Stirs the Soul - Maca Chocolate bar - Feb. 28, 2015

Chocolate of the Day: 

Stirs the Soul
Maca Chocolate bar
Good
Weight: .33 oz. (9.3 g.) / 1 oz. (28 g.) in total bar
Calories: 50 calories (estimate) in 1/3 bar
Cost: $3.99 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Country Sun Natural Foods, Palo Alto, CA

Today was the final day (Day #7) of Chocolate and Maca Theme Week.

The chocolate-maker(s) at Stirs the Soul (Portland, OR) pride themselves on "Conscious Raw" bean-to-bar* chocolate. This Maca bar was crafted with "fairly traded, sustainably grown and allergy compassionate" cacao, added cocoa butter (for a more silken melt and mouthfeel), and lightly sweetened with coconut palm sugar.

Raw chocolate made and sweetened this way lacks the hard sugar buzz of conventional, commercial chocolate. While it may lack some of the roasted and fruity notes (depending on the beans used) found in some other bean-to-bar craft chocolate (made with roasted beans), it also may have a smoother flavor for some.

This bar was made and packaged in a dairy, egg, peanut, tree-nut (except coconut), soy and gluten-free facility.

*The company stone-grinds their own cocoa beans, and chocolate is made keeping temperatures below 111 degrees Farenheit (43.8 degrees Celsius). 

Pascha - 55% Cacao with Goldenberries bar - Feb. 27, 2015

Chocolate of the Day: 

Pascha Chocolate Company
55% Cacao with Goldenberries bar
Good
Weight: 1.17 oz. (33.3 g.) / 3.5 oz. (100 g.) in total bar
Calories: 185 (estimate) calories in 1/3 bar
Cost: $3.99 (estimate) for 1 bar
Purchased from: Grocery Outlet Bargain Market, Palo Alto, CA

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

Maca is from South America, and today I stuck with an Andean theme by pairing a 55% Cacao with Goldenberries bar from Pascha Chocolate Company (Toronto, Canada) with maca powder.

The sweet, organic bar base (a product of Peru, made for Pascha) was a good complement for the sprinkle of golden berries (think of a cross between golden raisins and a tart berry) that were on the back of this dark bar.

I also blended melted shavings from this bar (without berries) with a small spoonful of TerrAmazon organic maca powder and hazelnut "milk" to make my own version of organic, maca chocolate milk.

A small amount of maca will do. The powder was a warm beige color, and had a very subtle maple-sweetness (some say butterscotch) with a very slight radish/parsnip aroma. The nuttiness in the hazelnut milk rounded this out nicely. The combination made an interesting slightly fruity, nutty, earthy and rich chocolatey drink. Add a scoop of organic vanilla ice cream in a blender, and a little fresh nutmeg, and you'd have an interesting milkshake.

The Pascha bar was Organic and Non-GMO certified, Kosher, and "free from peanuts, nuts, dairy, soy, eggs, wheat and gluten."

Gaia Herbs - Maca Boost smoothie - Feb. 26, 2015

Chocolate of the Day: 

Gaia Herbs
Maca Boost
Good
Weight: .125 oz. (3.5 g.) / .25 oz. (7 g.) in total packet
Calories: 13 calories in 1/2 packet
Cost: $1.29 for 1 packet
Purchased from: Whole Foods Market, Los Altos, CA

Today was Day #5 of Chocolate and Maca Theme Week.

I used this Maca Boost powder from Gaia Herbs (Brevard, NC) in a blueberry, strawberry, kale and coconut milk smoothie. It doesn't have to be this complicated. A bit of this powder in your chocolate milkshake or simple chocolate smoothie would probably be just fine as well.

This organic, unsweetened Maca Boost powder contained cacao, Peruvian maca root, ginger and rhodiola*.

*Golden Root or Rhodiola rosea is a flowering plant that grows in the Arctic and colder regions of Europe and Russia that is used by some as a "tonic herb."

Sequel Naturals - Vega Maca chocolate bar - Feb. 25, 2015

Chocolate of the Day:

Sequel Naturals Ltd.
Vega - Organic Maca Chocolate bar
Good
Weight: .7 oz. (20 g.) / 1.4 oz. (40 g.) in total bar
Calories: 107.5 calories in 1 bar
Cost: $2.09 for 1/2 bar
Purchased from: Whole Foods Market, Los Altos, CA

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

This gluten-free dark chocolate bar was a blend of organic 70% cocoa and Vega maca.

Distributed by Sequel Naturals Ltd. (Burnaby, BC, Canada), the bar had a subtle chocolate aroma, was sleek and shiny, lightly sweetened, and had a pleasant maca butterscotch-maple flavor and a very faint coffee note. (There was no coffee in this bar).

A bit of added cocoa butter gave the bar a relatively smooth melt.

This Vega bar was also certified vegan, organic and Non-GMO.

