Cafe-Tasse - Lait Nougat 35% mini bar - Mar. 13, 2020

Chocolate of the Day: 

Cafe-Tasse
Lait Nougat
Good +
Weight: 0.31 oz. (9 g.) in 1 mini bar
Calories: 50 calories (estimate) in 1 mini bar
Cost: $N/A part of a larger order
Purchased from: Chocosphere.com, online order

Welcome to Day #2 of Milk Chocolate Theme Week.

This smooth Lait Nougat mini bar from Cafe-Tasse (Belgium) had a lovely, rich milk chocolate aroma with caramel notes. The taste of this 32% cacao chocolate was a bit too sweet for me, but the smell was heavenly.

Cafe-Tasse makes their chocolate bars (full-sized and small sizes are available) using cacao grown in Africa and South America.

Nougat is generally a confection of whipped egg white, honey and almonds. The pieces of nougat were too small to taste or create discernible texture in this milk chocolate mini bar, but likely contributed to the nice aroma, flavor, and sweetness.

Chocolate Naive - Kefir Probiotic Milk Chocolate (bar) - Mar. 12, 2020

Chocolate of the Day: 

Chocolate Naive
Kefir Probiotic Milk Chocolate (bar)
Good ++
Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) / 2 oz. (57 g.) in total bar
Calories: 150 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $ missing information
Purchased from: missing information

Welcome to Day #1 of Milk Chocolate Theme Week.

Today's Kefir Probiotic Milk Chocolate (bar) was crafted by Chocolate Naive (Vilnius, Lithuania).

This creative, well-executed, rich dark 57 percent milk chocolate (bar) was made using two fermented foods: cacao and kefir. The dark milk chocolate had a smooth creamy melt and texture, and a balanced, fruity tart chocolate flavor.

High-quality, small-batch, dark milk chocolates are pricier than bulk, sugary milk chocolates containing 32 percent cocoa or less. And when you find one like today's, it's well worth the quest.

Ceimoi Chocolatier - Super Dark Ivory Coast 90% Cocoa (bar) - Mar. 11, 2020

Chocolate of the Day:

Ceimoi Chocolatier
Super Dark Ivory Coast 90% Cocoa (bar)
Good - Good +
Weight: 1.2 oz. (34 g.) / 3 oz. (85 g.) in total bar
Calories: 230 calories in 1 serving (4 squares of) bar
Cost: $1.49 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Grocery Outlet Bargain Market, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #7 of Chocolate and West Africa Theme Week.

Today's "Super Dark Ivory Coast 90% Cocoa" (bar) was produced in France and distributed by Cemoi Inc. (Pittsburgh, PA). Cemoi is a large French chocolate manufacturer, founded in 1814, with an origin story that dates further back (to 1770) in Grenoble. Cemoi also has a small manufacturing presence in Cote d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) -- the largest cocoa producing country in the world (along with Ghana) in West Africa.*

The aroma had roasted, nutty, spice cookie, light floral, dark chocolate and very faint earth and fruit notes. The bar had a smooth, slightly oily (think very smooth nut butter) melt and mouthfeel. The flavor was uniform, dark chocolate flavor, albeit more subtle and complex than most with flavor notes similar to the aroma.

Last, but not least, his 90% bar lacked the bitterness and/or astringency associated with many other ultra-high percentage chocolate bars; and it had a relatively mild chocolate nut butter finish.

The is the 90% bar is ideally suited for chocolate fans who

• Prefer tamer ultra-dark chocolate that won't grab you by the throat
• Want to avoid the sugar found in lower percentage, sweeter dark chocolates
• Are on a budget

Maker's tasting notes read as follows: "coffee + rose + very slightly bitter"

Ingredients: "Ivory Coast unsweetened chocolate, cocoa butter, sugar, vanilla natural flavouring."

*Four countries in West Africa produce approximately 70 percent of cocoa in the world used to make chocolate: Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria and Cameroon.

LetterPress Chocolate - Satocao Sao Tome 70% Dark Chocolate (bar) - March 10, 2020

Chocolate of the Day: 

LetterPress Chocolate LLC
Satocao Sao Tome 70% Dark Chocolate (bar)
Good + - 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: $12.00 (estimate) for 1 bar
Purchased from: missing information

Welcome to Day #6 of Chocolate and West Africa Theme Week.

Today's Satocao Sao Tome 70% Dark Chocolate (bar) was from LetterPress Chocolate LLC (Los Angeles, CA).

This well-executed, smooth dark bar morphed from one sweet thing to another: from sweet honey, faint spiced fruit, very faint coffee, very faint sweet green tea, light molasses, true chocolate, a glimmer of faint earth, and then back to sweet chocolate, with subtle and balanced light fruit acidity.

The maker's tasting notes suggested: "peanut butter cup." Yes, another sweet confection with timeless appeal. The maker has managed to make a sweet, two-ingredient chocolate into one with depth and complexity. Not an easy thing to do actually.

