Auro Chocolate - 77% Dark Chocolate bar - Jan. 9, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

Auro Chocolate
77% Dark Chocolate bar
Good ++
Weight: 1.76 oz. (50 g.) in total bar
Calories: 280 calories in 1 bar
Cost: $7.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order

Welcome to Day #5 of Chocolate and the Philippines Theme Week.

Today's 77% Dark Chocolate Filipino Origin bar was produced by Auro Chocolate (Calamba, Laguna, Philippines). The rapidly growing company was founded in 2015. Auro Chocolate branded offerings include finished bean-to-bar chocolate, single origin (Filipino) bars, as well as chocolate ingredients (cacao beans, cocoa butter) from farming partners in Mindanao.*

This relatively thick, square bar had a smooth, velvety melt and texture. It had true, uniform, bold chocolate flavor with balanced bitterness and acidity, a very faint vanilla note, and a polite finish. This chocolate was a very approachable ultra-dark bar.

Ingredients: Cacao mass, cane sugar, soy lecithin (emulsifier), natural vanilla extract.

*The Republic of the Philippines is made of more than 7,000 islands; however, the island nation is perhaps best known for the largest (and most populous) islands of Luzon (in the north) and Mindanao (in the south). The latter (home to more than 25 million people) is a geologically "younger" mountainous island with fertile, volcanic soils--ideally suited for growing cacao, coffee and many other crops. 

Southern Mindanao (especially the Davao region in SE Mindanao) is known for cacao. Cacao grows best in areas close to the Equator. And Davao City is located at an ideal 7.2 degrees latitude (just north of the Equator). 
 

Auro Chocolate - Regalo Single Estate 85% Dark Chocolate Philippine Origin bar - Jan. 8, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

Auro Chocolate

Regalo Single Estate 85% Dark Chocolate Philippine Origin bar
Good + - Good ++
Weight: 2.12 oz. (60 g.) in total bar
Calories: 340 calories in 1 bar
Cost: $8.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order

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

Today's Limited Edition Regalo Single Estate 85% Dark Chocolate Philippine Origin bar was produced by Auro Chocolate (Calamba City, Laguna, Philippines) (dba FODC, Inc.).

This two-ingredient* chocolate starred bold, deep dark cocoa/true chocolate and faint sweet brown sugar notes, with supporting players that included: fruit/sugar acidity (dried apple, sweet pink/red grapefruit broiled with brown sugar and imagined cinnamon), slightly fermented chocolate and dried fruit notes. And, in the latter part of the tasting curve, there was a fleeting, faint smoked flavor (smoked dark tea, umami/barbecue) note.

This ultra-dark bar offered a robust and well-executed smoothness. It was a polite, polished and approachable 85% bar.

The Regalo** cacao beans used to make this bar were grown in "the lush, tropical forests of Davao" in the southeastern Philippines. The maker's tasting notes read as follows: "...the Regalo variety has notes of green apple, green tea and pine wood."

*Ingredients: Cacao mass, organic muscovado sugar.  

**The Spanish word "regalo" means gift, present or treat in English.

 

Auro Chocolate - Mana Single Estate 85% Dark Chocolate Philippine Origin bar - Jan. 7, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

Auro Chocolate
Mana Single Estate 85% Dark Chocolate Philippine Origin bar
Good +
Weight: 1.06 oz. (30 g.) / 2.12 oz. (60 g.) in total bar
Calories: 340 calories in 1 bar
Cost: $7.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order

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

Today's Limited Edition Mana Single Estate 85% Dark Chocolate Philippine Origin bar was produced by Auro Chocolate (Calamba City, Laguna, Philippines) (dba FODC, Inc.).

This two-ingredient* chocolate had bold, deep dark cocoa, sweet (brown/unrefined) sugar (molasses, green coconut/nut/seed/peanut brittle), dried fruit (dried apricot, peach/nectarine, fig, prune, banana, apple), rum, and slightly green (aroma and flavor) notes. 

This ultra-dark bar offered a robust yet smooth, well-executed complexity. It had moderate dried fruit acidity, but relatively low bitterness--for a higher percentage (85%) cacao bar. The organic muscovado sugar contributed flavor, without being too dominant or sweet. (Thank you.)

