Mission Chocolate - Dark Goat Milk 56% (bar) - June 10, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

Mission Chocolate 

Dark Goat Milk 56% (bar)

Good + - Good ++

Weight: 1.06 oz. (30 g.) / 2.12 oz. (60 g.) in total bar

Calories: 166.5 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $9.50 (+ summer shipping) for 1 bar
Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order (late May order)

Welcome to Day #14 of Chocolate and Brazil Theme Week.

Today's Dark Goat Milk 56% (bar) was from Mission Chocolate by Arcelia Gallardo (Sao Paolo, Brazil).

This bar's complex and very subtle aroma had light notes of cocoa, aloe vera gel, orchid, cream; very faint green herb with implied citrus and astringency (lemon verbena, sour grass, lemon geranium lotion); and very faint, fleeting spice (star anise).

 

The flavor was smooth and sweet with balanced, mild flavors and botanical notes: including dark milk chocolate (rich cocoa), dairy cream, fresh-tasting mineral water, forest, and very faint tart green, mild floral, spice (star anise/five spice* blend) and a barely detectable lemon herb cookie note in the finish. 

This was a nuanced, high-class chocolate creme dessert in bar form.

The organic cacao used to make today's chocolate was from Fazenda Venturosa (2019 Harvest) in Bahia, Brazil. This farm/plantation is known for their Para Parazinho cacao (a Forastero cacao variety from Para with small yellow pods. Mission Chocolate founder/chocolate maker, Arcelia Gallardo, has been using this cacao to make this goat milk caramel-inspired bar as well as a 70% dark chocolate bar.

Ingredients: Organic cacao, organic sugar, goat milk powder, cocoa butter.

Allergen-related information: "May contain traces of peanut, coconut, tree nuts, and wheat due to shared equipment."

*"Five spice" (aka "Chinese Five Spice") is a spice blend (often in ground or powdered form) that contains: star anise, fennel seeds, Szechuan peppercorns, cinnamon and cloves. Some blends may also contain tiny bits of orange peel and ginger. The overall flavor: star anise with a very light licorice and warm spice edge.

Christopher Elbow - Brazil 70% dark (bar) - June 9, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

Christopher Elbow
Brazil 70% dark (bar)
Good + - Good ++
Weight: 1.13 oz. (32 g.) / 2.3 oz. (65 g.) in total bar
Calories: 160 calories (per label) in 1 serving (approximately 1/2 bar)
Cost: $9.95 for 1 bar (+shipping)
Purchased from: Christopher Elbow website, online order

Welcome to Day #13 of Chocolate and Brazil Theme Week.

Today's Brazil 70% dark (bar) was from Christopher Elbow Chocolates (Kansas City, MO). 

This bar had an almost vexingly subtle, layered chocolate aroma with faint dried fruit mix (light goji berry and very faint chardonnay wine grape raisin and freeze-dried banana pieces) floral (very faint cookie, vanilla orchid), and tea (fruit and floral (rose) oolong) notes, as well as a "fresh"/refreshing (mineral water) note that was hard to explain. (I had to smell this chocolate multiple times to pick all these aroma notes out.)

Flavor notes were also very subtle and included light chocolate/cacao; fresh mineral water, faint fruit floral (dried goji berry; freeze-dried banana, light lychee; subtle cacao fruit pulp); faint vanilla sandwich cookie; faint tea; faint light green nut/seed (jaguar cacao (aka pataxte, white cacao) or cacao bicolor seeds); and faint tart, sweet green (lemon verbena, sour grass). The texture was smooth with a very slight astringency.

The 2017 Harvest cacao used to make this single origin Brazil chocolate was from Fazenda Camboa in Bahia, Brazil. This cacao farm has been owned by the Cavalho family for almost 80 years.

The maker's tasting notes: "...chocolatey flavors, with notes of dried fruit and nuts."

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

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

 

Mission Chocolate - Two Rivers 70% (bar) - June 8, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

Mission Chocolate 

Two Rivers 70% (bar)

Good + - Good ++

Weight: 1.06 oz. (30 g.) / 2.12 oz. (60 g.) in total bar

Calories: 162 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $9.50 (+ summer shipping) for 1 bar
Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order

Welcome to Day #12 of Chocolate and Brazil Theme Week.

Today's Two Rivers (bar) was the creation of Mission Chocolate by Arcelia Gallardo (Sao Paolo, Brazil).

This chocolate bar was a melding of two 70% cacao Brazilian origin chocolates fused together. Today's two-hue chocolate evoked the moment when two mighty rivers (one lighter and one darker in color) come together before the two colors combine into the Amazon River.* 

This was a very creative product idea that related to the cacao's Amazon origins. It also made me think about lighter and darker cacao beans--and, more metaphorically, the yin and yang of chocolate. Below is a review of both sides:

The lighter side had an aroma with faint savory, light leather, dark milk chocolate, faint tart green and ripe sweet red berry. Texture was thick and creamy. Taste: The first bite was tart sweet (lemon balm, sour grass), rich, dark milk chocolate with raspberry jam and peanut butter notes. Note: Although this half of the chocolate bar looked and tasted like a dark milk chocolate, there were just three ingredients listed on the packaging: cacao, organic sugar and cocoa butter for this fusion bar. No milk. 

