Froken Frankenstein Chocolatier - Choklad Havtorn Kakaohalt 46% (bar) - Oct. 25, 2025

Chocolate of the Day

Froken Frankenstein Chocolatier
Choklad Havtorn Kakaohalt 46% (bar)
Good ++
Weight: .97 oz. (27.5 g.) / 1.94 oz. (55 g.) in total bar
Calories: 155 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $N/A - gift 
Purchased from: N/A - gift from Toni 

God morgon (good morning) and welcome to Day #4 of Chocolate and Fruits Theme Week.

Today's Choklad Havtorn Kakaohalt 46% (bar) from Froken (Miss) Frankenstein Chocolatier was from Oland, Sweden. 

This chocolate contained havtorn (sea buckthorn)--a plant with small, tart orange fruits (berries).*

Aroma and flavor notes included: creamy milk chocolate with very faint, gently tart-sweet fruit (light persimmon, orange berry, kumquat, sweetened sour orange).

Texture: rich, creamy milk chocolate with a satisfying melt layer of berry-infused sugar on one side. The tiny, crunchy, berry sugar crystals added a bit of texture and very subtle flavor. I also enjoyed the leaf motif on the bar. The "leaves" were gently highlighted with cocoa butter "paint." 

I appreciated the authentically extra-creamy milk chocolate texture; the subtle cocoa; the sugar with the berry juice; and the lovely botanical illustration by a local Swedish artist.** 

I felt very grateful to taste sea buckthorn in a new way, thanks to my friend who brought this bar back with her--all the way from the island of Oland in Sweden. (Thank you Toni!) This was a lovely virtual travel experience.

Ingredients: Cocoa beans from the Dominican Republic, cocoa butter, whole milk powder, sugar, emulsifier (sunflower lecithin), vanilla extract, sea buckthorn juice (from a sea buckthorn garden in Oland).

Allergen-related information: May contain nuts and soy.

*Sea buckthorn (Hippophae Rhamnoides) has been used by humans for thousands of years as a food and for medicinal uses. The berries, leaves and seeds are edible. (Not to be confused with other"buckthorn(e)" berries that are often in a different family and may or may not be edible/enjoyable to sample.)

**Emma Tinnert is a biologist, artist and illustrator that lives in Orland, Sweden.

Philippe Beaulieu - 70% Dark Chocolate Raspberry - Oct. 24, 2025

Chocolate of the Day

Philippe Beaulieu
70% Dark Chocolate - Raspberry (bar)
Good ++
Weight: 1.23 oz. (35 g.) / 2.46 oz. (70 g.) in total bar
Calories: 210 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $N/A - from Touring Chocolatier
Purchased from: N/A - from Touring Chocolatier 

Welcome to Day #11 of Chocolate and France Theme Week, and Day #3 of Chocolate & Fruits Theme Week.

Today's 70% Dark Chocolate - Raspberry (bar) was from Philippe Beaulieu USA LLC (Miami, FL). The company is inspired by French/European chocolate making traditions and uses cacao from Colombia (Tolima region). 

Thank you to Kay at Touring Chocolatier (Flower Mound, TX)* for sending this bar.

Complex aroma and flavor notes included: dark chocolate (with very faint roasted cacao/dark chocolate and berry licorice); and tart-sweet red raspberries/raspberry jam.

Texture: Smooth chocolate with a slight granularity, with a vibrant, colorful field of freeze-dried red raspberries on one side.

I appreciated the attractive, sophisticated packaging (black and gold, with a clear window view of the bright raspberry within) and the authentic freeze-dried raspberry fruit (with enough berry seeds to be authentic, and not so many that it was hard to eat). 

Ingredients: Organic Cocoa Mass, Organic Unrefined Sugar, Organic Cocoa Butter, Freeze dried raspberries. 

Allergen-related information: May contain traces of tree nuts. ("No Lecithin, Gluten Free, Chemical Free, Egg Free, Artificial Flavor Free, Soy Free, No Refined Sugar")

*Touring Chocolatier offers chocolates, classes/tastings and parties at their site in Flower Mound, Texas, in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.

Cluizel Paris - Kayambe Noir de Cacao 72% Chocolat Noir - Oct. 23, 2025

Chocolate of the Day

Cluizel Paris
Kayambe Noir de Cacao 72% Chocolat Noir (bar)
Good ++ 
Weight: 1.23 oz. (35 g.) / 2.46 oz. (70 g.) in total bar
Calories: 213.5 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $14.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Bar & Cocoa, online order

Welcome to Day #10 of Chocolate and France Theme Week, and Day #2 of Chocolate and Fruits Theme Week. 

Today's Kayambe Noir de Cacao 72% Chocolat Noir (bar) was from Cluizel Paris (Paris, France).

The blend of cacaos used to make this chocolate came from Central America, Central Africa and Java, and possibly Ecuador.

