A. Morin - Pure Origine Noir 100% Equateur Esmeralda (bar) - Dec. 19, 2023

Chocolate of the Day

A. Morin  
Pure Origine Noir 100% Equateur Esmeralda (bar) 
Good ++ - Good +++
Weight: .586 oz. (16.6 g.) / 3.52 oz. (100 g.) in total bar
Calories: 106 calories in 1/6 bar
Cost: $12.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order 

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

Today's A. Morin Pure Origine 100% Ecuador Esmeraldas (bar) was from SAS Chocolaterie A. Morin (Donzere, France). The company has been passed from father to son for generations (dating back to 1884).

Esmeraldas is a coastal province in northwestern Ecuador, where the Esmeraldas River joins the Pacific Ocean. Home to Ecuador's main seaport, Esmeraldas is also known for its white sand beaches and tropical climate.

Aroma notes included: dark chocolate ice cream, drinking chocolate, earthy fudge brownie.

Texture: This chocolate had a smooth, even melt and thick creamy mouthfeel.

Flavor notes included: Smooth but hearty bouquet of pure chocolate flavors followed by balanced bitter, and relatively subtle sour (for 100% cacao) notes. The finish was long and satisfying with a return to smooth dark chocolate ice cream, creamy dark chocolate mousse, and faint dark chocolate malted milk notes. (Note: there were no dairy or malt ingredients.)

The lack of sugar in any 100% cacao bar (with no added sugar) might be too much for those with a sweet tooth. I found this 85% bar flavorful, delicious and satisfying. After slowly savoring 4 squares (1/6 of this bar) I was in chocolate heaven. This French chocolate definitely belongs in a 100% tasting flight.

Ingredients: Cocoa beans from Ecuador* (Organic)

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

Pinwheel Chocolate - 56% Classic Milk Chocolate Camino Verde, Ecuador (bar) - Dec. 18, 2023

Chocolate of the Day

Pinwheel Chocolate 
56% Classic Milk Chocolate Camino Verde, Ecuador (bar)
Good ++
Weight: 1.06 oz. (30 g.) / 2.1 oz. (60 g.) in total bar
Calories: 165 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $12.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Pinwheel Chocolate, online order 

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

Today's 56% Classic Milk Chocolate Camino Verde, Ecuador (bar) was handcrafted from bean to bar by Pinwheel Chocolate LLC (Eagle Mountain, UT).

Aroma notes included: rich, yummy dark milk chocolate and caramel. The cacao used to make this chocolate was from Camino Verde, a privately owned cacao fermentary in Duran (near Guayaquil) in southwestern Ecuador.*

Texture: creamy texture, melt and mouthfeel.

Flavor notes included: pure, smooth dark milk chocolate (chocolate-y, hot chocolate/drinking chocolate with cream), melded with chocolate cream caramel.

Dark milk chocolate lovers will really enjoy this bar. It's also a great winter, comfort food and treat.

Maker's tasting notes: "We've blended rich, brownie-flavored cacao with pure organic whole milk for a taste that reminds you of your favorite childhood chocolate, but with no weird ingredients...What we taste: hot chocolate, whipped cream, childhood :)"

Ingredients: "Cacao beans*, cane sugar*, cocoa butter*, whole milk* (* organic ingredients)"

Allergen-related information: "Made on shared equipment that processes nuts and dairy"

*Camino Verde (literal translation: the "green road") cacao is known for fudge, almond and floral notes.

J. Street Chocolate - Camino Verde, Ecuador 72% (bar) - Dec. 17, 2023

Chocolate of the Day

J. Street Chocolate
Camino Verde, Ecuador 72% (bar)
Good + - Good ++
Weight: .88 oz. (25 g.) / 1.76 oz. (50 g.) in total bar
Calories: 136 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $10.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: J. Street Chocolate, online order

Welcome to Day #4 of Chocolate and Ecuador Theme Week.

Today's single origin, bean-to-bar Camino Verde, Ecuador 72% chocolate was made by J. Street Chocolate (San Francisco, CA).

Aroma notes included: subtle dark sweet chocolate with faint earthy notes.

Texture: well-tempered, this bar broke with a hard snap in a cool room; and it had a uniform texture and melt.

Flavor notes included: relatively bold, earthy chocolate (loam, buttermilk), with light, balanced sour and bitter earth notes. 

Maker's tasting notes: "Notes of rich cocoa, brioche bread, and elderflower"

Ingredients: "cacao nibs from Camino Verde in Ecuador*, cane sugar*, less than 1% cocoa butter*" (* = Organic)

Allergen-related information: organic ingredients; no other notes listed. (Made in a home kitchen.)

