Ghirardelli Chocolate - Cherry Tango bar - Aug. 12, 2015

Chocolate of the Day:

Ghirardelli Chocolate Company
Cherry Tango bar
Good - Good +
Weight: 1.75 oz. (50 g.) / 3.5 oz. (100 g.) in total bar
Calories: 225 calories (estimate based on label) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $3.49 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Walgreens, Mountain View, CA

Welcome to was Day #8 of Chocolate, Fruits and Nuts Theme Week at Chocolate Banquet -- where the definition of a week is an elastic concept. A "chocolate week" here often stretches from 7 to as many as 14 days (and chocolates). I appreciate chocolate, and life in general. I am truly grateful to have access to so many different chocolates, including quite a few with fruit and nuts.

Today's Cherry Tango bar from Ghirardelli Chocolate Company (San Leandro, CA) was part of the company's "Intense Dark" bar series. If you're wary about deep dark or bitter chocolate, don't let the phrase "Intense Dark" scare you; this Ghirardelli semisweet chocolate bar was quite mellow and a bit of added cocoa butter added to the smoothness.

This Cherry Tango bar was studded with tiny almond chips, and had a uniform cherry flavor (dried cherries and "natural flavors"), that reminded me of sweet cherry chocolate candies that had whispers of vanilla and a subtle marzipan/almond extract flavor notes. I have fond childhood memories of these cherry chocolate confections, and this bar evoked some of those memories. The bar was a bit on the sweet side, but not overly so.

Clif Bar - Dark Chocolate Cherry Almond - Aug. 11, 2015

Chocolate of the Day: 

Clif Bar and Company
Dark Chocolate Cherry Almond bar
Good
Weight: 1.41 oz. (40 g.) in 1 bar
Calories: 180 calories in 1 bar
Cost: $2.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: REI, San Carlos, CA

In 1990, the Clif Bar, from Clif Bar and Company (Emeryville, CA) was a relatively early entrant into the world of trail mix or energy-type bars for active, outdoor folk.

However, they weren't always gluten-free. The organic and fruit and nut trail mix bars were introduced a few years ago; and happily, I found two gluten-free fruit and nut Clif bars. One even had chocolate.

Both trail mix Clif Bars were individually wrapped. The first one, a Wild Blueberry Almond Mojo Fruit and Nut bar (part of a box of bars I bought) contained no chocolate. The second, individual bar was a Dark Chocolate Cherry Almond Organic Trail Mix Bar. (Today was a transition day from blueberries to cherries as a "featured" fruit this week.)

Both bars were pleasantly chewy and substantial with an even distribution of crunchy nut and sweet fruit flavor. They were medium sweet, i.e. not overly sweet (and slightly lower on the glycemic index than many cereal or trail mix bars). The Dark Chocolate Cherry Almond bar contained both almonds and cashews, and contained organic, dried cherry pieces. And small chunks of dark chocolate "richened" up the flavor.

Today was Day #7 of Chocolate, Fruits and Nuts Theme Weeks, although I have several more items that combine these three items, so expect a few more in the next few days.

Living Intentions - Gone Nuts! Cacao Clusters with Almonds, Blueberries - Aug. 10, 2015

Chocolate of the Day: 

Living Intentions
Gone Nuts!
(Clusters of Cacao - Almonds, Raisins, Blueberries and Coconut)
Good
Weight: 3 oz. (85 g.) in total package
Calories: 400 calories (estimate) in 1 package
Cost: $5.95 (estimate) for 1 package
Purchased from: Safeway, American Canyon, CA

Today was Day #6 of Chocolate, Fruits and Nuts Theme Week, and today's snack (with all three of these components) was Gone Nuts! Clusters of Cacao with Almonds, Raisins, Blueberries and Coconut from Living Intentions (Point Richmond, CA).

My favorite thing about this raw food snack was that it was not too sweet. Crunchy raw almonds were covered with a light coating of cacao, and a bit of coconut, raisin and blueberry.

Mamma Chia - Blueberry and Dark Chocolate Bar - Aug. 9, 2015

Chocolate of the Day: 

Mamma Chia
Blueberry and Dark Chocolate Bar
Good
Weight: 1.41 oz. (40 g.) in total bar
Calories: 180 calories in 1 bar
Cost: $1.79 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Safeway, Palo Alto, CA

Today was Day #5 of Chocolate, Fruits and Nuts Theme Week; and I enjoyed a Blueberry and Dark Chocolate bar from Mamma Chia (Carlsbad, CA).

Mamma Chia focuses on producing high-quality, organic chia-based food and beverages. (Their tagline is "Seed Your Soul.") The first Mamma Chia product that caught my eye a few years ago was a striking-looking bottled beverage -- I believe it was a juice blend with chia seeds.

