Ritter Sport - Cacao Selection - 81% Cacao Extra Intense Dark Chocolate (Ghana) (bar) - Jan. 27, 2022

Chocolate of the Day

Ritter Sport
Cacao Selection 81% Cacao Extra Intense Dark Chocolate (bar)
Good ++ 
Weight: 1.16 oz. (32 g.) / 3.5 oz. (100 g.) in total bar
Calories: 200 calories in 8 pieces (32 g.) of bar
Cost: $2.99 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Piazza's, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #2 of Chocolate and Ghana Theme Week. 

Today's Ritter Sport Cacao Selection 81% Cacao Extra Intense Dark Chocolate (bar) from Alfred Ritter GmbH and Co. KG (Waldenbuch, Germany) was made with cocoa beans from Ghana.

Like other square-shaped Ritter bars, this ultra-dark chocolate (introduced in 2020) was easily divided into tinier squares for eating or sharing with others.

Aroma notes for this chocolate included bold true chocolate (deep dark brownie) with balanced tannic* earth (faint wood bark tannin, peat bog) that I associate more with Forastero cacao.

The 81% dark chocolate had a smooth, uniform melt and texture, and uniform flavor.

This chocolate had a deep dark chocolate flavor--true chocolate (deep, dark brownie), very faint dark caramel, and a sustained tannic forest earth (wood, peat bog) note. 

Tannic acids in green plants and fruits can be acidic and astringent (e.g. red wines, black tea, unripe pomegranate or persimmon); however, this tannin note conjured up visions of deep, ancient woods/earth, with a very subtle aged black walnut note. 

This did not taste acidic. In fact, while related, tannins are not the same as tannic acid.* And while I was expecting (from the aroma) to run into acid or astringency (or bitterness) in the flavor, this didn't really happen. 

The "peat" flavor was more organic and less acidic. And it was also less smokey/carbon-y than, say, peat bog water and/or peat bog fire smoke associated with drying barley used to make Scotch Islay whiskey (ies); but it did invite this comparison, as I was fishing around for how to describe this chocolate.

Ingredients: Chocolate liquor (made from cocoa beans from Ghana), sugar, cocoa butter. 

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

*Tannins are plant (polyphenolic) compounds found in roots, barks and leaves of plants and trees. (Cocoa beans contain tannins. More robust, bold Forastero varieties of cacao grown in West African countries like Ghana can contain higher amounts of tannins than some other, more "delicate" fine-flavored cacao varieties.)

Tannic acid is a specific form of tannin, that can be found in soils or compost where plants and trees have decomposed near water (swamps). Peat bogs tend to be acidic and high in tannins. Waters with tannic acid are often dark brown in color. 

Ritter Sport - Dark Milk Chocolate 55% Cacao (bar) - Jan. 26, 2022

Chocolate of the Day

Ritter Sport
Cacao Selection Dark Milk Chocolate 55% Cacao (bar)
Good ++
Weight: 1.16 oz. (32 g.) / 3.5 oz. (100 g.) in total bar
Calories: 190 calories in 8 pieces (32 g.) of bar
Cost: $4.99 (estimate) for 1 bar
Purchased from: Missing information

Welcome to Day #1 of Chocolate and Ghana Theme Week. Ghana is one of the largest cacao producers. This West African nation exported an estimated 900,000 tonnes of cocoa in the 2020/2021 season.*

Today's Ritter Sport Cacao Selection Dark Milk Chocolate 55% Cacao (bar) from Alfred Ritter GmbH and Co. KG (Waldenbuch, Germany) was made with cocoa mass from Ghana.

Like all square-shaped Ritter bars, this chocolate was easily divisible (easy to break) into tinier squares for eating or sharing with others.

