Maya - 65% Dark Chocolate with Raspberry (bar) & Castronovo - White Chocolate Lemon Sea Salt (bar) - Feb. 14, 2024

Chocolate(s) of the Day 

Maya Chocolates
Raspberry - 65% Dark Chocolate with Raspberry (bar)
Good ++ 
Weight: 1.1 oz. (31.2 g.) / 2.2 oz. (62.4 g.) in total bar
Calories: 171 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $4.79 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Country Sun Natural Foods, Palo Alto, CA

Castronovo Chocolate
White Chocolate Lemon and Lemon Salt (bar)
Good +++
Weight: 1.1 oz. (31 g.) / 2.2 oz. (62 g.) in total bar
Calories: 95 calories in 1/4 bar
Cost: $12.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Castronovo Chocolate, online order

Happy Valentines Day and welcome to Day #1 of Chocolate and Salt Theme Week. 

Today's two chocolate bars sampled together were the perfect blend for hearts and chocolate day -- a yin and yang blend of dark chocolate and red fruit + white chocolate yellow citrus and sea salt sunshine. 

Maya Chocolates - Raspberry 65% Dark (bar)

Aroma notes included: citrus (sweet, tart lime), red raspberry and dark chocolate.

Texture: smooth dark chocolate and bits of berry pulp and crunchy raspberry seeds.

Flavor notes included: chocolate-y (rich fudge brownie) and authentic red raspberry.

Ingredients: "Unsweetened Chocolate, Cane Sugar, Cocoa Butter, Soy Lecithin, Freeze Dried Raspberries"

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

Castronovo - White Chocolate Lemon, Lemon Salt (bar) 

Aroma notes included: authentic, refreshing whole lemon (rind and fruit) and sweetness.

Smooth, creamy white chocolate (with fully incorporated/infused lemon and just the right touch of lemon sea salt) made for a very well-balanced, flavorful and enjoyable white chocolate. 

Castronovo chocolate maker, Denise Castronovo, cited memories of "Nanny's lemon meringue pie", light lemon desserts and Italian cookies (with lemon zest and icing) as her inspirations for this lovely bar.

Note: While I don't "count" white chocolate as a daily chocolate, I do feature ones I really like (that aren't too sweet), paired with a dark or milk chocolate on the same day.

Ingredients: "cocoa butter*, cane sugar*, whole milk*, lemon, lemon sea salt (*organic ingredients)"

Allergen-related information: "Contains milk. Made in a nut-free facility that uses wheat."

Castronovo Chocolate - Sacha Inchi Bark - Feb. 13, 2024

Chocolate of the Day

Castronovo Chocolate
Sacha Inchi Bark
Good ++ 
Weight: 3 oz. (85 g.) / 4 oz. (113 g.) in total bar
Calories: 455 calories (estimate) in 3 oz. (85 g.) serving
Cost: $12.00 for 1 package
Purchased from: Castronovo Chocolate, online order

Welcome to Day #15 of Chocolate and Peru Theme Week.

Today's dark chocolate covered Sacha Inchi Bark was from Castronovo Chocolate (Stuart, FL). 

Thank you to chocolate maker Denise Castronovo, who is currently offering bars and confections made with cacaos from at least three different growing locations in Peru. She has also been developing chocolate offerings with today's indigenous Amazonian flavor inclusion--sacha inchi--to help introduce these tasty South American seeds to U.S. consumers.

Aroma notes included: roasted nuts/seeds (similar to roasted pumpkin seeds + roasted peanuts); faint dark chocolate.

These thick mini slabs of flavorful dark chocolate bark were chock full of whole, roasted sacha inchi* seeds. The seeds contributed a "roasty", nutty flavor and texture that complemented the dark chocolate nicely.

Flavor notes included: rich dark chocolate with faint tropical fruit (citrus, cacao fruit, berry) notes, and roasted sacha inchi seeds (similar to a blend of roasted large squash/pumpkin seeds + peanuts). 

Note: this bark may no longer be available; but chocolate-covered sacha inchi were on the website. I look forward to trying other sacha inchi and chocolate blends from Castronovo in the future.

Ingredients: "dark chocolate (cocoa beans, organic cane sugar, cocoa butter), Sacha inchi (roasted)"

Allergen-related information: Made in a nut-free facility.

*Sachi Inchi (Plukenetia volubilis) seeds come from six-pointed star-shaped seed pods (that look a bit like tiny green pumpkins--hanging off vines) in the Amazon rainforests of Peru and Northern Brazil. (Sacha Inchi are also found in Colombia, Venezuela, Bolivia and Ecuador.) These seeds are also known as Inca peanuts, Peruvian peanuts, jungle peanuts and mountain peanuts. 

  

Castronovo Chocolate - Valle de Los Rios, Peru Dark Milk 60% Cacao (bar) - Feb. 12, 2024

Chocolate of the Day

Castronovo Chocolate
Valle de Los Rios, Peru Dark Milk 60% Cacao (bar)
Good ++ 
Weight: 1.1 oz. (31 g.) / 2.2 oz. (62 g.) in total bar
Calories: 160 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $11.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Castronovo Chocolate, online order

Welcome to Day #14 of Chocolate and Peru Theme Week.

