Rick Jordan Chocolatier - Honey Foam chocolate - Apr. 8, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

Rick Jordan Chocolatier
Honey Foam chocolate
Good 
Weight: 1.75 oz. (50 g.) / 3.5 oz. (100 g.) in total package
Calories: 275 calories (estimate) in 1 piece
Cost: $6.50 + shipping
Purchased from: Rick Jordan Chocolatier, online order

Welcome to Day #2 of Chocolate, Trees and Bees Theme Week, featuring a professional, honey-forward version of a traditional sponge toffee (aka molasses puffs, sea foam, honeycomb candy).

Today's Honey Foam chocolate confection was from Rick Jordan Chocolatier (Creve Coeur, MO).

At the heart of this dark chocolate covered confection was a generous and precise slab of light, airy and crunchy honey candy. The air spaces in this "honey foam" were very uniform (not always true for first time attempts in a home kitchen). And a re-sealable package helped it keep its shape and texture.

Traditional "honeycomb" confections are made with hot caramelized sugar (sugar, or brown sugar, corn syrup and/or honey) and baking soda. The more acidic (lower pH) sugar content foams up when the more basic (higher pH) baking soda is whisked into this sugar/honey mixture.**

Rick Jordan's use of honey as the primary ingredient* was a novel treat. His Honey Foam had  light, uniform, rigid, sponge-like texture and very sweet flavor. 

While the sugar level was undeniable, the light, even texture helped cushion the sweetness, as did the smooth, 70% cacao chocolate, and sodium content from the baking soda.

I could not make out the flavor nuances of the honey in today's chocolate. However, it might be more obvious in a side-by-side tasting with traditional "honeycomb" chocolate (with more sugar, and less honey content).

*Ingredients: honey, sugar, glucose, baking soda, 70% dark chocolate

**On the pH scale a food or beverage with a score that is under 7 is considered acidic, and any item scoring higher than 7 is considered basic. (The average score for honey is 3.9 and baking soda is an 8.)

Puchero - 70% Nicaragua El Castillero (bar) - Apr. 7, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

Puchero 
70% Nicaragua El Castillero (bar)
Good ++
Weight: 1.23 oz. (35 g.) / 2.47 oz. (70 g.) in total bar
Calories: 204 calories (per label) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $9.50 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order

Welcome to Day #7 of Chocolate and Nicaragua Theme Week, and Day #1 of Chocolate, Trees and Bees Theme Week--an opportunity to celebrate trees, bees and honey, and their contributions to chocolate.

Today's 70% Nicaragua El Castillero (bar) was made from bean-to-bar by Puchero (Valladolid, Spain). The company offers a line of single origin bars. (Co-founders, Paloma and Marco, have honed their roasting skills via their involvement in both coffee and cacao.)

The Puchero bars (packaging) I've seen have been graced with a striking image of a cross-section of a large tree. Cacao does grow on trees. This image may not be of a cacao tree, but it was lovely all the same. Tree-grown fruit, nut and sweeteners are common inclusions in artisan bars. However, Puchero, like other craft chocolate makers/magicians, summon these flavors solely via carefully roasted and ground cacao beans and a bit of sugar.

The cacao used to make this single origin bar was "grown by smallholder farmers in agroforestry." (El Castillero is associated with Indio Maiz biological reserve where cacao grows in southern Nicaragua.)

This 70% single origin bar was versatile and balanced. Subtle, sophisticated notes were spun together: faint, fleeting earth, umami, wood, and nut; a flicker of green. It had a natural sweetness to it. The "main course" was a small plate of fruit (light stone fruit, gentle white wine grape, pear), floral (light blossom honey), sweet herb (licorice) and true chocolate (brownie) notes. It was a deceptively simple, and satisfying, dark bar. 

Pay careful attention as this exquisite tiny symphony plays out on your palette. And, as with all fine, single origin chocolate, please do take time to savor, and re-taste, this over a period of minutes. Different aroma and flavor notes appear and disappear.