Aroma and flavor notes for this smooth-textured chocolate included: rich and balanced dark chocolate (chocolate-y); faint, roast-y licorice; and very faint red berries.

It was a little sweet for a 72% cacao dark chocolate. (It tasted more like a 65%-67% cacao bar.) But, it did contain developed and balanced dark chocolate flavors.

I paired this bar with several fruits, including slices of guava, apple and pear.

Maker's Tasting Notes: "Flavors of Red Berries, Licorice and Finely Bitter Cocoa."

Ingredients: "cocoa, sugar, cocoa butter, Bourbon vanilla pod"

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

Chocolate Chocolate Chocolate - Dark Chocolate Strawberry Champagne Truffle 54% (bar) - Oct. 22, 2025

Chocolate of the Day

Chocolate Chocolate Chocolate Company
Dark Chocolate Strawberry Champagne Truffle 54% Cocoa (bar)
Good + - Good ++ 
Weight: 1.16 oz. (33 g.) / 3.5 oz. (99 g.) in total bar
Calories: 150 calories in 1/3 bar
Cost: $6.99 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Andronico's Community Market, Los Altos, CA

Welcome to Day #9 of Chocolate and France Theme Week, and Day #1 of Chocolate and Fruits Theme Week. This is the second of two bars featured today. (See previous post for a short write-up on Valrhona's 70% Guanaja dark chocolate.)

Today's Dark Chocolate Strawberry Champagne Truffle 54% Cocoa (bar) was from Chocolate Chocolate Chocolate Company (St. Louis, MO).  

Strawberries may not have been native to France; but, like chocolate, strawberries were taken to a new level there. The French and Swiss helped perfect milk chocolate, and the modern strawberry was cultivated in Brittany France (a hybrid two "New World" strawberries from the Americas) in the 1750s. Champagne was the third element in this bar. This sparkling wine is unique to a growing region in northeastern France.

Put chocolate, strawberries and Champagne together and you have the makings of a romantic and/or a special occasion.

Aroma and flavor notes for today's filled bar included: sweet, dark chocolate; slightly fermented red berry (strawberry) and white wine grapes/white raisins.

Texture: soft, almost creamy, smooth dark chocolate, that surrounded a thin layer of sweet, slightly jammy, red strawberry fruit. 

I enjoyed trying this celebratory, upbeat chocolate.

Ingredients: Dark Chocolate (Cane Sugar, Chocolate Liquor - Processed with Alkali, Cocoa Butter, Milk Fat, Soy Lecithin - an Emulsifier, Vanilla Extract), Cane Sugar, Corn Syrup, White Chocolate (Sugar, Cocoa Butter, Whole Milk, Non-Fat Dry Milk, Milk Fat, Soy Lecithin (am Emulsifier) and Natural Vanilla Flavor), Heavy Cream (Cream (milk) and Carageenan), Whey Powder, Natural Flavor, Marc De Champagne, Strawberry Puree, Fruit Juice, Natural Colors from Fruits and Vegetables, Invertase

Allergen-related information: "Contains: Milk, Soy" "Products have been manufactured on shared equipment that processes Peanuts, Tree Nuts, Egg, Soy, Dairy and Wheat products. Contains bioengineered ingredients."

Valrhona - Guanaja Valrhona Chocolate (piece) - Oct. 22, 2025

Chocolate of the Day

Valrhona 
Guanaja Valrhona Chocolate (piece)
Good +++
Weight: 1.41 oz. (40 g.) / 2.82 oz. (80 g.) in total piece
Calories: 219 calories (estimate) in 1/2 piece
Cost: $5.60 for 1 wrapped piece (sold by the pound)
Purchased from: The Market at Edgewood, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #9 of Chocolate and France Theme Week. This week would not be complete without at least one Valrhona chocolate offering; and Day #1 of Chocolate and Fruits Theme Week.

Today's Guanaja Valrhona chocolate made by Valrhona SAS (Tain L'Heritage, France) was an individually wrapped piece, sold by the pound at a high-end market.

Guanaja is a Valrhona 70% dark blend that was first announced in the 1980s.* This very well-balanced, sophisticated blend contained (according to online sources) cacao beans from six different origins including: Trinidad, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Ghana, Ivory Coast and Madagascar.

I really appreciated this chocolate. It was chocolate-y with a balanced, gentle fruit and very balanced subtle roasted and bittersweet notes. It was "just right" on many levels. Perfect for a baking or dessert; and it was great all by itself.

Note: See also the next post for a second (never featured before) chocolate (a strawberry champagne chocolate) today--because I tasted what was likely the same 6-nation Guanaja blend back in 2009.

Company's product description: "Bittersweet and Elegant"

Ingredients: (No ingredients were listed on this one piece.) (Online information suggested ingredients have included: cacao(s), sugar, cocoa butter, vanilla, and soy lecithin.)

