Carre2 Chocolat - Aragua Venezuela bar - Sept. 11, 2015

Chocolate of the Day:

Carre2 Chocolat
Aragua Venezuela 78 percent bar
Good ++
Weight: .626 oz. (17.7 g.) / 2.82 oz. (80 g.) in total bar
Calories: 94 calories (estimate) in 2/9 bar
Cost: $18.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: CocoaBella Chocolates, San Francisco, CA

Welcome to Day #10 of Chocolate and Venezuela Theme Week.

Today was another delicious milestone in the Chocolate Banquet journey. I had a birthday. But, more important, today marked nine years that I've been eating a different chocolate every day.

And enjoying a series of single origin bars from Venezuela this week has been an excellent way to celebrate my ninth year of chocolate.

This Limited Edition Aragua 78% bar made by Pierre Marcolini (Brussels, Belgium) was sold as an exclusive for/at CocoaBella Chocolates, located in Westfield San Francisco (Shopping) Centre* (San Francisco, CA).

This bar had a pleasing flavor and thick, but smooth melt (likely influenced by amount/type of soy lecithin and cocoa butter). The "fat" seemed to obscure the full impact of the potential flavors, but it could have been that the "fatter" mouth feel was the right way to go for this particular batch. It might have balanced out other flavor elements or because they wanted a richer melt. I wasn't there tasting the beans, so I don't want to second guess the chocolate maker.

Aragua is a state (estado) in Venezuela. And the Criollo Primitif (heritage?) cacao beans came from Hacienda Chuao. It is: "Chocolat Puissant, Fraicheur Acidulee et Fruitee."

Chuao is a small, relatively inaccessible village in the northern coastal range in Venezuela, known for its cacao plantations. One can't drive there; access is by boat or by foot.

*CocoaBella Chocolates has a second location, further south, in Westfield Valley Fair shopping center, Santa Clara, CA.

The content and images on this post belong to ChocolateBanquet.com.

Cacao de Origen - Trinidad 74 percent bar - Sept. 10, 2015

Chocolate of the Day: 

Cacao de Origen
Trinidad 74 percent Miranda - Venezuela bar
Good+
Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) / 1.94 oz. (55 g.) in total package of 2 bars
Calories: 150 calories (estimate) for 1 package of 2 bars
Cost: $14.00 (estimate) for 1 package (2 bars)
Purchased from: The Chocolate Garage, Palo Alto, CA

Today was Day #9 of Chocolate and Venezuela Theme Week.

Today's Trinidad 74% cacao bar from Cacao de Origen (Hacienda La Trinidad, Caracas, Venezuela), was crafted with cacao beans from Hacienda Trinidad, grown in the northern coastal mountains of Miranda, Venezuela.

The thin bar (one of two in a sealed silver package), enabled easy access to flavors when tasting. This chocolate was smooth and full of flavor -- very faint green vegetation and floral notes, tart citrus acidity, and smooth earth flavor notes, and a smooth, full-bodied lingering finish.

The content and images on this post belong to ChocolateBanquet.com.

Cacao de Origen - Sur del Lago 75 percent bar - Sept. 9, 2015

Chocolate of the Day: 

Cacao de Origen
Sur del Lago 75 percent bar
Very Good - Very Good +
Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) / 1.94 oz. (55 g.) in total bar
Calories: 150 calories (estimate) in 1 oz. of bar
Cost: $14.00 (estimate) for 1 bar
Purchased from: The Chocolate Garage, Palo Alto, CA

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


Cacao de Origin is, according to the company's website, "an idea, a project, a dream, a reality." It's also a collaboration, laboratory and store where farmers and chocolate makers (and chefs) interact and where some great chocolate is made.


Maria Fernanda Di Giacobbe and Bernardo Machado at Cacao De Origen are passionate about making great chocolate from Venezuelan cacao and bringing the industry back to prominence. (The Venezuelan cacao industry was overshadowed back in the 1930s when oil was discovered in the country.)

Chloe Doutre-Roussel, based in France, has supported chocolate makers in several countries. She visited the Bay Area in 2014, with Maria Fernanda and Bernardo. And I was fortunate to meet all three there. Here is a link to a presentation they made at The Chocolate Garage (in Palo Alto, CA) about another Cacao De Origen bar made from Venezuelan cacao -- a  Macuare origin bar.

Today's Sur del Lago ("South of the Lake*") 75% cacao bar (actually two thin bars that I broke into pieces to share) was excellent -- a well-balanced bar uniformly full of tart red fruit, light leather, deep cocoa flavors, with no off-notes. It was made with cacao from Merida, Venezuela, as a Cacao de Origen limited edition bar (at Hacienda La Trinidad, Caracas, Venezuela).

*Refers to a cacao growing region south of Lake Maracaibo in Western Venezuela. It may be hard to see, but the Sur del Lago area is highlighted on today's bar (appearing as a small field of green dots on the front of the label).

The content and images on this post belong to ChocolateBanquet.com.

Rogue - Porcelana 80 percent bar - Sept. 8, 2015

Chocolate of the Day: 

Rogue Chocolatier Inc.
Porcelana 80 percent bar
Good ++
Weight: 1.06 oz. (30 g.) / 2.12 oz. (60 g.) in 1 bar
Calories: 159 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $16.00 (estimate) for 1 bar
Purchased from: The Chocolate Garage, Palo Alto, CA

Today was Day #7 of Chocolate and Venezuela Theme Week. Chocolate for breakfast, again.

Porcelana is a relatively rare type of Criollo* cacao that hails from the region near (south of) Lake Maracaibo in Venezuela. Today's 80 percent bar from Rogue Chocolatier (Three Rivers, MA) was crafted from Porcelana cacao from the El Chama** Estate in Venezuela.

