Luisa Abram - Rio Cassipore 70% (bar) - Nov. 16, 2022

Chocolate of the Day

Luisa Abram
Rio Cassipore 70% (bar)
Good + - Good ++ 
Weight: 1.41 oz. (40 g.) / 2.8 oz. (80 g.) in total bar
Calories: 221 calories in 1 small bar (1/2 package)
Cost: $11.00 for 1 package of 2 small bars
Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order

Welcome to Day #11 of Chocolate and Brazil Theme Week. Happily, this extended week includes bars made with cacao grown in Brazil, and at least three bars made entirely in Brazil.

Today's Luisa Abram Rio Cassipore (Cassipore River) 70% (bar) was made by the Abram family (Familia Abram Banks Ltda., Sao Paolo, Brazil).

The initial (just-opened) aroma of this wild cacao bar held the promise of a relatively bold dark chocolate with hearty (faintly peaty), subtle green and dark chocolate (freshly ground cacao nibs) notes. 

After about 20 minutes, the aroma mellowed so that the dark chocolate notes moved in the direction of baked brownies; and the green and woodsy peat notes quieted as well.

Texture: The melt seemed relatively rapid--transforming to a lush, creamy texture. And there was a faint astringency at the end.

The flavor, once it settled down, was tamer (a bit blander) than the initial (just-opened) aroma. The bitterness level was quite low. After about 20-30 seconds there was a brief, fun chocolate echo/uptick in the finish.

Ingredients: "Wild cocoa mass, organic cane sugar and Amazonian cocoa butter."

Allergen-related information: Gluten free. "Made in a facility that handles milk and nuts."

La Feverie - 100% Fazenda Camboa, Brazil (2020 Harvest) (bar) - Nov. 15, 2022

Chocolate of the Day

La Feverie
Fazenda Camboa 100% Brazil (bar)
Good +
Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) / 2 oz. (56.6 g.) in total bar
Calories: 178 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $13.50 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order

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

Today's 100% Fazenda Camboa Brazil bar was from La Feverie (Bourdeaux, France)

Aroma: faint fermented cacao (this note dissipated after the chocolate had been opened for an hour), dark chocolate, fruit, and (later) tannic acid, woodsy notes.

Flavor notes included: bitter, green (tea), and true chocolate (roasted cacao nibs), faint fruit--and, later, woody nut/bark/peat (tannic acids). 

This somewhat acidic, bitter and astringent ultra-dark bar was bold, but also well balanced and interesting, with a sustained finish and a slight throat tickle at the end. 

Maker's tasting notes: "An intense chocolate, slightly tart, with notes of walnuts/hazelnuts followed by a sensation of mint freshness. Presence of fatty and fleshy tannins on a silky finish."

Ingredients: Organic cacao beans

Allergen-related information: (None listed on label that I could see.)

Baiani Chocolates - Dark Chocolate with Brazilian Coffee 70% (bar) - Nov. 14, 2022

Chocolate of the Day

Baiani Chocolates
Dark Chocolate with Brazilian Coffee 70% (bar)
Good + - Good ++
Weight: 1.02 oz. (29 g.) / 2.04 oz. (58 g.) in total bar
Calories: 155 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $9.50 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order

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

Today's Baiani Dark Chocolate with Brazil Coffee 70% (bar) was produced by Kakawah Agro. Imp. Exp. e Comercio LTDA (Arataca, Bahia, Brazil). 

Made with single origin cacao and Gran Reserva organic specialty coffee (from Latitude 13 Degrees), this well-tempered bar broke with a smooth snap.

Aroma and flavor notes included: dark chocolate, diffuse sweet red berry, faint cherry, light warm spice and roasted coffee. The chocolate and coffee blended well together.

Ingredients: "Single origin cacao beans, organic cane sugar, cocoa butter and specialty coffee."

