Chocolino - Double Dark Chocolate 55% bar - Dec. 1, 2017

Chocolate of the Day: 

"Artfully Crafted for Chocolino"
Double Dark Chocolate 55% Cacao bar
Good - Good+
Weight: 2.14 oz. (60 g.) in total bar
Calories: 330 calories in 1 bar
Cost: $2.15 for 1 bar
Purchased from: CVS Pharmacy, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #5 of Chocolate and California Dreaming Theme Week.

Today we head south to the Central Valley (Fresno, CA) where today's Chocolino* La Dolce Vita Double Dark Chocolate 55% Cacao bar had its origins.

While not mentioned on the packaging (and despite the somewhat confusing "Artfully Crafted for Chocolino" tagline), I believe G. Debbas Chocolatier, a private label manufacturer with a shop in Fresno, produced this bar.

California's Central Valley is a tremendous source of agricultural food exports for the Golden State. Beautiful fruit posters drew immigrants with dreams of the good life in the past. Food is grown on a massive scale in the Valley. Not cacao perhaps. But, it is a region where food and beverages are appreciated.

The "Double Chocolate" designation refers to a blend of two dark chocolates, one perhaps a bit more flavorful. There was a trace of green (the relatively light, forest-like blend of green tea, green stalks and green floral) notes—and lots of popular, sweet dark chocolate flavor.

The overall aroma and flavor was consistent and a small step above most bulk, commercial chocolates. The chocolate broke with a snap, and had an even melt. The incorporation of whole milk powder made it slightly smoother.

The bar contained a standard disclaimer** that often appears on packaging for chocolates produced in a larger/shared facility with multiple-ingredient product lines.

*Chocolino showed up as a registered wordmark of SSI G. Debbas Chocolatier, LLC (Fresno, CA) (or at least the application showed up to be one in a google search -- filing date was March 2016)
Business was listed as chocolates, confections, chocolate bars, etc.

A Chocolino Facebook page for them showed a phone number with an 818 area code. 

**May contain peanuts, tree nuts, wheat.

Dick Taylor - 70% Lanquin Guatemala bar - Nov. 30, 2017

Chocolate of the Day: 

Dick Taylor Craft Chocolate
70% Lanquin, Guatemala bar
Good ++
Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) / 2 oz. (57 g.) in total bar
Calories: 150 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $9.00 (estimate) for 1 bar
Purchased from: missing information

Welcome to Day #4 of Chocolate and California Dreaming Theme Week.

There are dozens of chocolate makers and hundreds of chocolatiers in the Golden State. So, it's unlikely we can do a California-themed chocolate week justice in just eight* days.

However, before heading south from the San Francisco Bay Area, we're heading north, to the less crowded half of California, where artisans labor over high-quality foods, furniture and boats, and bean-to-bar chocolate, and where most locals don't mind the relative lack of traffic and crowds.

If you're Adam Dick and Justin Taylor, your dreams come true might involve crafts mentioned above. The duo behind Dick Taylor Craft Chocolate (Eureka, CA) started out as boat-makers and seem to be serial craftsmen.

Producing great, award-winning chocolate bars from scratch may be their latest endeavor, but likely not their last.

The cacao used to make this two-ingredient dark bar (cacao and organic cane sugar) was grown in Guatemala (Origin: "Single Estate - Lanquin A.V.") in the Alta Verapaz region, an area with a rich cacao history.

This 70% dark bar had roasted coffee/espresso and fruit/berry notes. Dick Taylor tasting notes (aroma/flavor/finish): "plumeria (tropical flower), blackberry peach cobbler, espresso"

*Chocolate weeks are often longer than conventional calendar weeks on Chocolate Banquet.com. 

Bridge Brands Chocolate - Save Me, San Francisco bar - Nov. 29, 2017

Chocolate of the Day: 

Bridge Brands Chocolate
Save Me, San Francisco Chocolate bar
Good +
Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) / 3 oz. (85 g.) in total bar
Calories: 153.3 calories in 1/3 bar
Cost: $1.99 (estimate) for 1 bar
Purchased from: Grocery Outlet Bargain Market, CA

Welcome to Day #3 of Chocolate and California Dreaming Theme Week, where we're featuring several chocolates that reflect what (some imagine) life is like in various California hot spots.

