Valor - Doblones Leche Rellenos - Avellana 37% bar - Dec. 15, 2015

Chocolate of the Day: 

Valor Chocolates
Doblones Leche Rellenos - Crema de Avellana 37% (bar)
Good
Weight: .5 oz. (14.1 g.) (estimate) in 2 small squares
Calories: 75 calories (estimate) in 2 small squares
Cost: $N/A - gift from a friend (thank you Toni!)
Purchased from: N/A - gift from a friend who was traveling in Spain

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

These bite-sized, individually wrapped 37% milk chocolate hazelnut squares (Doblones Leche Rellenos - Crema de Avellana) were part of an assortment pack of chocolates from Valor Chocolates (Villajoyosa, Alicante, Spain).

Someday, when I travel to Spain I hope to visit the stretch of Mediterranean coast known as "Costa Blanca" where Villajoyosa ("Happy Village") is located, to visit Valor Chocolate and the Valor Chocolate Museum.

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

Arete Fine Chocolate - Gianduia Bar - Dec. 14, 2015

Chocolate of the Day:

Arete Fine Chocolate
Gianduia Bar
Very Good
Weight: 1.15 oz. (32.5 g.) / 2.3 oz. (65 g.) in total bar
Calories: 172.5 (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $11.00 (member price) for 1 bar
Purchased from: The Chocolate Garage, Palo Alto, CA

Today was Day #8 of Chocolate and Brazil Theme Week; and Day #1 of Chocolate and Hazelnut Theme Week.

The Gianduia* bar from Arete Fine Chocolate (Milpitas, CA) was crafted using organic cacao from Brasil Fazenda Camboa (a farm/plantation in Bahia, Brazil); organic cane sugar; hand-pressed organic cocoa butter; and hazelnuts from Piedmont, Italy.

The faint nutty aroma of this bar doesn't quite prepare you for the very rich, immersive, dark hazelnut experience. Each bite broke off with a soft crunch, and yielded a long, leisurely, thick, nut-buttery melt.

And with each bite, somewhere in my mind, I was surfing a wall of Piedmont hazelnut, tempered by fine chocolate on a fine sunny day somewhere. When I looked down, mysteriously, the bar had disappeared.

Brasil Fazenda Camboa
Arete owners, David and Leslie Senk, mention on their website that they feel fortunate to work with Brasil Fazenda Camboa. This farm and others in Bahia had to rebuild after losses in the 1990s from Witches' Broom. This fungal disease appeared in 1989, and proved fatal to many cacao trees.

More recently, the implementation of organic and other farming practices at Brasil Fazenda Camboa (e.g. less dense, uniform plantings and evaluation of disease-resistant varieties) may slow the spread of disease should it reoccur. Careful rebuilding efforts like this have led to more Brazilian chocolate in the U.S. in the past several years.

Arete Fine Chocolate also currently offers two other single origin Brazil bars (without nuts) with cacao from the same farm.

*Gianduia 
Gianduia (or Gianduja) refers to a ground chocolate and hazelnut spread (roughly 70% chocolate and 30% hazelnuts) that was, according to legend, created in Turin (Northern/Piedmont region of Italy) back in Napoleonic times.

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

Haagen Dazs - Tres Leches Brigadeiro Ice Cream - Dec. 13, 2015

Chocolate of the Day: 

Haagen-Dazs
Tres Leches Brigadeiro Ice Cream
Good - Good +
Weight: 3.5 fl. oz. (103.5 mL) / 14 fl. oz. (414 mL) in total container
Calories: 270 calories in 1/2 cup serving
Cost: $1.99 for 1 container
Purchased from: Grocery Outlet Bargain Market, Palo Alto, CA

A chilly gray rain may have been pelting down this December morning. But, it's never too cold for ice cream.

Welcome to Day #7 of Chocolate and Brazil Theme Week—a perfect time to imagine being in tropical South America, perhaps walking down a beach and biting into a Brigadeiro (a popular, home-cooked, round chocolate confection in Brazil that involves combinations of condensed milk, cocoa and other ingredients, festively topped with chopped nuts or sprinkles.

Image: My Sweet Brigadeiro 

Today's Tres Leches Brigadeiro Ice Cream from Haagen-Dazs (owned by General Mills) was part of the company's "Artisan Collection" of ice cream flavors, created jointly with smaller food speciality purveyors. For example, today's ice cream was a mixture of Haagen-Dazs ice cream and My Sweet Brigadeiro (New York) content.

Latin-inspired Tres Leches ice cream was paired with My Sweet Brigadeiro's "Happy Couple" (a combination of dark and white chocolate flavored) Brigadeiros (pictured). Lovely rich idea.

The resulting ice cream was a sweet, marbled blend of vanilla and chocolate with a hint of caramel flavor.

The content and images in this post belong to ChocolateBanquet.com, unless otherwise noted.

Chocolat Bonnat - M. Libânio 75% dark bar - Dec. 12, 2015

Chocolate of the Day:

Chocolat Bonnat
M. Libanio "Bresil" 75% bar
Good++ - Very Good
Weight: 1.16 oz. (33.3 g.) / 3.5 oz. (100 g.) in 1 bar
Calories: 200 calories in 1/3 bar (12 squares)
Cost: $12.25 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocosphere.com, online order

Welcome to Day #6 of Chocolate and Brazil Theme Week.