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

Akesson's - Brazil Fazenda Sempre Firme 100% Forastero Cocoa & Cocoa Nibs (bar) - Nov. 13, 2022

Chocolate of the Day

Akesson's
Brazil Fazenda Sempre Firme 100% Forastero Cocoa and Cocoa Nibs (bar)
Good +
Weight: 1.06 oz. (30 g.) / 2.12 oz. (60 g.) in total bar
Calories: 182.9 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $8.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order

Bem-vindo (welcome) to Day #8 of Chocolate and Brazil Theme Week.

Today's Akesson's Brazil Fazenda Sempre Firme 100% Forastero Cocoa and Cocoa Nibs (bar) was from AO Global (Uccle, Belgium).

Made in France, this 100% cacao chocolate was created from a "parasinho" Forastero variety cacao grown on the Fazenda Sempre Firme (plantation) in Bahia, Brazil. (The Fazenda has been called paradise, or paraiso, thus the cacao name parasinho (little paradise.)

Aroma notes for this unsweetened ultra-dark bar included: dark chocolate, sweet green, dried fruit, and sweet bread notes. 

The thick bar was a textural blend of relatively dark, dense smooth chocolate + crunchy nibs.

The bold, dense dark chocolate (Forastero) flavor was relatively acidic (citrus, acidic/tannic wood) flavor with sustained but balanced dark forest/earth notes. About 20 seconds after the finish receded there was another very faint, diffuse uptick of tobacco. 

This is what I'd refer to as a "monster" dark bar, comparable to very bold, acidic/tannic red yet still high-end wines. A small group of people will enjoy the sheer strength of these flavors, just as a select group might with a monster zin(fandel) wine that used to come out of California a few decades ago. (My dad, a tannic-phile) loved bringing these home from (at that time small) local wineries.)

I love flavor complexity and depth (and do enjoy many 100% cacao bars), but perhaps on a slightly more gentle scale. It's a bold choice using a feisty 100% Forastero for a 100% unsweetened bar. I will enjoy trying it different ways with other foods and beverages.

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

Ingredients: 100% cocoa: cocoa beans, cocoa butter, cocoa nibs (7%)

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

Baiani - Dark Chocolate 100% Bahia Brazil (bar) - Nov. 12, 2022

Chocolate of the Day

Chocolates Baiani 
Dark Chocolate Bahia Vale Potumuju Brazil (bar)
Good ++
Weight: 1.02 oz. (29 g.) / 2.04 oz. (58 g.) in total bar
Calories: 170 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $11.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order 

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

Today's Baiani Dark Chocolate 100% Bahia Vale Potumuju Brazil (bar) was produced by Kakawah Agro. Imp. Exp. e Comercio LTDA (Arataca, BA, Brazil).

The cacao used to make today's bar was grown/produced in Vale Potumuju, Bahia--a state in eastern Brazil--using an agroforestry system where cacao trees grow under/among native hardwood trees, and with other fruit trees.*

Aroma notes for this "tree to bar" chocolate included: subtle roasted cacao, mocha, very faint soft green. The texture was smooth, almost creamy.

Flavor notes included: a balanced earthiness and subtle roasted cacao. The taste was relatively tame at first (for a 100% cacao bar) with slight rise in bitter-acidity toward the finish. About 30 seconds after I thought the finish had ended, there were lingering, mellow green (matcha green tea) and faint floral notes. A pleasant ending.

This ultra-dark, unsweetened, single origin, 100% Brazil chocolate had nicely-balanced complexity. 

Ingredients: Single origin cacao beans. ("No sugar added")

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

*Cacao has grown wild in parts of the Brazilian Amazon rainforest for millennia. Europeans began cultivating cacao in Bahia in the 1700s. Baiani carries on a well established cacao growing tradition in Bahia (of the Pinheiro and Aquino families) that stretches back to the 1800s.

At one time Bahia was the largest cacao producer state in Brazil. And Brazil used to be a top cacao exporting country. Unfortunately, in the late 1900s, a disease ("witches broom" resulting primarily from a fungal pathogen/infection that affects cacao and other crops) resulted in massive reductions in cacao yields in Brazil. 

