Alter Eco 85% Dark Blackout, SOMA Black Science Camino Verde bars - Nov. 11, 2017

Chocolate(s) of the Day: 

Alter Eco
Dark Blackout 85% Cocoa bar
Good +++
Weight: .94 oz. (26.6 g.) / 2.82 oz. (80 g.) in total bar
Calories: 160 calories in 1/3 bar
Cost: $N/A - gift (Thank you Bill)
Purchased from: N/A - gift

SOMA Chocolatemaker
Black Science Camino Verde (Ecuador) 70% Cacao bar
Good +++
Weight: 1.15 oz. (32.5 g.) / 2.3 oz. (65 g.) in total bar
Calories: 175 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $13.00 (estimate) for 1 bar
Purchased from: The Chocolate Garage, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #21 of South American Chocolate Theme Weeks. This month we've been taking an edible tour of this great continent, filled with cacao-growing regions that date back to the origin of cacao.

Before moving on from Ecuador to Peru, we'll taste two more bars made from Ecuadorean cacao. Drawing this pair of black aces from the depths of the Chocolate Banquet vault would be considered lucky by anyone with a superstitious chocolate bone in their body. And if it isn't considered so, it should be.

Alter Eco - 85% Cocoa Dark Blackout bar
The 85% Cocoa Dark Blackout bar from Alter Eco (San Francisco, CA) was made from organic, fair trade cocoa grown on the coast of Ecuador. The resulting (gluten-free) ultra-dark bar had complex aroma with notes that included: true dark chocolate (fudge brownie), chocolate covered dried fruits, and a trace of smoked salt.

The chocolate had a creamy, cocoa buttery melt, and a uniform, satisfying deep chocolate flavor with occasional light berry jam notes. Last, but not least, it was devilishly light on sugar.

SOMA Chocolatemaker - Black Science Camino Verde bar
The 70% Black Science Camino Verde (Ecuador) bar had an aroma with lush green forest and bittersweet chocolate notes.

Tasting notes read: "roasted cashews (and) baked bread." The latter did show up a bit in the tasting arc, perhaps aided by a higher sugar percentage content (70%) vs. the ebony-colored 80%+ bars we've been tasting this week.

The cashew was a more subtle, a difficult note to catch. If this bar did have a light sweet nutty note, cashews would be the right nut to describe that.

The "Black Science" term should be a tribute to the the farm, the fermentation expert (Vicente Norero), and the makers at SOMA Chocolatemaker (Toronto, ON, Canada).  Chocolate-making is both artful skill and science. Successful chocolate demands both.

Coracao Chocolate - 81% Heirloom Cacao Sea Salt, Almonds bar - Nov. 10, 2017

Chocolate of the Day:

Coracao Chocolate
81% Heirloom Cacao Sea Salt, Almonds, Dark Chocolate bar
Good +
Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) / 2 oz. (57 g.) in total bar
Calories: 180 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $5.59 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Monterey Market, Berkeley, CA

Welcome to Day #20 of South American Chocolate Theme Weeks.

Today's 81% Heirloom Cacao Sea Salt, Almonds and Dark Chocolate bar was made by Coracao Chocolate (Oakland, CA) with a blend of cacao grown in Ecuador and Peru.

The bar's aroma was a sweet blend of aromas (fruit, floral, faint coconut dried fig spice cookie) plus a very faint hint of savory nuttiness.

The flavor was surprisingly dark, not for a 81% cacao ultra-dark bar, but for a bar that smelled quite sweet.

The company's organic chocolate bars are sweetened with coconut sugar, and this bar also contained sea salts (smoked and Himalayan). Organic, California (Kashiwase Farms) almond pieces added some crunchy texture.

The base chocolate had a buttery dark melt, but subtler cacao notes were competing a bit with the salts and almonds. Try the plain Coracao 81% Heirloom bar (profiled yesterday) for an interesting side-by-side comparison.

Coracao Chocolate - 81% Heirloom Cacao dark bar - Nov. 9, 2017

Chocolate of the Day:

Coracao Chocolate
81% Heirloom Cacao bar
Good ++
Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) / 2 oz. (57 g.) in total bar
Calories: 180 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $5.59 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Monterey Market, Berkeley, CA

Welcome to Day #19 of South American Chocolate Theme Weeks.

Today we're moving from Ecuador to Peru on our virtual trip through South America. And what better way to do so than with a bar made from a blend of cacao from Ecuador and Peru.

Today's organic, 81% Heirloom Cacao bar was made by Coracao Chocolate* (Oakland, CA) and was sweetened with coconut sugar. The bar had an intoxicating aroma of hot chocolate, light coconut, fig spice cookies and a light, floral green note.

All this from a blend of organic cacao, coconut sugar, cacao butter, vanilla bean and Himalayan salt.

Despite the high 81% cacao percentage, this was a relatively pleasing and sweet chocolate bar, with a buttery melt (added cacao butter) and a smooth, stone-ground consistency.

Over the years, the company has moved to doing more of their own, small-batch stone-grinding in house. Cacao, coconut sugar and salt (and perhaps vanilla bean?) are ground together over a period of days. The result: a smoother blend than many other stoneground bars, with just enough even, balanced texture left-over that you're still in touch with the real ingredients.

This Coracao bar was dairy free and soy free, and was labeled low glycemic (coconut sugar). All the satisfaction of a confection or cookie, but without the sugar buzz.

*The company's name, Coracao, is a fusion between the Portuguese word for heart (coracao) and the name for the cacao plant (Theobroma cacao -- cacao that is "Food of the Gods"). Coracao + Cacao = Coracao. (Coracao Confections and Coracao Chocolate both refer to the same SF Bay Area company located on the border of Oakland, CA and Emeryville, CA.

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.