Nature to Go - Dark Chocolate Covered Coconut - Feb. 7, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

Nature to Go
Dark Chocolate Covered Coconut 
Good  - Good +
Weight: 2 oz. (56.6 g.) / 6 oz. (170 g.) in total package
Calories: 260 calories in 2 servings
Cost: $2.99 for 1 package
Purchased from: Grocery Outlet Bargain Market, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #9 of Chocolate and Coconut Theme Week. Happy Super Bowl Sunday to football fans in the U.S. This day is often celebrated with beer, guacamole (avocado) dip, and an assortment of savory snacks and desserts.

Today's Nature to Go Dark Chocolate Covered Coconut was produced in Vernon, CA, and distributed by Food Castle Inc. (Los Angeles, CA).*   

These large pieces had a fudgey dark chocolate aroma and smooth dark chocolate flavor. A relatively thick chocolate coating surrounded a generously-sized, chewy, dried coconut piece. I enjoy chewy and crunchy foods. (Just ask my dentist.) And I appreciated the texture of this less processed coconut.

The sweetness level was balanced and not overly sweet (thank you). This chocolate and coconut offering also had a more authentic taste than some of its chocolate-covered confection peers. 

For those with food sensitivities, today's product did have a shorter ingredients list than many comparable offerings. There was one reference to a "natural flavor" (in the chocolate), but no gluten, and no artificial flavors or artificial colors. (The coconut was treated with sulfur dioxide.)

Ingredients: Dark chocolate (sugar, unsweetened chocolate, cocoa butter, whole milk powder, butter fat, cocoa powder processed with alkali, soy lecithin, salt, natural flavor). Dried coconut (coconut, cane sugar, sulfur dioxide (for freshness)). 

*Food Castle, Inc., part of the "Food Wholesalers Industry," has specialized in dried fruits and nuts. Today's Nature To Go offering was processed/packaged in Vernon, California--an industrial area located south of downtown Los Angeles, CA. (The company's headquarters offices are located in Los Angeles, CA.)

Lamontagne Chocolate - Coconut Almonds Dark Chocolate - Feb. 6, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

Lamontagne Chocolate
Coconut Almonds Dark Chocolate
Good
Weight: 1.41 oz. (40 g.) / 7 oz. (200 g.) in total package
Calories: 220 calories in 1 serving 
Cost; $2.99 for 1 package
Purchased from: Grocery Outlet Bargain Market, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #8 of Chocolate and Coconut Theme Week, where I'm featuring a mix of bean-to-bar chocolate bars as well as coconut and chocolate coconut snacks. 

Today's Coconut Almonds Dark Chocolate pieces were created by the Lamontagne family at Lamontagne Chocolate Inc. (Sherbrooke (QC) Canada). 

The aroma of this sweet coconut chocolate candy immediately took me to memories of a summer day at the beach redolent of coconut-scented suntan oil, and coconut vanilla cake bought at the store. My first thought was, I'll need to eat a lot of green vegetables today to balance out all this sugary goodness.

At the heart of each glossy round was a whole roasted almond. Said almond was surrounded by a layer of sweet white chocolate and coconut flakes, covered with a dark chocolate outer layer and finished with confectioners glaze.

And, yes, these pieces were quite sweet and enhanced by "natural flavors" and preservatives. The sugars eclipsed any subtleties of flavor that might have been there with the cacao in the dark chocolate, but that wasn't really the point with this sandwich of confectionery ingredients. These were meant to be fun, to satisfy a sweet tooth. 

The after-taste was one of coconut cake.

Ingredients: White chocolate (sugar, cocoa butter, whole milk powder, soy lecithin (an emulsifier), natural vanilla extract), dark chocolate (sugar, unsweetened chocolate, cocoa butter, soy lecithin (emulsifier), salt, natural vanilla extract), whole roasted almonds, coconut (sugar, dextrose, salt), water, corn syrup, sugar, gum arabic, potassium sorbate (preservative), citric acid, confectioner's glaze, vegetable oil, natural flavor.

