Antidote Chocolate - Lavender Flowers + Red Salt slow roasted 84% bar - May 28, 2019

Chocolate of the Day: 

Antidote Chocolate
Lavender Flowers + Red Salt 84% slow roasted cacao, low sugar bar
Good
Weight: 1.15 oz. (32.5 g.) / 2.3 oz. (65 g.) in total bar
Calories: 200 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $6.99 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Country Sun Natural Foods, Palo Alto, CA

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

Today's Lavender Flowers + Red Salt slow roasted cacao bar was from Antidote Chocolate (Brooklyn, NY).

The chocolate, made with cacao grown in Ecuador, had a relatively creamy melt and texture. The bar had a green plant aroma which softened into lavender flower bud flavors after the first bite. A balanced amount of red salt added some mellow contrast.

The lower sugar level in this vegan, 84 percent cacao bar (and no attempt to add alternative sweeteners) was refreshing.

Antidote Chocolate - Earl Grey and Orange 70% bar - May 27, 2019

Chocolate of the Day: 

Antidote Chocolate
Queens of Paradise: Earl Grey and Orange 70% cacao bar
Good +
Weight: 1.15 oz. (32.5 g.) / 2.3 oz. (65 g.) in total bar
Calories: 190 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $6.99 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Country Sun Natural Foods, Palo Alto, CA

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

Today's Earl Grey and Orange 70% Cacao bar was from Antidote Chocolate (Brooklyn, NY). I included this bar in a flower-themed chocolate week, as the floral notes of Earl Grey tea remind me of flowers as much as tea.

This vegan, gluten free and Kosher dark chocolate bar had an initial herb tea and light citrus/acetic acid (vinegar) aroma.

Chewy bits of orange peel yielded pleasant, authentic citric flavor that complemented the smooth dark chocolate base (made in Ecuador with Arriba Nacional cacao grown in Manabi, Ecuador) and not too sweet (thank you).

The bergamot* (Earl Grey tea) note was a bit more delicate and fleeting. The bar had a balanced, lilting orange finish.

*Bergamot, sometimes referred to as a bergamot orange, is an aromatic citrus fruit with floral notes, that gives Earl Grey tea its distinctive flavor. (It can be grown in Mediterranean climates.) The peel is where the fragrance stems from. The fruit itself is fairly sour, unlike the sweet orange fruit we are used to eating.

Goodio Craft Chocolate - Kukka - Chocolate with Flower Petals, Rose Crystals 69% bar - May 26, 2019

Chocolate of the Day: 

Goodio Craft Chocolate
Kukka - Chocolate topped with flower petals, rose crystals 69% (bar)
Good +
Weight: .848 oz. (24 g.) / 1.696 oz. (48 g.) in total bar
Calories: 129.8 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: (one of a 4-bar Nordic Flavors box)
Purchased from: Goodio Chocolate (online order)

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

Today's "Kukka" - Chocolate topped with flower petals, rose crystals 69% (bar) was made from scratch by Goodio Craft Chocolate (Helsinki, Finland).

This bar, part of a 4-bar Nordic flavors assortment pack was inspired by experiences and flavors in nature.* The back of the bar—arranged with edible flower petals with a hint of birch sugar—was a work of natural and culinary art.

The sweet, stoneground dark chocolate gave way to slight upticks in floral flavor. (Make sure you have a bite with a rose crystal in it.)

*Inside the packaging was printed a very endearing love letter to nature and childhood memories having to do with selecting a flower and playing the game: she loves me, she loves me not... The end of this note indicates that this bar has incorporated "only 'loves you' petals." Sweet.

Ethereal - 66% Dark Chocolate Blueberries, Lavender, Almonds bar - May 25, 2019

Chocolate of the Day: 

Ethereal Bean-to-Bar Craft Chocolate
66% Dark Chocolate Topped with Blueberries, Lavender, Almonds bar
Good ++
Weight: 1.25 oz. (35.5 g.) / 2.5 oz. (71 g.) in total bar
Calories: 234 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $7.95 for 1 bar
Purchased from: SweetE Organic, Mill Valley, CA

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

Combining chocolate with edible flowers and floral flavors is one of our favorite pastimes, so we were looking forward to this week for months.

Today's 66% Dark Chocolate Topped with Blueberries, Lavender and Almonds bar was created by Ethereal Confections (Woodstock, IL).

The chocolate had a deeper, darker, slightly fruit-acidic chocolate aroma and flavor than other 66% cacao bars, and less sugar sweetness than expected (thank you!). Whether there was actually less sugar or not, we're not sure, but this would have helped explain why the authentic chocolate, blueberries, lavender and almond flavors seemed to shine through.

Freeze-dried blueberries provided some down to earthy fruit-acid flavor and finely sliced almonds provided some balance and slightly nutty texture/soft crunch. Lavender flower buds contributed a distinctive, calming, floral flavor that lingered in the finish.

