Endorfin Foods - Dominican Republic 80% bar - Feb. 6, 2016

Chocolate of the Day: 

Endorfin Foods
Dominican Republic Single Origin Dark Chocolate 80% Cacao bar
Good - Good +
Weight: .7 oz. (20 g.) / 1.4 oz. (40 g.) in 1 bar
Calories: 105 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $5.00 — when purchased as part of a 9-bar box
Purchased from: Endorfin Foods table at Fall Chocolate Salon, San Francisco, CA

Welcome to Day #4 of Chocolate and Some Enchanted Islands Theme Week. Today we move from Jamaica (yesterday's stop) back to the Dominican Republic (DR), to taste one last DR bar.

Today's Dominican Republic Single Origin bar was from Endorfin Foods (Oakland, CA). Endorfin uses unroasted cacao in their attractively packaged bars.


The 80% cacao dark bar was made with unroasted and ethically traded cacao from one or more farms in the DR, and contained just two ingredients: organic cacao beans and organic coconut sugar. (There was no dairy, soy, gluten or refined sugar in the bar.)

This ultra-dark bar had a subtle aroma, a good snap, and uniform, slightly bitter, dark flavor with a hint of earthiness. The coconut sugar gave the bar a light touch of brown sugar sweetness.

The next stop on the enchanted islands cacao tour...Trinidad.

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

SOMA - St. Thomas Parish, 70% Jamaica bar - Feb. 5, 2016

Chocolate of the Day:

SOMA Chocolatemaker

St. Thomas Parish
Good ++ - Very Good
Weight: 1.14 oz. (32.5 g.) / 2.29 oz. (65 g.) in total bar
Calories: 173 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $12.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: The Chocolate Garage, Palo Alto, CA

Today was Day #3 of Chocolate and Some Enchanted Islands Theme Week.

After spending the first three days of the Enchanted Islands chocolate tour in the Dominican Republic, we're sailing west to Jamaica, to experience cacao that originated in St. Thomas Parish*.

This cacao-growing island nation produces less cacao than it used to**, and supplies of good beans have been harder to obtain in the last decade, due in part to a drop in supply.

Older farmers have retired and fewer young people have gotten into the business of growing cacao. (Also large companies have moved in to buy farmers crops. This is good for farmers who appreciate a steadier income; but it can make it more difficult for smaller bean-to-bar makers who are looking to buy high-quality Jamaican beans.)

SOMA Chocolatemaker Jamaica bar

Today's Saint Thomas Parish 70% cacao bar was made by SOMA Chocolatemaker (Toronto, Canada). SOMA has been making bean-to-bar chocolate since 2003. Today's Jamaica bar, sealed in a silver pouch, was well crafted. And it had a beautiful imprinted "map" of Toronto—where SOMA is located (in an old whisky distillery near the water). (Newer versions of the bar come with a different imprint with a label displaying Jamaican flag colors.)

Jamaica conjures up notions of bright Caribbean colors, steel drums, and spicy flavors—in short, a bold experience. Everything about today's three-ingredient single origin dark bar was smooth, consistent, well crafted and well balanced.

The SOMA bar contained Trinitario cocoa beans, organic cane sugar and added cocoa butter. The aroma and flavors had muted notes of: light jungle/forest growth, green wood or herb (I experienced a tiny hint of fresh baby green fennel shoots in cream), a mild sweetness (fresh fruit salad made with tropical fruits, raspberries, honey and cream). There wasn't one off note in the entire bar.

The added cocoa butter contributed to the bar's creamy melt, subtle flavors and mild finish. (It also made me wonder what the unadulterated beans tasted like. Were they wilder? Less balanced? What magic was necessary to transform them into this tasting experience?)

*Jamaica is divided into 14 parishes, that are in turn part of three larger counties. Saint Thomas Parish, located in Surrey County, is located at the southeast end of Jamaica. (Sugar and bananas are other export crops from this area.)

**Data from the Jamaican Cocoa Famers' Association website estimates that annual production of cocoa in Jamaica dropped from 2,522 tons in 1992 to 440 tons in 2008.

