Dandelion Chocolate - 70% Hacienda Azul, Costa Rica 2016 Harvest (bar) - Dec. 24, 2020

Chocolate of the Day

Dandelion Chocolate

70% Hacienda Azul Costa Rica 2016 Harvest (bar) 

Good ++

Weight: 1 oz. (28 g.) / 2 oz. (56 g.) in total bar

Calories: 150 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar

Cost: $8.95 for 1 bar

Purchased from: ZombieRunner, Palo Alto, CA

Buenos Dias a todos. Good day to you all, Happy Christmas Eve, and welcome to Day #8 of Chocolate and Costa Rica Theme Week.

What's it like to celebrate Christmas in Costa Rica? A traditional, hearty Christmas Eve meal might consist of tamales, roast pork, potatoes, rice, vegetables and eggnog, with a piece of tres leches cake for dessert. 

I replicated part of this meal today (roasted chicken tamales, potatoes, vegetables and a reasonable facsimile of eggnog with grated nutmeg. But, being able to enjoy tasty Costa Rica dark chocolate bars (featured today and this week) was a true gift. Costa Rica has continued to produce more and better cacao and chocolate--thanks to great farmers, chocolate makers and a growing knowledge of successful growing, fermenting, roasting and other techniques.*

This rich, smooth dark chocolate had a smooth, sophisticated complexity with a true dark chocolate (chocolate torte/cake) flavor and a naturally sweet taste (fig cookie) with balanced fruit acidity/tartness (cherry), and a few fleeting background notes--including very faint, fleeting spice and clean green/floral notes. 

Ingredients: Cocoa beans and cane sugar

*E.g., Dandelion Chocolate and others have deepened their relationships with farmers in growing countries. Dandelion notes for this bar offered insight(s) into some of the depth and complexity in this bar when they mentioned different batches of cacao beans with different roasting profiles that were combined/used to make this bar.

Note: This bar was eaten past its expiration date. So my apologies to Dandelion if this review could have been even greater with a fresher bar.

Sibu/Sibo Chocolate - Milk Chocolate 63% Cacao Dark Milk Costa Rica (bar) - Dec. 23, 2020

Chocolate of the Day

Sibu/Sibo Chocolate

Milk Chocolate 63% Cacao Dark Milk Costa Rica (bar) 

Good ++

Weight: 1.76 oz. (50 g.) in total bar

Calories: 280 calories in 1 bar

Cost: $6.50 for 1 bar

Purchased from: Chocosphere, online order

Welcome to Day #7 of Chocolate and Costa Rica Theme Week.

Today's Sibu Chocolate (Sibo Chocolate in the U.S.) Milk Chocolate 63% Cacao Dark Milk Costa Rica (bar) was made in Costa Rica by Chocoindustria Cinco S.A.

"Dark milk" chocolates contain milk (powder) and relatively more sugar than your average 70% cacao plus dark chocolate bars. These two ingredients tend to veil or neutralize unique cacao notes present in single origin bars. And, while I appreciate a bit of well-executed chocolate candy every once in a while, if you're making chocolate with great, fine flavored cacao, ideally these cacao flavors would be preserved.*

A 40-50% cacao dark milk chocolate generally reveals its extra sugar content with the first whiff. The aroma often has subtle caramel (or candy) notes.

Happily, this 63% cacao dark milk Costa Rica bar had an initial aroma with stronger, more complex dark chocolate notes. The melt and texture were smooth. And the milk powder added a bit of creaminess, and a caramel note, without muting flavors (fruit acidity, light molasses, spice) as much. This was a "best of both worlds" bar; that is, it had high points associated with both good dark milk and dark chocolate offerings.

Sibu/Sibo tasting notes read as follows: "Flavor profile: Notes of yellow fruit, cherry and praline."

Ingredients: Chocolate (cacao beans, cane sugar, cacao butter, milk powder). 

*The cacao used to make this dark chocolate bar was from Talamanca, in southeastern Costa Rica. In the past decade some great, complex and flavorful cacao has been coming out of Central America--signaling a rediscovery of a cacao growing region with a centuries old cacao history and traditions. 

