Hapa Chocolat - Spice Cake Ecuador (bar); Kathas - Coconut-Milk Latte - Cocoa Cardamom Chai - Apr. 18, 2025

Chocolate of the Day

Hapa Chocolat 
Spice Cake Ecuador (bar)
Good ++ - Good +++
Weight: 2.22 oz. (63 g.) in total bar
Calories: 344 calories (estimate) in 1 bar
Cost: $10.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Hapa Chocolat, online order

Distributed for Sinwise Farms
Kathas Cocoa Cardamom Chai Coconut-Milk Latte
Good ++ - Good +++
Weight: 8 fl. oz. (236 mL) in 1 can
Calories: 100 calories in 1 can
Cost: $ Missing information
Purchased from: Missing information (local grocery store)

Welcome to Day #9 of Chocolate & India Week; and Day #2 of Chocolate, Cardamom and Ginger Theme Week.

Today's thoughtfully-produced and delicious duo: 1.) Spice Cake Ecuador (bar) from Hapa Chocolat, LLC (Los Gatos, CA), and 2.) Cocoa Cardamom Chai tea latte beverage distributed for Sunwise Farms (Oakland, CA), contained high-quality ingredients sourced from at least three continents. 

Spice Cake bar

Aroma and flavor notes include: Boston brown bread--a sweet cake-like moist (steamed) bread typically made with molasses, flour and corn meal and raisins); smooth and subtly flavorful dark chocolate (made with cacao from Camino Verde, Ecuador); and fresh salted butter. It was very tasty.

Texture: well-tempered; this bar broke with a hard snap. There was a slight granularity (finely ground spice brittle) in the mouthfeel. It was similar to a well-executed, very slightly rougher, stone-ground chocolate, where everything melts down smoothly together by the finish. There was no spice "grit" or other residual texture once that happened. Best of both worlds -- all the flavors; but, without distracting tiny particles in the final melt phase.

I enjoyed the texture arc, the spices, the short list of ingredients, and the match between the Ecuador cacao and the rich, warm spice flavors.

Ingredients: Chocolate (organic cacao, cacao butter, sugar), Spice Brittle (organic sugar, cinnamon, cloves, salt, ginger)

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

Kathas Coconut 

For decades I searched to find items that blended cacao/chocolate with chai tea flavors. Happily, there are more options now. But, I still rejoiced recenlty when I saw this can in the refrigerated section at a local grocery store.

Today's Kathas Coconut-Milk Latte - Cocoa Cardamom Chai with Black Tea and Spices was a chilled chai beverage in a can that was locally(Oakland, CA) distributed for Sinwise Farms. 

The tea and cardamom used to make this chai beverage were sourced from Kerala, India. (The Kathas makers obtained the cardamom from their family farm.)

Aroma and flavor notes included: beautifully aromatic sweet cardamom and chai tea and mild cocoa (high-grade chocolate milk). (Note: there was no dairy milk in this bar, just a touch of coconut milk.)

Note: this beverage can be consumed hot or cold. (I drank it cold.)

I liked: 1.) the well balanced flavors; the authentic and nuanced cardamom and other spices; 2.) the addition of the chocolate (cocoa) that added very complementary flavor depth); 3.) the delicate use of coconut milk; 4.) the sweetness level (sweet, but not too sweet); and 5.) the fact that the black tea was there, but the overall astringency and bitterness levels for tea and cacao were quite low--making this a friendly, comforting as well as refreshing spiced tea coconut milk latte.

While the list of ingredients for this chai was long (I'm not a fan of phosphates, gels and gums), the overall flavors tasted smooth and full-bodied and very delicious. The cardamom was the star of the show.

Ingredients: Spiced Black Tea Concentrate (Water, Black Tea, Spices including Cardamom), Water, Sugar, Organic Coconut Milk, Contains 1% of less of the following:  Organic Tapioca Maltodextrin, Cellulose Gel, Cocoa Powder (processed with alkali), Sunflower Lecithin (an emulsifier), Salt, Tripotassium Phosphate, Dipotassium Phosphate, Cellulose Gum, Natural Flavors, Sodium Hexametaphosphate, Molasses.

