Whittaker's - Sea Salt And Caramel Brittle in 33% Milk Chocolate - March 24, 2024

Chocolate of the Day

Whittaker's 
Marlborough Sea Salt and Caramel Brittle In Milk Chocolate 
Good + - Good ++
Weight: .37 oz. (10.5 g.) in 1 bar
Calories: 57.5 calories (estimate) in 1 square
Cost: $ N/A - gift
Purchased from: N/A - gift (Thank you Penny!)

Welcome to Day #5 of Chocolate and New Zealand Series.

Today's Marlborough Sea Salt and Caramel Brittle in 33% Milk Chocolate square was from Whittaker and Sons LTD (Porirua, New Zealand).

This chocolate was part of the NZ Artisan Collection that highlighted flavor inclusions from different parts of New Zealand. Marlborough (on the northern end of the South Island, and one of 16 different regions/districts in New Zealand) produces wine grapes, sea salt, dairy, honey, and other products.

Aroma flavor notes included: sweet chocolate, vanilla and caramel.

Texture: smooth, creamy milk chocolate with crunchy micro bits of brittle.

Flavor notes included: rich, sweet 33% milk chocolate with vanilla; tiny bursts of crispy, toffee-like, brittle; and a subtle hint of sea salt.

Ingredients: Milk Chocolate [Sugar, Cocoa Solids 33%* (Pure Cocoa Butter & Cocoa Mass), NZ Milk Powder 30%*, Emulsifier (Soy Lecithin), Vanilla Flavour], Salted Caramel Pieces 10% [Sugar, Glucose, Salt, Clarified Butter (From Milk), Water, Emulsifier (Soy Lecithin), Natural Flavour, Natural Color (150A)]. *Minimum Percentage.

Allergen-related information: Contains milk, soy. May Be Present: Peanuts, Tree Nuts, Gluten.

Whittaker's - Sea Salt and Caramel Brittle with Saffron in Dark Chocolate - March 23, 2024

Chocolate of the Day

Whittaker's
Marlborough Sea Salt and Caramel Brittle with Saffron in Dark Chocolate
Good ++
Weight: .37 oz. (10.5 g.) in 1 bar
Calories: 57.5 calories (estimate) in 1 square
Cost: $N/A - gift
Purchased from: N/A - gift (Thank you Penny!)

Welcome to Day #4 of Chocolate and New Zealand Series.

Today's Marlborough 62% Dark Chocolate bar was from Whittaker and Sons LTD (Porirua, New Zealand).

Aroma flavor notes included: chocolate (ganache), caramel/toffee, and faint floral spice (vanilla, very faint saffron/botanical/marigold), and barely detectable earth.

Flavor notes included: creamy, sweet dark chocolate filled with tiny, crunchy, sugar-sparkly bits of caramel/toffee. There was also a faint chorus of floral (vanilla), backed up by a few barely detectable upticks of: sweet citrus (orange), sea salt, balanced earth and buttery floral spice (which I'm assuming was saffron) in the finish. 

I enjoyed the well-executed complexity of aromas and flavors that harmonized well together.

Ingredients: Dark Chocolate [Cocoa Solids 62%* (Cocoa Mass & Pure Cocoa Butter), Sugar, Emulsifier (Soy Lecithin), Vanilla Flavour]; Saffron Salted Caramel Pieces 12% [Sugar, Glucose, Saffron Infused Salt, Clarified Butter (From Milk), Water, Natural Colour (160A), Emulsifier (Soy Lecithin), Flavour]. (*Minimum Percentage.)

Allergen-related information: Contains milk, soy. "May Be Present: Peanuts, Tree Nuts, Gluten." 

Whittaker's - Wellington Roasted Supreme Coffee - Mar. 22, 2024

Chocolate of the Day

Whittaker's
Roasted Supreme Coffee in Dark Chocolate
Good +
Weight: .37 oz. (10.5 g.) in 1 bar
Calories: 57.5 calories (estimate) in 1 individually-wrapped square
Cost: $N/A gift
Purchased from: N/A - gift (Thank you Penny!)

Welcome to Day #3 of Chocolate and New Zealand Series.

Today's individually-wrapped square: Roasted Supreme Coffee in 50% Dark Chocolate was from Whittaker and Sons LTD (Porirua, New Zealand).

This dark chocolate was part of the company's New Zealand Artisan Collection, making good use of local ingredients. Today's flavor included roasted coffee from Wellington.

Aroma flavor notes included: sweet dark chocolate, coffee and very faint vanilla.