Aroma notes for this chocolate included chocolate mousse, faint diffuse fruit (berry, sweet banana, citrus, tropical fruit), and fleeting, faint, balanced tannic earth (that dissipated rapidly after the package had been opened for a minute or two)

The 55% dark milk chocolate had a smooth, uniform melt and texture. A judicious amount of milk yielded some creaminess, soothed any possible unruly earth notes, and added a hint of caramel; but it was not so much milk that it obscured the cacao notes. (Thank you.)

This chocolate had a sweet dark chocolate flavor--true chocolate (faint chocolate mousse cake, faint brownie), subtle dark caramel, a barely there, diffuse fruit note, and a very faint, balanced tannic forest earth note that kicked in about half-way through with another small uptick in the finish.

Ingredients: Chocolate liquor, sugar, cocoa butter, milk. 

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

*This according to Ghana Cocoa Board (Cocobod), as reported by Confectionery News.

Chocolate Naive - Rough-Ground Rustic Dark Chocolate 75% (bar) - Jan. 25, 2022

Chocolate of the Day

Chocolate Naive
Rough-Ground Rustic Dark Chocolate 75% (bar)
Good ++ 
Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) / 2 oz. (57 g.) in total bar
Calories: 169.5 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $10.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order

Sveiki (hello) and welcome to last day (Day #19) of European Chocolate Vacation. 

Today's Rough-Ground Rustic Dark Chocolate 75% (bar) was from Chocolate Naive (Vilnius, Lithuania). 

I imagined strolling along the Neris River near the Vilnius city center in Lithuania, making quick stops in Uzupis Republic and Old Town, and then paying respects to creative, award-winning, bean-to-bar chocolate maker Domantas Uzpalis at Chocolate Naive. 

Since founding the company in 2011, Uzpalis has been producing wonderful original origin and flavored bars (Soursop, Porcini, and BBQ Spices to name a few). If I'm in luck, I'll be able to try some ice cream there too. (Parsley ice cream perhaps?) Even his "plain" chocolate bars often have a unique twist.

Rough-Ground Rustic Dark Chocolate 75% 

The aroma notes for today's dark chocolate bar included: rich dark chocolate, balanced fruit (berry, faint citrus), licorice spice, and faint clean, sweet mineral. Even before taking a bite, I'm already appreciating the complexity of this chocolate.

The custom-shaped bar was a merger of a large and a small circle (molecules, bicycle wheels, cacao beans?) with the company's logo in the middle. The chocolate broke with a well-tempered snap, and included a flawless field of two evenly distributed textures: smooth dark chocolate and crunchy (tiny crystals of sugar perhaps).

The flavor notes included: relatively uniform with true chocolate (ultra-dark chocolate mousse) and fully incorporated, faint fruit blend (berry, tropical fruit, citrus) with medium acidity. Not too sweet (thank you). (Also, barely there: a nutty/malty note that showed up on the re-taste.)

Bumping up the cacao from 70% to 75% seemed like a great choice here. The "roughly" incorporated sugar crystals offered some textural fun, and and allowed the sugar to have enough voice to be interesting without dominating the chocolate.

The cacao origin and variety weren't specified on the package. It had a Trinitario cacao variety like flavor--less dark and dense than a Forastero variety, and with some balanced and bright "fruit" acidity (enhanced with the tiny sparkles of sugar).

Today's chocolate was a well-executed variation on a classic three-ingredient dark chocolate bar with layered aromas, textures flavors. If sophisticated can co-exist with rustic, this would be the place.

Maker's tasting notes: Fruity, nutty, toasty, honey-like; "Initial taste of fresh strawberries and cherries followed by honey and--after a few seconds--some subtle nutty notes."

Ingredients: Specialty cacao*, cane sugar*, pure cacao butter* (Cacao min. 75%) 
*Asterisk indicates: "wild or all-natural farming"

Allergen-related information: "May contain traces of treenuts, peanuts, wheat or milk." 

