Misfits Bakehouse - Cardamom Brownie + Honduras Coffee - Dec. 21, 2019

Chocolate of the Day: 

Misfits Bakehouse
Cardamom Brownie with sea salt
(enjoyed with Mayorga Honduras Coffee)
Good ++
Weight: unknown
Calories: unknown
Cost: $4.00 (estimate) for 1 brownie
Purchased from: Misfits Bakehouse, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #7 of Chocolate and Honduras Theme Week.

Today's bit of Honduras came from coffee grown in Mayorga, Honduras.

The chocolate portion of today was provided by a delicious gluten-free Cardamom Brownie from Misfits Bakehouse (Palo Alto, CA)—a small, neighborhood bakery specializing in gluten-free baked goods and savory items as well.

Seahorse Chocolate - 70% Honduras Wampusirpi Direct Trade (bar) - Dec. 20, 2019

Chocolate of the Day:

Seahorse Chocolate
70% Honduras Wampusirpi Direct Trade (bar)
Good
Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) / 2 oz. (56 g.) in total bar
Calories: 150 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $11.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocolate Covered, San Francisco, CA

Welcome to Day #6 of Chocolate and Honduras Theme Week.

Today's attractively-packaged 70% Honduras Wampusirpi Direct Trade (bar) was created by R.C. and Amanda Gartrell (of Seahorse Chocolate) who are roasting single origin beans and making chocolate in Bend, OR.

This was very uniform, sweet, smooth dark chocolate. The maker tasting notes read: "brown sugar, toffee." These notes contributed to the feeling of a friendly, sweet confection.

There is lots of snow in the Bend, OR, area this December. Something sweet and chocolatey like this might serve as a good warm-up or parka pocket treasure.

Dandelion Chocolate - 70% Wampu, Honduras bar - Dec. 19 , 2019

Chocolate of the Day: 

Dandelion Chocolate
70% Wampu, Honduras 2017 Harvest (bar)
Good +++ - Very Good
Weight: 1 oz. (28 g.) / 2 oz. (56 g.) in total bar
Calories: 150 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $12.00 for 1 bar 
Purchased from: Dandelion Chocolate Manufactory + Cafe, San Francisco, CA

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

Today's 70% Wampu, Honduras 2017 Harvest (bar) was crafted by Dandelion Chocolate (San Francisco, CA).

The "Wampu" refers to Wampusirpi, a relatively remote area, where the beans used to make this chocolate travelled by river in dugout canoes for two days. Most of the Honduras bars featured this week have been made from cacao grown in Wampusirpi area, located in northeastern Honduras.

This two-ingredient,* 70% dark chocolate bar had very slight, well-balanced fruit, floral and green tea notes intertwined with the chocolate aroma. The bar broke with a well-tempered, hard snap. And, it had a smooth, even melt and texture and delicious, relatively sweet, true dark chocolate (rich brownie with a few baked in nuts) flavor with a very faint sweet miso sesame note in the finish.

Sadly, this bar was sold out when I checked this week.

*Ingredients: Cocoa beans and organic cane sugar
Dandelion tasting notes read: classic dark chocolate, macadamia nut, honeycomb

Castronovo Chocolate - Lost City Honduras 60% Dark Milk Chocolate with Fleur de Sel (bar) - Dec. 18, 2019

Chocolate of the Day: 

Castronovo Chocolate
Lost City Honduras 60% Dark Milk Chocolate with Fleur de Sel (bar)
Good + - Good ++
Weight: 1.1 oz. (31 g.) / 2.2 oz. (62 g.) in total bar
Calories: 160 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $11.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocolate Covered, San Francisco, CA

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

Today's Lost City Honduras 72% Wild Trinitario Dark Chocolate bar was from Castronovo Chocolate (Stuart, FL).

This bar had a smooth and creamy texture, and an inviting dark milk chocolate aroma and flavor with caramel-forward notes.

A sprinkling of sea salt added a balanced amount of savory to the sweet without being too overwhelming.