Today's Signature Collection, Valle de Los Rios, Peru Dark Milk 60% Cacao (Batch #1211) (bar) was from Castronovo Chocolate (Stuart, FL). 

Happily this week, I've been able to sample chocolates made with cacaos from a variety of Peruvian regions. Thank you to Chocolate maker Denise Castronovo, who is currently offering bars and confections (see Sacha Inchi bark in tomorrow's post) made with cacaos from at least three different growing locations.

Aroma notes included: chocolate with soft floral, fruit and caramel.

This 60% bar broke with a well-tempered hard snap, and had a uniform, smooth, relatively creamy texture.

Flavor notes included: sweet, smooth dark milk chocolate with very faint floral, fruit and caramel and almost undetectable sweet cereal milk. Light, sweet finish.

Maker's tasting notes: "...my most feminine and delicate flavor profile milk chocolate....(with a) soft floral character, delicate fruit of melon, and (a) hint of clove spice."

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

Allergen-related information: Contains milk. Made in a nut-free facility.

 

Castronovo Chocolate - Salitral, Peru 70% Desert Criollo Cacao (bar) - Feb. 11, 2024

Chocolate of the Day

Castronovo Chocolate
Salitral Peru 70% Desert Criollo Cacao (bar)
Good +++
Weight: 1.1 oz. (31 g.) / 2.2 oz. (62 g.) in total bar
Calories: 180 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $14.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Castronovo Chocolate, online order

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

Today's Signature Collection, Salitral, Peru 70% Desert Criollo Cacao (Batch #1349) (bar) was from Castronovo Chocolate (Stuart, FL). 

Chocolate maker Denise Castronovo used "...a mix of native criollo cacao from the northern coastal desert region of Piura--where the Amazon meets the desert coast..." to make this bar. She was intrigued to read the words "desert" and "native criollo cacao" together. (Me too!) I've always imagined the more "delicate" native criollo cacaos growing under the shade of taller trees in temperate rainforests.* 

Aroma notes included: dark chocolate (drinking chocolate, cocoa); very faint soft, sweet green botanical (light floral and spice); and faint, diffuse fruit (green fig, berry) and nut (almond).

This 70% bar broke with a well-tempered hard snap, and had a uniform, smooth, almost creamy, pleasing texture.

Flavor notes included: smooth dark chocolate with a very pleasing flush of bright, complex fruit (citrus, cacao fruit, berry) and very faint nut notes. It also had a pleasant finish.

Maker's tasting notes: "This chocolate boasts bright citrus and tropical fruit flavors up front that transition into delicate nutty and spice flavors at its finish..."

Ingredients: cocoa beans*, cane sugar*, cocoa butter* (*organic ingredients)

Allergen-related information: Made in a nut-free facility that uses milk and wheat.

*Deserts are associated with a limited tree (canopy) cover. However, like grapes, coffee or other fruit crops from the Equatorial belt, certain varieties of cacao trees/fruit are better-suited for areas with direct sun (vs. growing under a canopy) than others. Coastal desert areas also provide more humidity (e.g. coastal fog) than inland deserts. (I have seen, e.g. introduced cacao trees growing in Hawaii with no tree cover, but they're also growing very close to the Pacific ocean, and at a higher (cooler) latitude.)

Castronovo Chocolate - Awajun Women, Peru 70% Rainforest Cacao (bar) - Feb. 10, 2024

Chocolate of the Day

Castronovo Chocolate
Awajun Women, Peru 70% Rainforest Cacao (bar)
Good ++
Weight: 1.1 oz. (31 g.) / 2.2 oz. (62 g.) in total bar
Calories: 180 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $14.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Castronovo Chocolate, online order

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

Today's Awajun Women, Peru 70% Rainforest Cacao (Batch #1351) (bar) was from Castronovo Chocolate (Stuart, FL). 

Castronovo Chocolate maker Denise Castronovo sourced Peruvian cacao beans to make this bar from a cacao cooperative of indigenous women from the Awajun and Huambisa communities in the Amazon rainforest.

Aroma notes included: dark chocolate (warm cocoa, drinking chocolate)

This 70% bar broke with a well-tempered snap, and had a uniform, smooth, almost creamy, pleasing texture.

Flavor notes included: smooth dark chocolate, with very faint floral/perfume/cardboard and barely detectable fruit (dried fruit (very subtle date), caramelized fruit) and nut (almond) notes. Pleasant, sweet finish with very light caramel.

Maker's tasting notes: "...laced with natural sweet flavors of almond, vanilla and caramel." 

Ingredients: cocoa beans*, cane sugar*, cocoa butter* (*organic ingredients)

Allergen-related information: Made in a nut-free facility that uses milk and wheat.