Texture: smooth texture and melt melt. (No detectable coffee grounds.)

Flavor notes included: smooth dark chocolate, coffee, and baked goods (chocolate and vanilla cake).

Ingredients: Dark Chocolate [Cocoa Solids 50%* (Cocoa Mass & Pure Cocoa Butter), Sugar, Emulsifier (Soy Lecithin), Vanilla Flavour]; Supreme Coffee 8%; Pure Cocoa Butter. *Minimum Percentage.

Allergen-related information: "May Be Present: Milk, Peanuts, Tree Nuts, Gluten." 

Whittaker's - Hawke's Bay Plum and Roasted Almonds in Dark Chocolate - March 21, 2024

Chocolate of the Day

Whittaker's
Hawke's Bay Plum and Roasted Almonds in Dark Chocolate
Good ++
Weight: .37 oz. (10.5 g.) in 1 bar
Calories: 57.5 calories (estimate) in 1 individually-wrapped square 
Cost: $N/A gift 
Purchased from: N/A - gift (Thank you Penny!)

Welcome to Day #2 of Chocolate and New Zealand Series.

Today's individually-wrapped square: Hawke's Bay Black Doris Plum and Roasted Almonds In 50% Dark Chocolate was from Whittaker and Sons LTD (Porirua, New Zealand).

This dark chocolate--part of the company's NZ Artisan Collection--was made with Black Doris Plum(s) from Hawke's Bay* (one of 16 regions of New Zealand, located on country's North Island), and roasted almonds.

Aroma flavor notes included: sweet dark chocolate (dark ganache; chocolate and vanilla cake); fruit (red grape, ripe plum); and vanilla flavoring.

Texture: smooth dark chocolate with flecks of crunchy roasted almond and barely detectable fruit particles (easier to identify by flavor than by texture).

Flavor notes included: dark chocolate (with a touch of vanilla) with uniformly dispersed sweet refreshing red fruit (red grape, sweet plum and berry jam) and tiny hits of roasted nut (almond flecks).

Ingredients: Dark Chocolate [Cocoa Solids 50%* (Cocoa Mass & Pure Cocoa Butter), Sugar, Emulsifier (Soy Lecithin), Natural Flavour, Vanilla Flavour]; Roasted Almonds 5%; Freeze Dried Plum Pieces 1.5%. *Minimum Percentage.

Allergen-related information:  Contains: Almonds, Soy. "May Be Present: Milk, Peanuts, Other Tree Nuts, Gluten."

*Hawke's Bay is known for apples, stone fruits (including peaches, plums, apricots and nectarines), wine grapes--and almonds. This region is sometimes referred to as "The Fruit Bowl of New Zealand".

Hogarth Chocolate Makers - Gianduia Dark Hazelnut (bar) - Mar. 20, 2024

Chocolate of the Day

Hogarth Chocolate Makers
Gianduia Dark Hazelnut (bar)
Good ++
Weight: 1.23 oz. (35 g.) / 2.47 oz. (70 g.) in total bar
Calories: 206.62 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $11.50 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order

Welcome to Day #12 of Chocolate and Hazelnuts Theme Week, and Day #1 of Chocolate and New Zealand Series.

Today's Gianduia Dark Hazelnut 45% Cacao (bar)--made with New Zealand hazelnuts--was from Hogarth Chocolate Makers (Nelson, New Zealand). 

Founded by Karl (a former fisherman and sailor) and Marina Hogarth, the eponymous small-batch, bean-to-bar company offers a wide range of bean-to-bar chocolate bars with interesting and thoughtful flavor inclusions, and some single origin bars.

This "Kiwi style Gianduia" chocolate was made with toasted and ground New Zealand hazelnuts.

Aroma notes included: mild dark milk* chocolate with peach green tea and very faint nut and butter.

Texture: soft, smooth and relatively creamy/buttery. 

Flavor notes: lightly roasted, fragrant dark chocolate with green tea, stone fruit (peach, very faint sweet red berry jam), nut butter, very faint green tea and dairy milk.* 

The ground hazelnuts (30% of bar) had become one with the chocolate, creating an almost seamless fusion between relatively mild and nuanced cacao (think Criollo variety) and hazelnut chocolate (gianduia) flavors. The 45% cacao chocolate was also low in bitterness and acidity.

Ingredients: Cocoa Solids 45% (Cocoa Beans, Cocoa Butter**), Cane Sugar*, Hazelnuts (30%).