Castronovo Chocolate - Honduras Lost City 72% Wild Trinitario Dark Chocolate bar - Dec. 17, 2019

Chocolate of the Day: 

Castronovo Chocolate
Honduras Lost City 72% Wild Trinitario Dark Chocolate bar
Good +++
Weight: 1.1 oz. (31 g.) / 2.2 oz. (62 g.) in total bar
Calories: 150 calories (per label) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $11.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocolate Covered, San Francisco, CA

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

Today's Honduras Lost City 72% Wild Trinitario Dark Chocolate bar was from Castronovo Chocolate (Stuart, FL).*

Chocolate maker Denise Castronovo has been making chocolate and coaxing fine flavors out of heritage cacao beans grown in Central and South America in Florida, north of Miami,* for many years.

This bar is a tribute to a lost city discovered in a biological preserve in Honduras that is threatened by potential deforestation. (Many ancient structures and villages in Central America have become covered with vines and reclaimed by tropical and temperate forests over time, sometimes centuries, and some are occasionally are re-discovered.)

This Lost City area in Honduras is being protected by the Miskito indigenous people, who harvest and ferment wild cacao. Today's bar was made using cacao from this area.

This Honduran chocolate* had a rich, chocolatey aroma with hints of nuts (roasted almonds), subtle  fermented fruit (berries), and a very light salt-savory malt and leather saddle note. The resulting blend was delicious. It was balanced, complex and flavorful as well as enjoyable and approachable.

*Stuart, Florida is located on the Atlantic "Treasure Coast" area of Florida, and is also known as the "Sailfish Capital of the World." Technically one could grow cacao in southern Florida, but few do (so far at least). The nearest cacao farms might be in Cuba, Central America, and other, more distant Caribbean island nations (Haiti and the Dominican Republic). That said, Stuart, FL, is "closer" to cacao-growing regions than most areas of the U.S.

**This Honduras Lost City bar was labeled as Batch No. 858.

Wm. Chocolate - Honduras Wampusirpi 100% Dark bar - Dec. 16, 2019

Chocolate of the Day: 

Wm. Chocolate
Honduras Wampusirpi 100% Dark bar
Good +++
Weight: 1 oz. (28 g.) in total bar
Calories: 160 calories (estimate) in 1 bar
Cost: $6.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocolate Covered, San Francisco, CA

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

Today's Honduras Wampusirpi 100% Dark bar was from Wm. Chocolate (Madison, WI).

Described as "Nutty and Intense," this chocolate had a slightly waxy melt and thick creamy texture, influenced by the surrounding cold weather.

This was ultra-dark chocolate had a pleasing and well-balanced uniform light bitterness (think hops, walnuts and/or certain very dark berries). This one-ingredient* chocolate would make a fine "every day" 100 percent-er. It was flavorful and bold, without being overpowering.

I was ready to order more from the Wm. Chocolate website, but it looks like this bar might have already sold out. A pity really. But, that's the way it is with small batch, artisan chocolate sometimes.

The chocolate maker's tasting notes read: "walnut, elderberry, gruyere"

*Ingredients: "cocoa beans"

Wm. Chocolate - Honduras Wampusirpi + 70% Dark + Hawaiian Red Salt bar - Dec. 15, 2019

Chocolate of the Day: 

Wm. Chocolate
Honduras Wampusirpi + 70% Dark + Hawaiian Red Salt bar
Good ++
Weight: 1 oz. (28 g.) in total bar
Calories: 160 calories (estimate) in 1 bar
Cost: $6.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocolate Covered, San Francisco, CA

Welcome to Day #1 of Chocolate and Honduras Theme Week.

Today's Honduras Wampusirpi + 70% Dark + Hawiaan Red Salt bar was from Wm. Chocolate (Madison, WI). Wm. Chocolate is the creation of bean-to-bar chocolate maker William (Will) Marx.

Described as "nutty and caramely," this artisan, single origin 70% dark bar was sweetened with "whole (unrefined) cane sugar.*"

Many of us are conditioned to brace ourselves for gooey sweet items when we hear the word "caramel." However, this chocolate exemplified the subtle side of caramel. (Thank you.) The amount of salt is judicious and subtle as well, allowing the rich chocolate flavor(s) to shine.

As for the cacao single origin, Wampusirpi is located in the relatively remote northeastern Honduras in Central America. (Wampusirpi is the largest of 26 localities in the Honduran department of Gracias a Dios.) The remoteness of this location means that the cocoa is more likely to be pure and flavorful and less likely to be treated with chemicals. Wm. Chocolate selects cacao for "fairness and flavor."

*Whole cane sugar is made from cane juice that is dried out.