Onomea Chocolate - Salted Macadamia Nut (bar) - Jan. 1, 2024

Chocolate of the Day

Onomea Chocolate
Salted Macadamia Nut (bar)
Good ++
Weight: .93 oz. (26.5 g.) / 1.86 oz. (53 g.) in total bar
Calories: 160 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $ N/A - gift  
Purchased from: N/A - gift (Thank you Susan!)

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

Today's Onomea Chocolate Salted Macadamia Nut (bar) was made by Lonohana Estate Chocolate (Honolulu, HI). 

Aroma notes included: chocolate with very light fruit fermentation notes (at least when the sealed package was initially opened) and faint salted nuts (macadamia).

Flavor notes included: smooth yet flavorful, relatively sweet dark chocolate (low in bitterness) with very faint/subtle and well-balanced fermented fruit (cacao pulp, tropical fruit (light citrus, pineapple, mango)) notes. These faint, authentic fruit notes paired well with the sea salted macadamia nut pieces. 

It was great to kick-off the New Year (2024)--and a Hawaiian Chocolate Theme Week--with a chocolate that has a great Island origin story. The cacao, sea salt and mac nuts: all grown in Hawaii. 

Thank you to Lonohana founder, chocolate maker and farmer, Seneca Klassen, for continuing to create and share great Hawaiian cacao with chocolate lovers everywhere. Onomea is a relatively new(er) chocolate brand/partnership. (Loved the fun island flavors and graphic designs on these bars.)

Ingredients: "Organic cane sugar, Hawaiian cacao, organic cocoa butter, organic Hawaiian macadamia nuts, Hawaiian sea salt"

Allergen-related information: Contains nuts (macadamia). "Produced in a peanut-free environment on equipment that also processes milk and tree nuts."

Seattle Chocolate - Creme Brulee Crackle white and dark chocolate truffle bar - Dec. 31, 2023

Chocolate of the Day

Seattle Chocolate
Creme Brulee Crackle white and dark chocolate truffle bar
Good ++
Weight: 1.25 oz. (35 g.) / 2.5 oz. (70 g.) in total bar
Calories: 190 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $N/A - gift from family member
Purchased from: N/A - gift from Megan (thank you!)

Happy New Year's Eve, and welcome to Day # 9 of Chocolate Truffle Bars Week.

Today's Creme Brulee Crackle white and dark chocolate truffle bar was from Seattle Chocolate Company (Seattle, WA). The company offers a wide variety of chocolates, including many truffle bars. One of the Seattle-based company's taglines: "May chocolate be your umbrella." 

Aroma notes included: smooth dark chocolate and very faint caramel.

This was a pretty winter warmer, with a smooth dark chocolate outer layer, and a white chocolate filling studded with crunchy little flecks of toffee. Had this been a milk chocolate bar, I wouldn't have enjoyed it as much. (It would've been too sweet for me.) But the dark chocolate balanced the sweeter white chocolate and toffee (creme brulee-like) interior layer quite nicely.

Flavor notes included: smooth dark chocolate, creamy white chocolate and tiny accents of buttery toffee.

Ingredients: white chocolate (cane sugar, cocoa butter*, milk, soy lecithin, natural vanilla), dark chocolate (cocoa mass*, cane sugar, cocoa butter*, organic soy lecithin, natural vanilla), non-hydrogenated coconut oil, chocolate chips (cocoa mass, cane sugar, cocoa butter, natural vanilla), toffee (cane sugar, butter, rice syrup, cocoa mass, cocoa butter, salt, soy lecithin, natural flavor), sea salt, vanilla bean powder. (*Rainforest Alliance Certified. Find out more at ra.org)

Allergen-related information: Contains milk, soy, and coconut. This product is manufactured in a plant that processes milk, soy, peanuts, tree nuts, egg, and wheat products. 

Lake Champlain - Sea Salt Caramel Truffle Bars - Dec. 30, 2023

Chocolate of the Day

Lake Champlain Chocolates
Sea Salt Caramel Plant-based Truffle Bars
Good + - Good ++
Weight: 1.2 oz. (34 g.) in total package of 2 bars
Calories: 170 calories in 1 package of 2 bars
Cost: $3.00 for 1 package of 2 bars
Purchased from: Lake Champlain, online order

Welcome to Day #8 of Chocolate Truffle Bars Week.

Today's Sea Salt Caramel Plant-Based Truffle Bars were from Lake Champlain Chocolates (Burlington, VT). 

The chocolate in these truffle bars was made with oat milk and 43% cocoa.

Aroma notes included: butterscotch, very faint grains (oat, rice), chocolate, and light salt caramel.

Texture: A soft, caramel center was surrounded by sweet, "milk"(-like) chocolate.