Today's M. Libanio "Bresil" 75% cacao bar was made by Chocolat Bonnat (France). Chief chocolate maker, Stephane Bonnat, is the chief bean-to-bar maker who carefully selects cacao beans to make a variety of creamy and flavorful single origin bars.

I was able to purchase two of Bonnat single origin Brazil bars (online) from Chocosphere (Tualatin, OR). Today's bar was the second of the two. (See yesterday's post for information on Bonnat's Vale do Juliana 75% bar.)

M. Libanio is the name of a plantation located in a coastal area of the state of Bahia, in Eastern Brazil.

Today's bar had faint coffee, spice and fruit aromas, creamy smooth texture, and a rich (complex but smooth) dark flavor.

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

Chocolat Bonnat - Vale do Juliana Bresil 75% bar - Dec. 11, 2015

Chocolate of the Day:

Chocolat Bonnat
Vale do Juliana "Bresil" 75% bar
Good++ - Very Good
Weight: 1.16 oz. (33.3 g.) / 3.5 oz. (100 g.) in 1 bar
Calories: 200 calories in 1/3 bar (12 squares)
Cost: $12.25 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocosphere.com, online order

Welcome to Day #5 of Chocolate and Brazil Theme Week.

Today's Vale do Juliana "Bresil" 75% cacao bar was made by Chocolat Bonnat (France). I was able to purchase two of these single origin Brazil bars (online) from Chocosphere (Tualatin, OR).

Vale do Juliana is the name of a fazienda (farm) located in the heart of coastal area Pratigi (in the municipality of Igrapiuna), in the state of Bahia, in Eastern Brazil. Chocolat Bonnat bars are known for their creamy texture and good flavor.

Today's bar had a faint aroma, a very creamy smooth texture, and a great tasting arc. The description printed on the bar's packaging reads: "This chocolate will offer the delicate fruity scents of earth and enthusiasm of character of the men who work." OK, maybe this description is not the best translation from French into English

People sometimes ask me how I evaluate chocolate. Great aroma, texture, flavor are all important. A great tasting arc is another answer I give. A fine chocolate is not overly homogenized; but rather it will give you a great ride, where beautifully complex flavors unfold, generally over a 10-15 second timeframe.

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

Harald Unique - 35% Milk Chocolate bar - Dec. 10, 2015

Chocolate of the Day: 

Harald Unique
35% Cocoa Milk Chocolate bar
Good
Weight: 1.4 oz. (40 g.) / 2.8 oz. (80 g.) in total bar
Calories: 210 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $1.99 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Grocery Outlet Bargain Market, Palo Alto, CA

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

Today's 35% Cocoa Milk Chocolate bar was part of the Harald Unique (São Paolo, Brasil) line of Brazilian origin chocolate bars. This bar was made with cacao from two Brazilian states: Pará (in the North), and Bahia (Eastern Brazil).

The milk chocolate was sweet and smooth and had a slight caramel flavor. As with many milk chocolates, the percentage of cocoa solids was low enough that it was difficult to tease out cacao flavors.

Cacao seeds, the source of chocolate, are generally called cocoa or cacao beans. In today's description, they were called cocoa "almonds," showing the differences that can occur in local usage or translation. ("Almonds" is a fair description—as these nuts do look similar to whole cacao beans/seeds.)

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

Harald Unique - Brazilian 63% Cocoa Bahia bar - Dec. 9, 2015

Chocolate of the Day: 

Harald Unique
63% Cocoa Semisweet Chocolate bar
Good - Good+
Weight: 1.4 oz. (40 g.) / 2.8 oz. (80 g.) in total bar
Calories: 210 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $1.99 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Grocery Outlet Bargain Market, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #3 of Chocolate and Brazil Theme Week.

Brazil is likely weigh in as the 6th largest producer of cacao in the world in 2015 (behind 4 African countries and Indonesia). However, until recently, there haven't been that many opportunities to sample Brazilian cacao single origin bars in the U.S.

Harald Unique (Sao Paolo, Brasil) offers a series of different chocolate bars made with cacao from Amazonia. Yesterday's 70% semisweet dark bar was made with organic cacao from the Brazilian state of Pará in northern Brazil.

Today's 63% cocoa semisweet dark bar (no milk) came from further south. This Harald Unique bar was produced from cacao grown at "João Tavares* Farm, in Uruçuca, south of Bahia state, Brazil, under the coordinates" 14 degrees 05' South and 30 degrees 3' West.

The bar was sweetly fragrant and tasted a bit like silken smooth, high-end chocolate frosting. If you're craving cake-like sweetness, this might be a great choice. The fruit and caramel notes mentioned on the packaging were edged out a bit by the frosting flavor, but still present. Flavor and texture were smooth and even, with no "off" notes.

To Harald's credit, they are one of the first Brazilian-based makers (that I'm aware of) offering single origin bars here in the U.S. (via distributor Loco Brands in Florida) that also lists details about where the cacao is grown—down to the coordinate level.

More Brazil single origin bar choices in the U.S. offers an opportunity to learn more about Brazil, Brazilian cacao (and plantations), and this large producer of chocolate.

*João Tavares is a fourth generation cacao farmer in Eastern Brazil, who uses Cabruca agroforestry methods—including the practice of growing cacao under native shade trees.

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