Allergen-related information: (No allergen-related information printed on this label.) 

*Valrhona was founded in the 1920s. When the company introduced Guanaja dark chocolate decades later, it was considered almost revolutionary -- a "bitter" but balanced/darker chocolate. The name Guanaja is a "nod to Christopher Columbus when he washed up on" the island of Guanaja (Honduras) in the Caribbean more than 500 years ago, on the voyage when they were (the first Europeans to be) exposed to cacao. 

Chocolat Bonnat - Les Recettes de Jean Sulpice - Sarrasin Caramelise 55% Milk Chocolate (bar) - Oct. 21, 2025

Chocolate of the Day

Chocolat Bonnat
Les Recettes de Jean Sulpice - Sarrasin Caramelise 55% Cacao Chocolat Au Lait
(The Recipes of Jean Sulpice - Caramelized Buckwheat 55% Cacao Milk Chocolate) 
Good ++ 
Weight: 1.76 oz. (50 g.) / 3.5 oz. (100 g.) in total bar
Calories: 297.5 calories in 1/2 bar (50 g.)
Cost: $15.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Jemome's C.V. Market, Carmel Valley, CA

Bonjour, and welcome to Day #8 of Chocolate & France Theme Week.

Today's Les Recettes de Jean Sulpice - Sarrasin Caramelise 55% Cacao Chocolat Au Lait (bar) made by Bonnat Chocolatier (Voiron, France). It was a collaboration between chocolate maker Stephane Bonnat and French chef, Jean Sulpice.*

The cacao(s) used to make the chocolate was from Indonesia and Mexico.

Aroma and flavor notes for this bar included: complex milky, mild chocolate with light cocoa and very slight earthy grain with barely detectable roasted green tea notes.

Texture: smooth, milky chocolate with slightly crunchy, pyramid-shaped (presumably toasted/browned) caramelized buckwheat. (Caramelized in this case did not mean sweet caramelized sugar.) Each bite of chocolate had a slow then rapid melt (in a cool room).

Buckwheat (a seed from a plant) is believed to originate in Asia (Yunnan province in southwestern China). It spread to Europe, and eventually the United States. Many of us remember eating buckwheat pancakes with maple syrup and butter when young. I wondered what caramelized buckwheat would taste like in chocolate.

Maker's comments/notes (rough translation): Indonesian and Mexican milk chocolate for rare cacaos with casse-claire and a pinch of caramelized buckwheat to spice it up and enhance the floral aromas of these rare cacaos.

I enjoyed the opportunity to try this chocolate with buckwheat. I appreciated being able to taste the nuanced flavors present in this flavor inclusion, as well as the list of short, quality list of ingredients.

Ingredients: "Cocoa, cocoa butter, sugar, powdered milk, buckwheat."

Allergen-related information: Contains Milk, and buckwheat.

*Jean Sulpice is perhaps best known in France as the youngest French chef to receive a Michelin star. (He was 26 years old at the time and earned a second star in 2010 -- becoming the youngest chef to win two stars.)

Chocolat Bonnat - Grue de Cacao 65% de Cacao Chocolat Noir - Oct. 20, 2025

Chocolate of the Day

Bonnat Chocolatier 
Les Recettes de Jean Sulpice - Grue de Cacao 65% de Cacao (tablette)
(The Recipes of Jean Sulpice - Cacao Nibs 65% Cacao Dark Chocolate (bar))
Good ++
Weight: 1.76 oz. (50 g.) / 3.5 oz. (100 g.) in total bar
Calories: 294 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $22.99 for 1 bar
Purchased from: WorldWide Chocolate, online order

Welcome to Day #7 of Chocolate and France Theme Week.

Today's Les Recettes de Jean Sulpice - Grue de Cacao 65% de Cacao (tablette/bar) was made in France by Bonnat Chocolatier (Voiron, Isere, France). The bar was part of a series of Bonnat bars inspired by an encounter between Bonnat chocolatier Stephane Bonnat and Michelin starred chef Jean Sulpice.

Bonnat bars are thicker and more generously sized (100 grams) than most bars--yielding a heartier tasting experience. 

Today's cacao nib studded dark chocolate was well-balanced, very chocolate-y, and reminded me of the experience of eating a rich, thick, fudge brownie with nuts. There were no nuts in this bar, just beautiful cacao basics: smooth 65% dark chocolate and crunchy, nutty cacao nibs. (The cacao was sourced from South America.)

The maker's description (translated roughly into English) read: This delicate dark chocolate is sprinkled with roasted cacao nibs...with a hint of natural acidity (that balances the) sweetness of the South American cacao(s).

Ingredients: Cocoa, cocoa butter, sugar, cocoa nibs.

Allergen-related ingredients: (None listed on label that I could see.)