Marou - Coconut Milk and 55% Ben Tre Single Origin Vietnam (bar) - Feb. 5, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

Marou Faiseurs de Chocolat

(Marou Chocolate Makers)

Coconut Milk and 55% Ben Tre Single Origin Vietnamese Chocolate (bar)

Good + - Good ++

Weight: 1.4 oz. (40 g.) / 2.8 oz. (80 g.) in total bar

Calories: 225 calories in 1/2 bar

Cost: $9.00 for 1 bar

Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order 

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

Today's Coconut Milk and 55% Ben Tre Single Origin Vietnamese Chocolate (bar) was created by Marou Faiseurs de Chocolat,* chocolate makers (based in Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon), Vietnam, and with a presence further north in Hanoi as well). This chocolate bar was imported into the U.S. by A Priori Specialty Food (Salt Lake City, UT).

Marou makes single province/region chocolate from cacao grown in southern Vietnam. The cacao in today's bar was grown in Ben Tre--a province known for coconut farming--where the great Mekong River delta has created rich soil for agriculture in general.

Like other dark milk chocolate and coconut milk bars featured this week, this one had a silken texture, with a slow, increasingly creamy melt. The only potential down side to this lovely coconut milk attribute is that (like dairy milk) and sugar, coconut milk can obscure cacao flavors. I generally have preferred slightly higher cacao percentage (60%+ cacao) coconut dark milk chocolates for this reason.

Thankfully, today's Vietnam 55% chocolate (made with Trinitario cacao) did have more detectable cacao flavor. Some balanced, acidic/fruit cacao flavor notes managed to shine through. It helped that cacao nibs were the first ingredient listed (see below for complete ingredients list).

Ingredients: cacao nibs, sugar, coconut powder, cacao powder. 

*Marou Chocolate Makers was co-founded in 2010 by Sam Maruta and Vincent Mourou, who had banking and advertising backgrounds (but, they're much more 3D than this), respectively. 

The company name "Marou" appears to be a melding of the two co-founders last names; and there is also a reference that points to its translation as meaning "gift of God." 

Well, either way, their chocolate bars that I've seen in the last ten years have been beautifully packaged and have offered a great tasting experience. Today's 55% dark milk coconut bar was swathed in an outer wrapper with a spring green and ivory background pattern, stamped shiny gold cacao pod, flower and cloud design elements. Suitable for framing.

Mirzam Chocolate - 52% Dark Milk Chocolate with Coconut (bar) - Feb. 4, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

Mirzam Chocolate 
52% Dark Milk Chocolate with Coconut (bar)
Good +
Weight: 2.47 oz. (70 g.) in total bar
Calories: 352.8 calories in 1 bar
Cost: $11.25 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order

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

Today's Mirzam Chocolate Makers* 52% Dark Milk Chocolate with Coconut (bar) was made in Dubai (United Arab Emirates), produced by Kakaw Manufacturing, LLC.

The aroma of this chocolate was redolent with cocoa and coconut. The texture was uniformly laced with a tiny, quiet riot of coconut bits, providing a satisfying chewy, crunchy texture--in the same way that certain sesame and coconut candies satisfy a craving for something sweet and crunchy.

Many of the artisan chocolate and coconut bars featured this week were a very finely ground mind meld of these two flavors, resulting in bars with silken, creamy coconut milk texture, often using coconut milk as a vegan replacement for dairy milk. 

Today's 52% cacao bar differed in at least two significant ways: 1.) the "milk" in the "dark milk" name was dairy milk powder; and 2.) the more intact coconut bits yielded a stone-ground-like melt, with layers of flavor and texture. 

This week's line-up has shown that multiple approaches to blending cacao and coconut can, and do, result in successful, high-end, flavorful chocolate bars. 