Allergen-related information: Contains Coconut.

Madhu Chocolate - Cardamom 60% Cacao (bar) - Apr. 17, 2025

Chocolate of the Day

Madhu Chocolate
Cardamom 60% Cacao (bar)
Good ++  
Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) / 2.6 oz. (74 g.) in total bar
Calories: 140 calories in 1 oz. of bar
Cost: $10.99 for 1 bar
Purchased from: The Market at Edgewood, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #8 of Chocolate and India Theme Week; and Day #1 of Cardamom and Ginger Theme Week.

Today's Cardamom 60% Cacao (bar) from Madhu Chocolate LLC was made in Austin, TX.*

For the past several years, the company has offered chocolates and confections with traditional Indian dessert-inspired flavors.

In today's bar, single origin cardamom seeds from Guatemala were ground into Tumaco Colombia cacao and sugar.

Aroma and flavor notes included: smooth dark chocolate and fragrant cardamom. I loved the very pleasing, authentic and well-balanced cardamom spice flavor in this bar. 

Texture: well-tempered (broke with a snap) and smooth. The cardamom was fully incorporated into the chocolate. There was no spice grit; i.e., there were no discernible spice particles.

And the well-tempered and executed 60% dark chocolate was smooth in flavor and relatively sweet -- both traits that would make for an excellent, exotic cup of cardamom hot chocolate, a dark chocolate truffle, or other chocolate and cardamom dessert (torte, mousse, cake, etc.).

Ingredients: "Cacao, Organic Cane Sugar, Organic Cocoa Butter, Cardamom"

Allergen-related information: Made in a facility that processes peanuts, tree nuts and milk. Vegan, Gluten-free

*Update: Sadly, Madhu Chocolate, based on a notification on their website, Madhu may be closing shop in Spring 2025 after seven years. (Their online shop may be open until April 30, 2025; but several items are already sold out.)

Godavari Chocolate Inc. - Bon-fiction "Order of the Dark Roast" 91% (bar) - Apr. 16, 2025

Chocolate of the Day

Godavari Chocolate Inc.
Bon-fiction "Order of the Dark Roast" 91% dark chocolate (bar)
Good ++
Weight: .485 oz. (13.75 g.) / 1.94 oz. (55 g.) in total bar
Calories: 85 calories in 1/4 bar
Cost: $8.99 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Sigona's Market, Palo Alto, CA  

Welcome to Day #7 of Chocolate and India Week.

Today's Bon-fiction "Order of the Dark Roast" 91% dark chocolate (bar) was made from tree-to-bar in India, and imported and distributed by Godavari Chocolate Inc. (Folsom, CA).

The cacao used to make this bar was "hand-picked from farms in the Godavari region of Southern India."

Aroma notes for this single origin 91% bar included: faint dark roast cacao/dark chocolate and subtle and relatively pleasing umami and roasted notes (faint oven-roasted/barbecued earthy greens).   

Flavor notes for this India-grown and made chocolate included: rich, roasted ultra-dark chocolate, with a subtle sweetness, followed by some balanced tart and bitter notes which peaked and then rapidly receded and lingered at a much lower level into a relatively long and pleasant ultra-dark finish.

The texture was smooth and relatively buttery/creamy with a very tiny bit of (surprisingly little) astringency in the finish.

I enjoyed this more than the 99% "Eclipse of the Senses" dark bar (that I tasted yesterday) from the same maker. Just a little sugar (and possibly a different batch/roast profile) made this 91%er a more balanced bar. I like trying dark roasts, as long as I can still enjoy some balanced complexity in the cacao.

Today's 91% "Order of the Dark Roast" bar was fun to try. This chocolate may still be too bold and bitter for some. But, just like wine, and many other things in life, not everyone will agree on what's "best" or even taste chocolate in the same way.* 

As for me, I enjoyed several small bites, consecutively, each more inviting than the last. (That first bite was a bit like jumping into cool/cold water--a little brisk.) I liked that I could taste some additional and pleasing chocolate-y (cocoa) and then very faint spiced hot chocolate notes in the finish after 3-4 bites. 

