Sweet Loren's - Fudgey Brownie Cookie Dough - June 12, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

Sweet Loren's

Fudgey Brownie Cookie Dough

Good + - Good ++

Weight: 1 oz. (28 g.) / 12 oz. (340 g.) in total package

Calories: 110 calories in 1 cookie 

Cost: $5.99 for 1 package of 12 cookies

Purchased from: Whole Foods Hillsdale, San Mateo, CA 

Welcome to Day #1 of Chocolate Brownie Theme Week. 

Today's package of gluten free Fudgey Brownie Cookie Dough was from Sweet Loren's, Inc. (New York City, NY).

This refrigerated package contained 12 pre-formed chocolate, chocolate chunk cookies.

These gluten-free, rich, dark, chocolatey cookies did not include eggs or dairy, which enabled the company to offer customers three ways to eat and enjoy these sweet, brownie-like cookies: 1.) rare (unbaked cookie dough), 2.) medium (soft) or well-done (crunchy). 

They were enjoyable in dough, soft or crunchy forms. And it was nice to have unbaked and sliding-scale, home-baked options.

The maker's description (likely of a soft-based version of their cookie) read: "A double chocolate cookie, oozing with the gooeyness of a brownie."

Ingredients: Cane sugar, gluten-free flour blend (oat, tapioca, potato starch), chocolate chunks (sugar, unsweetened chocolate, cocoa butter, vanilla, salt), palm oil*, filtered water, cocoa powder, molasses, sea salt, baking soda.

*Sustainably sourced, RSPO Certified. (The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) was established in 2004 to promote sustainable palm oil.)

Allergen-related information: "Manufactured in a dedicated facility free of gluten, wheat, dairy, peanuts, and tree nuts. Made on shared equipment with products containing eggs and soy."

Madre Chocolate - Bahia, Brazil - Limited Edition Chocolate (bar) - June 11, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

Madre Chocolate

Bahia, Brazil - Limited Edition 70% Chocolate (bar) 

Good ++ 

Weight: 1.25 oz. (35 g.) / 2.5 oz. (70 g.) in total bar

Calories: 195 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar

Cost: $15.00 for 1 bar

Purchased from: missing information

Welcome to Chocolate and Brazil Theme Week(s). 

Today's Limited Edition Bahia, Brazil Chocolate (bar) was handcrafted from bean-to-bar on O'ahu, Hawai'i by Nat Bletter and team at Madre Chocolate (Honolulu, HI).

This 70% cacao chocolate had an aroma with seductive dark chocolate notes (rich hot cocoa with a light sprinkle of cinnamon on a cold day). 

The flavor was also blessed with "true" chocolate notes (fudge brownie, dark chocolate cake). This chocolate baked goods taste was enabled by a small quantity of vanilla that added a bit of floral spice. 

Other flavor notes: Very subtle green nut/seed (Jaguar cacao seed/bean); very faint and fleeting spice (very faint star anise + licorice) and tart green (lemon balm, sour grass/wood sorrel (yellow Oxalis stricta* stems and flowers)). Some of these same notes were detectable in other bars made with Brazilian cacao featured in the last two weeks.

Maker's notes: "Directly sourced from Bahia Cacao farm in the main cacao-producing state of Brazil (Bahia), this bar made with cacao from its true origin in South America has a beautiful, subtle nutty flavor that tastes how chocolate was meant to taste."

Note: This was a limited edition bar, and is not be currently available.

Ingredients: Cacao beans, organic sugar, organic cocoa butter, whole vanilla.

*Oxalis is an edible plant (some would argue weed) common in and native to North America, with clover-like green leaves and yellow flowers. This plant has a tart lemony flavor.

As the name oxalis implies, this is (one of many plants that is) rich in oxalic acid. It should be fine to sample (traditionally even considered medicinal) from/in an upsprayed area in small quantities, but should be consumed with care by those with kidney issues. 

Other plant-based foods high in oxalic acid include spinach, beets, and rhubarb, cacao, coffee, black tea, beans, dark beers. and berries and lemon balm (Melissa officinalis). The levels of oxalic acid in these plants (and chocolate) may also vary with growing and processing conditions.

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."