Manoa - 85% Costa Esmeraldas, Ecuador bar - Nov. 8, 2017

Chocolate of the Day: 

Manoa Chocolate Hawaii
(Grass Shack Industries LLC)
Single Estate 85% Cacao Costa Esmeraldas, Ecuador bar
Good ++ - Very Good
Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) / 2 oz. (56.7 g.) in total bar
Calories: 150 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $ missing information
Purchased from: missing information

Welcome to Day #18 of South American Chocolate Theme Weeks.

What a treat. A third ultra-dark bar this week, made by Manoa Chocolate Hawaii, from cacao grown in Costa Esmeraldas, Ecuador. When there are this many 85% - 100% cacao bars from the same region, estate or plantation, it says something about the beans, the farmer(s) and the makers.

To make bars from one ingredient (cacao beans)—or even two ingredients (cacao beans and sugar)—it says cacao beans from this place must be special. The post-harvest fermentation must have been handled well. The flavor profile is right, and other ingredients aren't needed to amend or dull certain flavors.

Today's bar was made with "Neo Nacional" cacao from a single estate (reclaimed cattle pasture land about 10 miles inland from the Pacific Coast); and these beans were harvested in early 2016.

The bar's aroma was quite bold with traces of sour bitter sweet fruit and dark chocolate. The texture and melt were uniformly smooth and creamy (due in part to added organic cocoa butter). And the flavor (as with other bars from the same origin this week) was much tamer and more pleasant than expected, with faint, fleeting sweet, green, almost floral notes often found in Ecuador bars.

Today's attractively designed and packaged Costa Esmeraldas bar was made bean-to-bar in Hawaii. Manoa Chocolate Hawaii's chocolate factory is located in Kailua, Oahu. And Manoa* founder and chocolate maker Dylan Butterbaugh has been producing chocolate from scratch since 2010, including craft chocolate bars made with Hawaiian-grown cacao and other local ingredients.

Suggested wine and beer pairings with this bar: Cabernet Sauvignon and Kriek lambics.

*Manoa means solid, vast, depth, thick in Hawaiian.

Arete - Ecuador Costa Esmeraldas 100% Dark bar - Nov. 7, 2017

Chocolate of the Day: 

Arete Fine Chocolate
Ecuador Costa Esmeraldas 100% Cacao Dark Chocolate bar
Good ++ - Very Good
Weight: 1.15 oz. (32.5 g.) / 2.3 oz. (65 g.) in total bar
Calories: 172 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $ missing information
Purchased from: missing information

Welcome to Day #17 of South American Chocolate Weeks.

We're winding up a virtual tour of Ecuador with another ebony-colored bar from Costa Esmeraldas. (Yesterday's bar was made with cacao from the same area.) Today's chocolate is a 100% Ecuador Dark Chocolate bar from Arete Fine Chocolate (Milpitas, CA).

This bar had a bittersweet aroma, with hints of dried fruit (goji berries), light molasses spice, and had a balanced, bitter dark chocolate flavor throughout the tasting experience. The texture was uniformly creamy and pleasing.

This was a one-ingredient bar: just cocoa beans from Costa Esmeraldas, Ecuador, and nothing else.

Chocolate makers and Arete company founders, David and Leslie Senk, often press their own single origin cocoa butter (for extra smoothness). However, adding cocoa butter from the same bean origin as the cocoa solids is not typical. Even though cocoa beans can contain half fat; the percentages will vary according to origin and climate. Extra fat may be needed for leaner beans that typically grow closer to the Equator.

Some makers will add cocoa butter obtained from another region, even though cocoa fat can add some flavor characteristics. Using beans from the same farm or region for both cocoa solids and fat gives the taster a more pure or concentrated single origin experience.

