Fjak Sjokolade - Single Origin 70% Mork (Dark) Tanzania (bar) - May 9, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

Fjak Sjokolade

Single Origin 70% Mork (Dark) Tanzania (bar)
Good ++
Weight: 1.87 oz. (53 g.) in total bar

Calories: 289 calories (estimate) in 1 bar

Cost: $9.50 (+ shipping) for 1 bar

Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order

Welcome to Day #10 of Chocolate and Tanzania Theme Week.

Today's Single Origin 70% Mork (Dark) Tanzania (bar) was hand-crafted from bean to bar by Fjak Sjokolade (Hardanger, Norway). The company handcrafts their bean-to-bar, small-batch chocolate bars in their factory by the Hardangerfjord.* 

The cacao used to make this bar was from Kokoa Kamili, Kilombero Valley, Tanzania. 

The light, complex aroma of this bar had warm molasses spice (Boston brown bread with raisins), fresh baked yeast bread, light tropical fruit, cream--and later a very faint, mild sweet, fresh cucumber cream--notes.

The melt and texture were smooth. 

This flavorful, complex chocolate had flavor notes that were similar to the aroma and included bright, balanced sweetness with notes of sweet cream, very faint earth, fruit (faint banana, mango, red raspberry, bright tropical fruit punch with guava, passion fruit), and freshly baked chocolate cake.

The Fjaak maker's tasting notes: "Round dark chocolate with notes of banana and raisins."

Ingredients: Cocoa beans, cane sugar and cocoa butter (100% organic)

Allergen-related information: Processed in a facility that handles nuts, dairy and gluten.

*Norway is known for its beautiful dramatic scenery, particularly fjords surrounded by mountains and waterfalls. The Hardanderfjord (fjord) is a long body of water (the second longest in Norway) that extends from the Atlantic Ocean into the country's interior. What a great, inspirational place to make chocolate. 

La Feverie - 60% Kokoa Kamili Dark Milk Tanzania (bar) - May 8, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

La Feverie 
60% Kokoa Kamili Dark Milk Chocolate Tanzania (bar)
Good +++
Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) / 2 oz. (56.6 g.) in total bar
Calories: 583 kcals in 100 g. -- 330 calories in 1 whole bar
Cost: $9.50 + shipping for 1 bar
Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order

Welcome to Day #9 of Chocolate and Tanzania Theme Week.

Today's La Feverie 60% Kokoa Kamili Dark Milk Tanzania (2019 Harvest) bar was from Hasnaa Chocolats Grand Crus (Bordeaux, France).

Sophisticated, layered and complex, this flavorful dark milk bar offered a sweet, luxurious tasting experience, and an enjoyable ride around the chocolate tasting wheel over the course of several minutes. 

The aroma and flavor notes included green nut, subtle fruit (peach and honey jam), floral (rose), warm molasses spice cake, cream, light honey caramel nougat and wood (faint oak). Some of these notes lingered lightly into the finish.

The melt and texture were smooth with a well-managed, very faint fruit astringency.

Thank you to the cocoa farmers and Kokoa Kamili in Tanzania for this cacao. And applause for the maker for taking great beans and turning them into such a delicious dark milk chocolate. The roast choice, sugar and milk powder levels were perfect--just enough to create warmth, sparkle and smoothness, without losing any of the great flavors. Not an easy thing to do.

The company's "flavour profile" description read as follows: "Notes of heather honey, chestnut and cinnamon stick."

Ingredients: Organic cacao beans, organic cane sugar, milk powder, cocoa butter

Allergen-related information: Contains milk.

Mirzam - Dark Chocolate Tanzania 100% (bar) - May 7, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

Mirzam

Dark Chocolate Tanzania 100% Kokoa Kamili (bar)

Good ++

Weight: 1.23 oz. (35 g.) / 2.46 oz. (70 g.) in total bar

Calories: 193.6 calories in 1/2 bar

Cost: $13.75 for 1 bar

Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order 

Welcome to Day #8 of Chocolate and Tanzania Theme Week.

Today's 100% Dark Chocolate Single Origin Tanzania bar was from Mirzam Chocolate Makers /Kakaw Manufacturing Co., LLC (Dubai, United Arab Emirates).

The company offers a line of confections and chocolate bars with ingredients with connections to historic Arab trading/spice routes. (The first sailing route(s) from Oman to Tanzania can be traced back seven centuries.)*

This chocolate, made using Kokoa Kamili** cacao, had a very subtle aroma with faint baked bread/chocolate croissant and a barely there tropical fruit (kiwi + cucumber) note.

The single-source, single-ingredient chocolate had an even melt and smooth texture, a uniform deep roasted cacao flavor, and a balanced, sophisticated bitterness. 