The Mana cacao beans used to make this bar were grown in "the lush, tropical forests of Davao" in the southeastern Philippines. The maker's tasting notes included the following: "...Mana has notes of caramelized apple, rum, sweet, banana and cashew apple." 

*Ingredients: Cacao mass, organic muscovado sugar.  

Firetree Chocolate - Philippines Mindanao Island 73% Cocoa (bar) - Jan. 6, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

Firetree Chocolate Limited
Philippines Mindanao Island 73% Cocoa (bar)
Good + - Good ++
Weight: .88 oz. (25 g.) in 1 bar
Calories: 137 calories in 1 bar
Cost: $4.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order

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

Today's Single Estate Philippines Mindanao Island 73% Cocoa (bar) was from Firetree Chocolate Limited (Peterborough, U.K.).  

The aroma and flavor notes of this smooth, almost creamy dark bar included true dark chocolate, caramel, honey, very faint and intriguing green-floral, and even fainter pleasant, almost savory earthiness and nut butter cookie notes. It was a well executed, pleasing chocolate. 

This chocolate was sweet, but the bump up from 70% to 73% Cacao--and the slightly unrefined quality of the sugar--seemed to have softened the hard, processed sugar effect,  allowing more cacao flavors to be experienced. (Thank you!)

The maker's tasting notes read as follows: "Citrus, honey and caramel layers yield a gentle yet rich nature. To enjoy fully, take time to let the flavours develop on the palate."

Ingredients: Cacao mass, unrefined sugar, cocoa butter 

 

Dormouse Chocolates - 71.5% Dark Chocolate (Philippines) - Jan. 5, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

Dormouse Chocolates

71.5% Dark Chocolate (bar)

Good +

Weight: 2.47 oz. (70 g.) in total bar

Calories: 405 calories in 1 bar

Cost: $9.00 + shipping for 1 bar

Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order

Welcome to Day #1 of Chocolate and The Philippines Theme Week. Last week featured bars made from cacao grown in the "South Pacific." Today the focus shifts to the Republic of the Philippines--an archipelago made up of more than 7,000 islands.

Today's 71.5% Dark Chocolate (bar) was made by Dormouse Chocolates (Manchester, England). This bar was made using Trinitario/Criollo beans (2017 harvest) from Kablon Farm--a family firm based in the Cotabato region, on the southern island of Mindanao, in the Philippines.

This dark bar's aroma had fleeting green-floral (saffron), light nut, wood and spice (brown sugar molasses cookie) notes.

The texture of this well-tempered bar was relatively smooth, with an even, light sugar astringency and very fine graininess. (Think stoneground cocoa beans with whole sugar.) 

Conch time was 48 hours, which likely preserved flavors. (Long conch times in dark chocolate making can extend to up to 90+ hours. This longer processing time creates very smooth textured chocolate; however, some of the flavors may be lost after this length of time.)

Tasting notes for this sweet and flavorful chocolate included subtle dried fruit (date), dark chocolate, and faint brown sugar molasses cookie and fresh sugarcane and fruit jelly notes.

The dark chocolate finish gradually faded with with a rich brown sugar sweetness.

The maker's tasting notes read as follows: "Toasted oats, biscuits and caramel with a hint of blackcurrant."

Ingredients: Cocoa beans, muscovado sugar, cocoa butter

(Muscovado sugar is unrefined, or partially unrefined cane sugar with a molasses flavor. Muscovado sugar is less refined than brown sugar--which is refined white sugar with molasses added back in.)

A. Morin - Java Arjuna 70% Noir (Dark) (bar) - Jan. 4, 2020

Chocolate of the Day

SAS Chocolaterie A. Morin 
Java Arjuna 70% Noir (Dark) bar
Good + - Good ++
Weight: 1.76 oz. (50 g.) / 3.52 oz. (100 g.) in total bar
Calories: 292 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $9.80 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order

Welcome to Day #10 of Chocolate and South Pacific Islands Week. This extended edition 10-day "week" is ending with two days of cacao origins from further West--where the Pacific Ocean flows into the Indian Ocean.

Indonesia--an island archipelago made up of 17,000+ islands (approximately 6,000 of which are inhabited)--is one of the top cacao producing regions in the world. Cacao is cultivated on several of the larger islands/countries, namely Sulawesi, North Sumatra, Java, Papua, and East Kalimantan. That said, few people in the U.S. have had access to a large number of single origin bars from these islands. 