LetterPress - Costa Esmeraldas Ecuador 70% Dark bar - Nov. 6, 2017

Chocolate of the Day: 

LetterPress Chocolate LLC
Costa Esmeraldas Ecuador 70% Dark Chocolate bar
Good ++ - Very Good
Weight: 1.15 oz. (32.5 g.) / 2.3 oz. (65 g.) in total bar
Calories: 172 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $13.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: The Chocolate Garage, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #16 of South American Chocolate Theme Weeks.

Today's Costa Esmeraldas Ecuador 70% Dark Chocolate bar was crafted bean-to-bar by the makers at LetterPress Chocolate LLC (Los Angeles, CA).

A Good Food Awards Winner, this ebony-colored dark bar, had aroma notes of acidic fruit, dark chocolate, roasted coffee, and a faint hint of molasses.

However, the flavor was milder than expected. It had an even, well-balanced dark flavor and sweetness from start to finish—with a pleasing but very subtle molasses spice cookie (my favorite kind) undertone. There were no "off" notes.

Sirene - 73% Ecuador + 73% Madagascar Bars - Nov. 5, 2017

Chocolate(s) of the Day:

Sirene Chocolate
73% Ecuador Bar
Good ++ - Very Good
73% Madagascar Bar
Good ++ - Very Good
Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) / 2 oz. (56.6 g.) in 2 bars
Calories: 150 calories (estimate) in 1/2 of 2 bars
Cost: $13.00 for 1 package of 2 bars
Purchased from: The Chocolate Garage, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #15 of South American Chocolate Theme Weeks.

Today we're featuring another* side-by-side pairing Sirene Artisan Chocolate Makers (Victoria, Canada). Unfortunately, a bad cold today has reduced my ability to smell and taste. My apologies to the makers for that.

73% Ecuador Bar
This bar, from what I could taste, was a well balanced bar with lots of true chocolate flavor, with more sweetness and brightness than yesterday's 100% Ecuador bar, due to the addition of cane sugar.

73% Madagascar Bar
The second bar had almost the same bright citrus and berry notes (raspberry lemonade) as yesterday's 100% Madagascar bar, and a slight brownie/cookie note toward the end. I'm tempted to say that some of the amazing fruit notes were muted by the sugar (and not by my cold).

Not only was it very interesting to do a side-by-side tasting of 100% versions these two origin bars, it was also great to compare the 100% with their 73% counterparts. As for my taste, if you have a great 100% bar, why dilute them with sugar? But, Sirene did such a nice job with all of these versions, that you can't lose either way.

Sirene founder, Taylor Kennedy, had traveled extensively (as a National Geographic photographer—my dream job) when he founded his chocolate workshop. To be a great photographer and traveler one must be lovingly observant and appreciative/respectful of details. These same traits serve one well in the art and considerable science of chocolate-making.

*See yesterday's (11/4/17) post where we sampled two Sirene 100% cacao bars from Ecuador and Madagascar.

Sirene - 100% Ecuador + 100% Madagascar bars - Nov. 4, 2017

Chocolate(s) of the Day: 

Sirene Chocolate
100% Ecuador Bar
Very Good
(Paired with a 100% Madagascar Bar)
Very Good
Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) / 2 oz. (56 g.) in total package of 2
Calories: 150 calories (estimate) in 1/2 of 2 different bars
Cost: $13.00 for 1 package of 2 different bars
Purchased from: The Chocolate Garage, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #14 of South American Chocolate Theme Weeks. We're sampling bars from Ecuador this week.

Today's offering was a careful co-packaging of two different 100% cacao bars. These rare ultra dark bars contained just one ingredient: cocoa beans, and these two were ideal for a side-by-side tasting.

Both the 100% Ecuador Bar and the 100% Madagascar Bar were hand-crafted by Sirene Artisan Chocolate Makers (Victoria, Canada). The company makes small batches of direct trade chocolate, from beans grown on a limited group of cacao farms around the globe, in their custom workshop.

100% Ecuador Bar
The cacao beans used to make Sirene's 100% Cacao Ecuador Bar came from Camino Verde. A farm description follows:

"In Balao, Ecuador, farmer Vicente Norero treats his cacao beans like fine wine. After carefully nurturing the growth of his indigenous varieties of cacao trees, he harvests the beans and monitors the microbiology of the fermentation process. His exacting control of sugars and acids creates a rich and flavorful bean."