This Mirzam unsweetened, ultra-dark chocolate did not have the sweetness or bright red fruit notes that other Tanzania (Kokoa Kamili) bars (with sugar) had this week; however, it did feature roasted, wood notes--and citrus (grapefruit, lemon) in the aftertaste.

Ingredients: Cocoa beans

Allergy-related information: "May contain traces of dairy, nuts and gluten." "Vegan"

*Early Omani traders would have been trading spices, ivory and other goods in Eastern Africa (present day Zanzibar/Tanzania, other nations) centuries before cacao arrived there from the Americas. The first cacao trees arrived in West Africa, and eventually spread to other growing regions further east.

**Kokoa Kamili is a centralized cacao fermentery (in the Kilombero Valley, in the State of Morogoro, in East/Central Tanzania) that pays hundreds of local cacao farmers a premium for their "wet" cacao beans, and helps ensure high-standards for a final product that can be shipped to chocolate makers. 

Kaitxo - Tanzania Morogoro, Valle Kilombero 75% bar - May 6, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

Kaitxo 
Tanzania Morogoro, Valle Kilombero 75% bar
Good +
Weight: 1.2 oz. (35 g.) / 2.4 oz. (70 g.) in total bar
Calories: 190 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $9.50 + shipping for 1 bar
Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order

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

Today's Tanzania Morogoro, Valle Kilombero 75% Cacao, bean-to-bar, Basque chocolate was produced by Kaitxo Avda Encartaciones (Balmaseda, Spain). The company offers a variety of specialty chocolates and coffees.

This 75% cacao chocolate had relatively subtle aroma with warm, baked chocolate cake/brownie, and fruit (chocolate covered red apple/red fruit). It was made using ("Amelonado/Criollo") cacao from "Kamili," Morogoro (Kilombero Valley), Tanzania. 

The chocolate had an even, stoneground melt and texture and sharper/more distinct flavors than other Tanzania origin bars featured this week. (This would make sense if there was less conching/grinding time, which results in slightly granular texture, and less homogenized and better "preserved" flavors.)

The flavor was relatively bright and complex with pleasing, dark chocolate, citrus (tart-sweet lemon), a sparkle or two of tart-sweet tropical fruits, red fruit, cream, bread, green nut, with a slight astringency in the second half of tasting a bite. It was high in flavor, and (like other bars this week) relatively low in bitterness. There was a bit more fruit/citrus acid in this bar, but it was relatively well balanced.

I enjoyed tasting a 75% cacao chocolate made from (Kokoa) Kamili-sourced (Tanzania) beans. This cacao (the source for almost all the bars featured this week) tasted naturally sweet and bright. And bumping up the cacao a few percentage points above the "standard"* 70% chocolate bar (combined with what might've been a shorter grind/conch time) yielded a bit more cacao flavor, and less sugar.

The Kaitxo chocolate maker's tasting notes read as follows: "Frutos rojos (red fruits), avellanas (hazelnuts) y (and) melaza (molasses)."

Ingredients: Cacao beans, cane sugar, cacao butter.

Allergen-related information: "May contain traces of wheat, free nuts and soy."

*About this standard 70%...In the 1990s, there was a new focus on educating people about cacao percentages in chocolate. Few people up until that point would have thought much about these numbers. There was dark chocolate, milk chocolate and white chocolate. What more did a chocolate lover need to know? 

However, dark chocolate back then often did contain far less cacao than it does today, so this discussion was necessary for chocolate makers who wanted to showcase more unique cacao origins and flavors (that would also cost more). There were many parallels going on with other food specialty products (like coffee, distilled spirits, preserves, etc.) at the same time. The bar was being raised.

Dark chocolate lovers started hearing that 70% cacao was the optimal percentage for a artisan chocolate offerings. This percentage of cocoa (solids) would be acceptably sweet, but not overly sweet. (Makers also saw that most buyers (at least initially) preferred sweeter chocolate, and that higher percentage bars might be a tougher sell.)

Fortunately, a handful of dedicated, small, bean-to-bar chocolate makers took considerable risks and succeeded. Times have changed. While 70% cacao chocolate might be a good starting place, you hear less about that being the "ideal" number today. Most specialty/craft chocolate makers take great pains to study individual batches of cacao first before making these decisions. And we happily trust them to do so.

A fruity, sweet cacao will become overly so with too much added sugar. So a 72-75% cacao chocolate bar might be a better choice than 70% cacao for this batch/origin. A bitter or bolder cacao might do well with a little added cocoa butter and sugar, or not. Fermentation, roasting, conching, and other choices optimize/highlight/downplay different flavors. Percentages can serve as guides for dark chocolate enthusiasts, but never tell the complete story. For that, you have to taste.