Monsoon Chocolate - Esmeraldas Ecuador 75% Dark Chocolate (bar) - Dec. 16, 2023

Chocolate of the Day

Moonsoon Chocolate
Esmeraldas Ecuador 75% Dark Chocolate (bar) 
Good ++ 
Weight: 1.465 oz. (41.5 g.) / 2.93 oz. (83 g.) in total bar 
Calories: 227 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $10.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order

Welcome to Day #3 of Chocolate and Ecuador Theme Week.

Today's Esmeraldas Ecuador 75% Cocoa Dark Chocolate (Batch No. 17) (bar) was distributed by Monsoon Chocolate, LLC (Tucson, AZ).

Aroma notes for this bar included: dark chocolate, faint fruit (green fig, green apple), and spice (light saffron, floral).

Texture: This bar broke with a hard snap in a cool room, and had a smooth, uniform texture.

Flavor notes included: dark chocolate (brownie), faint, diffuse dried fruit, and very faint brown sugar. In the finish: chocolate with very faint, fleeting rice, light wood (oak), (cereal grass) stalks, light citrus (orange + floral/vanilla). 

This chocolate was relatively low in bitterness and acidity, and had a gentle complexity. I recommend eating this bar slowly to catch some of the faint, almost ghost-like flavors (all friendly, nothing scary) that may turn up.

Naturally sweet. Great choice to go with a slightly higher cacao percentage (75% vs. 70%). It seems 70% might have been a bit too sweet.

Ingredients: Cocoa Beans, Unrefined Cane Sugar*, Cocoa Butter* (* Certified Organic)

Allergen-related information: "Made in a facility that handles tree nuts, wheat, milk, eggs and peanuts. May not be suitable for people with allergens to these foods." 

Stone Grindz Chocolate - Ancient Ecuador 85% (bar) - Dec 15, 2023

Chocolate of the Day

Stone Grindz Chocolate
Ancient Ecuador 85% (bar)

Good ++

Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) / 2 oz. (57 g.) in total bar
Calories: 155 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $9.00 for 1 bar

Purchased from: Stone Grindz, online order

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

Today's Ancient Ecuador 85% (bar) was made from bean to bar by Stone Grindz Chocolate (Scottsdale, AZ).

This award-winning chocolate was crafted using cacao from Hacienda Victoria (Cerecita, Ecuador). The cacao beans are "ancient heirloom varietal dating back thousands of years, making this bean very rare."

Aroma notes for this ultra-dark chocolate included: deep, dark chocolate and very subtle, smooth earth (very faint loam) and mineral (very faint chalk).

This well-tempered bar broke with a hard snap in a cool room. The texture was uniform and smooth with a very faint astringency. Stone Grindz chocolate makers selected a "light roast and a heavy conche to give it clarity of flavor unmatched at this percentage." (More gentle roasting can preserve more volatile flavor elements present in complex, heritage cacaos; and longer conche time can create a pleasant creamy texture.)

Flavor notes included: dark fudge brownie; earth (light loam); very faint (barely there) dried fruit (black fig, pomegranate) and cinnamon toast; and roasted nut/seed/malt. Not too sweet, tart or bitter, this 85% ultra-dark bar will interest dark chocolate enthusiasts. 

Eat slowly to enjoy some of the more fleeting flavor notes and to enjoy the unexpected creaminess (dark chocolate buttermilk ice cream) toward the finish, that became more obvious after the first (i.e. subsequent) bite.

Maker's Tasting Notes: "Chocolate Ice Cream, Roasted Peanut"

Ingredients: (Ecuadorian) Cacao*, Cacao Butter*, Cane Sugar* (* = Organically Farmed)

Allergen-related information:  "Soy Free, Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Vegan"

Pump Street Chocolate - Maple Pecan 55% Milk Chocolate (bar) - Dec. 14, 2023

Chocolate of the Day

Pump Street Chocolate
Maple Pecan 55% Milk Chocolate (bar)
Good ++
Weight: 1.23 oz. (35 g.) / 2.47 oz. (70 g.) in total bar
Calories: 199.5 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $10.50 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa (online order)

Welcome to Day #1 of Chocolate and Ecuador Theme Week.

Today's Maple Pecan (bar) was made from bean-to-bar by Pump Street Limited (Suffolk, England). The company also produces baked goods. And, today's bar contained flakes of their pie crust.*

The cacao used to make this chocolate was from Hacienda Victoria, a single-estate farm in Guayas, near the Pacific Coast of Ecuador.