Allergen-related information: Contains Nuts. May Contain Traces of Milk. 

*Aroma or flavor notes do not necessarily track with actual ingredients. For example in this case, there are no milk ingredients, but there were like dairy-like/buttermilk-like notes.

Dude, Sweet Chocolate - "Crack in a Box" Chocolate Bark - Mar. 19, 2024

Chocolate of the Day

Dude, Sweet Chocolate
Crack in a Box Chocolate Bark
Good ++ - Good +++
Weight: 2.75 oz. (78 g.) / 5.5 oz. (156 g.) in total box
Calories: 426 calories (estimate) in 1/2 box/serving
Cost: $14.75 for 1 box
Purchased from: Dude, Sweet Chocolate (online order)

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

Today's Crack in a Box Chocolate Bark was from Dude, Sweet Chocolate (Dallas, TX). Thank you to Chef Katherine Clapner for producing so many delicious and fun chocolates to try.*

Aroma notes included: dark chocolate and roasted nuts (hazelnuts) and seeds. (There were no seeds, except for the cacao seeds (cocoa mass and nibs), aka cocoa beans.**

A neat stack of bark-squares fit nicely inside a simple, small box. But this offering had big texture and taste experience. Roasty, toasty hearty crunchy texture and rich yet smooth dark chocolate flavor.

The well-executed treatment of the candied, salted nuts (and the addition of Valrhona cocoa nibs) created texture and flavor depth. Roasted hazelnuts were joined by almonds and macadamia nuts. And a touch of vanilla and sea salt rounded out these square slabs very nicely.

Warning: addictive

Ingredients: Republica 70% guittard 72% (cocoa mass from Peru and Ecuador, sugar, cocoa butter, natural vanilla), candied nuts (hazelnuts, almonds, macadamia nuts, powdered sugar, egg whites, sea salt), Valrhona cocoa nibs.

Allergen-related information: "Contains: Eggs, Tree Nuts (Hazelnut, Almond, Macadamia)."

*Chocolate salami anyone? (It does look like a salami, but it's all chocolate.)

**Yep, that's right. We keep calling cacao seeds..."beans". Just like we call some foods "nuts" when they're really drupes (macadamia nuts), legumes (peanuts), seeds (pistachio nuts), or something else. You'll be happy to know that the hazelnuts that have appeared in all the chocolates this past week are considered true nuts. 

We call coffee seeds (coffee cherry pits) "beans" too, because they sort of look like beans. By that logic, I could come up with lots of creative names for items (and animals/people)--if I wasn't already busy hunting for new chocolates, and becoming fully theobromine-ated 365 days a year.

Dude, Sweet Chocolate - Praline Chocolate Bar crunchy hazelnut caramel - March 18, 2027

Chocolate of the Day 

Dude, Sweet Chocolate
Praline Chocolate Bar crunchy hazelnut caramel
Good ++
Weight: .78 oz. (22 g.) / 1.55 oz. (44 g.) in total bar
Calories: 121 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $7.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Dude, Sweet Chocolate, online order

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

Today's Praline Chocolate Bar crunchy hazelnut caramel was created by Dude, Sweet Chocolate (Dallas, TX).

Prominent aroma notes included: bold, dark, roasted (not quite smoky, almost coffee) cacao and toasted nuts.

Texture: This relatively thick dark bar had layered textures: smooth, bold dark chocolate and an embedded riot of crunchy toffee-like sugar and hazelnut bits.

Flavor notes included: bold, roasty dark chocolate (tasted more like 70%-72% than 62% cacao) with a uniform field of sugared hazelnut sparkly bits.

I loved the bolder dark chocolate flavors and the well-executed layered textures. Not too sweet (thank you!) and not too bitter either (at least for my taste). Not too moreish.* (One ounce (28 g.) was hearty and very satisfying.) This praline dark bar scored well into the Goldilocks zone for this dark fan.

Ingredients: Republica 62% chocolate (sugar, cocoa butter, whole milk powder, cocoa liquor from Peru, natural vanilla extract).

Allergen-related information: Tree Nuts, (Hazelnut); dairy. (According to chief chocolatier Katherine: the milk powder in the ingredients list (above) is a small amount used in the caramelization process. I could not taste the milk myself.)

*Moreish is an informal adjective used to describe foods (typically with a certain balance of sugar, fat and salt) that may trigger the desire to to eat more and more of something; even if it's not the best thing you ever have tasted. (I'm looking at you potato chips, certain ice creams, and some salted milk chocolates.)