Monique's - Fleur de Sel Caramels - November 24, 2012

Chocolate of the Day:

Monique's Chocolates
Salt/Fleur de Sel Caramels
Good+
Weight: .78 oz. (22 g.) (estimate) for 2 pieces
Calories: 116 calories (estimate) in 2 pieces
Cost: $2.00 each (estimate)
Purchased from: Monique's Chocolates, Palo Alto, CA

Today was Day #7 of Chocolate and Sea Salt Theme Week, and Day #1 of Chocolate and Caramel Theme Week. In the last several years, there has been an increase in the number of chocolates and caramels with salts from every corner of the globe.

Today's salted caramels from Monique's Chocolates (Palo Alto, CA) were substantial, chewy gems, topped with just the right amount of coarsely ground salt crystals for added taste and texture.

I bought a few of these caramels "to go." They were cleverly packed in a small, customized Chinese restaurant-style take-out container.

World Market - Sweet Curry and Salt bar - November 23, 2012

Chocolate of the Day:

World Market/Cost Plus
Milk Chocolate Indian Sweet Curry with Pink Himalayan Sea Salt bar
Good+
Weight: .75 oz. (2 g.) / 3 oz. (85 g.) in 1 bar
Calories: 114 calories (estimate) in 1/4 bar
Cost: $2.99 (estimate) in 1 bar
Purchased from: World Market/Cost Plus, Reno, NV

Today was Day #6 of Chocolate and Sea Salt Day. Most of this week has been dedicated to World Market's exotic collection of chocolate bars with sea salt. Today's Milk Chocolate Indian Curry bar was a rich, roller coaster ride of a tasting experience, alternating between sweet milk chocolate, Indian spices and sea salt.

I shared this bar on a hike today and it disappeared quickly, before I had a chance to photograph the unwrapped chocolate bar. Ah well, that occasionally happens with chocolate. 

World Market - Ginger Wasabi and Lime Salt bars - November 22, 2012

Chocolate(s) of the Day:

World Market/Cost Plus
1.) Dark Chocolate Ginger Wasabi with Mediterranean Sea Salt bar
Good
Weight: .75 oz. (21.25 g.) / 3 oz. (85 g.) total bar
Calories: 110 calories in 1/4 bar
Cost: $2.99 (estimate) for 1 bar
Purchased from: World Market/Cost Plus, in Reno, NV

2.) White Chocolate Key Lime with Bolivian Rose Sea Salt bar
Good
Weight: .75 oz. (21.25 g.) / 3 oz. (85 g.) total bar
Calories: 113 calories (estimate) in 1/4 bar
Cost: $2.99 (estimate) in 1 bar
Purchased from: World Market/Cost Plus, in Renio, NV

To all those living in the U.S., a very Happy Thanksgiving Day -- the annual occasion to give thanks and enjoy lots of good food and drink. The feasting started early with our family crowd. However, I did find time to sample two more bars from World Market's exotic sea salt collection.


First was a Dark Chocolate bar flavored with bursts of wasabi heat, and slight hints of ginger, punctuated by small flare-ups of Mediterranean sea salt. This was a somewhat uneven bar, but interesting and worth trying for the fun of it. I shared this bar with a few family members. My sister liked it because she liked wasabi, but not ginger (and the ginger was less strong).

The second, white chocolate, bar was flavored with tiny bursts of key lime and lighter touches of salt. My young niece liked this bar, as a lighter alternative to dark chocolate.

Thank you to tasting help from the DeBra's, and other extended family members.

Today was Day #5 of Chocolate and Sea Salt Theme Week.

World Market - Tellicherry Pepper and Salt bar - November 21, 2012

Chocolate of the Day:

World Market/Cost Plus
Dark Chocolate Cracked Tellicherry Pepper with Brazilian Coast Sea Salt (bar)
Very Good
Weight: 1.5 oz. (42.5 g.)/ 3 oz. (85 g.) in total bar
Calories: 210 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $2.99 (estimate) in 1 bar
Purchased from: World Market/Cost Plus, in Reno, NV

Salt and pepper bars can be surprisingly good. Today's World Market (Oakland, CA) dark chocolate bar contained little grenade bursts of flavorful, black Tellicherry peppercorn pieces, that harmonized with an overall Brazilian sea salt palette. Both salt and pepper stood out nicely against the dark chocolate base. The bar was optimally thin to exposure the most flavor while tasting.