The Ecuador bar was described as having "rich, deep chocolatey" flavor. And, as promised, it was infused with true chocolate, deep cocoa, slightly bitter flavor. It had a very pleasing, homemade hot chocolate aftertaste. The bar possessed a deep ebony dark chocolate color.

100% Madagascar Bar
Sirene chose "fruity, citrus, raspberry-toned Madagascar beans" from Somia Plantation for this 100% Madagascar Bar.

"In the Sambirano Valley of Northern Madagascar, the Akesson family harvest a light red bean enriched by volcanic minerals and nutrients. With its strong fruity flavours, including hints of citrus and berry, this cacao is clearly a product of climate and soil and the special way it is fermented by a family who truly cares about chocolate and who has for many years."

In contrast to the deep chocolate 100% Ecuador Bar, the 100% Madagascar Bar was full of bright notes: very authentic fruit punch, raspberry lemonade, true citrus (not just generic "acidity"), with a wonderful, warbling complex fruit and cocoa finish. Even the color was a brighter, redder color than the Ecuador bar.

What a treat to try these bars, separately and together.

K'ul Chocolate - Single Origin 70% Dark Chocolate Farm-to-Bar - Nov. 3, 2017

Chocolate of the Day: 

K'ul Chocolate
Single Origin 70% Dark Chocolate Hacienda Limon bar
Good - Good +
Weight: 1.23 oz. (35 g.) in total bar
Calories: 190 calories in 1 bar
Cost: $4.50 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Draeger's, Los Altos, CA

Welcome to Day #13 of South American Chocolate Theme Weeks.

Today's Single Origin 70% Dark Chocolate Farm-to-Bar dark bar was from K'ul* Foods LLC (Minneapolis, MN).

Head chocolate maker, Peter Kelsey, believes in creating simple, healthy food where every ingredient serves a purpose. One of their mottos: "Chocolate is not candy. Chocolate is food." Amen.

The sealed package was designed to be suitable for bicyclists and outdoor sports enthusiasts. And when the package is opened, one is greeted with a robust, complex aroma, of dried fruit (dried mulberries), green plant fiber (fresh green stalks, green tea), roasted coffee/espresso and brown sugar.

Tasting Notes listed on the company's website and packaging read as follows: Brown sugar, citrus/lemon,** pineapple, butter. (I tasted more dried mulberries edging into fig, green, and brown sugar flavor notes than I did lemon or pineapple.)

The bar was made of Nacional beans, a variety designated as an Heirloom bean (by the Fine Chocolate Industry Association). A handful of farms in Ecuador (including Hacienda Limon in Los Rios Province of Ecuador) apparently qualify for this designation.

Ingredients: cacao beans, organic cane sugar, organic cocoa butter, sunflower lecithin

*The company name K'ul (pronounced "cool") was inspired by the Mayan word for energy.
**The cacao farm, Hacienda Limon, is so named because the cacao "tastes a little like lemon..."

Stone Grindz - Ecuador 84% Cacao bar - Nov. 2, 2017

Chocolate of the Day: 

Stone Grindz Small Batch Chocolate
Ecuador 84% Cacao bar
Good - Good +
Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) / 2 oz. (57 g.) in total bar
Calories: 150 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $7.95 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Stone Grindz, Scottsdale, AZ

Welcome to Day #12 of South American Chocolate Weeks.

The Ecuador 84% Cacao bar from Stone Grindz Chocolate (Scottsdale, AZ) was a darker version of yesterday's Ecuador 70% Cacao bar from the same maker.

Today's 84% bar had a more acidic, slightly bitter, earthy aroma than yesterday's 70% bar, and lots of uniformly bold dark flavor with minimal sweetness and fruit (pink grapefruit). A few squares will satisfy.