Aroma notes included: chocolate, fruit (cherry pie), pie crust, nuts (pecans), maple syrup and very faint fig.

Flavor notes were similar to the aroma notes above, with a bit more emphasis on the smooth dark milk chocolate. The cacao's subtle, natural stone fruit notes (cherry, peach) in combination with Pump Street's authentic buttery pie crust taste made me think of fruit pie. 

This 55% bar was relatively sweet. The flavors were interesting and well balanced and seemed perfect for a cool December day, with hints of pie and maple nut.

Ingredients: Cocoa beans, cane sugar, caramelised maple pecans (17.4%) (pecans (nuts), pure maple sugar, demerara sugar), cocoa butter, skimmed milk powder, pastry (7.4%) (wheat flour with added calcium, iron, niacin and thiamine, unsalted butter (milk), eggs, icing sugar, salt). Milk chocolate contains minimum cocoa solids (55%). 

Allergen-related information: Contains tree nut(s) (pecans), milk, wheat, eggs. May contain nuts and sesame seeds.

*The crust tasted great, but contained wheat; i.e. it was not gluten free. So I was unable to taste more than one bite. 

Dr. Bronner's - Magic Creamy Mocha Latte Oat Milk Chocolate - Dec. 13, 2023

Chocolate of the Day

Dr. Bronner's
Magic Creamy Mocha Latte Oat Milk Chocolate 45% Cocoa (bar) 
Good ++ - Good +++
Weight: 1.465 oz. (41.5 g.) / 2.93 oz. (83 g.) in total bar
Calories: 234.4 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $N/A - free sample ($5.99 for 1 bar); available online
Purchased from: N/A - Sample received from Dr. Bronner's

Today's Magic Creamy Mocha Latte Oat Milk Chocolate 45% Cocoa (bar) was distributed by Dr. Bronner's (Vista, CA). This was the third of three new oat milk bars featured on Chocolate Banquet this week.

The company's first line of Magic dark chocolate bars were created in 2021. Today's mocha latte oat milk chocolate was the third of three new oat milk chocolate 45% bars from Dr. Bronner's featured this week on Chocolate Banquet.

This Organic, Fair for Life Fair Trade, Vegan Certified, and gluten free Creamy Mocha Latte Oat Milk Chocolate carried the company's message (from company founder Dr. Emanuel Bronner), "We Are All-One." A timeless reminder for us all.

The growing selection of alternative "milk" chocolate bars have become available in the past five years. It's a challenge to produce a chocolate that has the attributes of dairy milk/cream. However, Dr. Bronner's three new bars show that tasty non-dairy (and vegan) chocolates have finally arrived.

Aroma notes for this bar included: freshly roasted coffee, chocolate, and creamy mocha beverages with a trace of vanilla and nut (almond, hazelnut).

The texture and flavors were hearty but very smooth.

Flavor notes included: rich dark, smooth chocolate, coffee and mocha nut latte (made with hazelnut and almond "milks") with a hint of warm vanilla.

This 45% cacao coconut sugar sweetened chocolate was sweet. (Sugar is the #1 ingredient, and this may give you that "moreish" urge to eat more than an ultra-dark chocolate.) Fortunately, the coconut sugar seemed to slow down the sugar buzz.*

What I loved about all three Dr. Bronner's new oat milk bars: 1.) seductive aromas and authentic flavor(s); 2.) organic, fair trade and thoughtfully cultivated (regenerative) ingredients; 3.) the choice of coconut sugar vs. cane sugar; 4.) well-executed texture and flavor layering; and 5.) no obvious oat milk taste. (They could pass for dark (dairy) milk chocolate.) 

These bars come close to the chocolate "holy grail"-- offerings that both milk and dark chocolate lovers might enjoy. These 45% cacao chocolates tasted more like dark chocolate than most lower cacao percentage bars. And the flavors didn't get lost in the sugar. (Thank you!)

Ingredients: Fair Trade Organic Coconut Sugar,* Fair Trade Organic Cocoa Butter,* Fair Trade Organic Cocoa Beans,* Organic Whole Oat Flour,  Organic Sunflower Oil, Organic Hazelnuts, Fair Trade Organic Coffee, Organic Sunflower Lecithin, Organic Almonds, Fair Trade Organic Bourbon Vanilla Bean (* = Regenerative Organic Certified)

Allergen-related information: Contains nuts (hazelnuts, almonds), coconut (sugar). "Made on equipment that also processes almonds, hazelnuts, coconut and soy." 

* Coconut sugar is a bit lower on the glycemic scale than more processed/white sugar(s), i.e. is less likely to spike blood sugar as much.