479 degrees - Dark Chocolate + Bing Cherries - June 4, 2016

Chocolate of the Day: 

479 Degrees
Dark Chocolate + Bing Cherries (popcorn)
Good+ - Good++
Weight: 1 oz. (28 g.) / 5 oz. (142 g.) in total package
Calories: 120 calories in 1 cup serving
Cost: $0.99 for 1 package
Purchased from: Grocery Outlet Bargain Market, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #2 of Chocolate and Cherries Theme Week.

Dark Chocolate + Bing Cherries (popcorn) from 479 degrees (San Francisco, CA).

Founder, Jean Arnold, trained at Cordon Bleu in London. And she had a thing for popcorn (the perfect snack). Eventually Arnold founded a high-end family of flavored popcorns.

The company's name was inspired by what Arnold cites as the optimal temperature for corn popping—479 degrees. And today's organic flavored popcorn reflected this care and precision.

This Limited Edition Dark Chocolate + Bing Cherries popcorn flavor was quite good.

Air popped (Non GMO) popcorn was coated with a veil of flavorful but light cherry infused sweetness and a thin drizzle of dark chocolate icing. I loved having a whole grain (popcorn), gluten-free snack that wasn't completely encased in sugar and corn syrup.

The coating was made of agave syrup, brown sugar and butter blended with Bing cherries and cherry extract + a hint of sea salt.

Today's popcorn contained no trans fat, artificial flavors or colors, and it was certified kosher and gluten free.

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

Mars - Goodness Knows - Peach and Cherry Almond Dark Chocolate - June 3, 2016

Chocolate of the Day: 

Mars
Goodness Knows - Peach and Cherry Almond Dark Chocolate
Good - Good +
Weight: 1.2 oz. (34 g.) in total package
Calories: 150 calories in 1 package of 4 snack squares
Cost: $0.99 for 1 package
Purchased from: Grocery Outlet Bargain Market, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #1 of Chocolate and Cherries Theme Week.

Today's Goodness Knows Peach and Cherry Almond Dark Chocolate snack squares were distributed by Mars Chocolate North America, LLC (Hackettstown, NJ).

Recently I sampled two other Goodness Knows snack square (chocolate) flavors.* Today's was my favorite of the three.

While all three had a sweet, malty flavor and crunchy, slightly chewy, nutty texture, the bright bits of peach and cherry offered the best fruit experience of the three. The fruit was mixed with chunks of almonds, peanuts and oats; and that mix sat on a base of dark chocolate.

This product was not labeled (or certified) as gluten free. That is, wheat wasn't in the ingredients list, but the packaging carried (as almost all mass produced products do) a "May Contain" advisory statement. In this case, these snack squares "May Contain Other Tree Nuts, Wheat and Eggs."**

*Other Goodness Knows snack square flavors sampled were: Cranberry Almond Dark Chocolate, and Apple Almond and Peanut Dark Chocolate.

** Oats sometimes come into contact with wheat in shared harvesting, milling and processing facilities. Here's a link to an explanation of how this cross-contact happens from www.gfcf.com 

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

Gorilly Goods - Dark Chocolate, Fruit and Nut - June 2, 2016

Chocolate of the Day: 

Reallygoods
Gorilly Goods - Chocolate - Dark Chocolate, Fruit and Nut
Good - Good+
Weight: 1.6 oz. (45 g.) in total package
Calories: 250 calories in 1 package
Cost: $ information not available
Purchased from: Country Sun Natural Foods, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to the last day (Day #11) of Chocolate, Fruit and Nut Theme Week.

Today's Gorilly* Goods Chocolate fruit and nut mix pieces were coated with 70% cacao chocolate.**

The chocolate (cacao beens, coconut palm sugar and cocoa butter) coated pieces tasted better than they looked***, with hints of fresh banana, cashews, coconut, pecans, raisins and walnuts.

The fruit tasted gently dehydrated, fresh and chewy-crunchy. (Nuts in this Gorilly Goods bar were soaked.)

This organic, raw/"live" snack mix was made by Reallygoods (Jackson, WI). The company also offers two other organic, vegan, gluten-free (non-chocolate) flavors: original and savory.

The Gorilly Goods team is also dedicated to powering their business with renewable energy, by choosing a 100% renewable option offered through their local utility company.

*The company "adopted" a gorilla. And two percent of net proceeds are designated to go to the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund.

**The company created this offering with cacao from Big Tree Farms in Bali, Indonesia. 

***One of the most frustrating things as a producer of goods is that if boxes of chocolates are left even five minutes on a loading dock in hot sun between factory and consumer, this heat can cause "bloom." While this slight separation of cocoa fat from cocoa solids may affect appearance, it doesn't necessarily affect the taste. Such was the case today.

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

Theo Chocolate - Lemon, Almond Coconut bars - June 1, 2016

Chocolate(s) of the Day: 

Theo Chocolate Inc.

