ChocolateBet: October 27, 2011

Chocolate of the Day:

1 piece
fleurir
Irish Coffee
Good+ - Very Good
Weight: .4 oz. (11.32 g.)
Calories: 60 calories (estimate)
Cost: $34.00 for 18-piece box (+ any shipping)
Purchased from: fleurir, via foodzie.com

Today was Day #4 of Chocolate and Whisk(e)y Theme Week.

As the weather gets colder, visions of rich hot chocolate drinks spiked with whiskey start dancing in my head. And, chocolates like today's "Irish Coffee" from fleurir (based in Washington, D.C.) encourage this thinking. A milk chocolate ganache with Irish whiskey, Irish cream, and coffee, this Irish Coffee was a delicious rendition of the hot drink by the same name -- condensed down to a small square.

ChocolateBet: October 26, 2011

Chocolate of the Day:

1 piece
"Whisky" (filled chocolate)
Very Good
Weight: .49 oz. (13.8 g.) (estimate)
Calories: 72 calories (estimate)
Cost: $1.35 (with discount)
Purchased from: Fog City News, in San Francisco, CA

Today was Day #3 of Chocolate and Whisk(e)y Theme Week. Some whisky-flavored chocolates are so mildly flavored, you'd have to strain to taste any alcohol. Not so with this tiny, half-barrel shaped, foil-wrapped chocolate. I took one small bite, and quickly had to shove the rest in my mouth to prevent the authentic-tasting, liquid whisky filling from dripping onto my lap. Sadly, this meant, no picture was taken of the chocolate itself.

Note: I neglected to ask Fog City News for the maker/brand name. I will fill this in later.

ChocolateBet: October 25, 2011

Chocolate of the Day:

1/4 bar
zotter Schokoladen Manufaktur GmbH
Scotch Whisky - Highland Harvest (bar)
Very Good - Very Good+
Weight: .62 oz. (17.5 g.) / 2.47 oz. (70 g.) total bar
Calories: 93 calories (estimate)
Cost: $7.95 total bar
Purchased from: Fog City News, San Francisco, CA

The chocolate choice for Day #2 of Chocolate and Whisk(e)y Theme Week: a blend of cacao, organic cane sugar, milk, Scotch whisky -- from the Highlands region of Scotland no less (at least I think it was). All this came in the form of an organic, filled chocolate bar from Austrian-based, bean-to-bar maker: zotter.

ChocolateBet: October 24, 2011

Chocolate of the Day:

1 piece
Chocolat Moderne
"The Player" bonbon - Single Malt Scotch
Good+
Weight: .5 oz. (14 g.) / 2.5 oz. (70 g.) total pkg. of 5
Calories: 75 calories (estimate)
Cost: $15.95 for package of 5 bonbons
Purchased from: Fog City News, in San Francisco, CA

Today's "The Player" bonbon with Dark Single Malt Scotch Ganache was the kick-off chocolate for (Day #1 of) Chocolate and Whisky (or Whiskey if you're Irish) Theme Week.

This heart-shaped chocolate, decorated with a white and purple decorative smear across the top, was part of Chocolat Moderne's Devotion collection of 5 bonbons. 

ChocolateBet: October 23, 2011

Chocolate(s) of the Day:

1 serving (4 pieces)
Trader Joe's
Gone Bananas!
Very Good
Weight: 1.52 oz. (43 g.)/ 8 oz. (227 g.) total package
Calories: 130 calories in 1 serving (4 pieces)
Cost: $1.99 total package
Purchased from: Trader Joe's, in Mountain View, CA

Deep in the jungle where cacao and bananas are grown lurks a... sock monkey. Well, outside of said monkey being featured on a box of Trader Joe's "Gone Bananas!...one piece at a time" (chocolate covered frozen banana slices) I'm not sure that's true; but it's fun to imagine.

Hats off to Trader Joe's once again for providing quality chocolate items at a reasonable price. These banana slices (product of Thailand) are to be enjoyed frozen (and not defrosted) -- per the sock monkey's instructions. I agree with the monkey; these are best served right out of the box.

Please Note: I added the nuts in the photo (at right) as a garnish. These banana slices do not contain nuts.


Oh my goodness, after double checking my chocolate spreadsheet tracker (yes, I do have one), I realized I might have eaten a similar item from Trader Joe's before (another Gone Bananas! item). So, to prevent a possible repeat, I sampled an "My Goodness Bar" (a 61% bittersweet chocolate bar with honey roasted peanuts and toasted coconut) from Chocolate Visions (based in Scotts Valley, CA). It was very good as well.

ChocolateBet: October 22, 2011

Chocolate of the Day:

1/2 bar
Chocolate Visions
Peanut Butter Banana Bonanza
Very Good
Weight: 1.75 oz. (50 g.) / 3.5 oz. (100 g.) total bar
Calories: 262 calories (estimate)
Purchased from: Fog City News, in San Francisco, CA

Today was Day #7 of Chocolate and Peanut Theme Week. Peanut butter and chocolate pair well together, and today's Peanut Butter (and 61% dark chocolate) bar with banana chips from Chocolate Visions was a winning combination.

I purchased this Peanut Butter Banana Bonanza bar as part of a chocolate walk in San Francisco today - which included a tour at TCHO, and stops at Recchiuti, Scharffen Berger, and Fog City News -- where I found today's bar, a perfect match for peanut theme week.

And, today's gratuitous monkey tie-in: a monkey finger puppet from a Latin American street vendor on Market Street in San Francisco. It's become a tradition; any Chocolate Banquet blog posts incorporating chocolate and peanuts, peanut butter, and/or bananas also seem to attract monkeys. 

ChocolateBet: October 21, 2011

Chocolate of the Day:

1 bar
Nature's Path Foods
Crispy Rice Peanut Choco Drizzle (bars)
Good++
Weight: 1 oz. (28 g.) / 6 oz. (168 g.) total package
Calories: 120 calories
Cost: $3.99 (sale) total package of 6
Purchased from: Safeway, in Menlo Park, CA

Today's individually-wrapped, gluten-free Crispy Rice Peanut Choco Drizzle ("EnviroKidz Organic") cereal bars hailed from Nature's Path Foods, based in Blaine, WA.

Today was Day #7 of Chocolate and Peanut Theme Week.

I would have bought this box of bars -- that contained organic chocolate icing and organic peanut butter -- for chocolate and peanut theme week anyway, but the picture of the lemur on the front of the box sealed the deal. Why? Because I'm finding ways to force fit monkeys (I'll include lemurs too) and bananas into this theme week as well.

Random monkey/banana fold-in factoids: 
- Monkeys have been known to enjoy the fruit from cacao trees.
- Cacao fruits are harvested, split open and scooped out. The fruit pulp and seeds are put into vats, baskets and/or other containers to ferment; and banana leaves often cover this mass during this fermentation process -- the first steps in making chocolate.
- Lemurs do eat bananas and other fruits where they live in Madagascar; ironically they are suffering from habitat loss because of slash-and-burn agriculture to clear the way for vanilla and cacao plantations.