Black Mountain Chocolate - Big Winston Ginger with Chilis on Goat Milk Chocolate (bar) - Feb. 22, 2022

Chocolate of the Day

Black Mountain Chocolate

Big Winston Ginger with Chilis on Goat Milk Chocolate (bar)

Good +++

Weight: 1.6 oz. (45.25 g.) / 3.2 oz. (90.5 g.) in total bar

Calories: 263 calories in 1/2 bar

Cost: $14.00 for 1 bar (+ $12.55 for shipping)

Purchased from: Black Mountain Chocolate, online order

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

Today's "Big Winston"* Chocolate Bar--Crystallized Ginger with Bold and Spicy Chilis on Goat Milk Chocolate--was created by the team at Black Mountain Chocolate (Winston-Salem, NC).

This large bar had an inviting, rich milk chocolate aroma with faint warm spice notes.

The well-executed bar broke with a snap this cool February morning, and yielded a lush blend of creamy milk chocolate with tiny bits of plump, softly chewy crystallized ginger.

The luxe flavor blend was divine, with spiced toffee, caramel and ginger notes and a judicious chili after-glow (spicy uptick that did not overwhelm). The goat milk seemed to add an extra creamy caramel dimension to this milk chocolate spice bar, and a silken embrace around the potentially brasher chili and spice flavors.

I enjoyed this flavorful, rich milk chocolate made with well-balanced, high-quality ingredients. This chocolate was easy to appreciate and fun to taste, without too much sugar or chili fire. Perfect winter warmer; this bar would be great to share with others anytime. Warning: mildly addictive.

Maker's tasting notes: "...The warmth of crystallized ginger and chilies on this bar is cooled by our goat milk chocolate..." 

Ingredients: Dark chocolate (Organic cocoa beans, organic cane sugar, whole powdered goat milk (goat milk, Vitamin D3, folic acid), organic cocoa butter, organic non-GMO sunflower lecithin), crystallized ginger (organic ginger, organic sugar), crushed cayenne peppers, ancho chili powder. 

Allergen-related information: (None found on label.) (Contained goat milk.)

*Black Mountain Chocolate notes: "The Big Winston name is a nod to the historic tobacco warehouse that now houses our Chocolate Factory." As of this post (2/22/22), today's ginger and chilies bar was one of four goat milk-based Big Winston bars that were offered on the company's website.

Qantu - Silk Road Dark chocolate and spices (bar) - Feb. 21, 2022

Chocolate of the Day

Qantu Cacao et Chocolat
Route de la Soie - 70% Chocolat noir et epices
(Silk Road - Dark chocolate and spices (bar))
Good ++
Weight: .88 oz. (25 g.) / 1.76 oz. (50 g.) in total bar
Calories: 143 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $11.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order

Welcome to Day #13 of Chocolate and Peru and  Day #1 of Chocolate and Spices Theme Week.

Today's Silk Road 70% Dark Chocolate and spices (bar) was from Qantu Cacao et Chocolat Inc. (Montreal, QC, Canada). Qantu founders Elfi and Maxime create bean-to-bar chocolates, with an emphasis on direct trade, heirloom cacao(s) from Peru.*

This spice blend dark chocolate bar had a deliciously complex and upbeat aroma, that shifted from saffron, to gentle star anise, to fleeting floral (rose), to sweet cardamom, to gingerbread (ginger and clove), to very faint fennel over the course of a few minutes.

This well executed bar broke with a hard snap in the cool morning air. 

The spices led my brain to think I'd be biting into a sweet spice cookie or a sweeter, dark milk chocolate. However, the first bite of the 70% dark chocolate immediately grounded my taste buds, in the relatively bold, faintly earthy, cacao flavor. 

The shimmering constellation of spices and tiny pink rose petals--pressed into an ebony sky (on the back of the bar)--continued to impart flavor(s) and flickered into the finish, but the deep, dark chocolate dominated. (The pepper(s) in the spice blend added subtle depth, but they were barely-detectable accent flavors in a distant galaxy.)

The ("Amazonian jungle") cacao used to make this Silk Road chocolate seemed fairly intense (more Forastero-like with balanced bitterness, light earth and citrus notes). However, the buoyant perfume and complex alchemy of the spice blend with flower petals and pepper(s) could have, by contrast, made the 70% dark chocolate base seem/taste darker than it really was. It was hard to tell.

Either way, I really enjoyed the authentic, aromatic spice and rose blend. This magic carpet bar was transporting and satisfying. 

If you have some of this chocolate left over (doubtful), you might use it to make a tiny cup of drinking chocolate--gently heated and blended with 4-5 oz. (120 mL) of milk (half and half, or coconut milk, or hazelnut milk perhaps). A great Valentines pick-me-up or warm-up tonic for winter blahs this month (February.)

