Chocolove - Ruby Chocolate 34% Cocoa (bar) - Jan. 21, 2023

Chocolate of the Day

Chocolove
Ruby Chocolate 34% Cocoa (bar)
Good - Good +
Weight: 1.03 oz. (29 g.) / 3.1 oz. (87 g.) in total bar
Calories: 160 calories (per label) in 1/3 bar
Cost: $4.99 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Michael's, Mountain View, CA

Welcome to Day #9 of Chocolate, Berries and Vanilla Theme Week. (This is the first of two posts for today: one ruby chocolate bar and one dark chocolate raspberry-flavored bar.)

Today's Ruby Chocolate* 34% Cocoa (bar) was from Chocolove (Boulder, CO). 

If I ever am able to assemble enough chocolates for a Chocolate and Poetry Theme Week, I'd have to include bars/confections from Chocolove. Inside every wrapper is printed a poem of some sort. (Today's was the aptly titled: "Ruby" by Thomas Carew.)

Aroma notes for this bar included: faint berry and even fainter vanilla.

This (Milk of Magnesia) pink-colored bar had a relatively thick cocoa butter texture, melt and mouthfeel. (This was eaten in a cool, 66 degrees F. (18.8 degrees C.) room.)

Flavor notes included white chocolate and berry. There was "no berry flavor added" (but it did contain citric acid). The finish notes: berry jam and/or berry (very faintly medicinal) syrup.

Yes, this 34% cacao bar was (as expected) quite sweet; but was reasonably balanced with the tart-sweet berry flavor. The flavor was uniform with relatively low complexity (red berry with vanilla), due primarily to high sugar (and low cocoa solids) content.

For decorative use and fun and/or pink colored confections, I can see where this might be a hit. Also, for those who like white chocolate, berry and vanilla flavors.

Ingredients: Sugar, cocoa butter, milk, cocoa liquor, soy lecithin, citric acid, vanilla. 

Allergy-related information: Contains milk, soy. "Made in a facility that also processes eggs, peanuts, and tree nuts." ("No artificial preservatives; no artificial colors")

*Swiss cocoa processor Barry Callebaut introduced the pink-hued, Ruby Chocolate in 2017.  Skeptics initially questioned whether this new chocolate contained sufficient cocoa solids to warrant the term "chocolate," and wondered if this was closer to white chocolate. The company indicated that certain compounds were extracted from cacao beans grown in Ivory Coast, Ecuador and Brazil to give it its unique rosy shade. 

Daily Harvest - Banana + Cacao Bites - Jan. 20, 2023

Chocolate of the Day

Distributed by Daily Harvest
Banana + Cacao Bites 
Good +
Weight: 2 oz. (56.6 g.) / 7 oz. (198 g.) in total container
Calories: 200 calories in 2 servings
Cost: $1.99 for 1 serving
Purchased from: Grocery Outlet Bargain Market, Palo Alto, CA 

Welcome to Day #8 of Chocolate, Berries and Vanilla Theme Week. 

Today's Banana + Cacao Bites were distributed by Daily Harvest Inc. (New York, NY). These bites were a blend of banana,* cashew, oats, almond, dark chocolate, chaga, and vanilla bean. 

Aroma notes for these frozen snack bites (made with mostly organic ingredients) included: banana, cocoa, light floral (vanilla), and a very faint nutty/savory note.

These frozen treats had the texture of soft, frozen cookie dough. The banana (the number two ingredient) had a nice (very mildly gooey), sweet ripe fruit, softness and acted as a pleasant, natural binder.

The complex blend of flavors (ingredients, see below) including a cocoa flavor mixed with banana and nut flavors were harmonious and each gradually emerged to take at least a small turn--including a brief flicker of mild mushroom (chaga).

I was pleased that these frozen bites easily satisfied a sweet snack craving after only two bites. (Unlike ice cream, which has a more addictive or "moreish" quality.) While not a low carb frozen dessert (date paste is the number one ingredient--although there is no white sugar), nut butter (cashew) and powder (almond) provided enough fat and protein (and added fiber) contributed to the sense of satiation.

Ingredients: Organic date paste; organic bananas; organic cashew butter; organic, gluten-free whole grain oats; organic cassava root flour; almond powder; organic 100% unsweetened dark chocolate; Himalayan sea salt; organic chaga mushroom powder; vanilla bean powder. 

Allergen-related information: Contains tree nuts (almond, cashew). Made in a facility that also processes tree nuts, soy and dairy.

* You may be asking, where are the berries in today's entry? In botanical terms, a "berry" is a fruit with seeds and pulp that develops from the ovary of a flower. Bananas are, using this classification system, considered berries.

