Chocolate and Love - Mint 67% Dark Chocolate Mint Crunch bar - March 14, 2018

Chocolate of the Day: 

Chocolate and Love Ltd. 

Mint 67% Dark Chocolate and Mint Crunch bar

Good ++

Weight: 1.75 oz. (50 g.) / 3.5 oz. (100 g.) in total bar

Calories: 263 calories (per label) in 1/2 bar

Cost: $6.79 for 1 bar

Purchased from: Piazza's Fine Foods, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #5 of Chocolate and Mint Theme Week

Today's Organic Mint 67% Dark Chocolate and Mint Crunch bar was from Chocolate and Love Ltd. (Crescent Perth, UK), and was imported by Belgium's Chocolate Source (Milton, MA).

The "crunch" in this smooth, almost creamy, dark chocolate mint crunch bar came from a swarm of uniformly tiny, barely visible peppermint candy bits. Audible, but not visible. Research was surely done to achieve this feat.

Vosges - Mint Matcha bar - March 13, 2018

Chocolate of the Day: 

Vosges IP, LLC

Dark Milk 45% Cacao Mint Matcha bar

Good ++ 

Weight: 1.5 oz. (42.5 g.) / 3 oz. (85 g.) in total bar

Calories: 230 calories in 1/2 bar

Cost: $1.99 (estimate) for 1 bar

Purchased from: Grocery Outlet Bargain Market, Palo Alto, CA

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

Today's Dark Milk 45% Cacao Mint Matcha bar was from Vosges IP, LLC (Chicago, IL).

This "Grade A Matcha and Mint in 45% cacao Dark Milk Chocolate" bar was creamy in taste and texture, and the mint was well balanced with the added green tea/matcha flavor in this bar.

Tasting notes for this gluten-free bar: "caramel notes (in) dark milk chocolate...Aromas of bamboo and grass linger on the palette from the addition of...green tea."

The chocolate bar was made with 82% fair trade ingredients.

Endangered Species - Dark Chocolate Peppermint Crunch 72% bar - March 12, 2018

Chocolate of the Day:

Endangered Species Chocolate

Natural Dark Chocolate with Peppermint Crunch 72% cocoa bar

Good ++

Weight: 4 pieces (40 g.) / 3 oz. (85 g.) in total bar

Calories: 220 calories in 4 pieces bar

Cost: $3.19 for 1 bar

Purchased from: Country Sun Natural Foods, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #3 of Chocolate and Mint Theme Week. This week features multiple chocolate bars with mint and cacao (or cocoa)* nibs (an echo from last week's chocolate and nibs theme week).

Today's Natural Dark Chocolate with Peppermint Crunch 72% cocoa bar from Endangered Species Chocolate (Indianapolis, IN) also contained nibs.

This certified gluten-free, dark chocolate bar smelled like a classic dark chocolate peppermint patty, and will please most palettes. The cocoa nibs added an extra crunch punch and their smooth flavor blended seamlessly into the rest of the chocolate bar.

Ingredients: bittersweet chocolate (chocolate liquor, cane sugar, cocoa butter, soy lecithin, vanilla), cacao nibs, peppermint oil

Printed on the bar's wrapper was a photo of a baby Emporer penguin; these penguins are from Antarctica. Endangered Species has long committed a portion of proceeds to conservation-related causes. Inside the wrapper (and other Endangered Species bars), the story of a threatened or endangered animal was featured, along with information about what the company is doing (and what we collectively can do) to help mitigate threats to this animal's habitat.

In addition to helping to raise awareness, the company works with and is part of a network of conservation organizations, such as Xerxes (the organization highlighted on today's bar).

*Is is cocoa nibs or cacao nibs? Cacao tends to refer to the less processed cacao fruit and seeds/beans. Cocoa usually refers to cocoa powder or occasionally mass and/or liquor (made from processed ground cacao beans). 

Nibs are cracked pieces of bean—somewhere in between the original plant and processed chocolate.  So, you'll see both terms used. This is terminology influenced by history as well, as cacao made its journey from country of origin (where cacao was grown) to Europe and the U.S. for manufacture into cocoa products.