Ingredients: Cocoa beans, cane sugar, cocoa butter, spices (Rose, ginger, cassia, cardamom, white pepper, fennel, star anise, long pepper, Sichuan pepper, saffron, clove)

Allergen-related information: "May contain traces of milk and nuts"

*The duo met in Peru. Their company name, Qantu, also has Peruvian roots. Derived from a native Quechua term, this South American flower (the national flower of Peru and Bolivia) is also a symbol of unity and hospitality. 

Seahorse Chocolate - Dark Milk 60% Ucayali River (bar) - Feb. 20, 2022

Chocolate of the Day

Seahorse Chocolate

Dark Milk 60% Ucayali River (bar)
Good +
Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) / 2 oz. (57 g.) in total bar
Calories: 160 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $13 for 1 bar ($39 for 3 bars, included shipping)
Purchased from: Good Food Awards Marketplace, part of larger online order

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

Today's Dark Milk 60% Ucayali (Peru) bar was from/crafted by Seahorse Chocolate (Bend, OR). 

Seahorse chocolate makers have "decades" of coffee roasting experience (helpful when determining optimal roast profiles for the different cacao bean origins they work with as well). They hand pour their chocolate bars in their small chocolate factory in Oregon.

Aroma notes for this bar included: dark chocolate, very faint fleeting earth, coconut, and very faint ripe citrus (candied orange) and toffee nut brittle.

Flavor notes included fudge-y dark chocolate, toffee nut brittle, citrus fruit (ripe, sweet orange) and light coconut/coconut milk. The chocolate had a relatively long finish, with some of the above notes tapering off; and an earthy dark chocolate note that lingered a bit longer toward the end.

This was a flavorful 60% dark "milk" (coconut milk) bar with bold dark chocolate flavors and managed complexity. It was a bit sweet for my taste, but the coconut milk and sugar likely added balance to what may have been overly intense citrus (orange, orange peel) and earthy cacao notes.

Maker's tasting notes: "Fudge, candied orange peel"

Ingredients: Cocoa beans, organic sugar, coconut milk, cocoa butter

Allergen-related information: "Vegan, Gluten-free"

LetterPress Chocolate - Private Reserve Ucayali 70% Dark Chocolate (bar) - Feb. 19, 2022

Chocolate of the Day

LetterPress Chocolate LLC
Private Reserve Ucayali 70% Dark Chocolate (bar)
Good + - Good ++
Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) / 2 oz. (57 g.) in total bar
Calories: 160 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $18.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order 

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

Today's Private Reserve Ucayali 70% Dark Chocolate (bar) was made from bean-to-bar by LetterPress Chocolate LLC (Los Angeles, CA).

Aroma notes included: very faint diffuse green lemon herb (oxalis), rich cocoa with a warm, sweet spice blend, very faint diffuse fruit (red apple).

This dark bar broke with a snap and had a smooth, almost buttery texture. 

Flavor notes included: true, rich chocolate (brownie, dark chocolate cake); fleeting muffled earth; very faint diffuse fruit (red apple, watermelon); and a very, very faint echo of aged, sweet whiskey and tobacco.

LetterPress worked with cacao expert Daniel O'Doherty and used Ucayali River Cacao (Peru) to make today's 70% bar. The pattern on the bar's packaging "was inspired by the textiles of the indigenous Shipibo-Conibo peoples of Ucayali." (The 1,600 km-long Ucayali River begins near Cusco in southern Peru eventually joins the Maranon River to form the beginning of the great Amazon River.)

Maker's tasting notes: "Caramel, mocha, cedar"

Ingredients: Cacao beans, organic unrefined cane sugar, organic cocoa butter

Allergen-related information: "Produced in a facility that also processes nuts and dairy."

Qantu - Bagua, 70% - Amazonas, Peru (bar) - Feb. 18, 2022

Chocolate of the Day

Qantu

Bagua, 70% - Amazonas, Peru (bar)

Good ++ - Good +++

Weight: .88 oz. (25 g.) / 1.76 oz. (50 g.) in total bar

Calories: 143 calories in 1/2 bar

Cost: $10.00 for 1 bar

Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order

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

Today's Bagua, 70% Amazonas, Peru dark chocolate (bar) was from Qantu Cacao et Chocolat Inc. (Montreal, QC, Canada).

Aroma notes for this dark chocolate bar included: warm diffuse chocolate, cream and faint caramel (there was no milk in this three-ingredient bar), fruit, spice, nuts and very faint lemon blossom.

Flavor notes were similar albeit a bit richer with true chocolate (dark chocolate torte), gentle fruit (faint red fruit, ripe melon, ripe blackberry, and a very brief flicker of sweet watermelon candy), diffuse warm spice, and nut brittle. A barely detectable, balanced earth note in the background (behind the cream/butter notes) helped ground this naturally sweet, softly complex chocolate.