The darker (ebony-colored) side to this bar broke with a snap; had smooth, dark chocolate texture and flavor; and had notes of faint spice, dark molasses and earth. It also had faint, fleeting notes of tart green-citrus sweetness and peanut butter in the second half of the tasting.

Like many other Brazil bars this week, both the lighter and darker sides of this bar possessed a significant level of natural sweetness, and could easily be mistaken for a 55% and 60-65%% cacao chocolates, respectively.

Ingredients: Cacao, organic sugar, cocoa butter

Allergen-related information: No gluten, soy or milk ingredients. "May contain traces of milk, peanut, coconut, tree nuts, and wheat due to shared equipment.")

*The famous and colorful "meeting of waters" east of Manaus, Brazil, happens when the darker Rio Negro (black water) joins the lighter, latte-colored Solimoes River. These two, different, liquid bands of color flow side by side for a few miles before the two colors blend together, due to their differences in temperature, density, speed and composition. (Waters can be darker if they've picked up plant tannins from slow travel through tree, forests or bogs; and waters can look lighter if they've rapidly run through areas with fine silt/clay/mud particles that have been stirred up.) 

Heinde and Verre - Single Origin Bold Brazil Dark 71% (bar) - June 7, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

Heinde and Verre B.V.
Single Origin Bold Brazil Dark 71% (bar)
Good + - Good ++
Weight: 1.25 oz. (35 g.) in 1 bar of 2 / 2.5 oz. (70 g.) in total package of 2 bars
Calories: 200 calories in 1/2 package (1 of 2 bars)
Cost: $9.50 (estimate) (+ shipping) for 1 bar
Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order (read their tasting notes) 

Welcome to Day #11 of Chocolate and Brazil Theme Week.

Today's Single Origin Bold Brazil Dark 71% (bar) was from Heinde and Verre B.V.* (Rotterdam, The Netherlands).

The company selects cacao beans from a single farmer/source. In Brazil, the company direct sources from "Coopoam Farmers Brazil Para Amazon Region." As the best chocolate makers do, Heinde and Verre chocolate makers work with each cacao origin to develop different roast profiles (often using more than one roast for a single batch of bars) to develop unique flavors.

The two, individually-wrapped bars contained in this package offered a convenient way to share with others, or to keep some chocolate fresh (unopened) for a later tasting. 

The chocolate had a thick, creamy melt and texture, and true chocolate (chocolate cake) with concentrated fruit (dried red/dark berry, date) aroma and flavor notes.

The source of the cacao used to make this bar: "Coopoam Farmers Brazil Para Amazon Region." Para is one of the top two cacao-growing states in Brazil. (The other is Bahia.) Located in northern Brazil where the Amazon flows toward the Atlantic Ocean, the area includes the mouth of the Amazon River as it flows toward the Atlantic Ocean. 

Maker's tasting notes: "This Brazilian cacao continuous (sic) to deliver a wide range of flavours. We achieved this by applying multiple roasting profiles on a single origin bean."

Ingredients: Cacao and cacao butter (71%), sugar, sunflower lecithin.

Allergen-related information: (None listed on packaging)

*Heinde and Verre means "near and far" in English. The name "pays homage to the Dutch tradition of sourcing the best ingredients worldwide and combining these with quality local produce."

 

Akesson's - Brazil Fazenda Sempre Firme 75% Forastero Cocoa (bar) - June 6, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

Akesson's

Brazil Fazenda Sempre Firme 75% Forastero Cocoa (bar)

Good +

Weight: 1.06 oz. (30 g.) / 2.12 oz. (60 g.) in total bar
Calories: 172.5 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $8.00 for 1 bar (+ shipping)
Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order 

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

Today's Brazil Fazenda Sempre Firme 75% Forastero Cocoa bar (made in France) was from Akesson's (AO Global Sprl, Uccle, Belgium). 

Company founder Bertil Akesson not only specializes in single plantation chocolate, but also has direct cacao plantation experience in Brazil.*

Subtle aroma notes included: brown sugar, faint woodsy, very faint green (lemon balm/sour grass), and very faint warm spice.

Flavor notes: smooth (uniform) dark chocolate with naturally sweet (brown sugar), faint fleeting cream, wood and earth notes. 

Made with a variety of Forastero cacao, the resulting chocolate was less bold/bitter than many other Forastero chocolates. (The roast profile might have been adjusted as a result, leading to a "lighter" flavor.)

Maker's tasting notes: "The chocolate we developed from these beans is smooth, woody and earthy. It has also expressive notes that evoke autumn scents, tobacco and the local pitanga fruit."

Ingredients: Cocoa (min. 75%), cane sugar, pure cocoa butter.

Allergen-related information: May contain traces of nuts, almonds, soya, milk and gluten.