Nibble Chocolate - Strawberry Cream Oat Milk Chocolate (bar) - Jan. 19, 2023

Chocolate of the Day

Nibble Chocolate
Strawberry Cream Oat Milk Chocolate (bar) 
Good +
Weight: 1.15 oz. (32.5 g.) 2.3 oz. (65 g.) in total bar
Calories: 180 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $5.99 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Piazza's, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #7 of Chocolate, Berries and Vanilla Theme Week.

Today's Strawberry Oat Milk Chocolate (bar) was from Nibble Chocolate, LLC (San Diego, CA).

Aroma notes for this non-dairy bar included: sweet green, oatmeal/oats, brown sugar, chocolate and faint fruit.

Texture: relatively thick, creamy texture with a slow melt. The oats (oat milk) and berry fruit ingredients were fully incorporated, but there was a slight, fine-grained, "milky" thickness in the mouthfeel.

The diffuse fruit evolved into a brighter, sweet red fruit, to clear strawberry, and back again over the tasting experience, adding some very subtly layered flavor interest.

Ingredients: Organic nibble chocolate (organic cocoa beans, organic cane sugar, organic cocoa butter, organic oats, organic strawberries, organic vanilla, sea salt.

Allergen-related information: "Processed in shared equipment with products containing nuts." "Vegan, Paleo, Gluten Free, Soy Free"

Touched by Nature - Cashew Dips, Milk Chocolate Strawberry - Jan. 18, 2023

Chocolate of the Day

Touched by Nature
Cashew Dips - Milk Chocolate Strawberry
(Distributed by Thrive Brands LLC)
Good + - Good ++
Weight: 4 oz. (113 g.) in total package
Calories: 678 calories in 1 package (per label)
Cost: $1.49 (marked down) for 1 package
Purchased from: Ross Stores

Welcome to Day #6 of Chocolate, Berries and Vanilla Theme Week.

Today's Cashew Dips were made in Slovenia and distributed by Thrive Brands LLC (Chicago, IL). 

Aroma notes for this chocolate covered cashews included: sweet baked goods (doughnut), very faint potato, chocolate and red berry fruit (candy). 

These roasted nuts had a soft crunch with natural milk chocolate and strawberry flavors as promised. Surprisingly, these were not too sweet--largely due to their construction, and the goal to have "less chocolate, more cashews."

After a thin coating in milk chocolate these cashews were rolled in freeze-dried strawberry powder providing a layer of sweet-bright, concentrated strawberry flavor. Both coating layers were light enough that they didn't overwhelm the cashew nuts. The end result was an authentic-tasting, somewhat addictive snack.

Ingredients: "Cashews, milk chocolate [sugar, cocoa butter, milk powder, cocoa liquor, lecithin (from soy), vanilla extract], freeze dry strawberry powder."

Allergen-related information: "Contains, cashews, soy. May contain traces of peanuts, other tree nuts or gluten." 

Coracao - Superberry Bars - Acai, Pomegranate & Raspberry 81% Dark Choc. - Jan. 17, 2023

Chocolate of the Day

Coracao Chocolate 

Superberry Bars - 81% Dark Chocolate

Good ++

Weight: 2 oz. (56 g.) in total 

Calories: 240 calories in 2 small bars

Cost: $8.25 for package of 2 small bars

Purchased from: Missing information

Welcome to Day #5 of Chocolate, Berries and Vanilla Theme Week.

Today's Coracao Chocolate Superberry Bars covered in 81% dark chocolate were created in Oakland, CA. Coracao produces a variety of "healthy, more nourishing" confections, bars and drinking chocolates.

Aroma and flavor notes included: dark chocolate (deep dark, high percentage cacao, faint tart green herb (oxalis, wood sorrel), brown sugar and warm spice (faint smoky vanilla), and faint fruit (berries).

Inside a smooth 81% ultra dark chocolate coating was a generously jammy fruit center captured the sweet depths of rain forest berries (acai berries), tempered with some bright pomegranate and naturally sweet-tartness of raspberry.

Loved that this confection was not made with ultra-sweet chocolate. (These bars were sweetened with coconut sugar and stevia.) Less sugar meant being able to enjoy bold, balanced and complementary dark chocolate and berry flavors. The bars had authentic flavor depth and complexity. 

Ingredients: Organic cacao, organic coconut sugar, organic coconut butter, organic acai, organic pomegranate, organic raspberry, organic lime, Himalayan salt, organic vanilla bean and organic stevia.

Allergen-related information: "Contains coconut. Made in a factory processing other tree nuts." 

Standout Chocolate - Nordic Nature Black Currant 63% (bar) - Jan. 16, 2023

Chocolate of the Day

Standout Chocolate
Nordic Nature Black Currant 63% (bar)
Good ++
Weight: .88 oz. (25 g.) / 1.76 oz. (50 g.) in total bar
Calories: 146 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $10.25 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order

Welcome to Day #4 of Chocolate, Berries and Vanilla Theme Week.