The well-executed 70% dark bar broke with a hard snap (in a 65 degree F (cool) room) and had a smooth, satisfying melt and texture. This polite, sophisticated dark chocolate--made with (what tasted like fine heritage Criollo-like) Peruvian Bagua, Amazonas* cacao--was enjoyable to taste and easy to like from aroma to clean finish. Do savor this bar slowly to appreciate the subtle aroma and flavor(s).

Maker's tasting notes: "caramel/toffee and orange blossom"

Ingredients: Cocoa beans, cane sugar, cocoa butter

Allergen-related information: "May contain traces of milk and nuts"

*Bagua is a province in the Peruvian Amazon/Amazonas region. The word "Bagua" comes from the native Quechua language and the translation (into English that I found online) was close to "unity and hospitality." The Bagua cacao used to make this bar from this has been described as having Criollo-like qualities. I agree with this description. The gentle cream, fruit and other notes in this Qantu Bagua bar were very much what I would associate with the best of Criollo cacao varieties (and chocolates).

Qantu - Chuncho, 70% - Ayachucho, Peru (bar) - Feb.17, 2022

Chocolate of the Day

Qantu

Chuncho, 70% - Ayachucho, Peru (bar)

Good +

Weight: .88 oz. (25 g.) / 1.76 oz. (50 g.) in total bar

Calories: 143 calories in 1/2 bar

Cost: $10.00 for 1 bar

Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order

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

Today's Chuncho 70% - Ayachucho, Peru cacao dark chocolate (bar) was from Qantu Cacao et Chocolat Inc. (Montreal, QC, Canada). 

Chuncho cacao(s) are associated with the Cusco area of Peru, but may include hybrids and different varieties of complex, rich cacao. (Ayacucho is a city (between Lima and Cusco) in south central Peru on the slopes of the Andean Cordillera (mountain range(s)).)

Aroma notes for this bar included: floral and light maple graham cracker/cookie.

This dark chocolate had a smooth, fudge-y texture with an initial thick creamy melt, ending with a very slight astringency.

The complex flavor notes included: rich dark, chocolate; floral; diffuse red fruit (berry); loamy, slightly bitter earth; honey; and faint nut notes. At least 15 seconds into the finish there was also a unique, very faint fleeting pepper spice cookie (light honey mustard, floral pepper) and (after a subsequent re-tasting) almond cherry notes in the finish.

The chocolates maker(s) must have debated how long to roast the Peruvian cacao used to make this unique, complex 70% chocolate. A lighter roast profile helps preserve more delicate/volatile floral notes. And a longer roast/processing time can mellow out sharper, sometimes less desirable notes.

It's relatively rare for a dark bar to have both light floral and honey cookie notes coexisting with bolder (faintly bitter/loamy earth) notes. 

Choosing roast and grind/conch/refine times would have been like hitting two targets with one arrow. This is conjecture on my part, but a blended roast may have been considered for this reason, to preserve/maintain a range of flavors like those in today's chocolate.

Maker's tasting notes: "floral and nuts"

Ingredients: Cocoa beans, cane sugar, cocoa butter

Allergen-related information: "May contain traces of milk and nuts"

Qantu - Don Maximo's Quest 80% Dark Chocolate (bar) - Feb. 16, 2022

Chocolate of the Day

Qantu

La Quete de Don Maximo (Don Maximo's Quest) (bar)

Good +

Weight: .88 oz. (25 g.) / 1.76 oz. (50 g.) in total bar

Calories: 135 calories in 1/2 bar

Cost: $10.00 for 1 bar

Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order

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

Today's Qantu La Quete de Don Maximo (Don Maximo's Quest) 80% cacao dark chocolate (bar) was from Qantu Cacao et Chocolat Inc. (Montreal, QC, Canada).

The cacao used to make this bar was (if I read the story correctly) grown, fermented and dried by a farmer named Don Maximo on a 6-hectare plot of sloping forest in Cusco, Peru. The cacao was then transported to the Qantu workshop for respectful and mindful transformation into chocolate.

Coincidentally, I went on a quest/adventure with friend named "Don" to the Pacific coast today that included culinary sampling (and enjoying this bar).

Aroma notes for today's bar included green herb (oxalis, sorrel with tart lemon/acidic note), faint diffuse fruit (berry, currant) floral perfume and very light citrus notes. 

The texture was fudge-y, smooth and creamy. The flavor was full of ultra-dark "true" chocolate (chocolate fudge, pudding and torte) notes, that were joined by a much fainter, fleeting umami note blend (leather saddle, savory/salt, woodsy).

The notes for this ultra-dark 80% bar were bold (but well balanced); and the chocolate had a moderate level of acidity without being too strong or intimidating.

Maker's tasting notes: Eye: dark brown; Nose: palo santo, touch of pepper; Mouth: almond, cedar, pecan; Finish: moderate fruitiness like blackcurrant (cassis).

Ingredients: Cocoa beans, cane sugar, cocoa butter

Allergen-related information: "May contain traces of milk and nuts"