ChocolateBet: July 19, 2010

Chocolate of the Day:
2 pieces
Bissinger's - Naturals
Dark Chocolate-Covered Espresso Beans
Good+
Weight: .25 oz. (7 g.) / 3.5 oz. (99 g.) in total package
Calories: 22 calories (estimate)
Cost: $4.99 for total package
Purchased from: Draeger's in San Mateo, CA

Today marked the first day of Chocolate and Espresso Theme Week. The minute I opened Bissinger's Dark Chocolate-Covered Espresso Beans, the smell of strong coffee wafted out. The two little crunchy Sumatra Mandheling espresso beans -- covered in (60 percent) dark chocolate -- that I ate, helped to power my evening walk. Since I ate these late in the day, I ate just two pieces to avoid staying up all night.

ChocolateBet: July 18, 2010

Chocolate of the Day:
.75 oz. melted for 1 sundae 
Taza Chocolate
60% dark chocolate bar (melted as sauce)
Good+
Weight: .75 oz. (21 g.) / 3 oz. (85 g.) in total bar
Calories: 112 calories for chocolate sauce (estimate) + 200 for ice cream

Cost: N/A - gift; thank you Alec
Purchased from: N/A - gift; store from Somerville, MA

Thank you to Alec for gifting me an assortment of Taza Chocolate bars (60%, 70% and 80% bars are pictured, right). He purchased these while on his recent bicycle trip from Boston to Detroit. (Taza Chocolate is based in Somerville, MA.)

Today I sampled the 60% dark Stone Ground Organic Chocolate Bar (yellow wrapper). All three bars were dairy free, gluten free, and soy free.

Since today (Sunday, July 18, 2010) was Sundae Day -- generally celebrated the third Sunday in July from what I gather -- I chose to melt 1/4 of this 60% Taza dark bar and use it as a topping for a scoop of homemade rum raisin ice cream (shown above right). Topped with a little mint, and it was officially a sundae -- also gone in six minutes. Did I lick the bowl? No I did not. I thought about it. But, my cat was watching.

ChocolateBet: July 17, 2010

Chocolate of the Day:
1/8 bar
Taza Chocolate
Good
Weight: .375 oz. (9 g.) / 3 oz. (85 g.) in total bar
Calories: 50 calories (estimate)
Cost: $ N/A - gift -- Thank you Alec
Purchased from: N/A -- gift (purchased in store in Somerville, MA)

Thank you to Alec for providing Taza Chocolate bars for a tasting. Tonight Alec and I did a taste test of three different Taza Chocolate stone ground, organic bars: 60%, 70% and 80% cacao dark bars. I had tried the 70% bar some time ago. Today's choice was the 80% cacao bar. All three bars were dairy free, gluten free, and soy free, and included ground vanilla beans.

All three Taza bars also had a slightly grainy consistency. I am not sure whether it came from the stone ground technique or the ground vanilla beans. Tomorrow, my Chocolate of the Day will be the 60% bar, and I will try melting it so see what effect this has.

ChocolateBet: July 16, 2010

Chocolate of the Day:
1/2 bar
chocri
Red Fruits and Flowers - Milk Chocolate Bar
Very Good
Weight: 1.75 oz. (50 g.) in 1/2 bar (estimate)
Calories: 262 calories (estimate)
Cost: $8.90 (approximate)
Purchased from: chocri

Today, I am writing once again about chocolate (from chocri) that I custom built and ordered. 
Today's milk chocolate bar was topped with a colorful blend of red fruit and flowers. Apparently, when ordering this bar, I didn't take time to give it the creative name it deserved. The label (with the name I chose) read: "Red Fruits and Flowers Milk Chocolate Bar." Given that chocri allows customers to name their own bars that they create, I should have dubbed this the "Red Sassy" or "The Red Nature Bar," or, even more simply: "Red." If anyone wants to suggest alternative names for this bar, let me know. Below is a list of the ingredients:
1.) Milk Chocolate (32%)
2.) Raspberry
3.) Strawberry
4.) Papaya Cubes
5.) Candied Rose Petals
6.) Flower Mix

ChocolateBet: July 15, 2010

Chocolate of the Day:
1 serving
Anette's Chocolates
Testarossa Winery - Pinot Noir Chocolate Sauce
(over vanilla ice cream)
Good +
Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) / 9 fl. oz. (266 mL) in total jar
Calories: 70 calories (estimate) + calories in ice cream
Cost: N/A - gift
Purchased from: N/A - gift; thank you Alex

I enjoy pairing certain chocolates with certain wines -- as side-by-side pairings, more often than literal mixtures of the two. But that hasn't stopped me from trying different combinations that are available. Today's choice was a sauce that combined chocolate with Testarossa Winery Pinot Noir (red wine).

It must be challenging to balance the nuances of two substances like wine and chocolate -- when each of these by themselves have quite a bit of complexity. Today's Pinot Noir chocolate sauce was nice, and I liked it more than the vanilla ice cream I chose to eat with the sauce.  The label on the jar suggested that this Pinot Noir Chocolate Sauce might also be good with pound cake, strawberries, and other dessert items.

Today concluded Day #7 of Chocolate and Wine Theme Week.

ChocolateBet: July 14, 2010

Chocolate of the Day:
2 pieces
Sweet's
Cabernet Flavored Dark Chocolate Wine Gels
Good - Good +
Weight: .59 oz. (16.8 g.) / (3.5 oz. (100 g.) in total package
Calories: 64 calories in 2 pieces
Cost: $3.99 (plus any other charges if ordered online)
Purchased from: Sweet's

"Life is a caber(n)et my friend, life is a caber(n)et!" OK, I had to get that pun (loosely based on a song from the musical "Cabaret") out of my system. Not funny, you say? Ahem, let us proceed.

Today was Day #6 of Chocolate and Wine Theme Week, and I tried Sweet's (gluten-free) Cabernet flavored wine gels. Like the Sweet's Port wine gels I tried yesterday, there was an alcohol-related flavor I didn't particularly care for. Yesterday, I was thinking this might have been due to my eating a product that was slightly past its due date. But, this same (artificial, alcohol-like?) flavor was still detectable in this newer batch of wine gels. These gels do contain both natural and artificial flavors (and an ingredient listed as "Red Wine Reduction"). It would be great if this flavor could be toned down just a bit.

ChocolateBet: July 13, 2010

Chocolate of the Day:
2 pieces
Sweet Candy Co/Sweet's
Good - Good +
Weight: .59 oz. (16.8 g.)/ 3.5 oz. (100 g.) total package
Calories: 64 calories
Cost: $5.00
Purchased from: ?

Today (Day #5 of Chocolate and Wine Theme Week) I tried a new variation on the combination of chocolate and port. Sweet's (gluten-free) dark chocolate covered Wine Gels contained a port wine reduction -- and both natural and artificial flavors. I ate these a bit past the expiration date, and there was an alcohol-like flavor I didn't care for that much. I look forward to trying Sweet's Cabernet flavored Wine Gels tomorrow.