A fungal disease caused a loss of cacao trees in Central American countries in the 1970s, and it took decades to fully recover for many cacao-producing countries. So, there is a tendency to want to experience and celebrate resurgent, heritage cacao flavors that have been carefully nurtured, preserved and in some cases enhanced. 

Long may they live...the cacao varieties, the farmers that support them, and the people that make them into delicious chocolate.

Sibu/Sibo Chocolate - Brunca Costa Rica Dark Chocolate 70% (bar) - Dec. 22, 2020

Chocolate of the Day

Sibu Chocolate / Sibo Chocolate
Brunca Costa Rica Dark Chocolate 70% Cacao (bar)
Good  ++ - Good +++
Weight: 1.76 oz. (50 g.) in total bar
Calories: 280 calories in 1 bar
Cost: $6.50 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocosphere.com, online order

Welcome to Day #6 of Chocolate and Costa Rica Theme Week. 

Today's Brunca Costa Rica Dark Chocolate 70% Cacao (bar) was from Sibu Chocolate in Costa Rica (known as Sibo Chocolate in the U.S.). The company offers a variety of bars (with and without flavor inclusions) that feature Costa Rican cacao from different regions of the country.

This bar had a very rich aroma--a dark chocolate that recalled a good, bracing cup of freshly roasted, sweetened coffee first thing in the morning--with notes of fruit (tart cherry, light citrus, fig) and faint spice.

This balanced and bold dark chocolate had an even melt and smooth texture. 

The flavor was similar to the aroma notes mentioned above. The chocolate had a medium acidity and a light astringency. The finish was coffee-like as well, with roasted, robust yet smooth, faintly nutty flavor notes. Yet the flavor was distinctly one of cacao and not coffee beans, that connection persisted, perhaps enhanced by the cacao variety and roast profile.

This 70% chocolate bar was made in Costa Rica, from cacao beans that were grown in the Brunca Region is a socioeconomic region that straddles Puntarenas and San Jose Provinces in southwest Costa Rica, named after the Boruca (also known as the Brunca or Brunka) indigenous people. And, to tie this roots story back to today's chocolate, Sibu is the name of "the creator of everything" in native Boruca/Brunca stories.

The company's tasting notes for this Brunca bar read as follows: "Flavor profile: spice, with notes of dried fruit and a nutty finish."

Ingredients: Chocolate (cacao beans, cane sugar, organic cacao butter)

 

Sibu/Sibo Chocolate - Talamanca Costa Rica Dark Chocolate 70% Cacao (bar) - Dec. 21, 2020

 Chocolate of the Day

Sibu Chocolate / Sibo Chocolate
Talamanca Costa Rica Dark Chocolate 70% Cacao (bar)
Good  ++ 
Weight: 1.76 oz. (50 g.) in total bar
Calories: 280 calories in 1 bar
Cost: $6.50 (estimate) for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocosphere.com, online order

Welcome to Day #5 of Chocolate and Costa Rica Theme Week. 

Today's Sibu Chocolate (known as Sibo Chocolate in the U.S.) Talamanca* Costa Rica Dark Chocolate 70% Cacao (bar) was made in Costa Rica by Chocoindustria Cinco S.A.

Sibu/Sibo offers a variety of bars (with and without flavor inclusions) that feature cacao(s) grown in different regions of Costa Rica.

The aroma of this smooth, dark and complex Costa Rica chocolate included subtle earth, savory, dried fruit (berries, fig, green banana) and faint floral spice (saffron) notes. 

The bar had a friendly, true dark chocolate (brownie) flavor with dried fruit (berries, green banana) and fig cookie and caramel notes. There was also a fleeting, very faint light mint/menthol note. This bar contained a treasure chest of aroma and flavor notes.

This 70% chocolate was made in Costa Rica, from cacao beans that were grown in the Limon Province in Costa Rica.* Sibo has worked with two small farms for their cacao in this area, and cacao for this bar was "fermented and dried by the Gaitan family..."