Jonny Pops - Vanilla Mint Chocolate and Cream pops - March 11, 2018

Chocolate of the Day: 

Jonny Pops

Vanilla Mint Chocolate and Cream 

Good +

Weight: 2.4 oz. (68 g.) / 7.19 oz. (213 ml) in total box of 3 pops

Calories: 190 calories in 1 pop

Cost: $3.39 for 1 box of 3 pops

Purchased from: Piazza's Fine Foods, Palo Alto, CA

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

Vanilla Mint Chocolate and Cream from Jonny Pops (St. Louis Park, MN). 

These gluten-free, chocolate-dipped pops had refreshing mint flavor and were made with real cream.

The number one ingredient was heavy cream (heavy cream and organic guar gum), followed by purified water, cane sugar and dark chocolate (chocolate, sugar, cocoa butter, soy lecithin, natural vanilla extract). The remaining ingredients: coconut oil, vegetable oil (soybean), natural mint flavor, vanilla extract and salt.

Patric Chocolate - Mint Crunch bar - March 10, 2018

Chocolate of the Day:

Patric Chocolate

Mint Crunch bar

Good +++ - Very Good

Weight: 1.15 oz. (30 g.) / 2.3 oz. (60 g.) in total bar

Calories: 172 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar

Cost: $17.00 for 1 bar

Purchased from: The Chocolate Garage, Palo Alto, CA 

Welcome to Day #10 of Chocolate and Mint Theme Week.

Alan "Patric" McClure of Patric Chocolate (Columbia, MO) knows how to make great "American Handcrafted Chocolate" bars. Today's Mint Crunch bar was no exception.

This blend of "Dark Chocolate, Cool Mint, and Crunchy Cocoa Nibs" was a well-tempered and well-executed, flavorful dark chocolate bar with cooling peppermint aroma and flavor notes.

*Ingredients: cacao, organic cane sugar, organic cocoa butter, organic peppermint oil

Somerville Chocolate - White Chocolate with Cacao Nibs bar - March 9, 2018

Chocolate of the Day: 

Somerville Chocolate

White Chocolate with Cacao Nibs bar

Good - Good +

Weight: 1.25 oz. (35.375 g.) / 2.5 oz. (70.75 g.) in total bar

Calories: 188 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar

Cost: $11.00 for 1 bar

Purchased from: Chocolate Covered, San Francisco, CA

Today's White Chocolate with Cacao Nibs bar was made by Somerville Chocolate (Somerville, MA).

Only a small handful of white chocolate items appear on this site, ChocolateBanquet.com. And the few that do usually contain cocoa butter,* and are either blends with dark or milk chocolates. Or they, like today's bar, contain cocoa butter and cocoa nibs (pieces of cocoa bean**).

This attractively packaged and molded bar was a fun ride. It had a sweet, cocoa butter aroma with a hint of vanilla frosting. (There was no vanilla in this bar.***) 

The flavor was predominantly white chocolate with a generous smattering of small dark crunchy bits (nibs) that tilted one's taste buds back over to the dark side every few seconds. And then, at the end of every bite, the sweetness gently but firmly re-asserted itself.

*Many commercial white chocolates replace all or part of the naturally occurring cocoa butter (the fat portion of the cocoa bean) with vegetable oils.

** Cocoa beans are actually seeds, but the term "bean" has become the more widely used term.
***Ingredients list read: cocoa butter, cane sugar, powdered milk, cacao nibs, soy lecithin

Stone Grindz Chocolate - Oh So Cookie Dough - March 8, 2018

Chocolate of the Day: 

Stone Grindz Chocolate

Oh So Cookie Dough raw energy bars

Good

Weight: unknown

Calories: 120 calories (estimate) in 1 piece

Cost: $5.95 for 1 container

Purchased from: Stone Grindz, online order

Welcome to Day #8 of Chocolate and Nibs Theme Week.

Today's container of Oh So Cookie Dough raw energy bars were made by Stone Grindz Chocolate (Scottsdale, AZ).

The company sells these bars (and other energy bars) through their secret store menu on their website.

These soft bars were pleasantly and naturally sweet; and they did, in fact, taste a little like cookie dough. Cacao nibs gave these energy bars a little crunchy texture and cocoa flavor.