The finish was delicate. There was a fleeting, very light astringency. The faint honey-floral sweetness, faint licorice* and cocoa notes lingered a bit and then gradually tailed off.

Puchero tasting notes read as follows: "Medium intensity and low acidity. Honey sweetness with pear, licorice and floral notes."

Ingredients: cacao, sugar, cocoa butter.

Allergen-related information: "May contain traces of nuts, milk and gluten"

*Please note: The aroma and flavor notes mentioned were conjured skillfully from just three ingredients. There was no licorice in this bar, or honey, or nuts. These adjectives were merely the perceptions of a grateful reviewer.

Primo Botanica - Mountain Cardamom, Dark Coconut Mylk 60% Nicaraguan Cardamom bar - Apr. 6, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

Primo Botanica 

Mountain Cardamom - Dark Coconut Mylk 60% Nicaraguan Cardamom (bar)

Good ++ 

Weight: 1.06 oz. (30 g.) / 2.12 oz. (60 g.) in total bar

Calories: 167 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar

Cost: $9.25 for 1 bar

Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order

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

Today's (Batch #1) Mountain Cardamom - 60% Dark Coconut Mylk Chocolate Infused with Nicaraguan Cardamom (bar) was crafted by Primo Botanica (Troy, NY).

Located in New York State's Capital Region, Primo Botanica got its start in 2017. The company is dedicated to making "the world's most potent chocolate using single origin cacao, unrefined sugar, herbs, fungi and spices."*

This bright, slightly fruity, sweet coconut mylk cardamom chocolate was blessed with a heavenly, complex and full-bodied cardamom scent and flavor. (A seamless infusion, there were no gritty pieces...only a flowering abundance of authentic spice flavor.) The cardamom was harvested adjacent to a cacao-growing area in central Nicaragua. (More on the spice story below.)

While cardamom ruled this bar with a golden scepter, other elements contributed to the harmonious whole. The coconut mylk and cocoa butter helped to create a smooth, relatively creamy texture, melt and mouthfeel. Panela added sweet warmth (very faint caramel). In addition to the cardamom, there was a very faint note of roasted coffee, or perhaps this was inferred.**

The description of this chocolate on Bar and Cocoa's website read as follows:

"Creamy, coconut with the citrusy, minty, spicy - qualities of cardamom. During our last visit to mountainous, Matagalpa, Nicaragua with the cacao sourcing non-profit, Enliven International, we had the privilege to meet several cacao farming families. While the men go out and prune cacao trees, the women wild harvest spices and fruit to buffer sales. Several years later we were able to pay these women directly to harvest, dry and send this very special cardamom through one of the employees of Enliven to include this very special, limited bar. And yes, it's vegan!"

Ingredients: Mexican cocoa beans + cocoa butter (60%), organic Colombian panela (cane sugar), coconut milk powder (dehydrated organic coconut milk, tapioca, organic acacia fiber), ground direct trade Nicaragua cardamom.

Allergen-related information: "Never soy or dairy"

*Disclosure: I am a sucker for innovative, high-quality chocolates with botanicals, spices and edible flowers.

**The rich, roasted "coffee" note could have been from the (Mexican) cacao, the cardamom--or more likely both. Also likely, I could have been imagining this bar made into a coffee drink. Cardamom-infused coffee is not unusual in the Arab world (Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Pakistan and elsewhere)--in countries where the spice trade and coffee origins met and intertwined centuries ago.

Green cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum) is native to India, but is cultivated in southeast Asian and Central American countries as well.

Triangle Roasters - Dark Rye Whiskey 70% Nicaragua (bar) - Apr. 5, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

Triangle Roasters
Dark Rye Whiskey 70% Nicaragua La Colonia (bar)
Good +++
Weight: .85 oz. (24.05 g.) / 1.7 oz. (48.11 g.) in total bar
Calories: 132 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $8.50 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order

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

Today's Dark Rye Whiskey 70% Nicaragua La Colonia (bar) was from Triangle Roasters--a small batch coffee roaster and chocolate maker in Philadelphia, PA. 