Lulu's Chocolate - Maca Buttercups - Feb. 24, 2015

Chocolate of the Day: 

Lulu's Chocolate
Maca Buttercups
Good
Weight: 1.3 oz. (37 g.) in 1 package of 2 cups
Calories: 192 calories in 2 cups
Cost: $5.59 for 1 package of 2 cups
Purchased from: Country Sun

Today was Day #3 of Chocolate and Maca Theme Week.

One of the best things about these Maca Buttercups from Lulu's Chocolate (Sedona, AZ) -- was the filling.

Maca powder was incorporated into a base of sprouted, ground almond butter, and judiciously sweetened with coconut palm sugar -- a great, lower glycemic sweetener. (It's pleasantly sweet, without the hard buzz of processed sugar.)

Covered in raw chocolate, these cups were vegan, soy-free, fair trade and gluten-free.

Earthsource Maca bite; Pacari bar - Feb. 23, 2015

Chocolate(s) of the Day:

Earthsource Organics
Maca - Cacao and Maca, Bite Size
OK
Weight: .26 oz. (7.4 g.) / 35 oz. (9.9 g.) (estimate) in 1 piece
Calories: 39 calories (estimate) in 3/4 piece
Cost: $1.29 for 1 individually wrapped piece
Purchased from: Country Sun Natural Foods, Palo Alto, CA

Today was Day #2 of Chocolate and Maca Theme Week.

My first pick for the day was the individually-wrapped, bite-sized "Righteously Raw" Maca square from Earthsource Organics (San Diego, CA). Certified Organic and Non-GMO, this chocolate contained cocoa butter, maca powder, mesquite powder, vanilla bean powder and salt... but no cocoa solids, from what I could tell. Since I only "count" items that also contain cocoa solids for my Chocolate of the Day, I added a second chocolate, from Pacari Chocolate (Quito, Ecuador).

Pacari Chocolate
Raw Sea Salt and Nibs 70% Cacao bar
Good - Good +
Weight: .5 oz. (14.1 g.) piece / 1.76 oz. (50 g.) total bar
Calories: 75 calories (estimate) for .5 oz. (14.1 g.) piece
Cost: N/A - sample
Purchased from: N/A - sample

Ecuadorian cacao can have wonderful floral flavor notes. I especially like Pacari Raw (and roasted) bars for this flavor. Pacari claims they are the first company to make chocolate from tree to bar, in Ecuador. (Most cacao is grown in one country and the fermented beans or liquor (mass) is shipped to another country for manufacturing.) Making chocolate "in country" offers more control over the process, and development/preservation of certain flavors.

Floral flavors are not for everyone, and also can be fairly volatile, i.e. easily lost as cacao is being processed, heated, and made into bars. Today's Raw Sea Salt and Nibs 70% Cacao bar was smooth and flavorful with lovely floral notes intact. This organic, kosher and gluten free bar was a World Chocolate Awards 2012 Silver winner.

Pacari offers a series of bars and chocolate items, made with raw, and some with roasted cacao (almost exclusively from Ecuador*). I would have written about the Pacari 70% Raw cacao bar with Maca -- for Maca theme week this week -- but I already featured this Maca bar last year.


*Pacari has/had one bar made with cacao beans from next door neighbor Peru, and the company incorporates Cuzco salt, Maca and other ingredients from the larger Andean region in their Andean flavors collection.

ChocolaTree - Maca Maca - Feb. 22, 2015

Chocolate(s) of the Day: 

ChocolaTree

Maca Maca
Good+
Weight: .7 oz. (19.8 g.) (estimate) for 2 pieces
Calories: 112 calories (estimate) in 2 pieces
Cost: $4.44 for 2 pieces
Purchased from: ChocolaTree, Sedona, AZ

Today was Day #1 of Chocolate and Maca Theme Week.

What is Maca?
Maca is a from a plant (Lepidium meyenii), from the Andes in Peru, that has been cultivated as a vegetable crop for thousands of years. It looks (and smells) a bit like a large butterscotch radish. It's also known as "Peruvian Ginseng," and is used medicinally. The slightly nutty, sweet flavor lends itself well to desserts and in combination with chocolates.

I've found enough chocolate items that contain maca lately that I'm devoting a theme week to it.

The ChocolaTree cafe and marketplace ("organic oasis") (Sedona, AZ) offered several chocolates on-site, including some that contained maca, honey, lucuma, mushrooms, and other "health foods." Most intriguing was the "The Chocolate Room" door that we passed on the way to the backyard patio. I knew I must be in the right place.

ChocolaTree's Maca Maca, a faceted dome-shaped chocolate -- was filled with golden creamy filling and the soft nutty texture and flavor of a macadamia nut (the other "maca" in Maca Maca). This sunny center was lightly sweetened with honey, and contained a hint of vanilla.

I also enjoyed sampling two other ChocolaTree chocolates: a Caramel Macchiato (with chocolate, honey, coffee and lucuma); and a "Treasure" chocolate that contained mushrooms. Perhaps I'll get the opportunity to go back and taste more of these chocolates in the future.

ChocolaTree chocolates are made using raw chocolate, and without processed sugar. From what I could see, all of the items in the cafe and chocolates were gluten free. Heaven for me.