While I initially felt that today's bar might be too sweet (it was a bit harder to detect any subtle flavor nuances in the cacao), I managed to consume the entire bar with no trouble whatsoever.

Ingredients: Cocoa beans, skim milk powder, sugar, cocoa butter, coconut, organic coconut extract.

*Mirzam is the name of a bright star (in the southern constellation of Canis Major) that helped Arab traders navigate to far-away lands as they searched for/traded in exotic spices and other goods. Mirzam Chocolate Makers honors this history, and specializes in high-end bean-to-bar chocolates, confections and desserts that feature dates, coffee, cardamom, sesame seeds and other flavor blends from the Arab world.

Equal Exchange Chocolates - Organic Chocolate with Coconut Milk 55% (bar) - Feb. 3, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

Equal Exchange Chocolates
Organic, Fairly Traded Chocolate with Coconut Milk 55% Cacao (bar)
Good +
Weight: 1.4 oz. (40 g.) / 2.8 oz. (80 g.) in total bar
Calories: 225 calories (per label) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $3.99 for 1 bar
Purchased from: FarmFresh CSA box inclusion, online order

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

Today's Organic, Fairly Traded Chocolate with Coconut Milk and Coconut Palm Sugar 55% (bar) was from Equal Exchange Chocolates (West Bridgewater, MA).* 

This bar had a sweet, rich milk chocolate aroma with a subtle coconut note. Like many of the best coconut chocolate bars, the melt was rich and creamy, and the texture was smooth.

The chocolate flavor was similar to drinking a warm cup of velvety, rich milk chocolate (drinking chocolate) melded with authentic, real coconut. The 55% cacao blend was a bit too sweet for me; but the drinking chocolate-like experience was a good match for a winter day.

The hot chocolate richness lingered and was accompanied by a faint, tangy/tart-sweet, fermented milk with raw coconut note.

Ingredients: Organic coconut palm sugar, organic chocolate liquor, organic cocoa butter, organic coconut flakes, organic coconut milk powder (organic coconut milk, organic tapioca maltodextrin)

*Equal Exchange, founded in 1986, is one of the largest democratic worker co-ops in the U.S. The organization, involved early on in fair trade efforts, began working with coffee and tea farmers in the 1980s, and in 2001 cocoa and chocolate relationships were forged.

This alternative for-profit organization structure mirrors the approximately 40 farmer organizations (co-ops) that Equal Exchange works with--in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the U.S.--that produce cacao, coffee, tea, sugar and other crops. And one hopes that this shared organizational trait facilitates understanding of co-op operations and needs as a result. Equal Exchange has been offering bean-to-bar chocolate bars for many years.

Manoa Chocolate - Haupia Coconut 60% Vegan Milk Chocolate (bar) - Feb. 2, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

Manoa Chocolate|
Haupia Coconut 60% Vegan Milk Chocolate (bar)
Good ++ - Good +++
Weight: 1.05 oz. (30 g.) / 2.1 oz. (60 g.) in total bar
Calories: 180 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $9.50 for 1 bar / $28.50 (with 15% discount) for set of 3 bars 
Purchased from: Manoa Chocolate, online order 

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

Today's Haupia* Coconut 60% Vegan Milk Chocolate bar was part of a "Flavors of Hawaii" collection from Manoa Chocolate (Kailua, HI). The two other bars in this Manoa 3-bar set--Liliko'i (passion fruit) and Mai'a (banana)--were previously featured.

This 60% chocolate bar had a lightly-roasted, lush green jungle aroma fused with green coconut, very faint sugar cane/molasses and floral (vanilla) notes and a very balanced, subtle bitter/dark chocolate element.

The mouthfeel was a treat: a melt with a cascading creaminess and an overall silken texture. 

The rich green + green coconut flavor mirrored the bar's aroma notes noted above. It was a very satisfying, flavorful 60% vegan milk chocolate bar. The maker allowed the underlying cacao (perfectly matched with the coconut) in this not-too-sweet bar to shine (thank you!). 

