shokomonk - coconut bars - January 23, 2013

Chocolate of the Day:

shokocrown GmbH
shokomonk bars

1.) kokos bar - 50% chocolate with coconut
Good
Weight: .586 oz. (16.6 g.) / 1.76 oz. (50 g.) in 1 bar
Calories: 88.5 calories in 1/3 bar
Cost: $ N/A - sample from shokomonk
Purchased from: N/A - sample; shokomonk booth, Fancy Food Show, San Francisco, CA

2.) kokos bar - 31% white chocolate with coconut
Good
Weight: .586 oz. (16.6 g.) / 1.76 oz. (50 g.) in 1 bar
Calories: 97 calories in 1/3 bar
Cost: $N/A - sample from shokomonk
Purchased from: N/A - sample; shokomonk booth, Fancy Food Show, San Francisco, CA

Today was Day #9 of Chocolate and Coconut Theme Week. Once again, I'm extending the conventional 7-day week, because chocolate offerings expand beyond time and space -- or at least geography -- in today's shokomonk bars from Germany (adorned with an illustration of a smiling monk). This line may be expanding into the U.S. soon.

A few days ago, I stopped by the shokomonk booth at the Fancy Food Show in San Francisco, CA, and picked up a set of bars to try, including two with coconut. The first bar was a 50% zartbitterschokolade mit kokosflocken (plain chocolate with coconut); the second was a 31% weisse schokolade mit kokos (white chocolate with coconut).

The company's two founders are committed to creating a line of bars that are enjoyable and mobile, and the bars I've had so far were made with higher quality ingredients that many traditional bulk candy and chocolate manufacturers. Both coconut bars had a consistent sweet and crunchy texture. The company uses cacao from Ecuador, according to a company rep.

I don't count white chocolate in my "different chocolate every day" approach on this site; but this second bar was the perfect candy playmate for the plain chocolate version. And, happily, cocoa butter (and not cheaper, substitute fat) was the second ingredient, behind sugar, and ahead of coconut flakes (8%); the bar also contained bourbon vanilla.

Note: these two bars do not contain gluten ingredients, but some of their bars do incorporate glucose syrup that contains wheat.

Heavenly Organics - Chocolate Coconut Honey Pattie - January 22, 2013

Chocolate of the Day:

Heavenly Organics
Honey Pattie - Chocolate Coconut
Good - Good +
Weight: .39 oz. (11 g.) in 1 pattie
Calories: 37 calories in 1 pattie
Cost: $ N/A - sample
Purchased from: N/A - Heavenly Organics booth at Fancy Food Show, San Francisco, CA

Hidden in the back of a massive exhibit hall at the Fancy Food Show in San Francisco, were a few reasons why I created this Chocolate Banquet site.

It was here that I had the opportunity to connect with the good people at Heavenly Organics (Fairfield, IA) to hear their story about how they help honor and support sustainable honey farming in rural India; and also Kelapo Coconut.

Heavenly Organics - Honey stories

I imagined a conversation with new or potential honey suppliers, or harvesters, in India that might go as follows: We will buy from you if you don't burn down the tree containing the bee hives; but rather just carefully slice off the top third of the honeycomb mass (during times of day or night when the bees may be less active), so that the queen bee remains in the hive and honey production will continue.

Every chocolate has a story. And, it's great to hear about "everyone wins" practices from half way around the world.

The Heavenly Organics Honey Pattie line comes in different flavors. (I previously tried mint and almond flavors.) Today, I sampled a small, round Chocolate Coconut pattie, similar in appearance to a dark chocolate covered after-dinner mint with a honey-flavored (no added sugar) coconut center. This dairy free, gluten free, organic chocolate came packaged in a single serving packet size, and was also available in a 1.2 oz. (33 g.) bar format.

Kelapo Coconut

Happily, the next booth over from Heavenly Organics at the show, was Kelapo Coconut/Beneficial Blends (Tampa, FL). I've enjoyed experimenting with adding their coconut sugar (and coconut oil), to make different chocolate truffles and cakes, with good results.

On display in their booth: some chocolate truffles, with a hint of coconut and peppermint with a very nice smooth melt, that had been specially created for the show as an example of treats that can be made with their product. Thank you to the chocolatier who made these for a special cause, and shared them here.

Today was Day #8 of Chocolate and Coconut Theme Week.

