Frito-Lay - Nut Harvest Dark Chocolate Almond Toffee Bites - July 30, 2017

Chocolate of the Day: 

Frito-Lay, Inc.
Nut Harvest
Dark Chocolate Almond Toffee Bites
Good
Weight: 2.75 oz. (77.9 g.) in total package
Calories: 410 calories in 1 package
Cost: $1.99 for 1 package
Purchased from: CVS/Pharm, Palo Alto, CA

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

Today's Nut Harvest Dark Chocolate Almond Toffee Bites were manufactured for Frito-Lay, Inc. (Plano, TX).

Almond pieces were blended with buttery sweet and crunchy toffee and then chocolate coated.

McIlhenny Co. Tabasco Chocolate; Vanuato Kakaw Almond Milk Choc. bar - July 29, 2017

Chocolate(s) of the Day: 

McIlhenny Co.
Tabasco Chocolate
Good
Weight: 1 oz. (28 g.) in total bar
Calories: 150 calories in 1 bar
Cost: $1.59 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Nob Hill Foods, Mountain View, CA

Welcome to Day #7 of Chocolate and Mexico Theme Week, where we're finishing off the week with not one, but two different chocolates.

Tabasco is a state in Mexico. One of the most popular hot pepper sauces, Tabasco sauce, was (according to family history) created by Edmund McIlhenny in the 1860s in the Southeastern U.S. (Louisiana), after the inventor was given Capsicum frutescens pepper seeds from Mexico or Central America—which he cultivated and enjoyed.*

Peppers and spices have been combined with early cacao beverages in Mexico for centuries. So, it seemed natural that chocolate might eventually be infused with peppers in Tabasco sauce form.

Tabasco chocolates (sold in wedges and bar form) are distributed by The Chocolate Traveler, Inc. (North Hollywood, CA).

Continental Best
Vanuato Kakaw
Almond Milk Chocolate bar
Good
Weight: .706 oz. (20 g.) (2 squares) / 3.52 oz. (100 g.) total bar
Calories: 110 calories in 1/5 bar
Cost: $4.99  for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocolate Stars, USA

Today was not only the last day of Chocolate and Mexico Theme Week, but also the first day of Chocolate and Almond Week. The world is bursting with so many chocolates, it's hard to fit them all into one week.

The second chocolate of the day was a Vanuato Kakaw Almond Milk Chocolate bar made in Mexico City. The 36% cacao milk chocolate was creamy, sweet and had a slight, pleasant nutty flavor and crunchy texture from bits of almonds.

*Tabasco sauce is derived from a pepper mash that is fermented with vinegar in barrels until until the desired characteristics have been achieved.

Vanuato Kakaw - Milk Chocolate bar - July 28, 2017

Chocolate of the Day: 

Continental Best
Vanuato Kakaw
Milk Chocolate bar
Good
Weight: 1.41 oz. (40 g.) / 3.52 oz. (100 g.) in total bar
Calories: 220 calories in 4 squares of bar
Cost: $4.99 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocolate Stars USA, online order

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

Today's Vanuato Kakaw 36% cacao Milk Chocolate bar was made in Mexico City, Mexico, and imported into the U.S.

It was smooth, chocolatey, creamy, and had a hint of fruit (cherry, plum).

The description on the back of today's milk chocolate bar included information about the historical significance of cacao in Mexico.

"...The Olmec people who lived in Mexico and Mesoamerica cultivated cacao..." (thousands of years ago). "They enjoyed a beverage with ground cacao beans, mixed with water and garnished with spices, peppers and herbs...Cacao was a symbol of abundance and was used in religious ceremonies "dedicated to Quetzacoatl—and Chak Ek Chuah, the Mayan patron god of cacao."

This chocolate was paired with a Cinnamon Churro (Smash Mallow) marshmallow. Both were heated. The roasted marshmallow was dipped into the melted milk chocolate.

Continental Best - Vanuato Kakaw - Dark Chocolate bar - July 27, 2017

Chocolate of the Day: 

Continental Best
Vanuato Kakaw
Dark Chocolate bar
Good
Weight: 1.41 oz. (4 squares) (40 g.) / 3.52 oz. (100 g.) in total bar
Calories: 220 calories in 4 squares of bar
Cost: $4.99 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocolate Stars USA, online order

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

Today's Vanuato Kakaw Dark Chocolate bar (made in Mexico). Cacao has been enjoyed in Mexico since the time of the olmecas (Olmec people) in the years between 5,000-400 B.C.