Years ago, when I led chocolate tastings with beverage pairings, people assumed wine would be the beverage of choice. They were surprised to hear my preference was usually whiskey.

So, I was excited to taste today's Whiskey bar. The trick was how to eat this bar slowly, when it had such a seductively subtle, clear, sweet chocolate and whiskey aroma. 

The sophisticated tart, fruity, dark chocolate blended perfectly with the Dad's Hat Pennsylvania Rye Whiskey.* This craft chocolate + craft distiller collaboration bar offered the best of both worlds.** 

The base chocolate (insofar as it could be separated from the whiskey) provided bright, sweet fruit flavor, but also offered satisfying glimmers of light earth, umami, and the textural luxury of rich cocoa solids and smooth cocoa butter. 

The finish was lovely and lingering.

Ingredients: Cacao, cane sugar, cocoa butter, rye whiskey

Allergen-related information: Made in a facility with nuts and dairy

*Dad's Hat is distilled and bottled by Mountain Laurel Spirits, LLC (Bristol, PA).

**This chocolate reminded me of a whiskey cocktail with a cherry and a twist of orange and chocolate bitters I had years ago after a long walk along San Francisco Bay. (I don't drink alcohol that often, and a good drink is memorable.) 

Duffy's Chocolate - Nicaragua Juno (Chuno) 70% (bar) - Apr. 4, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

Duffy's Chocolate

Nicaragua Juno (Chuno) 70% (bar)

Good + 

Weight: 1.06 oz. (30 g.) / 2.11 oz. (60 g.) in total bar

Calories: 176 calories in 1/2 bar

Cost: $9.50 for 1 bar

Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order

Buenos Dias and welcome to Day #5 of Chocolate and Nicaragua Theme Week.

Today's Duffy's Chocolate Nicaragua Juno (Chuno) 70% (bar) from Red Star Chocolate Ltd (Cleethorpes, England) was made from bean-to-bar using directly traded Xoco* single origin criollo (cacao variety) cocoa beans.

This 70% dark bar had a uniform, sweet dark chocolate aroma and flavor, with a hint of savory (roasted vegetable, potato, nut) and a sweet, faint fruit tartness (red fruit, berry jam). 

Initially, there was a very mild fruit astringency toward the end of the finish. And a moment after the last bite there was a hint of tart, red cherry. The optimal flavor seemed to arrive after the bar was unwrapped for about 15-20 minutes (after three successive bites/tastes). And as I re-tasted this bar, more complexity and faint notes appeared and disappeared (red raspberry jam), and the very faint, roasted veg/potato chip note diminished a bit. 

Duffy's Chocolate maker's notes reads as follows: "A complex mix of fresh hay, mellow red fruit and a roast chestnut aftertaste."

Ingredients: "Cocoa beans, organic cane sugar, cocoa butter and sunflower lecithin"

Allergen-related information: "soya free, gluten free...Vegan-friendly"

*Directly traded cacao implies that cacao beans were purchased directly from a farmer(s), rather than going through a third-party. The implication/hope is that more money goes directly to small family farms and farmers, most of whom are paid very little. 

Xoco, a private company, owns and operates its own farms in Nicaragua and other Central American countries, and offers high-quality, fine flavor cacao beans to makers. The company works with local farmers (partnership contracts with several hundred "out growers") and offers guidance on desired cultivation techniques and fine cacao flavor traits.

Taza Chocolate - 80% Cacao Crunch bar + Nicaragua Rosquillas cookies - Apr. 3, 2021

Chocolate(s) of the Day

Taza Chocolate
80% Cacao Crunch Organic Dark Chocolate (bar)
Good +
Weight: 1.25 oz. (35 g.) / 2.5 oz. (70 g.) in total bar
Calories: 200 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $1.99 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Grocery Outlet Bargain Market, Palo Alto, CA

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

Today's featured 80% Cacao Crunch Organic Dark Chocolate (bar) was from Taza Chocolate (Somerville, MA).