Organic + Fair Trade 45% Lemon Milk Chocolate bar
Good - Good+
Weight: .75 oz. (21 g.) / 3 oz. (85 g.) in 1 bar
Calories: 125 calories in 1/4 bar
Cost: $4.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: REI, San Francisco, CA

Almond and Coconut bar
Good
Weight: .75 oz. (21 g.) / 3 oz. (85 g.) in 1 bar
Calories: 120 calories in 1/4 bar
Cost: $4.95 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Powell's City of Books, Portland, OR

Spring is the season for flowers...and chocolate bars with fresh fruit and nut flavors. Specifically, two bars from Theo Chocolate (Seattle, WA).

Today's seasonal Holiday (spring) bars, may be sold out soon. (Only lemon was left on the Theo Chocolate website when I checked last week.)

The first bar was an Organic, Fair Trade Lemon chocolate bar made with 45% milk chocolate. Happily this gluten free, soy free, kosher bar (like most other Theo chocolates) contained only the basics, and no extra "stuff." (Ingredients: cane sugar, cocoa beans, cocoa butter, milk powder, lemon essential oil, ground vanilla bean.) The authentic lemon gave this bar a very pleasant flavor.

Theo Chocolate was one of the first companies to offer bean-to-bar, organic and fair trade certified chocolate. Founder, Joe Whinney, started working to bring organic beans into the eastern U.S. in the mid-1990s, before he moved west to Seattle.

The second spring holiday bar was an Organic, Fair Trade Almond Coconut bar made with 65% dark chocolate. The dark chocolate had a rich mouthfeel (in part due to added cocoa butter) and a slightly earthy flavor, intermixed with coconut and almond bits.

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

Clif Bar - Kit's Organic Fruit + Nut - Dark Chocolate Walnut bar - May 31, 2016

Chocolate of the Day: 

Clif Bar
Kit's Organic Fruit + Nut bar - Dark Chocolate Walnut bar
Good
Weight: 1.62 oz. (46 g.) in 1 bar
Calories: 180 calories in 1 bar
Cost: $ missing information
Purchased from: missing information

Welcome to Day #9 of Chocolate, Fruit and Nut Theme Week.

Clif Bar and Company offers several types of bars now, beyond the original Clif Bar, including organic bar options. Today's Dark Chocolate Walnut bar was part of the Kit's* Organic Fruit + Nut bar line.

Described as "rich dark chocolate combined with crunchy organic walnuts," the fruit in this slightly chewy compressed bar came from the #1 ingredient listed: organic dates.

And speaking of ingredients, the list was short: six items. And fewer ingredients often means less processing and higher-quality ingredients.

This Dark Chocolate Walnut bar was "USDA Organic, Gluten Free, Soy Free, Dairy Free."

*Kit's Organic is named for Kit Crawford, co-owner of Clif Bar and Company. In addition to Kit's Organic Fruit + Nut bars, the company also offers a line of Kit's Organic Fruit + Seed bars.

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

Scharffen Berger - Raspberry and Almond bar - May 30, 2016

Chocolate(s) of the Day:

Scharffen Berger (Hershey)
Raspberry and Almond bar
Weight: 1 oz. (28 g.) in 1 small bar
Calories: 160 calories in 1 bar
Cost: $0.99 for 1 small bar
Purchased from: Grocery Outlet Bargain Market, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #8 of Chocolate, Fruit and Nut Theme Week.

This Dark Chocolate with Raspberries and Sea Salted Almonds bar had a pleasing, complex aroma, with fruit and smokey notes.

Flecks of organic raspberries (and almonds) added some crunchy texture in a sea of smooth, 72% cacao dark chocolate. (And yes, you may even end up with an occasional, authentic raspberry seed in your teeth.)

Scharffen Berger also offered a 41% cacao Milk Chocolate with Sea Salted Almonds bar (in the blue wrapper, shown at right). Both bars were made with Rainforest Alliance Certified Cacao, and were available in both larger 3 oz. (85 g.) size, and smaller 1 oz. (28 g.) size.

*Apologies for poor quality photos this month, necessitated by switching issues associated with moving to a new set-up.

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

Mars - Goodness Knows Apple Almond and Peanut Dark Chocolate bar - May 29, 2016

Chocolate of the Day: 

Mars, Incorporated
Goodness Knows - Apple Almond and Peanut Dark Chocolate bar
Good
Weight: 1.2 oz. (34 g.) in 1 bar
Calories: 150 calories in 1 bar
Cost: $0.99 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Grocery Outlet Bargain Market, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #7 of Chocolate, Fruit and Nut Theme Week.

Today I tried Goodness Knows Apple Almond and Peanut Dark Chocolate snack squares from Mars, Incorporated (Hackettstown, NJ).

These pieces had a similar malty, sweet and crunchy flavor and texture as yesterday's Goodness Knows Cranberry Almond Dark Chocolate flavor.

However, instead of cranberry, these 4 fruit and nut snack squares had a dried apple flavor, and very subtle increase in peanut flavor in the nut, oat and rice crisp mix.

The smooth dark chocolate base provided some color and texture balance, and a hint of chocolate.

*Apologies for poor quality photo. This week I've been transitioning to new systems. And on days like today, I'm really missing my old set-up.

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