Savor small pieces...slowly. I also advise exposing this chocolate to open air for 10-15 minutes, after you open the sealed inner package, and before eating. (Yes, that's right; it's like certain very bold red wines. It may need to "breathe" a little first.)

Ingredients: "Cocoa Beans, Organic Cane Sugar."

Allergen-related information: "Manufactured in a facility that also processes: Milk, Peanuts, Almond, Cashew, Walnut, Coconut, Hazelnut, Pistachio."  

*Some of us who have genes allowing us to enjoy more bitter foods, may enjoy items those with more delicate palettes may find off-putting.

Godavari Chocolate - Bon-fiction "An Eclipse of the Senses" 99% dark chocolate (bar) - Apr. 15, 2025

Chocolate of the Day

Godavari Chocolate Inc.
Bon-fiction "An Eclipse of the Senses" 99% dark chocolate (bar)
Good +
Weight: .485 oz. (13.75 g.) / 1.94 oz. (55 g.) in total bar
Calories: 92.5 calories in 1/4 bar
Cost: $8.99 for 1 bar
Purchased from: The Village Market, S.F. Ferry Building, San Francisco, CA 

Welcome to Day #6 of Chocolate and India Week.

Today's Bon-fiction "An Eclipse of the Senses" 99% dark chocolate (bar) was made from tree-to-bar in India, and imported and distributed by Godavari Chocolate Inc. (Folsom, CA).

The cacao used to make this bar was "hand-picked from farms in the Godavari region of Southern India."

Aroma notes were roast-y and chocolate-y, and relatively subdued. The intensity arrived with the first bite. The flavor notes for this single origin, tree-to-bar 99% cacao chocolate included: ultra-dark chocolate; with relatively tart (yogurt), bitter and roasted wood and earth notes.

The texture was smooth and relatively buttery/creamy. (Note: Often there is added cocoa butter, on top of what is present with the cacao beans being used in ultra-dark bars. Surprisingly, there was no added cocoa butter listed on the ingredients. I consider that a brave choice with very bold, dark cacaos like this (with strong Trinitario + Forestero qualities.)

"The Eclipse of the Senses" was a fitting name for this bar. There were very few subtleties here. But, just like an eclipse, at the very end you feel the light from the Sun/Moon coming back again. 

I could imagine small quantities of this almost unsweetened chocolate being used with other, sweeter, flavors (sauces, meats, specific vegetable dishes, spirits, smoothies/shakes, dried fruits, affogatos, etc.)--to provide some interesting contrast or flavor depth.

I liked that this was tree-to-bar chocolate (made "in country" in India where the cacao was also grown); the short list of (two) ingredients; the unapologetic darkness (in small doses); and the faint mellower chocolate note(s) that popped up briefly at the very end of a long finish.

Ingredients: "Cocoa Beans, Organic Cane Sugar."

Allergen-related information: "Manufactured in a facility that also processes: Milk, Peanuts, Almond, Cashew, Walnut, Coconut, Hazelnut, Pistachio."  

Chocolate Spiel - 72% India (bar) - Apr. 14, 2025

Chocolate of the Day

ChocolateSpiel
72% India (bar)
Good ++  
Weight: 1 oz. (27 g.) in 1 bar
Calories: 155 calories (estimate) in 1 bar
Cost: $8.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: ChocolateSpiel, online order

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

Today's 72% India (bar) was from ChocolateSpiel (Seattle, WA).

The word "Spiel" can refer to a game or a pitch. Colorful chocolates from Angi at ChocolateSpiel (Seattle, WA) convey pure fun that she is sharing with us through her wide range of bean-to-bar chocolates and confections. (At least five of her bars that I've tried were made with single origin cacao beans without flavor inclusions.)

Aroma notes for this beautifully-painted* India bar were relatively subtle (dark chocolate with very faint fruit).