In the last few decades Brazil has been building back their cacao production. And, arguably, a "cabruca" agroforestry system such as what Baiani Chocolates is using (where attention is paid to diversity and soil health) is not only an ecologically sound choice but likely offers more protection from diseases.

 

Mission Chocolate - Dark Milk, Nibs and Pink Salt 58% (bar) - Nov. 11, 2022

Chocolate of the Day

Mission Chocolate 

Dark Milk Nibs + and Sal Rosa 58% (bar)

Good ++ - Good +++

Weight: 1.05 oz. (30 g.) / 2.1 oz. (60 g.) in total bar

Calories: 168 calories in 1/2 bar

Cost: $10.00 for 1 bar

Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order

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

Today's Dark Nibs Milk and Salt 58% (bar) was from Mission Chocolate (Sao Paulo,  Brazil). Talented chief chocolate maker, Arcelia Gallardo, honed small-batch chocolate making skills in the U.S. before moving to Brazil in 2015. 

The company offers a range of bean-to-bar premium chocolates, including many Brazil cacao single origin bars, and bars with Brazil flavor inclusions (as varied as cupuacu and goiabada (guava) fruits; baru nuts; and sweet corn white chocolate).

Aroma notes for today's Dark Milk, Nibs and Pink Salt 58% chocolate included: subtle dark chocolate, faint spice (star anise) and very faint herb (mint/sage family)

This well-tempered chocolate broke with a snap and had a smooth creamy melt evenly interspersed with a field of crunchy, sweet and salty cocoa nibs.

The well-executed blend of textures and flavors also included notes of caramel, smooth cacao nibs surrounded by flavorful but smooth milk chocolate, and perfectly balanced sparkles of sea salt. 

In the finish there was a faint, diffuse fruit brightness, a very soft, nicely balanced faint flicker of earth, and also a very faint mint/menthol note.

Ingredients: "Organic cacao, organic sugar, cocoa butter, milk powder, himalayan pink salt."

Allergen-related information: Contains milk. "May contain wheat, oats, milk, almonds, hazelnuts, cashew nut, brazil nut, nuts: macadamia, pecan, pistaches, pinoli (pine), and natural latex. May contain gluten."

Nibble Chocolate - 85% Cocoa Organic Extra Dark Chocolate Brazil Single Origin Trinitario (bar) - Nov. 10, 2022

Chocolate of the Day

Nibble Chocolate
85% Cocoa Organic Extra Dark Chocolate Brazil Single Origin Trinitario (bar) 
Good ++ - Good +++ 
Weight: 1.15 oz. (32.5 g.) / 2.3 oz. (65 g.) in total bar
Calories: 200 calories in 1/2 bar (32 tiny squares) (per label)
Cost: $5.39 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Country Sun Natural Foods, Palo Alto, CA

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

Today's Organic 85% Extra Dark Chocolate Brazil Single Origin Trinitario (bar) was from Nibble Chocolate, LLC (San Diego, CA).

Aroma notes for this bar included: smooth dark chocolate, faint floral, dried fruit (banana), faint graham cracker and very faint sweet green.

Flavor notes included: rich, subtlely layered dark chocolate with a mellow, natural sweetness (maple, coconut sugar), and very faint dried fruit (dates, banana).

This was an attractive (I kept wanting to retaste it) and very approachable (85% cocoa) ultra-dark bar. It was low in bitterness, had no off notes, and had a gentle finish. I may buy this again in a chocolate tasting flight or to share this with friends.

This square Nibble bar was scored into smaller squares (64 tiny squares in all)--a design intended to encourage people to  slow down and savor smaller bites of chocolate. Good idea. This pleasing, single origin Trinitario (cacao variety) chocolate was worth enjoying slowly. Handcrafted with just two ingredients; and it had a lot to offer.

Ingredients: Organic cocoa beans, organic unrefined cane sugar 

Allergen-related information: USDA Organic, vegan, paleo, gluten free, soy free