Chocosphere tasting notes read: "...Sibo Talamanca 70% Dark Chocolate Bar, Single origin dark chocolate...has a very complex flavor profile. Hints of local herbs and dried fruits with a caramel undertone."

Ingredients: Chocolate (cacao beans, organic, cane sugar, cacao butter) 

*There are seven provinces in Costa Rica. All seven have cacao farms or plantations: Alajuela, Cartago, Guanacaste, Heredia, Limon, Puntarenas and San Jose--proof that this country has a climate very well-suited for cacao. Talamanca, the source of the cacao used to make today's bar, is a "canton," in the Limon Province, located in the southeast part of (the Caribbean side of) Costa Rica. 

 

French Broad Chocolates - Costa Rica Dark Chocolate 80% Cacao (bar) - Dec. 20, 2020

Chocolate of the Day

French Broad Chocolates
Costa Rica Dark Chocolate 80% Cacao (bar)
Good ++ - Good +++ 
Weight: 1 oz. (28 g.) in total bar
Calories: 180 calories in 1 bar
Cost: $4.99 for 1 bar 
Purchased from: Village Market, Ferry Building, San Francisco, CA  

Welcome to Day #4 of Chocolate and Costa Rica Theme Week.

Today's artful Costa Rica Dark Chocolate 80% Cacao (bar) (Batch #1065) was from French Broad Chocolates (Asheville, North Carolina). 

This bar's robin's egg blue and shiny gold packaging was beautiful. The French Broad River (that inspired the company's name) is depicted in sinuous gold. I'm intrigued by maps; and any product information that includes a map (and the latitude and longitude coordinates) that honors and conveys a sense of place, for me, is a plus. Like many craft foods and beverages, place(s) are very important for chocolate.

This robust bar had a complex aroma with earthy, savory, smoky/roasted, very light nutty tobacco notes, followed by concentrated fruit (dried apricot, dried plum and dried banana) notes. 

The flavor notes were similar to the aroma notes listed above; although the taste had a slightly more muted quality--likely due to cocoa butter. (Added cocoa butter can help manage/soften acidity and bitterness, and can help create a luscious texture.) This well-tempered, chocolate had a dense, velvety, almost nut butter-like texture.

Artful to the end...this 80% chocolate had a satisfying, relatively light, lingering finish with a faint balanced, bitterness and then (after another minute) a fainter sweeter fruit (berry) note. All this with just two ingredients: cacao and sugar.

French Broad Chocolate founders, Dan and Jael Rattigan, lived in Costa Rica for a time, made connections there, and below is information from them that talks about how this experience continues to contribute to their chocolate making today. (See below for an excerpt.)

French Broad Chocolate maker's notes:

"No chocolate connects us more deeply with our roots than this bar. Dan and Jael lived in the cacao-rich jungles of Costa Rica for two years, where they opened a small café, called Bread and Chocolate.

Daniel South was brought on as a dishwasher, eventually being trained as Head Baker. Now Daniel has returned to his agricultural roots as a cacao processor, cultivating cacao on his farm and buying the seeds from his neighbors. He ferments in wooden boxes made from trees felled on his land, and exports cacao directly to French Broad Chocolates. Building a viable cacao business hasn’t been easy for Daniel, but we are seeing his efforts bear fruit.

This two-ingredient chocolate contains a robust eighty percent cacao with an earthy aroma. The flavor profile begins with chocolate wafer cookie and transforms into tart raspberry."

Ingredients: cacao, organic sugar

Nuance Chocolate - Costa Rica Hacienda Azul 2017 70% Pure Dark bar - Dec. 19, 2020

Chocolate of the Day

Nuance Chocolate Company

Costa Rica Hacienda Azul 2017 70% Pure Dark bar

Good ++

Weight: 1.94 oz. (55 g.) in total bar
Calories: 300 calories (estimate) in 1 bar
Cost: $8.50 (plus shipping) for 1 bar
Purchased from: Nuance Chocolate, online order  

Welcome to Day #3 of Chocolate and Costa Rica Theme Week.