Today's Nordic Nature Black Currant 63% cacao (bar) was made in a small town (Kallered) in Sweden. Standout Chocolate maker, Fredrik Martinsson, crafts chocolate from bean to bar, and offers single origin bars, as well as a tasty line of Nordic-influenced flavors, including today's bar.  

Aroma notes for this chocolate included: chocolate (dark cocoa), berry jam (ripe black currants, mixed berries), very slight fermentation (freshly baked bread) and very faintly warm, smoky spice (imagined vanilla).

This 63% cacao chocolate yielded skillfully layered flavors: dark chocolate (relatively bold but smooth, possibly faint fruit, and fleeting, balanced earth) integrated with ripe dark berry (bright, dark-sweet currant, ripe blackberry). 

The blending of chocolate and berry flavors was perfect. It was almost seamless, yet this chocolate still had the benefits of a layered chocolate (vibrant, distinguishable flavors).

Today's black currant bar had appealing complexity and excellent balance. It was full of authentic fruit flavor; and it was neither too tart nor too sweet. (Too much sugar can mask flavors, and is sometimes an issue with chocolates that are less than 70% cacao--and higher in sugar). 

Note for dark fans: This bar tasted closer to a 70% cacao than a 63% cacao chocolate). 

As already mentioned, this was a particularly nice capture of the black currant (Ribes nigrum) fruit. If it weren't for an occasional, beloved blackcurrant pastille (candy) from a metal tin in childhood, I would have entirely missed out on tasting this fruit in the U.S.*

Ingredients: Organic cacao beans, organic cane sugar, organic cacao butter, organic blackcurrant. 

Allergen-related information: May contain traces of milk.

*Due to a possible (disease) threat to certain pine trees (potential timber industry damage/losses), cultivation of blackcurrants was banned in 1911 in the U.S. And during this period of restrictions, most people in the U.S. missed out on tasting these fresh black berries.

Happily blackcurrants (aka black currants) are now grown commercially, in cooler, wetter areas most like Scandinavia in climate--i.e., the Pacific NE and NW. I look forward to trying this fruit one day.

Zotter - Wild Berries with Vanilla (filled bar) - Jan. 15, 2023

Zotter
Wild Berries with Vanilla (filled) bar
Good +
Weight: 1.23 oz. (35 g.) / 2.47 oz. (70 g.) in total bar
Calories: 170 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $4.99 (sale) for 1 bar
Purchased from: zotter.com, online order

Welcome to Day #3 of Chocolate, Berries and Vanilla Theme Week.

Today's Wild Berries with Vanilla (filled) bar was made in Austria and distributed by Zotter Chocolates US LLC (Fort Myers, FL).

The company offers a wide variety of filled bar (with a range of layered flavors) as well as bean-to-bar, single origin bars (their "Labooko" line), using organic, fair trade ingredients.

Aroma notes for today's sweet, winter warmer filled bar included: sweet red berry (red currant, strawberry) jam, vanilla and chocolate.

A thin chocolate coating enveloped two (fruit and vanilla) soft, internal layers. 

Relatively thin, layered, flavors like this can have an advantage over chocolates where distinct flavors everything thoroughly blended. Each complementary berry fruit flavor was able shine.

The overall flavor was rich in berry jam notes (strawberry, red raspberry and tart currant, and faint blueberry). Rich cocoa (dark milk chocolate) and warm vanilla notes made me feel like I was eating a sweet, complexly sophisticated dessert. 

Speaking of dessert, yes, this bar was very sweet. (Organic, fair traded sugar was the number one ingredient; and it also contained honey and glucose syrup.) A few confection-sized bites made for a fun treat. 

I plan to share the rest of this attractively layered bar with a few people and/or cut it up and display the pieces on a dessert/fruit plate.

Ingredients: Organic, fair traded cane sugar; organic, fair traded cocoa butter; organic, fair traded cocoa mass; dry whole milk; milk; dry skim milk; honey; organic glucose syrup; organic strawberries; organic blue berries; organic dried raspberries; organic almonds; organic cranberry concentrate; organic redcurrant concentrate; organic dried strawberries; organic dried blackcurrants; organic dried blueberries; dry sweet whey; organic dark brown cane sugar; organic soy lecithin; organic vanilla bean powder; salt; organic lemon powder (organic lemon juice concentrate, organic corn starch, organic sugar); organic cinnamon; organic rose petals; (78% organic)

Allergen-related information: "Contains milk, almonds, soy. Manufactured on equipment that processes other tree nuts, peanuts, eggs and sesame."