This Porcelana bar was made with just two ingredients: cacao (80%) and organic cane sugar (20%) from the Green Cane Project in Brazil.

Eighty plus percent bars can be tricky, as there is not as much sugar to accentuate a fruity zing or balance out bitterness or other various attributes. The cacao flavors are present in their more raw, unadulterated state. This bar had a slight earthiness to it, that is sometimes present with higher percentage bars.

As with yesterday's very fine Carenero 70% bar -- also from Rogue Chocolatier -- chocolates can be outstanding for what they include, and others for what they leave out. In addition to a lower sugar content, there was "no soy, wheat, nuts, (or) dairy" in this Porcelana bar.

Colin Gasko, founder and head chocolate maker at Rogue, works directly with farmers and when searching for the finest cacao he can locate, he selects cacao that are "delicious and ethical" to make his single origin bars. As with many smaller bean-to-bar makers, he works to bring out "unique flavors from the best cacao to be found." As a result, his bars are some of the best in the U.S.

*Criollo is a type of cacao associated with more flavorful, heritage varieties, and is prized as a fine flavor cacao for chocolate making. As with any cacao beans, careful fermentation and handling will determine whether these flavors make it to a chocolate bar.

**The Rio Chama (or El Chama) is one of the main rivers running through the state of Merida in Venezuela; and after running through cacao growing regions, it eventually empties into Lake Maracaibo.

The content and images on this post belong to ChocolateBanquet.com.

Rogue - Carenero 70 percent bar - Sept. 7, 2015

Chocolate of the Day: 

Rogue Chocolatier Inc.
Carenero 70 percent bar
Very Good
Weight: 1.59 oz. (45 g.) / 2.12 oz. (60 g.) in total bar
Calories: 238 calories in 3/4 bar
Cost: $16.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: The Chocolate Garage, Palo Alto, CA

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

Did I like this bar because of its fancy packaging? No. Was the chocolate inside artfully imprinted with an complex but beautiful design? No.

I liked this Carenero 70 percent bar from Rogue Chocolatier (Three Rivers, MA) because it was great chocolate, some of the best out there.

This bar contained two ingredients: 1.) Carenero Superior cacao beans from Barlovento, Venezuela, and 2.) organic cane sugar from the Green Cane Project, in Brazil.

No emulsifiers, no vanilla, no anything else.

The resulting flavorful, creamy chocolate was, as they say in "wine talk," very fruit forward -- like a bowl of tart-sweet berries and sour cream (there was no cream or dairy in this bar), with a slight spiciness to it. Rich, well-rounded flavor with very little bitterness. And, no off notes.

The content and images on this post belong to ChocolateBanquet.com.

L'Amourette - Venezuela Sur del Lago bar - Sept. 6, 2015

Chocolate of the Day: 

L'Amourette Chocolatier
Trinitario Single Origin Venezuela Sur del Lago bar
Good - Good +
Weight: .706 oz. (20 g.) / 3.5 oz. (100 g.) in total bar
Calories: 127 calories in 1/5 bar
Cost: $7.95 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Zombie Runner, Palo Alto, CA


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

Venezuela has a reputation for producing cacao with rich aroma and flavors. It's also a country rich in origin stories.

Cacao originated in the Americas, and later was brought to Africa, Southeast Asia and other countries located within 10-20 degrees of the Equator for cultivation.

When chocolate historians speculate about where, specifically, cacao trees originated in the Americas, the discussion generally focuses around an area stretching between Eastern Venezuela to Southern Belize.

For that reason, I look forward to featuring chocolates from the "cradle" countries, such as Venezuela.

Today's Trinitario Single Origin Venezuela Sur del Lago* 70% cacao bar was part of L'Amourette Chocolatier's "Gold" series of single origin bars. L'Amourette is based in, and makes their bars in, San Francisco, CA. And an intriguing origin story for the Sur del Lago cacao they used to craft this bar was printed on the back of the bar's packaging**.

This bar had a slight chocolatey aroma, and a rich earthy flavor. It was soy and gluten free, and vegan.

*Sur del Lago de Maracaibo, or Sur del Lago for short, refers to an area south of Lake Maracaibo, the largest lake in the South American continent. This large, brackish estuary or bay is not unlike San Francisco Bay in terms of its importance to agriculture and commerce in the region and the country as a whole. However, in addition to being warmer and more tropical, it also has regular, rather spectacular lightning storms, something we rarely see in San Francisco.

**The cacao beans for this bar were grown "within walking distance of Lake Maracaibo...the famous lake where Captain Blood and his pirate ship the Arabella with all of its booty eluded capture by his nemesis, Don Miguel Espinosa."

The content and images on this post belong to ChocolateBanquet.com.

Barlovento - 64 percent Venezuela bar with Kilauea Black salt - Sept. 5, 2015

Chocolate of the Day: 

Barlovento Chocolates
64 percent Venezuelan bar with Kilauea Black salt
Good - Good +
Weight: 1.2 oz. (33.96 g.) in 1 bar
Calories: 180 calories (estimate) in 1 bar
Cost: $3.50 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Zombie Runner, Palo Alto, CA


Welcome to Day #4 of Chocolate and Venezuela Theme Week.

Today's Kilauea Black salt bar from Barlovento Chocolates (Oakland, CA) was the last in a series of four different salt bars from this Bay Area-based chocolatier, that specializes in chocolate bars and confections made with cacao grown in Venezuela.

Today's black salt bar was my favorite in this series. The dark crystals of salt from Hawaii (on the back of the bar) were slightly bigger (than those on other bars this week), and had a very subtle smoky flavor.

The content and images on this post belong to ChocolateBanquet.com.