Flavor notes included: sweet "milk" chocolate, and sweet, relatively light butterscotch and caramel flavored filling. This 43% cocoa bar was relatively sweet. (Sometimes sea salt can help balance out sugar. The sea salt in this Sea Salt Caramel bar was very faint.) 

Those looking for non-dairy, vegan and/or gluten-free (sweeter) chocolates will appreciate this bar--and the other flavors in this relatively new line of 43% cocoa oat milk bars (made with gluten-free oat powder)--from Lake Champlain Chocolates. The company is also committed to not using palm oil or other fillers in their alternative-milk chocolates. 

Ingredients: "Chocolate (Sugar, Cocoa Butter, Dried Gluten-Free Oat Powder, Chocolate Liquor, Dried Rice Powder, Sunflower Lecithin, and Vanilla Extract), *Coconut Cream (*Coconut and Water), *Rice Syrup, *Sugar, Sea Salt, and *Natural Flavor." (* = Organic)

Allergen-related information: Contains Tree Nuts (Coconut). May Contain Traces of Milk, Other Tree Nuts, Peanuts, Soybean, and Wheat. 

Lake Champlain Chocolates - Cinnamon Plant-based oat milk truffle bar - Dec. 29, 2023

Chocolate of the Day

Lake Champlain Chocolates
Cinnamon - Plant-based oat milk truffle bar
Good + - Good ++
Weight: 1.2 oz. (34 g.) in total package of 2 bars
Calories: 170 calories in 1 package of 2 bars
Cost: $3.00 for 1 package of 2 bars
Purchased from: Lake Champlain, online order

Welcome to Day #7 of Chocolate Truffle Bars Week.

Today's Cinnamon Plant-based oat milk truffle bar was from Lake Champlain Chocolates (Burlington, VT). This plant-based chocolate was made with oat milk and 43% cocoa.

Aroma notes included: chocolate, oats (oat milk, oat straw) and cinnamon.

Texture: the softer, truffle ganache-style filling was surrounded by a firmer chocolate shell. 

Flavor notes included: sweet milk-like chocolate, grain/grass (oat, very faint rice), spices (mostly cinnamon) and very faint vanilla.

This sweet chocolate evoked an image of a childhood breakfast of sweet hot chocolate with sweetened, cinnamon oatmeal. It was a bit too sweet for me, but it might be great for those with a sweet tooth. 

Ingredients: "Chocolate (Sugar, Cocoa Butter, Dried Gluten-Free Oat Powder, Chocolate Liquor, Dried Rice Powder, Sunflower Lecithin, and Vanilla Extract), *Coconut Cream (*Coconut and Water), *Rice Syrup, *Cinnamon, *Vanilla Extract, Sea Salt, *Nutmeg, and *Natural Flavor."

Allergen-related information: Contains Tree Nuts (Coconut). May Contain Traces of Milk, Other Tree Nuts, Peanuts, Soybean, and Wheat. (No palm oil.)

Bonus Entry - Homemade Bean to Confection Chocolate - Dec. 2023

Chocolate of the Month

Tropical Fruit Box
The Chocolatier's Apprentice Box
Ecuador Homemade Bean to Bar Chocolate
Good ++
Weight: .7 oz. (19.8 g.) (estimate) for 2 chocolates
Calories: 108.5 calories (estimate) in 2 chocolates
Cost: N/A - Christmas gift from family - 1 complete kit/box with 6 large cacao pods
Purchased from: Tropical Fruit Box, online order (Thank you Megan!)

Welcome to a chocolate bonus entry that spanned most of December 2023. How is that possible?

Today's weeks-long chocolate experience was made possible by the Chocolatier's Apprentice Box available from Tropical Fruit Box (Miami, FL). There were opportunities to sample cacao fruit, cacao beans and nibs, and finished chocolate over a period of almost three weeks.

The boxed kit included: six, generously sized cocoa pods (grown in Ecuador); great directions for the step-by-step chocolate making process; and a small silicon mold for chocolates. (Note: some pods may arrive slightly riper than others.)

The first part of this edible experience came after the unboxing, and cutting open real cacao pods (from Ecuador). Few people in the U.S. have seen cacao trees or fruit, outside of Hawaii or perhaps South Florida.*

I loved tasting the cream-colored cacao fruit pulp inside these pods that covered the core of cacao seeds (beans) used to make chocolate. The ripe fruit had luscious peach and melon flavors. 

The next steps: fermenting, roasting (which filled the kitchen with a delightful chocolate aroma) and cracking/winnowing. 

The next tasting opportunity involved sampling the roasted nibs. And, finally, days later, cocoa butter was blended with ground seeds (beans), and pouring chocolate into molds to firm up into the final chocolates. These confections were enjoyed over this past (Christmas) week. 

