ChocolateBet: February 11, 2012

Chocolate of the Day: 

Glenny's
Brown Rice Marshmallow Treats - Chocolate
Good - Good +
Weight: .85 oz. (24 g.) / 4.25 oz. (120 g.) total box of 5
Calories: 100 calories
Cost: $2.74 for 1 box of 5

Today was Day #3 of Chocolate and Cereal/Grains Theme Week. For those who need to stay gluten/wheat-free, these individually-wrapped Brown Rice Marshmallow Treat bars from Glenny's are a good, healthy option. The whole grain brown rice, marshmallow, cocoa powder, brown rice syrup and other organic ingredients earned this product a USDA Organic seal. These were a little sweet for my taste, but then I tend to prefer less sweetener in my treats.

ChocolateBet: February 10, 2012

Chocolate of the Day:

Madre Chocolate
Popped Amaranth Dark Chocolate bar
Very Good - Very Good +
Weight: .5 oz. (14.1 g.) / 1.5 oz. (43 g.) total bar
Calories: 72 calories (estimate)
Cost: $12.00 (estimate)
Purchased from: The Chocolate Garage, in Palo Alto, CA

Ah, the smell of good chocolate in the morning. I could detect rich, earthy notes even as I unwrapped this Popped Amaranth 70% dark bar from Madre Chocolate (Honolulu, HI). Made with organic and fair trade Costa Rican cacao (from a farmer's cooperative in Upala), the popped amaranth added a pleasant background texture, without interfering with the chocolate flavor arc. This is good cacao you want to be able to taste. The fact that amaranth is also a nutritionally rich grain that was also enjoyed by the Aztecs, just adds to the good story.

Today was the last day of Chocolate and Hawaii/Islands Theme Week, and Day #1 of Chocolate and Cereal/Grains Theme Week. Yes, after almost 2,000 different chocolates, there are still plenty of theme weeks and chocolates to try. Thank you to ethno-botanist Nat at Madre Chocolate, for the company's attention to quality, and making excellent handcrafted, bean-to-bar offerings like this (and their famous Triple Cacao bar, which is tough to beat anywhere). Being a lover of plants and flowers, and good chocolate, I'm looking forward to continuing to work my way through their product line.

ChocolateBet: February 9, 2012

Chocolate of the Day: 

Maui Specialty Chocolates
1.) Milk Chocolate, mac nuts, marshmallows, rice crispys
Good + - Very Good
Weight: .7 oz. (19.8 g.) total package (estimate)
Calories: 105 calories (estimate)
Cost: $1.10 for 1 piece
Purchased from Maui Specialty Chocolates, Kahului, HI

2.) Dark Chocolate, mac nuts, marshmallows, rice crispys
Good + - Very Good
Weight: .7 oz. (19.8 g.) total package (estimate)
Calories: 101 calories (estimate)
Cost: $1.10 for 1 piece
Purchased from: Maui Specialty Chocolates, Kahului, HI

Today was Day #6 of Chocolate and Hawaii/Islands Theme Week. Today's chocolates from Maui Specialty Chocolates (Kahului, HI) were milk and dark versions of what I'd call Hawaiian rocky road candy -- made with macadamia nuts, marshmallows, and rice crispys.

These two pieces also represented the end of my chocolate stash from my last trip to Maui. Perhaps it's time for another trip to Hawaii.

Today was also the first day of Chocolate and Cereal Grains (in this case rice) Theme Week.

ChocolateBet: February 8, 2012

Chocolate of the Day: 

Maui Specialty Chocolates
Maui Island - Dark Chocolate
Good +
Weight: 1.5 oz. (42.45 g.) total package (estimate)
Calories: 224 calories (estimate)
Cost: $2.35 for 1 piece/island
Purchased from: Maui Specialty Chocolates, Kahului, HI

Today was Day #5 of Chocolate and Hawaii/Islands Theme Week. The island of Maui was featured yesterday, in milk chocolate form; and today's chocolate is the same island (mold), but in dark chocolate.

Molded chocolates are generally formulated for looks (smooth firm surfaces) and staying power, vs. being optimized for maximum taste (which I sometimes associate with softer, more rustic or textured variations on dark bars). That said, this wasn't bad. With this aerial view of Maui, it was easy to imagine coming in for a landing at Kahului airport in Hawaii. Aloha.

ChocolateBet: February 7, 2012

Chocolate of the Day: 

Maui Specialty Chocolates
Milk Chocolate - Island of Maui
Good +
Weight: 1.5 oz. (42.45 g.) (estimate)
Calories: 225 calories (estimate)
Cost: $2.35 for 1 island/package
Purchased from: Maui Specialty Chocolates, Kahului, HI

$2.35 is not bad for a whole island -- especially if that island is Maui, one of the Hawaiian islands in the beautiful and vast Pacific Ocean. I'd been hoarding this island in my chocolate vault -- so I could bring it out and enjoy it, in the depths of the California winter. Don't laugh, we really do have winter here.

Biting into his molded, milk chocolate island from Maui Specialty Chocolates (Kahului, HI) yielded a hard snap. The texture was smooth, and not bad for a molded chocolate. Aloha.

Today was Day #4 of Chocolate and Hawaii/Islands Theme Week.

ChocolateBet: February 6, 2012

Chocolate of the Day:

Vosges Haut Chocolat
Blush caramel
Good+ - Very Good
Weight: .15 oz. (4.25 g.)/ 5.4 oz. (152.8 g.) total 18-pc. assortment box (estimate)
Calories: 25 calories (estimate) in 1/2 piece
Cost: $29.00 for 18-pc. box
Purchased from: Vosges.com

Today was Day #3 of Chocolate and Hawaii/Islands Theme Week.

I continued to work my way through an exotic caramel assortment box from Vosges (Chicago, IL).

Today's Blush caramel contained Hawaiian red sea salt in the caramel, and the chocolate covering was sprinkled with Li Hing powder -- that provided a pink blush color as well as a slightly tart, fruity taste. These Vosges caramels offer layers of identifiable flavors like (rather than one homogeneous mixture), so that each flavor has a turn to shine for a few seconds.

ChocolateBet: February 5, 2012

Chocolate of the Day: 

Madre Chocolate
Passion Fruit bar
Good + - Very Good
Weight: .5 oz. (14.1 g.) / 1.5 oz. (43 g.) total bar
Calories: 75 calories (estimate)
Cost: $12.00 (estimate)
Purchased from: The Chocolate Garage, in Palo Alto, CA

Today I continued the Hawaii/Islands Theme Week that I started yesterday with a Passion Fruit dark bar from Madre Chocolate (Honolulu, HI).



Made from Big Island Hawai'i cacao beans and passion fruit, the bar had a rich, dark chocolate base, with faint earth and coffee notes, paired with the slightly acidic taste of dried passion fruit bits. It was an interesting mix, perhaps not for everyone; but it grew on me. It was lovely to taste some chocolate grown in Hawaii -- the only U.S. state where (as far as I know) it's possible to grow cacao outdoors.