San Francisco is a popular stop on this tour. Chocolate makers like Ghirardelli and Guittard have San Francisco roots dating back to the 1800s. And there are many, newer smaller craft chocolate makers (and many more chocolatiers) in the Bay Area. That includes those producing novelty chocolate items, like today's "Save Me, San Francisco" bar.

If you recognized this title as a song/album from Train, the American pop rock band from San Francisco, you'd be correct. The song included lyrics like: "I've been rock and roll and disco, won't you save me San Francisco..."

Yes, San Francisco is a great place, filled with great chocolate; and even if the place doesn't save you, you'll enjoy a good ride and meal or two in this favorite city by the Bay.

Today's bar may not have been high-end craft, single origin chocolate. But the wrapper and sentiment was worth the purchase. The dark bar had a complex and pleasant aroma, and had reasonable depth in flavor. (It wasn't all sugar and rich cocoa.) It included some faint fruit (cherry jam), earth, malt, spice and tropical date and coconut/brown sugar notes.

The San Francisco Chocolate Factory - Chocolate by Numbers 38% Milk - Nov. 28, 2017

Chocolate of the Day: 

The San Francisco Chocolate Factory
Chocolate By Numbers
38% Milk Chocolate "dreamy chocolate"
Good
Weight: .125 oz. (3.54 g.) / 1 oz. (28.35 g.) total box of 16 pieces
Calories: 19.5 calories for 2 pieces
Cost: $1.49 (estimate) for 1 box of 16 pieces
Purchased from: Grocery Outlet Bargain Market, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #2 of Chocolate and California Dreaming Theme Week.

Today's small box of 38% Chocolate By Numbers Milk Chocolate was from The San Francisco Chocolate Factory (San Francisco, CA).

The company's "Chocolate by Numbers," themed boxes and tins of button- or disc-shaped round chocolate pieces are available in different percentages of cacao solids: 31%, 38%, 55%, 72%, etc.

Round, thin discs offer several benefits: they feel good on the tongue and offer more immediate/better access to creamy texture and chocolate flavors than a thick bar. The pieces (16 in this small box) also can be easily shared by a group of tasters.

These small rounds could be used for a side-by-side chocolate % comparison tasting, for those wanting to know more about cacao. Or they could be used as pairing chocolates with different foods and beverages.

The San Francisco Chocolate Factory also has a wholesale business and is involved in private/custom labeling and brand partnerships.

Ghirardelli - Milk Chocolate Jewel City bar - Nov. 27, 2017

Chocolate of the Day: 

Ghirardelli Chocolate Company

Milk Chocolate bar

(Jewel City - Art from Panama Pacific International Exposition)

Good 

Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) / 4 oz. (113.5 g.) in total bar

Calories: 137.5 calories (per label) in 1/4 bar (2 squares)

Cost: $2.99 for 1 bar

Purchased from: de Young Museum, San Francisco, CA

Welcome to the first day of Chocolate and California Dreaming Theme Week. First a bit of chocolate history about the Golden State, since we'll be virtually visiting here for the next several days.

The Gold Rush and the promise of new opportunities and dreams, drew many people to San Francisco in 1849. One individual, who arrived via South America, was Domenico (Domingo) Ghirardelli.

Ghirardelli first offered chocolate to miners in the Stockton, CA, area, and later opened a second shop in San Francisco. The Ghirardelli Chocolate Company was incorporated in 1852, making it one of the oldest chocolate companies operating in the U.S. 

Later, Ghirardelli's three sons managed the growing operation in a new San Francisco location. And, after successfully weathering the 1906 earthquake, participated in the Panama Pacific International Exposition*, which attracted visitors from around the globe. (Source of stamp shown: Pinterest.)

Ghirardelli California headquarters may now be across the Bay in San Leandro, and they're owned by a Swiss company (Lindt); but their heart and history is still in San Francisco.