Christopher Elbow Craft Chocolate - Tanzania 72% Dark (bar) - May 5, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

Christopher Elbow Craft Chocolate

Tanzania 72% Dark (bar)

Good ++

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

Calories: 160 calories (per label) in 1/2 bar

Cost: $9.95 + shipping for 1 bar

Purchased from: Christopher Elbow, online order

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

Today's Tanzania 72% Dark (bar) was from Christopher Elbow Craft Chocolate (Kansas City, MO). Christopher Elbow creates a range of high-end chocolate confections and a line of single origin, craft chocolate bars. 

The aroma of today's chocolate was subtle with faint fruit (fig) and Boston brown bread (a steamed dark, quick bread with rye flour, corn meal, molasses and raisins) notes. The taste was similar to these aroma notes, with more chocolate and fruit/fruit acidity (cherry, sweet lemon tea) flavor. A trace of the latter fruit acidity lingered in a long, slow finish.

The Tanzania cacao beans (Kokoa Kamili, 2017 Harvest) behind this bar were blessed with a natural fruit sweetness and low bitterness. (This has been the case for all the Tanzania bars tasted so far this week.) The results: 70% cacao bars taste almost too sweet. (Even this 72% bar was quite sweet.) And higher percentage bars taste sweeter, without as much sugar.

Skilled chocolate makers like Christopher Elbow, and others this week, have also been able to highlight this cacao's endearing, subtle fruit cheeriness--making this bar appealing for those put off by bolder, darker flavors.

Christopher Elbow tasting notes read as follows: "Flavor notes are cherry, coffee, and lemon."

Ingredients: Organic cacao (2017 Harvest), organic cane sugar, cocoa butter.

Allergen-related information: "Vegan and gluten free...May contain traces of peanuts, tree nuts, soy, wheat and milk products." 

The Swedish Cacao Company - "Darkness" Tanzania Kokoa Kamili 100% (bar) - May 4, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

The Swedish Cacao Company / Svenska Kakaobolaget

Darkness - Tanzania Kokoa Kamili, 2017 Harvest, 100% (bar)

Good ++

Weight: .85 oz. (25 g.) / 1.7 oz. (50 g.) in total bar

Calories: 152.5 calories in 1/2 bar

Cost: $12.00 for 1 bar

Purchased from: Chocolate Covered, San Francisco, CA 

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

Today's Darkness Tanzania Kokoa Kamili (2017 Harvest) 100% bar was made, from bean-to-bar, in a small town in rural, southern Sweden by Svenska Kakaobolaget, aka The Swedish Cacao Company. 

This well-executed, "Darkness" bar had a lighter, subtler aroma and flavor than most 100%ers, including fruit, and faint green, nut and floral notes. 

The one-ingredient (100% cacao) chocolate was unsweetened but had a touch of natural, "fruit" sweetness. 

As with a few other Tanzania bars sampled this week, the "fruit" notes were subtle yet relatively bright and sweet (red apple, fig, ripe red berry/pomegranate); and there was a very faint, fleeting, and balanced, baked yeast bread/buckwheat pancake note.

The texture was almost silky smooth, and there was a very slight hint of fruit astringency toward the end of the first few bites. The latter (something you might experience with wine and tea) was subtle and also present in other Tanzania bars this week.

The maker's tasting notes read as follows: "An extra dark chocolate with intensive notes of nuts, raisins and dried figs. One ingredient. No sugar or any sweeteners. For the true enthusiast."

Ingredients: "100% Cacao"

Allergen-related information: "Vegan; Gluten Free; No Lecithin"  "Made in a facility that handles tree nuts, wheat, milk, eggs, peanuts and soy."

OmNom Chocolate - Dark Milk of Tanzania 65% (bar) - May 3, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

OmNom Chocolate
Dark Milk of Tanzania 65% (bar)
Good + - Good ++
Weight: 1.05 oz. (30 g.) / 2.1 oz. (60 g.) in total bar
Calories: 174.5 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $9.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocolate Covered, San Francisco, CA

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

Today's Dark Milk of Tanzania 65% (bar) was from OmNom Chocolate (Reykjavik, Iceland).

The cacao used to make this chocolate bar was grown in Tanzania in Africa. And Icelandic milk (powder) contributed to the aroma, texture and flavor of this 65% dark milk chocolate bar. 

The aroma had cream, ripe fruit and chocolate caramel notes. 

The melt and texture were smooth and substantial; there was a very slight fruit astringency toward the finish.

The fruit flavor notes (red apple, ripe red berry, ripe stone fruit, faint apricot-peach jam) were very pleasant. The chocolate also had balanced chocolate caramel taste, and a faint, fleeting earth note that was politely muzzled by milk and sugar.

Ingredients: Organic cocoa beans from Tanzania; organic cane sugar; cocoa butter; Icelandic milk powder; sunflower lecithin (E322).

OmNom Chocolate tasting notes for this bar read as follows: "fudgey, brownie, pear"

Allergen-related information: "Contains dairy. Made in Iceland, in a facility that handles gluten, nuts and milk."