This bar was moist (without being messy) and chewy with lots of authentic blueberry flavor. Certified organic, this bar was also gluten-free and non-GMO. A layer of dark chocolate coated the underside of the bar. It was a bit sweet for my taste, but had a nice, substantial taste and texture without being too heavy or relying on lots of additives.

Endangered Species - Dark Chocolate Cranberries and Almonds bar - Aug. 8, 2015

Chocolate of the Day: 

Endangered Species Chocolate
Dark Chocolate with Cranberries and Almonds bar
Good - Good +
Weight: 1.2 oz. (34 g.) / 3 oz. (85 g.) in 1 bar
Calories: 168 calories (per label) in 2/5 bar
Cost: $4.99 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Walgreens, Los Altos, CA

Welcome to Day #4 of Chocolate, Fruits and Nuts Theme Week.

Today's chocolate was a 72% cocoa Dark Chocolate with Cranberries & Almonds bar from Endangered Species Chocolate (Indianapolis, IN).

This bittersweet dark bar had a slightly spicy, roasted cocoa aroma, and contained small chips of roasted almonds and sweetened cranberries. It was Gluten Free Certified, Non GMO Verified and Certified Vegan.

Endangered Species buys cocoa beans from relatively small farms and properties, and is Rainforest Alliance Certified.

The company also donates 10 percent of their net profits to organizations that support species conservation, habitat preservation and humanitarian efforts. Bar wrappers feature animals in need of protection or preservation and details about their plight. Packaging on this bar contained a haunting cut-away photo of the eyes of a Gray Wolf.

Chocolat Stella - Baobab Fruit bar - Aug. 7, 2015

Chocolate of the Day:

Chocolat Stella
Noir 60% cacao Dark Baobab Fruit (bar)
Good +
Weight: 1.75 oz. (50 g.) / 3.5 oz. (100 g.) in total bar
Calories: 280 calories (estimate per label)
Cost: $7.75 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocolate Maya, Santa Barbara, CA

Today was Day #3 of Chocolate, Fruits and Nuts Theme Week.

Baobab trees (genus Adansonia) can be found in Africa, Madagascar, as well as the Arabian peninsula and Australia. Their oddly thick trunks seem to bulge out and up, piercing the tropical sky with their clump of root-like foliage at the top. (Their unique build earned them the nickname the "upside down" tree.)

I was intrigued when I saw this Organic and Fair, Baobab Fruit bar from Chocolat Stella (Switzerland), at a shop in Santa Barbara, CA, recently. It is one of a half dozen Organic bars made by this company (part of Chocolate Bernrain). (The bar label stated: "All ingredients are from organic farming.")

The green-skinned, oval-shaped fruits from the Baobab tree are filled with seeds and light-colored fruit (that looks a bit like the ivory-colored pulp/fruit surrounding the seeds or beans in cacao fruit). Baobab fruit is reputed to be very nutritious (another "super" food). I'd never tried Baobab fruit before -- by itself or embedded in chocolate. So this bar was a great opportunity to try something new.

The bar had a light cocoa + fruit aroma. The texture and flavor were smooth and uniform. There was a bright tart fruitiness throughout, but no discernible fruit pieces in the bar. (Baobab fruit powder was used to achieve the uniformity of fruit flavor.)

There was also a bit of vanilla in this bar. Since I don't know what this fruit tastes like when it's freshly harvested, I can't tell you what influence the vanilla might have had on the fruit flavor, but I couldn't taste any vanilla. This led me to think that the fruit must have a relatively bold sweet and tart flavor.

Hu Kitchen - Crunchy Fig Chocolate Bar - Aug. 6, 2015

Chocolate of the Day: 

Hu Kitchen
Crunchy Fig Chocolate Bar
Good +
Weight: 1.05 oz. (29.7 g.) 2.1 oz. (59.43 g.) in 1 bar
Calories: 150 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $ Lost info.
Purchased from: Country Sun Natural Foods, Palo Alto, CA

Today was Day #2 of Chocolate, Fruits and Nuts Theme Week.

This Crunchy Fig Chocolate Bar from Hu Kitchen (Brooklyn, NY) was a tasty blend of crunchy (almonds), chewy (organic figs), and rich, smooth, slightly earthy dark chocolate (72% cacao).

Hu Kitchen's motto is to use plain, simple fresh ingredients -- to "get back to the way humans ate before industry ruined food." Strong words, but appealing to people seeking less processed, and healthier and tastier food options.

Designed to be paleo and vegan diet-friendly, this dark fig and nut bar was not overly sweet (no refined or cane sugar, just organic coconut sugar and figs) -- which I liked. And it was made without gluten, soy (lecithin) or other emulsifiers.