Java is the most densely populated island in Indonesia, but there is still room for crops like: palm, coconut, rice, coffee, tea, spices (e.g. ginger), sugar, cocoa and other fruits and vegetables.

Today's Java Arjuna 70% Noir (Dark) bar was made by SAS Chocolaterie A. Morin (Donzere, France)--a bean-to-bar/artisanal chocolate company since 1958, with family origins dating back to 1884. 

I'm guessing the cacao used to make this chocolate was grown either near Arjuna* (aka Arjuno) the name of a volcanic mountain in eastern Java; or closer to the Arjuna temple complex in Central Java. 

Aroma and flavor notes for this polite, but intriguingly complex, 70% chocolate included such a huge range of aroma and flavor notes over the course of a few hours, it was hard to believe. Notes included: wood, faint savory/umami (light mushroom soup gently simmering over a wood stove with buttered toast/popcorn), very faint barn yard/saddle leather, gently roasted seed/mild nut notes, cocoa, and very faint fruit (mild red apple, dried apricot, light lemonade) and spice (the almost invisible smell of freshly baked banana spice bread with ginger, cinnamon and lemongrass). The was an ultra-faint oxidized note very late in the finish.

With each taste, the flavors shifted a bit, revealing a new facet with every bite. Very few chocolate bars are able to conjure up the breadth of aromas and flavors, or can manage this many shifts, in the way this Java bar did.** There were no strong or "off" notes during the entire tasting arc, just more flavors appearing and sharing the stage with each bite. Magic.

The texture was even and smooth, with a very mild astringency. 

Tasting notes from the maker: "This chocolate stands out with woody aromas. Gently smoky, it releases notes of nuts and spices..." (These) "aromas reflect our emotions while tasting this chocolate but they should not prevail over the ones you experience."

Tasting notes on the Bar and Cocoa site read as follows: "This chocolate is distinguished by woody aromas. Slightly smoked, it has some notes of dried fruits and spices. Java cocoa has a large percentage of Criollo..." (Note: Criollo is a cacao variety, heritage (variety) prized for its mild, but complex, delicate and sophisticated flavors.) 

Ingredients: Cocoa beans, cane sugar, cocoa butter, sunflower lecithin. 

*According to the Ancient History Encyclopedia: "Arjuna (also given as Arjun) is the great hero of the Indian epic Mahabharata and the philosophical-religious dialogue Bhagavad Gita. His name means "shining", "silver" and similar terms relating to brightness...Arjuna represents the best aspects of humanity: Courage, Strength, and Humility." (It is not an uncommon name in Java.)

**The other notable "shape-shifter" bar in the past year that rivaled this Java bar's layered tasting experience was a delicious Venezuela Porcelana 70% Chocolate bar crafted by William Marx of Wm. Chocolate (Madison, WI). 

Firetree Chocolate - PNG Karkar 72% Cocoa (bar) - Jan. 3, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

Firetree Chocolate Limited
Single Estate Papua New Guinea Karkar 72% Cocoa (bar)
Good ++
Weight: .88 oz. (25 g.) in total bar
Calories: 141 kcals (calories) in 1 bar
Cost: $4.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order 

Welcome to Day #9 of Chocolate and South Pacific Islands.

Today's Single Estate Papua New Guinea Karkar 72% Cocoa (bar) was from Firetree Chocolate Limited (Peterborough, U.K.).

This chocolate had an aroma with strong dark chocolate, balanced loamy earth, earthy nut, umami, and wood notes. The melt, texture and mouthfeel were smooth and even.

Flavor notes included dark, sweet fruit (prunes and dark, ripe black cherry) with a balanced acidity. This satisfying deep, dark chocolate had even, slight earthy nut/umami notes. These flavors fused and receded into a smooth, rich dark chocolate finish.

The maker's tasting notes read as follows: "Walnut and wild mushroom yield to intense cocoa, ending with truffles. To enjoy fully, take time to let the flavours develop on the palate."

Ingredients: Cocoa mass, unrefined sugar, cocoa butter, emulsifier: sunflower lecithin.