faint earth and fermented cacao bean notes. Appealing complexity for a dark milk chocolate.

This Hawaiian 50% cacao dark milk bar had a sweet, creamy milk chocolate melt and flavor.  However, cacao and coffee bean nibs gave this bar some textural contrast (soft chewy/crunchy bits), and added more flavor depth--making it more interesting for dark chocolate fans. 

Cacao nibs (pieces of the cacao bean) flavors reflect the heart of cacao and chocolate. This bar with nibs had a light pleasant cacao earthiness (with olive, light "winey" fermented bean notes). And, most important from my perspective, cacao (or cocoa) nibs helped balance the sweetness of the milk chocolate base. (Coffee beans do this too.)

The coffee bean flavor was very faint* and very smooth (similar to what I associate with good Kona (Hawaiian grown) coffee with low acidity). To be honest, I had a hard time really tasting the coffee bean initially; but I did receive a slight confirmation "buzz" after eating this bar, presumably from a mix of sugar, cocoa nibs and coffee. (Better a deft touch of coffee than feeling you're eating coffee grounds.)

Ingredients: Lydgate Farms cacao beans, organic whole milk powder, organic sugar, organic cocoa butter, Lydgate Farms cacao nibs, Lydgate Farms coffee beans.

*Lydgate Farms offers educational tours of their farm(s), where they grow/produce cacao--as well as palm-blossom honey, vanilla and fruit. (Given current Covid-19 restrictions this year, do check the Lydgate Farms website for hours and availability before planning a trip.)

Madre Chocolate - 70% Lachua Guatemala dark chocolate (bar) - Dec. 7, 2020

Chocolate of the Day

Madre Chocolate 

70% Lachua Guatemala dark chocolate (bar)

Good +++

Weight: 1.5 oz. (43 g.) in 1 bar
Calories: 228 calories (estimate) in 1 bar
Cost: $9.50 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Madre Chocolate, online order 

Welcome to Day #16 of Chocolate and Hawaii Theme Weeks.

Today's 70% Lachua Guatemala dark chocolate bar was from Madre Chocolate (Honolulu, HI).

This chocolate had a friendly, alluring aroma and flavor with hot chocolate/fresh baked brownie, light spice (cinnamon, vanilla), nut and fruit notes. (Vanilla bean helped evoke memories of baked brownie and hot chocolate.)

It had a smooth, almost creamy melt and texture, and low acidity, bitterness and astringency. 

The finish tapered off into a fainter version of the chocolatey/baked brownie flavor mentioned above.

The Funda Lachua co-op cacao (grown in Guatemala) was supplied by Maya Mountain Cacao, an organization that has helped farmers improve the quality of cacao and provide fair prices for them. Maya Mountain Cacao also provides valuable connections between farmers in Central America and chocolate makers who looking to buy their cacao (such as Madre Chocolate in Hawaii that hand crafted today's Guatemala chocolate, from bean to bar, in O'ahu).

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