Hogarth Chocolate Makers - Rose and Vanilla Tea bar - May 24, 2019

Chocolate of the Day: 

Hogarth Chocolate Makers
Rose and Vanilla Tea bar
Good ++
Weight: 1.235 oz. (35 g.) / 2.47 oz. (70 g.) in total bar
Calories: 194.6 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $10.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocolate Covered, San Francisco, CA


Welcome to Day #8 of Chocolate, Coffee and Vanilla Theme Week and Day #1 of Chocolate and Flowers Theme Week (and is the second of two posts today).

Today's Rose and Vanilla Tea bar was from Hogarth Chocolate Makers (Nelson, New Zealand).

This 70% cacao (Madagascar) dark chocolate was infused with Dilmah Tea rose and vanilla tea, and was a New Zealand collaboration between chocolate maker Karl Hogarth and chef Simon Gault.

After opening the inner gold pouch that contained this dark bar, the smell of rosewater wafted up, with light fermented leaf/plant and vanilla notes in the background. If I was blindfolded, doing a taste test, I might not have guessed initially I was smelling a chocolate bar. However, it was early morning and the room was cold. Once it warmed up a few degrees, the dark chocolate aroma came to the forefront.

Meant to conjure images of a "high tea in a rose garden," this chocolate did just that. I also imagined fleeting images of Alice in Wonderland and a lost white rabbit, but that's another story.

The base dark chocolate was flavorful, slightly fruit-acidic, and not too sweet. The rose flavor continued to perfume the tasting experience from beginning to end. If you like floral flavors and scents, this light lingering rose note will be a lovely trait.

The Hogarth team hand mold their bars. And the mold design for this vegan, gluten free and soy free chocolate bar—with an "H" (for Hogarth) signature "block" in the center—was beautiful. We hesitated to break a piece off to taste, thus ruining the design.

Enlightened - Cold Brew Coffee Chip ice cream bars - May 24, 2019

Chocolate of the Day: 

Beyond Better Foods, LLC
Enlightened Cold Brew Coffee Chip bars
Good
Weight: 3.75 fl. oz. (110 mL) (70 g.) in 1 bar / 15 fl. oz. (440 mL) in box of 4 bars
Calories: 90 calories in 1 bar
Cost: $3.79 for 1 box of 4 bars
Purchased from: Piazza's Fine Foods, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #8 of Chocolate, Coffee and Vanilla Theme Week, and Day #1 of Chocolate and Flowers Theme Week.

Today's Enlightened Cold Brew Coffee Chip frozen bars were manufactured for Beyond Better Foods LLC (Bronx, NY). Small espresso chips with a hint of chocolate were embedded in a smooth coffee ice cream base.

This cool, frozen bar had a mild coffee-mocha flavor without a lot of chocolate to it. (In fact, the second entry for today was a 70% cacao chocolate bar with rose and vanilla (see post that follows this one). And this second bean-to-bar chocolate entry supplies the chocolate and vanilla flavors that are less present with this ice cream bar while providing a segue into a chocolate and flowers theme week.)

The Quest for a Lighter, Better Ice Cream
The Enlightened Cold Brew Coffee ice cream bar exemplified the perennial quest of suppliers to come up with good tasting, yet somehow healthier//better ice cream. In fact the tagline for today's bars read: "The Good-For-You Ice Cream."

Recent iterations of light ice cream often have more protein, fiber and less sugar. A step in the right direction (or back to basics) one might conclude—even if the ingredients* list is quite long.

One of today's bars contained 7 grams of protein and only 5 grams of sugar (plus erythritol and monkfruit extract). And, if one is counting calories, this bar contained only 90 calories in 1 bar.

*Ingredients: Skim milk, milk protein isolate, erythritol (natural sweetener), non-GMO soluble corn fiber, coffee, cream, cane sugar. Contained 2 percent or less of vegetable glycerin, dutched cocoa, coconut oil, carob gum, guar gum, mono and diglycerides, monk fruit extract, natural flavor, ghee, corn starch, soy lecithin

Mirzam Chocolate Makers - 62% Coffee and Cardamom bar - May 23, 2019

Chocolate of the Day: 

Mirzam Chocolate Makers
62% Dark Chocolate Coffee and Cardamom bar
Good + - Good ++
Weight: 1.235 oz. (35 g.) / 2.47 oz. (70 g.) in total bar
Calories: 186 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $11.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocolate Covered, San Francisco, CA

Welcome to Day #7 of Chocolate, Coffee and Vanilla Theme Week.

Today's 62% Dark Chocolate with Coffee and Cardamom bar was from Mirzam Chocolate Makers (Dubai, United Arab Emirates).

This dark chocolate bar had an authentic coffee aroma with a slight sweet spice note.

The ground Arabica coffee gave the bar a slightly earthy, but balanced, texture and flavor, and coffee finish, with an occasional faint twinkle of cardamom.

The African cacao used to make this 5-ingredient* single origin bar was grown in Ghana.

*Ingredients: Cocoa beans, sugar, cocoa butter, coffee, cardamom