Francois Pralus - Barre Infernal Orange - Jan. 24, 2022

Chocolate of the Day

Francois Pralus
Barre Infernale Orange (bar)
Good ++
Weight: 2 oz. (56.6 g.) / 5.29 oz. (150 g.) in total bar
Calories: 310 calories (estimate) in 2 oz. (56.6 g.) of bar
Cost: $24.00 (estimate) for 1 bar 
Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order

Bonjour (good day) and welcome to Day #18 of European Chocolate Vacation. 

Today's Francois Pralus Barre Infernale Orange (bar) was from Patiserrie Chocolaterie S.A.S. Pralus (Roanne, France). Roanne is a commune in the Loire Department in central France. 

I took an (imagined) walk along the Loire River, and then headed back to a small auberge (inn) to enjoy this hometown bar. (And what a lovely thing it would be to living near the origin of Francois Pralus chocolates.)

Aroma notes for this chocolate converged into a magical blend of candied citrus (orange peel), roasted nuts, and spiked chocolate fruitcake. The ingredients in this bar were skillfully layered to showcase them in both aroma and flavor.

Flavorful (fruity) dark chocolate formed the outer layer of this of this gold bullion bar-shaped chocolate was filled with a satisfying, softer praline center: ground nuts (almonds, hazelnut), milk chocolate and authentic, ground sweet orange peel, with a touch of orange liqueur. (Think faint Grand Marnier. The spirits added a bit of "infernale" or adult sinfulness.)

Everything about this substantial and flavorful. Happily it was not too sweet (thank you!). Cut a piece of this chocolate as you would slice a loaf of bread. A great bar to bring to a dinner party, or to share with others.

Ingredients: Praline 50% (roasted hazelnuts, sugar, roasted almonds, cocoa butter, milk chocolate (sugar, cocoa butter, milk powder, cocoa: 45% minimum; emulsifier: sunflower lecithin); black (dark) chocolate (cocoa: 70% minimum, sugar, cocoa butter, emulsifier: sunflower lecithin); candied oranges 16% (sugar, oranges 57%, glucose, orange alcohol).

Allergen-related information: Contained tree nuts (hazelnuts, almonds), milk. "Contains nuts and may contain traces of milk."

Tony's Chocolonely - Milk Chocolate Honey Almond Nougat - Jan. 23, 2022

Chocolate of the Day

Tony's Chocolonely
Milk Chocolate Honey Almond Nougat bar
Good +
Weight: 1.06 oz. (30 g.) / 6.35 oz. (180 g.) in total bar
Calories: 160 calories in 1 serving (30 g.) of bar
Cost: $4.99 (estimate) for 1 bar (thank you Don!)
Purchased from: New Leaf Markets, Half Moon Bay, CA

Welcome to Day #17 of European Chocolate Vacation Theme Week.

Today's Milk Chocolate Honey Almond Nougat bar from Tony's Chocolonely Inc. (New York, NY) and was made in Belgium. 

The chocolate company was founded in the Netherlands in 2005 by three journalists with a vision to eliminate illegal child labor/slavery practices* (primarily in the (West African) cacao supply chain, where farmers are often paid very little. In addition to helping to educate consumers, Tony's Chocolonely supports and carefully sources fair trade ingredients.

As one of the last imaginary European stops via chocolate, I imagined a walk along canals in Amsterdam, a stop at the Van Gogh Museum in the city's Museum Quarter, and a search for a rumor that Tony's Chocoloney chocolate bars can be found in vending machines there. (Yes, it's true, there is a wall-sized, "mega-super" vending machine in Tony's Store in the Westerpark area of Amsterdam.)

Today's ultra-thick bar required some concentration to bite through (a bit like a large, alpine mountain shaped Swiss Toblerone bar.)

The bar had a sweet milk chocolate and nut aroma and sweet, smooth (32%) milk chocolate flavor. Honey nut nougat flecks added crunchy texture. These nougat pieces had a faint, natural honied, layered sweetness (light honied milk tea).