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

Dandelion - 70% San Francisco de Macoris bar - Feb. 4, 2016

Chocolate of the Day: 

Dandelion Chocolate
70% San Francisco de Macoris bar
Good ++
Weight: 1 oz. (28 g.) / 2 oz. (56 g.) in total bar
Calories: 150 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $8.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Dandelion Chocolate, San Francisco, CA

Welcome to Day #2 of Chocolate and Some Enchanted Islands Theme Week.

Can't afford to take the vacation of your dreams? No problem. Please join us as we travel the world through chocolate.

Today we continue an imaginary vacation to exotic cacao-growing islands. We've started in the Caribbean and we'll end our virtual voyage in the South Pacific and Asia next week.

Yesterday we tasted a bar from Santo Domingo, on the south side of the Dominican Republic (DR). Today we move north to San Francisco de Macoris. If we were pirates we'd be happy to return to Hispaniola* as the quality of the cacao on this island nation has only gotten better over the best decade.

Today's 70% San Francisco de Macoris bar - 2014 Harvest, Batch 2, was hand-crafted by Dandelion Chocolate. The company's bean-to-bar chocolate factory is based in the Mission District of San Francisco, CA.

This DR bar was made with just two ingredients: cocoa beans and sugar.

The cacao beans came from a fermentery**, Oko-Caribe, located in the Cibao region of the Dominican Republic, near the city of San Francisco de Macoris.

The resulting bar had a subtle, complex aroma with hints of earth, green coconut, floral and marshmallow notes.

The chocolate broke with a hard snap (a sign of a well-tempered chocolate) and had well-balanced acidic fruit flavor (dried tart cherries, citrus)—with a very slight earth note at the end of one of the last bites.

Tasting notes from Dandelion on this single origin bar read: "roasted peanuts, honey, and subtle cherry." This chocolate was an easy bar to enjoy and disappeared quickly. We're storing a few of these in our chocolate vault for the duration of the voyage.

*The name Hispaniola dates back to the arrival of Spanish explorers and colonizers. Christopher Columbus landed on the large Caribbean island in 1492 and dubbed it La Isla Espanola—a name that eventually became Hispaniola. Hispaniola refers to the entire island, consisting of The Republic of Haiti (to the west) and the Dominican Republic (to the east).

**A fermentery is an in-country facility that accepts freshly harvested pulp-covered, cacao seeds (beans) from growers. Fermentery workers help ensure that fermentation (the first important step in flavor development) is successful. The 5-7 day fermentation process takes place in a series of boxes or containers (and sometimes incorporates layers of banana leaves to contain or distribute heat generated by the ferment). After about a week, only the familiar brown cacao beans remain; the pulp has drained away. And the beans are ready to be dried, and then purchased by chocolate-makers.

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

Hagensborg - 70% Santo Domingo dark bar - Feb. 3, 2016

Chocolate of the Day: 

Hagensborg Chocolates
70% Wild B(o)ar Santo Domingo dark bar
Good - Good +
Weight: 1.15 oz. (32 g.) / 2.3 oz. (65 g.) in total bar
Calories: 200 calories in 1/2 of bar
Cost: $ Missing info
Purchased from: Missing info

Welcome to the first day of Chocolate and Some Enchanted Islands* Theme Week.

Cacao grows in many exotic and tropical isles near the sea. Being near water helps moderate the temperature (not too cold and not too hot); and being near the Equator (plus or minus 20 degrees Latitude) helps regulate the light and heat needed for temperate forests, plantations and farms—and cacao.

First we'll visit a few islands in the Caribbean. The Dominican Republic (DR) has gone by many names in the past—including Hispaniola, an island referenced in pirate tales long ago that was (and still is) joined with Haiti.

Europeans from Spain and other nations brought cacao to Caribbean islands, where it is still grown today.

Santo Domingo is a large city, and the capital of the Dominican Republic. It's one of the oldest cities in the Americas. It's also the name of the surrounding province in the DR, where cacao is grown.

Hagensborg Chocolates - Santa Domingo bar

Today's 70% Cocoa Wild B(o)ar dark chocolate single origin bar was from Hagensborg Chocolates (Barnaby, British Columbia, Canada). This Santo Domingo bar was made from cacao beans grown in the province of the same name, on the southern side of the DR. This province borders on the Caribbean Sea.

The bar had a rich, smooth, consistent, and chocolatey aroma, flavor and texture. And pre-molded bite marks around the edge of this bar (possibly from a chocolate-eating pig on the same bar) made me smile.