Texture: smooth, almost creamy

Flavor notes included smooth. flavorful and well-balanced tropical fruit (mango) and stone fruit (peach). It had pleasing fruit complexity with very faint (also pleasing) botanical notes. 

The 72% dark chocolate was fruity without being too acidic. And it was sweet without being overly so.

I enjoyed the single origin (India) cacao flavors and the pretty visual appearance. And I appreciated the small bar (single serving) size and the short list of ingredients.

Ingredients: "cocoa, sugar, cocoa butter, colored cocoa butter"

Allergen-related information: "May contain traces of tree nuts, peanuts and gluten."

*This bar was carefully and skillfully "painted" with different colors of cocoa butter.  

Godavari Chocolate - Bon-fiction "The Coconut Covenant" 55% dark chocolate (bar) - Apr. 13, 2025

Chocolate of the Day

Godavari Chocolate Inc.
Bon-fiction "The Coconut Covenant" 55% dark mylk chocolate with coconut sugar (bar)
Good ++
Weight: 1.94 oz. (55 g.) in total bar
Calories: 350 calories in 1 bar
Cost: $8.99 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Sigona's Market, Palo Alto, CA  

Welcome to Day #4 of Chocolate and India Week.

Today's Bon-fiction "The Coconut Covenant" 55% dark mylk chocolate with coconut sugar (bar) was made from tree-to-bar in India, and imported and distributed by Godavari Chocolate Inc. (Folsom, CA).

The cacao used to make this bar was "hand-picked from farms in the Godavari region of Southern India."

Aroma notes for this coconut mylk bar included: smooth, slightly fruity dark chocolate. The flavor notes were a richer version of these same aroma notes. There was a small, unexpected but tasty, uptick in spicy chili in one or two bites. And there was a pleasing, diffuse and faint tropical fruit (mango, cacao fruit/pulp) note. 

The coconut mylk and sugar flavors were pleasing, authentic; not too strong and not overly sweet (thank you!). (This was not your chain store coconut chocolate bar.)

The texture was very smooth, and fairly creamy/buttery.

I enjoyed the authentic, balanced and smooth cacao and coconut flavors, and the relatively low levels of acids/tannins and bitterness.

Ingredients: "Cocoa Beans, Coconut Sugar, Cocoa Butter, Coconut Milk Powder" 

Allergen-related information: "Manufactured in a facility that also processes: Milk, Peanuts, Almond, Cashew, Walnut, Coconut, Hazelnut, Pistachio." 

Godavari Chocolate Inc. - Bon-fiction "The Mango Menace" 55% dark chocolate (bar) - Apr. 12, 2025

Chocolate of the Day

Godavari Chocolate Inc.
Bon-fiction "The Mango Menace" 55% dark chocolate (bar)
Good++
Weight: .97 oz. (27.5 g.) / 1.94 oz. (55 g.) in total bar
Calories: 155 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $8.99 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Sigona's Market, Palo Alto, CA  

Welcome to Day #3 of Chocolate and India Week.

Today's Bon-fiction "The Mango Menace" 55% dark chocolate, Alphonso mango and chilli chocolate (bar) was made from tree-to-bar in India, and imported and distributed by Godavari Chocolate Inc. (Folsom, CA).

The cacao used to make this bar was "hand-picked from farms in the Godavari region of Southern India."

Aroma notes for this single origin 55% chocolate included: rich dark chocolate with mango, and slight umami (chili, olive)--that I liked.

The texture was smooth and fairly buttery/creamy (it did not contain milk). The smooth chocolate was interspersed with gently crunchy, freeze dried mango bits.

Flavor notes included: smooth dark chocolate, authentic mango and upticks in chili heat.

Ingredients: "Cocoa Beans, Organic Cane Sugar, Cocoa Butter, Freeze Dried Mango, Mundu Chilli, Sunflower Lecithin" 

Allergen-related information: "Manufactured in a facility that also processes: Milk, Peanuts, Almond, Cashew, Walnut, Coconut, Hazelnut, Pistachio."