Ingredients: cacao beans, unrefined cane sugar

Cafe-Tasse - 77% Cacao Extra Noir; and 60% Noir mini bars - Mar. 9, 2020

Chocolate(s) of the Day: 

Cafe-Tasse
77% Cacao Extra Noir
Good ++ - Very Good
Weight: 0.3 oz. (9 g.) in 1 mini bar
Calories: 50 calories (estimate) in 1 bar
Cost: N/A - part of bulk order
Purchased from: N/A - part of large order

Cafe-Tasse
60% Cacao Noir
Good + - Good ++
Weight: 0.3 oz. (9 g.) in 1 mini bar
Calories: 50 calories (estimate) in 1 bar
Cost: N/A - part of bulk order
Purchased from: N/A - part of large order

Welcome to Day #5 of Chocolate and West Africa. Many of this week's featured chocolates are Belgian chocolates, including today's mini bars from Cafe-Tasse (Bruxelles/Brussels, Belgium).

Both the 77% Cacao Extra Noir (Dark) and the 60% Noir (Dark) bars were exquisitely packaged miniature versions of full-sized bars. Both chocolates had rich, dark chocolate flavor. The Extra Dark was particularly good. And both were blends of different beans, and possibly origins.

Although origins were not disclosed, Cafe-Tasse has stated they use cacao from Africa and South/Latin America.

Libeert Chocolate - Organic Dark Chocolate 70% Cacao (bar) - Mar. 8, 2020

Chocolate of the Day:

Libeert Chocolate
Organic Dark Chocolate 70% Cacao (bar)
Good - Good +
Weight: 1.16 oz. (33.3 g.) / 3.5 oz. (100 g.) in total bar
Calories: 180 calories (estimate) in 1/3 bar
Cost: $2.99 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Grocery Outlet Bargain Market, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #4 of Chocolate and West Africa Theme Week.

Today's Organic Dark Chocolate 70% (bar) was manufactured in Belgium by Libeert s.a. (Comines, Belgium).

This chocolate had a relatively complex dark aroma with balanced olive and slight earth/loam notes. The melt was smooth and the taste progressed into more of a true chocolate, light brownie flavor and finish.

While today's dark chocolate bar did not specify an origin, statistically, I'm betting it was made with an organic cacao blend that included West African cacao. This bar was Fairtrade and gluten free.
("Cocoa and cane sugar: traded in compliance with Fairtrade standards.")

Ingredients: Organic chocolate liquor, organic cane sugar, organic cocoa butter; Cocoa solids 71% minimum)

Nirvana Belgian Chocolates - Organic Belgian Dark Chocolate candied ginger (bar) - March 7, 2020

Chocolate(s) of the Day:

Nirvana Belgian Chocolates
(Made in Belgium for Belgium's Chocolate Source)
Organic Belgian Dark Chocolate - candied ginger
Good
Weight: 1.5 oz. (42.5 g.) / 3 oz. (85 g.) in total bar
Calories: 230 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $ missing information
Purchased from: missing information

Welcome to Day #3 of Chocolate and West Africa Theme Week.

How do I know the chocolate in this Organic Belgian Dark Chocolate bar with candied ginger came from cacao grown in West Africa? I don't, but since there was no origin listed for this bar on the packaging (or to be found on the company website), I will assume there is a 75% - 80% chance that most of the cocoa beans used to make this bar came from either Ivory Coast, Ghana or Nigeria.*

After cocoa was brought from the New World to Africa for cultivation, European chocolate sellers were closer to the ingredients they needed for chocolate beverages (and later for bars and confections). As part of their colonial presence in Africa (Belgian Congo), Belgium became involved in West and Central African commodities centuries ago, including growing and importing cacao as well as rubber and other goods for profit.

Things have evolved in the past century since Belgium stepped out of their colonial position in 1960, and Belgium is still quite well-known for fine chocolate. And today, many Belgian chocolate makers (including Nirvana) sport a fair trade logo to convince chocolate buyers that farmers are receiving a fair price for their crops and that cocoa is "traded in compliance with Fairtrade Standards."

Yes, you may be thinking, but, how did today's bar taste?

Smooth, organic fair trade dark chocolate provided a solid, silent, natural partner for the bits of candied ginger which added a balanced sparkle and bit of sweet spiciness. This chocolate was made with fat-reduced cocoa powder. (Adding (lower acidity) cocoa powder can sometimes serve to mellow or even out chocolate flavors.) This attractively packaged bar was made in Belgium for Belgium's Chocolate Source (Milton, MA).

Claudio Corallo - Ubric Uvas ("drunk" grapes/raisins) in dark chocolate
I also re-tasted a unique, wonderful and flavorful "boozy" tasting chocolate from Claudio Corallo (Sao Tome and Principe) that I'd first sampled at Alegio Chocolate (at their Berkeley, CA location) back in 2014. This pricey chocolate was quite special. The chocolate, in bar form, was made using grapes/raisins and fermented cacao fruit distillate. I'd stored a bar of it back in the chocolate vault, and it had stayed perfectly fresh in a sealed foil package. (Corallo is also fond of chocolate with ginger.)

*According to a Statistica report (2020), titled "Cocoa beans: supplier companies to Belgium 2017" 64.6% of cocoa imported into Belgium in 2017 for chocolate making came from Ivory Coast, followed by 10.1% from Ghana, and 6.1% from Nigeria.* (Smaller percentages are listed for South American countries (Peru, Ecuador) and the Dominican Republic.)