The chocolate was sweet, and uniformly even in flavor. The texture was creamy smooth.

*The cover of today's "Jewel City" milk chocolate bar was adorned with an image from an Arthur Mathews oil painting, titled "The Victory of Culture over Force (Victorious Spirit), 1914. This bar (and art) were part of a centennial celebration and art exhibit in San Francisco that commemorated the 1915 Exposition in 2015-2016. One of the major attractions at the historic expo was a Tower of Jewels that was illuminated at night—thus the nick-name Jewel City.

Lonohana Estate - Hapalua with Candied Nibs, Dark Milk bar - Nov. 26, 2017

Chocolate of the Day:

Lonohana Estate Chocolate, LLC
Hapalua with Candied Nibs Dark Milk bar
Very Good
Weight: 1.15 oz. (32.5 g.) / 2.3 oz. (65 g.) in total bar
Calories: 173 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $15.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: The Chocolate Garage, Palo Alto, CA

The Hapalau* with Candied Nibs Dark Milk chocolate bar from Lonohana Estate Chocolate, LLC  (Honolulu, Oahu, HI) had a lovely sweet, slightly floral green, chocolate aroma with light caramel notes—and an addictive flavor and texture combination.

I first tasted (Batch No. 1) of this especially nice dark milk Hapalua bar shortly after its debut in early 2016, while on a chocolate trip to Nicaragua. The chocolatemaker, Seneca Klassen, also happened to be on this trip and provided samples. (See Chocolate Banquet entry, Mar. 18, 2016.)

Why was this milk chocolate bar especially nice? I can think of at least three reasons.

First, this was a Hawaiian bar. The cacao and nibs (Haleiwa, Oahu), and the cane sugar from Maui, were "planted, grown and harvested in Hawaii." Lonohana Estate is unique, a vertically integrated, operation, producing farm to table chocolate in the U.S. (Hawaii is the only U.S. state where cacao is grown commercially.)

Second, the bar was masterfully made, with well balanced flavor and texture. It had a caramel flavor from the candied nibs/milk chocolate, and a texture that was both buttery smooth and crunchy. There was not one off note.

Last, but not least, the deep milk chocolate (% not listed, but likely around 50% cacao) offered more chocolate flavor than other lower percentage milk chocolate bars. And the nibs put the cocoa flavor over the top.

Sadly, this bar may be hard to obtain. Most Lonohana Estate bars are made in small batches, and are available through a tasting club or limited venues. Occasionally they have a few bars left for sale on their website.

Ingredients: "Estate cacao, organic cocoa butter, organic whole milk powder, Maui cane sugar and candied estate nibs"

*Hapalua means "half" in the Hawaiian language. Half the bar (one side) was covered with a thick field of nibs. And on the "smooth" side, was a map of the Hawaiian islands.

IKEA - Choklad Ljus Milk Chocolate bar - Nov. 25, 2017

Chocolate of the Day: 

IKEA
Choklad Ljus (Milk Chocolate) bar
Good
Weight: .875 oz. (25 g.) / 3.5 oz. (100 g.) in total bar
Calories: 130 calories in 1/4 bar
Cost: $0.99 (estimate) for 1 bar
Purchased from: IKEA, East Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #6 of Milk Chocolate Theme Week.

IKEA offers a variety of household and food items with Swedish names.

Today's Choklad Ljus ("light chocolate") or Milk Chocolate bar was a generously sized, sweet milk chocolate bar made with UTZ Certified cocoa.* There was no cacao % information on the wrapper, but an IKEA webpage listed this bar as containing 30% cacao.

For the price this was certainly a good value and the bar, although quite sweet, tasted better than most bars containing less than 35% cacao.

*UTZ certified cacao helps "ensure sustainable farming standards and good conditions for workers." Consumers could/can trace the origin of the cacao used by going to a website, www.utzcertified.org/IKEA, to receive origin information. The source for this bar was listed as the Cote d'Ivoire or Ivory Coast, in western Africa.