The 60% Cacao dark chocolate was relatively smooth and sweet with a light vanilla* and spice note. (There was vanilla added to this bar, but the light "spice" note was from the cacao.)

A few squares of this bar could be enjoyed as an a la carte snack, or melted to make a traditional corn and chocolate beverage, or even a Mexican-inspired fondue base.

However, today, flecks of this bar were mixed in with some ice cream with vanilla, coffee and spices, including allspice.**

*The original inhabitants of Mexico enjoyed cacao with spices, flowers, maize and other items in beverages and dishes with stone ground cacao. Vanilla orchids/beans would also have been available to early Mexican peoples as well as cacao.

**Allspice is native to southern Mexico and Central America and is a spice still used by Maya people when making cacao beverages and confections.

Continental Best - Vanuato Kakaw - Moka Chocolate bar - July 26, 2017

Chocolate of the Day: 

Continental Best
Vanuato Kakaw
Moka Chocolate
Good
Weight: .706 oz. 2 squares (20 g.) / 3.52 oz. (100 g.) in total bar
Calories: 100 calories in 2 squares of bar
Cost: $4.99 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocolate Stars USA, online order

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

Today's Vanuato Kakaw Moka Chocolate was a milk chocolate bar with roasted coffee bean pieces, made in Mexico.

The relatively smooth, sweet 36% cacao milk chocolate base was complemented by the robust, crunchy bits of roasted coffee beans, helping to reduce the sweetness a bit (a good thing for most milk chocolates).

A generous helping of coffee also gave the bar a robust coffee flavor and finish.

Vanuato Kakaw bars also include design and packaging elements tied to Mexican heritage. While difficult to see in the small images shown (right), a likeness of Ek Chuah, the cacao god, is appears on this bar (and other Vanuato Kakaw bars), along a cacao pod (fruit that contained the cacao seeds or beans that are used to make chocolate). 

Continental Best - Vanuato Kakaw - Amaranth Chocolate - July 25, 2017

Chocolate of the Day: 

Continental Best
Vanuato Kakaw
Amaranth Chocolate
Good
Weight: 2 squares (17 g.) / 2.99 oz. (85 g.) in total bar
Calories: 105 calories in 2 squares of bar
Cost: $4.99 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocolate Stars USA, online order

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

Today's Vanuato Kakaw Amaranth Chocolate "100% Milk Chocolate" (36% cacao) bar was made in Mexico and contained approximately 7% (hundreds of small pieces) of amaranth.

Amaranth
What is amaranth? The information on the packaging provided this description:

"Known to the Aztec in Mexico as 'huauhtli,' amaranth cereal was important in the preparation of ritual drinks and various foods before the Spanish conquest. Today it maintains great importance as a symbol of the indigenous culture. Amaranth is gluten-free and has higher nutrient content than most cereals.

It's a great source of an amino acid "lysine," found in limited quantities in other grains or plant sources. According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, amaranth packs more protein than any other plant on earth. Because of its multiple properties, NASA selected Amaranth as part of its astronauts' diets."

The milk chocolate bar was sweet and uniform in flavor. And the amaranth provided a very mild, soft crunchy texture.

Continential Best - Vanuato Kakaw - Dark Kakaw Chocolate bar - July 24, 2017

Chocolate of the Day: 

Continental Best
Vanuato Kakaw
Dark Kakaw Chocolate bar
Good
Weight: .706 oz. (20 g.) / 3.52 oz. (100 g.) in total bar
Calories: 110 calories in 1/5 bar
Cost: $4.99 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocolate Stars USA, online order

Welcome to Day #2 of Chocolate and Mexico Week. This week includes several bars from Mexico.

Today's Continential Best Vanuato Kakaw Dark Kakaw Chocolate 62% cacao bar contained pieces of cacao (nibs).

The bar was made of sweet, smooth dark chocolate with a very subtle, well-balanced hint of smokiness and earth from the crunchy bits of cacao (nibs).

This reasonably priced, single origin Mexican chocolate made in Cuidad de Mexico (Mexico City), Mexico, was imported into the US by Chocolate Stars USA (Moonachie, NJ). The company has been making chocolate since 1964 and celebrates the heritage of cacao in Mexico and Central America, dating back 3,000+ years ago to the time of the Olmec people.