To refer to this skillfully executed bar as merely a flavored "sub-70" chocolate bar would be an injustice. This "felt"/tasted more like a 70%+ dark bar with VIP benefits than a coconut flavored dark milk offering. (It also gave me a bit of a theobromine and cane sugar lift.)

Thank you to Manoa Chocolate founder and chief chocolate maker, Dylan Butterbaugh, and team, for the virtual culinary trip to the Hawaiian islands in the middle of our winter here! The maker's pairings (below) sound right on target. I could almost taste these in my head, especially the first two.

Pairing suggestions from the maker: wine: chenin blanc, liquor: white caribbean-style rum, beer: IPA 

Ingredients: cacao, organic cane sugar, cocoa butter, organic dehydrated coconut milk.

*The title of this bar "Haupia," also known as Hawaiian coconut pudding, refers to a cold dessert made using coconut milk/cream, sugar, arrowroot (or, more recently, corn) starch and water, that is chilled and cut into square/rectangular pieces. Polynesian settlers brought coconuts to Hawaii; and cacao was brought over from Central/South America. 

Metiisto Chocolate - Coconut 58% Mylk (bar) - Feb. 1, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

Metiisto Artisan Chocolate
Coconut 58% Mylk (bar)
Good ++
Weight: 1.32 oz. (37.5 g.) / 2.65 oz. (75 g.) in total bar
Calories: 227.5 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $10.00 (+ shipping) for 1 bar
Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order

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

Today's Coconut 58% Mylk bar was made from scratch by Metiisto Artisan Chocolate in Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia.

This bar was a great example of how far "dark milk" chocolate as well as alternative "milk" chocolates have come. 

Early coconut milk bars* were often geared toward vegans and those who wanted to avoid dairy milk, but who still wanted the creamy sweetness of a milk chocolate bar. They were usually gratefully received by those wanting these options. In the past decade, craft chocolate bars have up-leveled the quality of coconut milk bars.

Today's 58% Coconut Mylk bar was beautifully complex, and comparable to some of the best dark milk chocolate bars available today. 

The aroma of this bar had dark chocolate milk (the good kind you remember as a child) and coconut notes. And this well-tempered bar had a creamy, luscious melt and texture. 

An array of flavor notes were enjoyed while tasting this mylk bar. There was a sweet, tartness, light and bright dried fruit (raisin, light cherry), very faint, light spice (spice cake, molasses stirred into milk, a faint fleeting cardamom note), coconut milkshake, and a flicker of balanced earthy coconut. The chocolate had a clean, light, elegant cocoa and coconut finish.

Like many**Australian chocolate makers, Metiisto is using cacao grown by farmers in (the relatively nearby) Pacific island nations. This Metiisto Coconut bar was made with Tenaru*** cacao from the Solomon Islands.

Ingredients: Cocoa beans, coconut blossom sugar, cocoa butter, shredded coconut 

*Charm School Chocolate (Hunt Valley, MD, in the U.S.) created an early bean-to-bar, fine chocolate coconut milk bar that showed people what was possible. Charm School chief chocolate maker and founder, Joshua Rosen, trained as a chef and engineer (perfect training for small-batch chocolate making) has since created several more coconut milk chocolate bars with flavor inclusions.

**Yes, happily, there are many bean-to-bar, craft/small-batch chocolate makers in Australia now, including Atypic Chocolate, Daintree Estates, Hunted and Gathered, Jasper + Myrtle, Metiisto Chocolate, the Smooth Chocolator, Spencer Cocoa, and Zokoko.

*** The Tenaru region lies on Guadalcanal Island, the largest of the Solomon Islands--an island nation (country) located in the Southwest Pacific Ocean. Guadalcanal exports a variety of agricultural goods, including coconuts and cacao, crops made possible by a mix of latitude, climate, rich, volcanic soils, and the hard work of farmers.