Taza Chocolate - Coco Besos - January 21, 2013

Chocolate of the Day:

Taza Chocolate
Coco Besos (Coconut Kisses) bar
Good - Good +
Weight: .375 oz. (10.6 g.) / 3 oz. (85 g.) total bar
Calories: 65 calories in 1/8 bar (2 small squares)
Cost: $ N/A - sample
Purchased from: N/A - Taza Chocolate, Fancy Food Show, San Francisco, CA

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

I was fortunate to find two limited edition, seasonal items from Taza Chocolate (Somerville, MA) today in the Taza booth, at the Fancy Foods Show in San Francisco, CA.

The first item was a Coco Besos (translated from Spanish: Coconut Kisses) bar made for Valentines Day. This organic, 70% stone ground dark bar was studded with tiny bits of organic coconut, and flavored with organic vanilla beans.

Taza is known for their stone ground and organic chocolates. The more rustic texture of stone ground chocolate (larger particle size) can help retain some flavor characteristics and "sparkle" that a heavily conched, very smooth chocolate (with smaller particle size) may no longer possess.

Stone ground chocolate also offers a more substantial texture when melted and used to make a drinking chocolate.

The coconut in this bar was a plus, and well balanced with the chocolate in terms of taste and texture.

The second Taza item was a winter holiday item -- a Spiked Eggnog flavored, stone ground chocolate disc (partitioned into wedges) with the taste of freshly grated nutmeg -- that I found very good. I look forward to featuring this item in the near future.

Thank you to Taza for the information and tasting samples.

Five Star - Ocho Coconut bar - January 20, 2013

Chocolate of the Day:

Five Star Organics LLC
Ocho Candy - Coconut Bar
Good +
Weight: 1.5 oz. (42 g.) in 1 bar
Calories: 210 calories in 1 bar
Cost: $1.99 for 1 bar
Purchased from: SweetE Organic, Mill Valley, CA

Dark chocolate and coconut have long been paired together*. Today's Organic Coconut Bar covered in dark chocolate was slightly different than, but similar to, a Peter Paul Mounds bar (owned by Hershey's) -- a product that debuted around 1920.

In the last several years, chocolatiers such as Five Star Organics LLC, also known as Ocho Candy (Lafayette, CA), have been busy re-making the traditional chocolate candy bar, generally by leaving out artificial colors and flavoring agents, and favoring higher quality ingredients. This Coconut Bar is one of several different organic bars in the company's line-up.

This bar was sweet (from organic sugar), although the smooth, dark chocolate coating helped act as a counterweight to the sweetened coconut center.

Today was Day #6 of Chocolate and Coconut Theme Week.

*Regionally popular (in the Northeast U.S.), Maine Needhams may date back to the 1870s.

Scream Sorbet - Coconut Chocolate sorbet - January 19, 2013

Chocolate of the Day: 

Scream Sorbet
Coconut Chocolate sorbet
Good +
Weight: .1 oz. (2.8 g.) (estimate)
Calories: 10 calories (estimate)
Cost: $N/A - taste
Purchased from: Scream Sorbet, San Francisco Ferry Building, SF, CA

What was better than attending the Good Food Award Winners marketplace tasting, at the SF Ferry Building, this morning?

...Seeing a sign for Scream Sorbet (Oakland, CA), a regular at the Saturday morning farmers market outside at this same location. I've visited the Scream Sorbet storefront in Oakland, with a two coolers in tow, to take various exotic, fresh flavors home. (Hazelnut Chocolate, Fennel Citrus, Lemon Beet, others). Happily, the company also sells (12 oz. containers and cups of sorbet) at farmers markets in the Bay Area.

Flavors listed on the chalkboard for today included Coconut Chocolate, a new one for me. Perfect for Day #5 of Chocolate and Coconut Theme Week.

Since I was on the go today (and far away from a refrigerator or freezer), I settled for a small tasting spoon's worth of lovely, creamy chocolat sorbet flavored with coconut.