U. Chocolate Corp. - "Wild Experience" 85% Organic Tree-to-Bar Dark (bar) - Feb. 9, 2024

Chocolate of the Day

U. Chocolate Corp.
"Wild Experience" 85% Organic Tree-to-Bar Dark (bar)
Good ++ - Good +++

Weight: 1.06 oz. (30 g.) / 15.8 oz. (450 g.) total variety pack of 5 flavors (10 bars)
Calories: 165 calories in 2/3 bar

Cost: $29.99 for 1 variety pack of 10 bars (2 each of 5 flavors)
Purchased from: U Chocolate, online order

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

Today's "Wild Experience" 85% Organic, Premium Tree-to-Bar, Dark Chocolate (bar) from U. Chocolate Corp. (Orlando, FL) was made in Peru. It was one of five different bars (all featured this week) in a larger chocolate variety pack.

The company crafted these attractively packaged bars at their "...organic farm in the Amazonia with a selection of our fine aroma cocoa varieties..." The chocolate was "Grown, Harvested and Crafted with 100% plant-based ingredients by El Mejor Cacao del Mundo S.A.C. in our all-in-one facilities at Hacienda Umbelina, in the Peruvian Amazonia.")

Aroma notes included: dark chocolate (bold, bittersweet ultra-dark chocolate torte topped with a wafer cookie) with very faint green botanical (almost green fig or green banana, but not quite); and well-managed, very diffuse fruit (red berry, nectarine). 

Texture: well-tempered (broke with a snap) with a thick, creamy smooth texture.

Flavor notes included: well-managed ultra-dark chocolate with very faint botanical, faint diffuse fruit (nectarine, cacao fruit pulp), faint ultra-dark cookie; almost undetectable spice (ginger); faint, fleeting earth (loam) and yogurt. And, at the very end of the finish there was a tiny blip of muted fruit (strawberry-mango). 

This was an enjoyable and thoughtfully managed ride. For some, any 85% dark craft chocolate may be wildly adventurous. For dark chocolate lovers, I found this well-managed Peruvian cacao bar more complex and interesting than many 85% dark bars.

What I liked about this "Wild Experience" dark chocolate: 1.) well-balanced, ultra-dark (85%) cacao complexity, from start to finish; 2.) part of a variety pack with unique (and rare) Peruvian single region cacao flavors--five bars, that could be tasted and compared side by side); and 3.) organic, gluten-free, single origin chocolate made with just two, high-quality ingredients.

Ingredients: "Cacao and coconut blossom sugar."

Allergen-related information: "Made Without Major Food Allergen Ingredients" 

    

U. Chocolate Corp. - " Intense Experience" 78% Organic Tree-to-Bar Dark (bar) - Feb. 8, 2024

Chocolate of the Day

U. Chocolate Corp.
"Intense Experience" 78% Organic Tree-to-Bar (bar)
Good ++ 
Weight: 1.58 oz. (45 g.) / 15.8 oz. (450 g.) total variety pack of 5 flavors (10 bars)

Calories: 163 calories in 1 bar

Cost: $29.99 for 1 variety pack of 10 bars (2 each of 5 flavors)
Purchased from: U Chocolate, online order

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

Today's "Intense Experience" 78% Organic, Premium Tree-to-Bar, Dark Chocolate (bar) was made in Peru and distributed by U. Chocolate Corp. (Orlando, FL). It was part of a larger chocolate variety pack--one of five Peruvian (Amazonia) cacao U. Chocolate bars featured this week.

The bars were made that the company's "...organic farm in the Amazonia with a selection of our fine aroma cocoa varieties..." ("Grown, Harvested and Crafted with 100% plant-based ingredients by El Mejor Cacao del Mundo S.A.C. in our all-in-one facilities at Hacienda Umbelina, in the Peruvian Amazonia.")

Aroma notes included: subtle dark chocolate with faint, fleeting sweet green and cookie notes.

I half expected this "Intense Experience" bar to be a real fire breather from start to finish. It wasn't. But this was made with some very special, nuanced cacao from Peru. So what would it taste like?

The initial texture was creamy smooth, and the taste started with true dark chocolate-y notes...

What happened next reminded me of a rare tropical bird that appears in the sunlight for us to admire. It was that kind of experience. The flavors didn't bloom, they gently but powerfully unfolded; and then slowly disappeared back into the jungle.

Flavor notes included: dark chocolate (initial light, sweet green, shifting to more bold, with well-mannered, balanced bitter, earth and yogurt, as well as diffuse, softly undulating/blooming fruit (red berry, very faint almost-cherry, fine red wine). And at the very end of a relatively long finish: a little tropical fruit (mango).

What I liked about this chocolate: 1.) the balanced cacao complexity from the beginning to the last note in the finish; 2.) it was part of a variety pack with an authentic and interesting range of single origin cacao flavors from Peru--that allowed me to experience unique Amazonia cacao; and 3.) this organic, gluten-free chocolate offered a sophisticated, nuanced tasting experience with just two ingredients.

Ingredients: "Cacao and coconut blossom sugar."

Allergen-related information: "Made Without Major Food Allergen Ingredients" 

*The packaging for U. Chocolate's Amazonia variety pack (of 5 different bars) was beautiful. Images included tropical birds and rainforest foliage. I love beautiful birds, forests and great chocolate. When a tasting experience can conjure up all three for me, all the better.