Today was Day #4 of Chocolate and Sea Salt Theme Week.

World Market - Strawberry Salt bar - November 20, 2012

Chocolate of the Day:

World Market/Cost Plus
Dark Chocolate with Dried Strawberry Bits with Pink Himalayan Sea Salt bar
Good
Weight: .75 oz. (21.25 g.) / 3 oz. (85 g.) total bar
Calories: 113 calories in 1/4 bar
Cost: $2.99 (estimate) for 1 bar
Purchased from: World Market/Cost Plus, Reno, NV

Today was Day #3 of Chocolate and Sea Salt Theme Week.

When I visited the World Market/Cost Plus store in Reno, NV, several weeks ago, they had a new, attractively packaged, "exotic collection" of chocolate bars with different flavors and sea salts from different parts of the world. I'll be featuring some of these bars this week.

I liked the flavor pairing in today's bar -- dark chocolate, freeze dried strawberry bits and Himalayan sea salt. However, the two squares I tasted were almost too salty. It's been my experience that salt can sometimes be unevenly distributed in similar bars. I'll be curious to see if this is an issue with the other bars in this line.

Vosges - Mash Bill Collection - November 19, 2012

Chocolate(s) of the Day:

Vosges Haut Chocolat
1.) Bourbon Truffle - Good
2.) Whiskey Truffle - Very Good
3.) Scotch Truffle - Good
Weight: 1.13 oz. (32.3 g.) / 3.42 oz. (97 g.) in 9-piece box
Calories: 157 calories for 3 truffles
Cost: $26.00 for total 9-piece box
Purchased from: Vosges.com, Chicago, IL

Today was Day #2 of Chocolate and Sea Salt Theme Week. Some chocolates are decorated with a visible dash of salt crystals. Other chocolates, like some of today's, contain just a trace, or can benefit from a tiny dash of tasting salt on the side.

The ingredients list printed on the Mash Bill Truffle Collection from Vosges Haut Chocolat (Chicago, IL), contained sea salt as an ingredient, but it was unclear which of the four* flavored truffles contained salt; it was very subtle. No matter. I found a pinch of (additional) sea salt was especially good with the deep milk chocolate (45%) Four Roses Single Barrel Bourbon Truffle that was topped with finely chopped pecan bits.


My favorite of the three truffles I tried was the dark chocolate (62% cacao) Templeton Rye Whiskey Truffle with tart cherry (which I particularly liked) and tobacco. The whiskey also harmonized well with the dark chocolate ganache.

The deep milk (45%) Bruichladdich Port Charlotte Scotch truffle contained traces of coconut, cocoa nib caramel and pineapple, a bold combinations of flavors.

* Note: I did not sample the Rogue Chocolate Stout Truffle, the fourth in this collection, due to concerns about possible wheat/gluten.

Fruition Chocolate - Milk Fleur de Sel bar - November 18, 2012

Chocolate of the Day:

Fruition Chocolate
Dark Milk Chocolate with Fleur de Sel (bar)
Good + - Very Good
Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) / 2.11 oz. (60 g.) total bar
Calories: 150 calories (estimate) in 1 oz. (28.3 g.) serving
Cost: $6.67 (approximate subscription cost per bar)
Purchased from: Standard Cocoa, New York, NY

Today's chocolate was a Dark Milk Chocolate bar with Fleur de Sel from bean-to-bar maker, Fruition Chocolate (Shokan, NY). This dark milk (56%) bar, made from Peru cacao, was a good choice for Day #7 of Chocolate and Peru Theme Week, and Day #1 of Chocolate and Sea Salt Theme Week.

The fleur de sel (salt), and perhaps the whole milk powder, in this bar seemed to nicely soften out or balance some of the acidity I've tasted in other Fruition chocolate bars.

Acidity is a very general term. Some is needed to make fine chocolate interesting, but a high acid level can overwhelm other natural flavor notes. Like many craft or artisan foods and beverages, especially where fermentation and drying and/or roasting processes have occurred, care must be taken; and many wonderful, and occasionally surprising, results are possible. Combine chocolates with other complex food and drink, and you multiply the possibility of interesting interactions.

Thankfully, Bryan Graham, the force behind the small batch workshop in the Catskill Mountains of New York that is Fruition Chocolate, pays attention to slow roasting and stone grinding of small batches of beans. While other notes may occasionally take a back seat when milk and salt are added, this bar is well balanced.