This Apprentice Box provided a great learning experience. Experiencing how much work goes into making chocolate from bean-to-bar may increase your appreciation for chocolate makers (who make chocolate from scratch) as well as the chocolates.

Ingredients: Cocoa Pods + other ingredients along the way.

*Hawaii is the U.S. State with the largest commercial cacao plantations/farms. South Florida, slightly north of the ideal equatorial cacao growing belt (20 degrees (Latitude) north and/or south of the Equator) occasionally experiences cold snaps, as well as tropical storms, perhaps limiting reliable production. The Hawaiian Islands range from 19 - 22 degrees from the Equator. (Miami is located at approximately 25.6 degrees North of the Equator.)

Gnosis Chocolate - Everything Will Be Ok! raw, vegan botanical truffle bar - Dec. 28, 2023

Chocolate of the Day

Gnosis Chocolate 
Everything Will Be Ok! raw vegan infused botanical truffle bar
Good ++
Weight: 1.5 oz. (42 g.) /3 oz. (84 g.) in total bar
Calories: 232.5 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $17.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Gnosis Chocolate, online order 

Welcome to Day #6 of Chocolate Truffle Bars Week.

Today's "Everything Will Be Ok!" raw vegan infused botanical truffle bar was created by Vanessa Berg (aka Chocolate Girl) at Gnosis Chocolate (NYC, NY). Vanessa is a passionate certified health practitioner.

Aroma notes included: smooth dark chocolate; very faint, diffuse fruits and light herbs; very faint coconut; and, oddly, a breath of fresh air in a pine forest. 

Texture: a solid, raw* dark chocolate shell gave way to a soft, fudge-y, truffle-style filling.

Flavor notes included: very smooth dark chocolate, faint, fleeting dried fruit (fig, date), sweet herb, nut (walnut), and diffuse, very subtle fresh fruit (red apple, berry), sweet root, and light earth. The flavors were smooth, well-balanced and harmonized with a slightly undulating complexity.

I really enjoyed the gentle, yet rich and transporting, flavors in this truffle-style filled bar.

Ingredients: "raw cacao beans, raw blue agave nectar, virgin coconut oil, coconut sugar, Lung Blend (elecampane, grindelia, horehound, lobelia, mullein, osha, pine bark, pleurisy, yerba santa), Immunity Blend (burdock, cat's claw, echinacea purpea (sic), echinacea angustifolia, elderberry, ginger, pau d'arco, shilajit), Medicinal Mushroom Blend (chaga, cordyceps, reishi), Adaptogenic Herbs (ashwagandha, rhodiola, schizandra) Calming Herbs (passionflower, tulsi, valerian), Vitamin C Blend (camu camu berry, rose hips), chlorella, spirulina, Love."

Allergen-related information: (None listed on packaging.) "Free of Dairy, Soy, Gluten, GMO, Refined Sugar"

*The cacao used to make this chocolate was not heated above 118 degrees (F) to "maintain integrity of flavor and nutrition." Well-executed raw chocolate tends to be a little smoother than cacao processed at higher temperatures. I've found high-quality raw chocolates to be less bitter, with fewer "roasted" notes. (Think: very light roast coffee vs. intense espresso roast.)

Trader Joe's Organic Milk Chocolate Truffle Bar - Dec. 27, 2023

Chocolate of the Day

Trader Joe's 
Organic Milk Chocolate Truffle Bar 
Good +
Weight: 1.17 oz. (33.3 g.) / 3.51 oz. (100 g.) in total bar
Calories: 190 calories in 1/3 bar
Cost: $1.99 total bar
Purchased from: Trader Joe's, Mountain View, CA

Welcome to Day #5 of Chocolate Truffle Bars Week.

Today's Chocolate Truffle Bar from Trader Joe's (Monrovia, CA).

Aroma notes included: sweet fudge, milk chocolate

The texture was rich (solid and ganache-like), and smooth.

Milk and sweet dark Chocolate-y flavor notes included: smooth, sweet milk chocolate-y (sweet, rich hot chocolate with milk, chocolate fudge candy, milk chocolate ganache).

Ingredients: Organic Milk Chocolate (Organic Cane Sugar, Organic Cocoa Butter, Organic Milk Powder, Organic Cocoa Mass), Organic Dark Chocolate (Organic Cocoa Mass, Organic Cane Sugar, Organic Cocoa Butter), Organic Vegetable Oil (Organic Hi-Oleic Sunflower Oil and/or Organic Canola, and/or Organic Safflower Oil).

Allergen-related information: May Contain Milk, Soy, Wheat, Peanut, Almond, Cashew, Coconut, Hazelnut, Pecan.