This ultra-dark bar was made from cacao from an unknown origin(s). (The country (ies) of origin were not on the label.) However, it was a perfect pairing with the Nicaraguan Rosquillas cookies I made today. (More on these cookies below.) 

This Taza Chocolate bar was everything these cookies were not (except both were crunchy). The chocolate had a deep, dark roasted (yet not roasted),* green aroma. It conjured the feeling of being in a cool, green forest, with almost (but not quite) a mint/menthol note. It was, refreshingly, un-sweet (thank you!).

The even, stone-ground dark chocolate flavor also had depth (with a faint umami hint of leather). Embedded throughout the chocolate was a tiny riot of crispy, crunchy, puffed quinoa particles. 

Nicaraguan Rosquillas, chocolate cookies

Today's effortlessly light, crunchy shortbread style cookies were made using masa harina (finely ground corn flour). These relatively airy but substantial cookies were good with coffee, but could be enjoyed anytime. They were delicious and gluten-free. I made two different kinds. 

The first batch had "flower" petal-shaped indentations around the edges, with small mounds of panela (unrefined brown sugar) in the centers. 

And the second batch was made with an egg (making these cookies a bit lighter and fluffier) and these had Nicaraguan chocolate centers. 

I'm now a fan of rosquillas. They can be made slightly less sweet. (I used less sugar than most of the online recipes I found called for; and that did not seem to make a difference in the outcome.)

Taza Chocolate Ingredients: "Organic cacao beans, organic cane sugar, organic puffed quinoa, organic cocoa butter, organic vanilla beans."

*It's possible to have a blend of different roasted batches, each with a different flavor profile.

If makers heavily roast all their cacao, they run the risk of losing more subtle green and floral notes. (Occasionally more roasting time is used to lose objectionable flavors in lesser quality cacao.) However, if cacao beans are under-roasted, makers may miss out on some of the flavor development that comes with roasting. Some makers mix different roast batches to try to capture the best of both worlds. 

The best chocolate makers create several test roast batches to optimize roast settings/times for a given lot of cacao. Each cacao origin/variety may have different percentages of fat, moisture and various flavor attributes.

Friis Holm - La Dalia 100% (Nicaragua bar) - Apr. 2, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

Friis-Holm Chokolade
La Dalia 100% (bar)
Good ++ 
Weight: 1.41 oz. (40 g.) / 2.82 oz. (80 g.) in total bar
Calories: 240 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $20.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order

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

Today's La Dalia 100% (bar) was from Friis-Holm Chokolade (Hvalso, Denmark).

La Dalia is a largely rural area (that includes a town) in Nicaragua (near Matagalpa and Jinotega). The sub-tropical forests and volcanic soils in this hilly region are well-suited for growing cacao trees. 

Nicaragua is one of several cacao cradle/origin countries in Central America. Cacao has been cultivated and appreciated here for centuries. Happily, a handful of dedicated farmers and fermenteries have connected with skilled artisan chocolate makers around the world in recent decades--resulting in some great chocolates.

This aroma of this bar had light, pleasant notes of concentrated/dried fruits, raw sugars, nuts, dark chocolate and very faint, freshly mowed sweet, green grass.

The creamy, rapid melt and velvety smooth texture were enjoyable and luxurious.

Over time, the brain learns to be prepared for the surprising disconnect between the sweet aroma and the bitter taste of unsweetened, 100% cacao chocolates. Added cocoa butter* can help cushion the blow.

The flavor of this unsweetened, 100% cacao bar was like landing on a large, silk cushion--which is to say, it wasn't as bitter as expected. The deep, roasted cacao bitter flavor in this two-ingredient bar did surface but it was steady and balanced; there was no scary spikiness to it. 

*Ingredients: Cacao beans, cocoa butter.