Ingredients: Sugar dry whole milk, cocoa butter, cocoa mass, 10% nougat (cane sugar, glucose syrup (wheat), 2% almonds, potato starch, honey, cocoa butter, egg white), soy lecithin.

Allergen-related information: (Contained milk, wheat, tree nuts (almonds), egg and soy.) "May contain tree nuts and peanut."

*A high percentage of European (and other commercial) chocolates are made using West African cacao. Tony's founders talked about how they were one of the few chocolate companies actively talking about "slave-free" chocolate in the early-mid 2000s. Hence the name Tony's "Chocolonely."

In 2021, Tony's Chocolonely made an acquisition announcement, around plans for an expanded role in an existing (Althaea-De Laet) chocolate factory (Tony's Chocolonely Chocolate Circus), on the border between Zaanstad and Amsterdam. They will become more involved in their own manufacturing and continue to pursue their goal of making "100% slave-free chocolate the norm in the industry."

Ritter - Dark Chocolate with Almond and Orange (bar) - Jan. 22, 2022

Chocolate of the Day

Ritter
Dark Chocolate with Almond and Orange (bar)
Good +
Weight: 1.09 oz. (31 g.) / 3.5 oz. (100 g.) total bar
Calories: 170 calories in 1 serving (31 g.) of bar
Cost: $4.99 (estimate) for 1 bar
Purchased from: Santa Venetia Market, San Rafael, CA

Welcome to Day #16 of European Chocolate Vacation Theme Week.

Today's Ritter Sport Dark Chocolate Almond and Orange (bar) was from Afred Ritter GmbH and Co. KG (Waldenbuch, Germany). After an imagined visit to Museum Ritter in Waldenbuch, I took a virtual walk around the area. Despite foggy cool weather today in Germany, I was able to enjoy a refreshing (chocolate-powered) walk--only it was in Northern California. 

Aroma notes for this substantial (thick) Ritter bar included: bold, dark chocolate, nut (almond) and faint citrus.

Bold dark chocolate flavor was intermingled with tiny but flavorful bits of chewy, sweet orange peel(s), and small pieces of crunchy almonds.

Ingredients: Sugar, chocolate liquor, cocoa butter, almonds, orange peel, butterfat (milk), glucose, fructose syrup, soy lecithin, lemon juice concentrate, orange oil, dextrose.

Allergen-related information: (Contained tree nuts (almonds), milk, soy.) "May contain traces of peanuts and other tree nuts, wheat and egg."

Ritter - Milk Chocolate with Cocoa Mousse Filling - Jan. 21, 2022

Chocolate of the Day

Ritter
Milk Chocolate with Cocoa Mousse Filling (bar)
Good - Good +
Weight: 1.16 oz. (33 g.) / 3.5 oz. (100 g.) in total bar
Calories: 190 calories in 3 squares of bar
Cost: $4.99 (estimate) for 1 bar
Purchased from: Santa Venetia Market, San Rafael, CA

Welcome to Day #15 of European Chocolate Vacation Theme Week. Yesterday we were (virtually) in Austria; and we now head northwest into Germany.

Today's Ritter Sport Milk Chocolate with Cocoa Mousse Filling bar was from Alfred Ritter GmbH and Co. KG (Waldenbuch, Germany).

Waldenbuch is a small city in the Stuttgart region of southeastern Germany. I imagined visiting the Museum Ritter--a modern white building with beautiful, colorful stained glass--to look at the exhibits and to enjoy a cup of hot chocolate at the museum cafe.

The aroma notes for today's thick, sweet chocolate bar included: pfeffernusse cookies and chocolate hazelnut butter cookies with chocolate milk. The milk chocolate surrounded a darker chocolate "mousse" filling. 

Ingredients: Sugar, milk, palm fat, cocoa butter, chocolate liquor, cocoa, skim milk, butterfat (milk), hazelnut paste, soy lecithin.

Allergen-related information: May contain traces of peanuts, other tree nuts, wheat and egg.