As I was savoring this little lump of goodness on my tiny white spoon, others queued up for some cups of sorbet. Some were quite certain they'd received ice cream instead. Easy mistake to make. However, there were no dairy or eggs in this wonderful frozen line.

sweetriot - Dark Chocolate with Coconut bar - January 18, 2013

Chocolate of the Day:

sweetriot, Inc.
Pure 70% Dark Chocolate with Kickin' Coconut bar
Good
Weight: .7 oz. (20 g.) / 3.5 oz. (100 g.) in total bar
Calories: 126 calories in 1/5 bar
Cost: $5.50 total bar
Purchased from: SweetE Organic, Strawberry Village, Mill Valley, CA

Today was Day #4 of Chocolate and Coconut Theme Week.

Sarah and the rioters, of sweetriot (New York, NY), wanted to create a company that would change the world. So, care was taken to support and source fair trade, organic chocolate from Latin America, as well as organic fair trade vanilla extract, and organic dried coconut - a veritable riot of little shreds in each bite of this dark (minimum 70% cocoa solids) bar.

This Kickin' Coconut bar was kosher, vegan, and contained no gluten or dairy ingredients. And, as an added mindful flourish -- bar packaging contained reproductions of original artwork from "emerging artists" (in this case a painting by artist, Claudia Capelle. (See also www.sweetriot.com/art for additional colorful works of art by various artists.)

The bittersweet chocolate tasted much sweeter than 70% (cocoa solids) in part because of the high coconut content (18%). In many cases, dark chocolate will dominate other flavors and inclusions in bars or confections. However, in this case, the coconut riot was swirling around my taste buds.

Theo Chocolate - Toasted Coconut Dark bar - January 17, 2013

Chocolate of the Day:

Theo Chocolate
Toasted Coconut Dark Chocolate bar
Good
Weight: 1 oz. (28 g.) / 3 oz. (84 g.) in 1 bar
Calories: 140 calories in 1/3 bar
Cost: $4.25 for 1 bar
Purchased from: SweetE Organics, Strawberry Village, Mill Valley, CA

Today was Day #3 of Chocolate and Coconut Theme Week. I was delighted to find three different coconut bars at a new shop (SweetE Organic) in Marin County, while on a Bay Walk recently. I'm always happy to see more options for organic, fair trade and gluten-free treats.

Today's chocolate was a Toasted Coconut dark chocolate bar from Theo Chocolate (Seattle, WA). Theo helped pioneer organic, fair trade, bean-to-bar chocolate making in the U.S. and they offer a line of different bars with inclusions (like coconut, or cacao nibs), made with beans from Peru, Ecuador and the Democratic Republic of Congo. And, if you'd like to know more about their story and making chocolate -- and you live in the Seattle area -- you can sign up for Theo Chocolate University* courses.

*Note: Chocolate Universities are popping up all over, a sign of renewed, and increased interest in chocolate making and fine chocolate, over the past decade. Related sites include Chocolate University Online; the Hershey's sponsored  All Chocolate site; and Askinosie Chocolate University, (.org) designed to benefit children near the Askinosie factory.

I liked today's Toasted Coconut, dark (70% cacao) bar, but it had a slightly bitter aftertaste. The small pieces of toasted coconut in the bar were very pleasing (almost sesame seed-like in size, texture and flavor), and the bar was not heavily sweetened (which I generally prefer). Not wanting to add more sweetener (although I contemplated trying a bit of coconut palm sugar), I neutralized the "bitter" taste by eating this chocolate with a tiny pinch of sea salt -- and imagined myself on a sunny tropical white sand beach with salty sea air and coconut trees (instead of sitting in front of a digital hearth (laptop) on a cold winter day). Then, all was well. 

Digression about Taste Buds, Bitter Flavors
The tongue is like a painter's palette -- with our "colors" being our taste receptors for sweet, salty, sour, bitter, umami, etc. The right mixture of colors and textures will create a painting that is pleasing to the eye; but just as preferences for art will vary, so will tastes in food, drink and chocolate.

Most people are sensitive to bitter flavors. Bitter substances such as tannins (in red wine), or hops (in beer), or certain compounds in chocolate, help balance out sweet or fruity flavors, or round out a tasting experience. Others, particularly "super tasters" may not care for bitter flavors in general. Does this help explain why some people don't like dark chocolate? Perhaps. But, I've had 90%+ cacao bars that were surprisingly mellow; so the cacao beans, and how beans are fermented, roasted and turned into chocolate play a role in the final product as well.

What one eats before or with chocolate can also affect the tasting experience. A garlic pasta, or strong cheese, can shift flavors of other foods, as could a wine. In this case, I sampled this bar with only water -- and, later, salt.