*In 2009, Akesson and a Brazilian partner purchased the historic Fazenda Sempre Firme in Bahia, Brazil. This plantation is located in the Mata Atlantica (the wild forest/rainforest area(s) in Eastern Brazil along the Atlantic coast). They are growing a Forastero variety of cacao called "parasinho."

Luisa Abram - Rio Jurua 81% - Chocolate Brazilian Amazon Wild Cocoa (bar) - June 5, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

Luisa Abram 
Rio Jurua 81% - Chocolate de Cacau Selvagem da Amazonia Brasileira (barra)
(Jurua River 81% - Chocolate from the Brazilian Amazon wild cocoa (bar))
Good +++
Weight: 1.4 oz. (40 g.) / 2.8 oz. (80 g.) in total bar
Calories: 246 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $12.00 (+ shipping) for 1 bar
Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order 

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

Today's Rio Jurua 81% Brazilian Amazon wild cocoa (bar) was made by Luisa Abram (San Paolo, Brazil). The company specializes in bean to bar chocolate made with wild cacao from the Amazon. 

The aroma of today's bar (similar to yesterday's Rio Jurua 70% version) was subtle and multi-dimensional. Aroma notes included shifting floral notes (faint rose and pineapple scented geranium blooms), naturally sweet, refreshing/fresh mineral water, other soft floral, fruit and sweet spice (mango, lychee, licorice), and very faint, fleeting roasted green vegetable/potato chip. These notes shifted gently with every re-tasting. 

To me this flowing quality accurately captured the flavors of fresh-picked and eaten cacao fruit (pulp) that surrounds the cacao seeds/beans--flavors with descriptions that vary a lot depending on origin and variety, and often include: citrus, floral, watermelon, pineapple, and many other fruits, while still maintaining its own uniqueness.

Do eat this chocolate slowly, so you can enjoy the scent and flavor treasures that are revealed with this origin. (The visual equivalent: edible flower + green tea balls that "bloom" when hot water is poured over them. Enjoy the experience.)

This 81% cacao bar had a mild complexity and natural sweetness (the opposite of bold, earthy, roasted, bitter chocolates). Flavor notes included very subtle, complex cacao with mild fruit-floral (rose scented geranium flowers), light pineapple cream pudding, light caramelized brown sugar, and very faint vegetable (potato chip). 

I love floral aromas and flavors, and these frequently disappear with heat, longer roasting times and processing in general. So, I'd like to convey much gratitude to the maker for preserving these beautiful Amazon headwater origin notes for us to smell and taste in both Rio Jurua (70% and 81%) bars this week.

The maker's tasting notes: "Flowers in the form of chocolate. Sweetness rises to pitanga and lychee. Reminds crystallised fruits. It ends with perfumed caramel."

Ingredients: Cacao mass, organic cane sugar and cocoa butter.

Allergen-related information: Does not include gluten ingredients. Made in a facility that processes/May contain traces of milk, Brazil nuts and tree nuts.

Luisa Abram - Rio Jurua 70% Brazilian Amazon wild cocoa (bar) - June 4, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

Luisa Abram 
Rio Jurua 70% - Chocolate de Cacau Selvagem da Amazonia Brasileira (barra)
(Jurua River 70% - Chocolate from the Brazilian Amazon wild cocoa (bar))
Good +++ 
Weight: 1.4 oz. (40 g.) / 2.8 oz. (80 g.) in total bar
Calories: 213 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $12.00 (+ shipping) for 1 bar
Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order 

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

Today's award-winning Rio Jurua 70% Brazilian Amazon wild cocoa (bar) was made by Luisa Abram (Sao Paulo, Brazil). The company specializes in bean to bar chocolate made with wild cacao from the Amazon. 

The cacao used to make today's bar came from far inland of the Atlantic coast, in western Brazil along the Rio (River) Jurua--a river (with origins in the mountains of eastern Peru) that runs north through the Brazilian states of Acra and Amazonas. 

The aroma of this wild cocoa chocolate was subtle yet complex with fruit (goji berry, Inca berry), tea (orange blossom, floral oolong tea), herb (lemon balm), faint spice (saffron), vegetable (roasted potato) notes.

The flavors in this fruity, floral smooth dark chocolate included orange blossom and floral, fruit and honey; and very faint, fleeting vegetable/potato chip and brown sugar notes in the finish. This single origin dark chocolate was relatively low in acidity and bitterness making it very approachable as well as flavorful.

The sweetness level itself was also complex. Natural floral and fruit notes (and the absence of bitterness) in the cacao and the organic sugar elevated the perceived sweetness to a pleasing level.

The maker's tasting notes read as follows: "Flowers in the form of chocolate. Sweetness rises to pitanga and lychee. Reminds (reminiscent of) crystallised fruits. It ends with perfumed caramel."

Ingredients: Cocoa mass, organic cane sugar and cocoa butter.

Allergen-related information: Does not include gluten ingredients. Made in a facility that processes/May contain traces of milk, Brazil nuts and tree nuts.