Hagensborg product packaging is just plain fun. Cartoon pigs lounge, cavort and frolic across bars of Hagensborg chocolate (on printed packaging and on bars). Thank you Hagensborg for some lively levity.

* Sing to the tune of "Some Enchanted Evening" from Rodgers and Hammerstein's South Pacific, if you'd like.

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

WB Kitchen - Mocha Java ONA Bar - Feb. 2, 2016

Source: WB Kitchen website

Chocolate of the Day: 

WB Kitchen
Mocha Java ONA Bar
Good-Good+
Weight: 2 oz. (56 g.) in 1 bar
Calories: 172 calories in 1 bar
Cost: $N/A
Purchased from: WB Kitchen, Loveland, CO

Welcome to Day #7 of Chocolate, Honey and Almonds Theme Week.

Source: WB Kitchen website

WB Kitchen (Loveland, CO) offers organic bars and cookies. Honey and almonds are the first ingredients listed in the offerings I've tried. Today's Mocha Java ONA bar was no exception.

An organic honey (and coconut milk) house-made caramel base provided a moist, rich base that contained chewy bits of almonds, pecans, sunflower seeds, walnuts, and cocoa nibs. Shredded coconut suffused the bar with coconut flavor.

The coffee in this certified gluten free and paleo Mocha Java bar was from Bean Cycle Roasters (Fort Collins, CO). The coffee added robust flavor and helped balance out the sweetness.

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

WB Kitchen - ONA Chocolate Bar - Feb. 1, 2016

Chocolate of the Day: 

WB Kitchen
ONA Chocolate Bar
Good - Good +
Weight: 2 oz. (56 g.) in 1 bar
Calories: 180 calories in 1 bar
Cost: $ N/A
Purchased from: WB Kitchen, Loveland, CO

Welcome to Day #6 of Chocolate, Honey and Almonds Theme Week.

WB Kitchen (Loveland, CO) is mindful about the ingredients in their bars and cookies.

Today's ONA Chocolate Bar was moist, chewy, honey-sweetened, and filled with nutty taste and texture (almonds, pecans, sunflower seeds, walnuts, and coconut bits).

The chocolate flavor in this certified gluten free and paleo bar was provided by unsweetened cocoa powder and cocoa nibs.

Honey's thick texture can present both challenges and opportunities for those making chocolate items. WB Kitchen's bars are "held together with a honey caramel that we make in house," that's finished off with some house-made coconut milk*. (Nicely done.)

I asked WB Kitchen president and founder, Chris Feuille, about the honey they use in their organic offerings.

Chris mentioned that it was difficult to get 100% organic honey in the U.S. They use an organic honey from South America for their bars.** (They wanted organic, non-GMO certified and fair trade ingredients for their 100% organic bars.)

*The company makes their coconut milk in-house "because all commercially available ones contain guar gum or preservatives and we do not put those in our products ever."

**Note: WB Kitchen uses honey from a family-owned, supplier, Colorado Honey Co., in their cookies.

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

Caven Creations - Hey Honey! bar - Jan. 31, 2016

Chocolate of the Day:

Caven Creations
Hey Honey! bar
Good
Weight: 1 oz. (28 g.) in 1 bar
Calories: 190 calories in 1 bar
Cost: $4.39 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Country Sun Natural Foods, Palo Alto, CA

Today was Day #5 of Chocolate, Honey and Almonds Theme Week.

The Hey Honey! 82% cacao dark chocolate bar was from Caven Creations (Santa Cruz, CA).

This dairy and gluten free bar was made with 4 ingredients: raw, organic, Fair Trade Ecuadorian Rio Arriba cacao, raw organic honey, raw organic Tahitian vanilla beans, and Himalayan pink crystal salt.

The raw cacao bar had a faint dark chocolate aroma, and a relatively even dark chocolate flavor, with a few bites having a bit of an earthy flavor note. The sweet level was low in this ultra-dark bar; some bites had a bit more of a natural honey lilt. And tiny salt crystals provided some occasional texture.

This bar's wrapper was adorned with a picture of a caveman (with raised club). Accordingly, I enjoyed this bar with a paleolithic era-inspired plate that included: seed crackers, cacao nibs, berries, and of course honey and almonds.

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