Today's Nuance Chocolate's Costa Rica Hacienda Azul's 2017 70% Pure Dark bar was made by Nuance Chocolate Company (in (Old Town) Fort Collins, CO). 

Nuance offers a variety of flavorful, bean-to-bar, single origin and flavored bars--including some infused with spirits (a variety of whiskeys)--in northern Colorado. Up until the 2000s, chocolatiers across the U.S. had been cranking out smooth, relatively uniform-tasting dark chocolate bars and confections. 

Thankfully--and mirroring a wave of artisan food and beverage providers in recent decades--a growing number of artisan chocolate makers, like Nuance, are providing us with chocolates that possess a unique depth and breadth of flavor, while also using fewer additives, preservatives and blending steps that might obscure these flavors.

Today's Nuance 70% dark bar had an aroma with true chocolate, fruit, and very faint spice and nut notes. The melt and texture were smooth.

The flavor included fruit (red fruit (a mix of red and black currants), dark, ripe cherry, dark berry tart with a flash of mango), raisin cinnamon toast, and a faint sweet herb and balanced earthy bitter-sweetness, fermented fruit and green nut notes--with a gradually diminishing finish. 

This chocolate provided a satisfying, multi-layered flavor ride. All this thanks to cacao beans grown in Costa Rica (Hacienda Azul*), professional fermentation, a thoughtful supply chain, and Nuance's skilled chocolate makers. (Thank you to founders/owners Toby and Alix Gadd.)

"Ingredients: cacao, cane sugar, cocoa butter. All natural and GMO-free."

*Hacienda Azul roughly translates to blue "house" in English. More specifically a hacienda refers to a main/large house on a plantation or estate in a Spanish-speaking country. 

Hacienda Azul is a single estate (cacao grower) is located in central Costa Rica, near Turrialba (the name of a town and an active volcano). The estate grows cacao trees in a biodiverse environment, intermingled with jungle, rather than in a "shaved land" mono-culture farm configuration we might be more familiar with in the U.S. This method of planting can offer several benefits, e.g. a more hospitable environment for the midges (insects) that pollinate cacao flowers.

Sibu/Sibo Chocolate - Costa Rica 70% Cacao Crystallized Ginger Dark Chocolate (bar) - Dec. 18, 2020

Chocolate of the Day

Sibu Chocolate/Sibo Chocolate
Costa Rica 70% Cacao Crystallized Ginger Dark Chocolate (bar)
Good 
Weight: 1.76 oz. (50 g.) in total bar
Calories: 135 calories in 1 bar (per label)
Cost: $6.50 (estimate) for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocosphere.com, online order

Welcome to Day #10 of Chocolate and Spices Theme Week, and Day #2 of Chocolate and Costa Rica Theme Week.

Today's Costa Rica 70% Cacao Crystallized Ginger Dark Chocolate (bar) was from Sibu Chocolate (Sibo Chocolate in the U.S.). It was made in Costa Rica by Chocoindustria Cinco S.A.

This chocolate had an appealing dark chocolate aroma with faint warm botanical spice note. And the spicy flavor from sugar-crystallized fresh ginger bits kicked in with the first bite. The ginger in this bar was tasty, with a very authentic flavor, but was also a bit variable.

Ginger and dark chocolate are naturally complementary. These two relatively strong flavors can both shine without eclipsing each other as long as the proportions are right. I enjoyed the generous amount of ginger in this bar. And I could still make out rich cacao with faint fermented fruit and light herbal notes flavor notes in the base chocolate. 

The company purchases cacao from different regions and farms in Costa Rica to make their chocolates. The cacao used to make this bar came from a single estate, Guacimo Limon, in SE Costa Rica (on the Caribbean side of the country, where the climate and topography are well-suited for cacao cultivation).

I wondered what a slightly darker (75-78% cacao) version of this bar might taste like. A little less sugar, and more cacao and ginger. Bring on the bold flavors. 

Ingredients: Chocolate (organic cacao beans, organic cacao butter, organic cane sugar), fresh ginger, sugar.