Raaka Chocolate - Tahini Swirl Unroasted Dark Chocolate 62% Cacao (bar) - Apr. 20, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

Raaka Chocolate
Tahini Swirl Unroasted Dark Chocolate 62% Cacao (bar)
Good +
Weight: 1.8 oz. (50.9 g.) in total bar
Calories: 285 calories (estimate) in 1 bar
Cost: $8.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Raaka, online order

Welcome to Day #5 of Chocolate and RSTU Theme Week, featuring chocolates with origins and/or flavor inclusions that start with the letters R, S, T and/or U. Today was a seed celebration.

This Tahini Swirl Unroasted Dark Chocolate 62% Cacao (bar) was made by Raaka Chocolate (Red Hook, Brooklyn, NY). Raaka offers a variety of bars made with cacao that is unroasted that "captures the brighter, bolder, and fruitier side of cacao."

To create this Tahini* bar, Raaka partnered with Seed + Mill--a New York-based, women-owned, tahini and halva maker. Seed + Mill's "extra silky tahini (was) crafted with Ethiopian sesame seeds, into (Raaka's) signature unroasted dark chocolate." 

The cacao source was: Reserva Zorzal, Dominican Republic. It had bold cacao flavor with some fruit acidity. However, because it was unroasted, more subtle green, floral and other cacao flavors were also preserved.

This unique bar had a deep dark chocolate aroma with green floral, green seed (jaguar cacao) notes. The melt and texture were smooth and the dark chocolate and tahini flavors were skillfully integrated. And the back of the bar was visually stunning with the dark brown and golden seed butter colors swirled together.

The tahini seemed to mellow and complement fruit acids in the chocolate. (Imagine nut and fruit pairings like peanut butter and jelly.) Flavors were elevated and not dimmed. Together, these two ingredients were relatively vibrant and compatible, and lasted into the finish. Pleasant green floral and green "waxy" seed notes that were detected (noted above) in the initial aroma returned toward the end of the finish. And 30 seconds after I thought the finish had ended, there was a gentle flourish of sesame seed flavor.

The Seed + Mill tahini was, thankfully, made with just roasted, ground, hulled sesame seeds and nothing else. If there was salt in this tahini bar it must have been a very small amount. Too much salt in a chocolate with a "condiment" type flavor inclusion create salty-sweet sparklers, but subtler flavors are trampled in this kind of snack food formula revelry.

This was unadulterated, great chocolate partnered with authentic tahini--resulting in a executed bar with satisfyingly nuanced flavors.

Ingredients: organic cacao, organic cane sugar, organic cacao butter, organic toasted coconut, organic tahini, organic sunflower lecithin

Allergen-related information: (Contains sesame); "Vegan, Gluten Free, Soy Free"

*Tahini is a popular condiment from north Africa and the middle east typically made with toasted, hulled sesame seeds. 

Not that different than cacao really. However, the cacao seeds (beans) are typically fermented first. Thank goodness for seeds. Chocolate Banquet, and much of life on this planet, wouldn't exist without them.

Anthony's - Organic Superfood Smoothie Mix - Chocolate Flavor - Apr. 19, 2021

Chocolate of the Day 

Anthony's

Organic Superfood Smoothie Mix (Chocolate Flavor)

Good 

Weight: .848 oz. (24 g.) / 8 oz. (227 g.) in total package of mix

Calories: 110 calories in 1 serving (3 TB) (+ milk)

Cost: $7.99 for 1 package

Purchased from: Grocery Outlet Bargain Market, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #4 of Chocolate and RSTU Theme Week, featuring items with origins or flavor inclusions that begin with the letters R, S, T and/or U.

Today's Chocolate Flavor Organic Superfood Smoothie Mix was from Anthony's Goods (Glendale, CA). 

The aroma of the dry mix had light cocoa, and faint, pleasant vegetable root/tuber (tigernut, maca) and celery notes.

This gluten-free, vegan smoothie mix tasted refreshingly un-sugared.* It did contain some coconut sugar, but did not taste sweet. 

The powder was shaken and stirred with a variety of liquids. (Coconut milk or frozen fruits and water, are good choices that provide a little touch of natural sweetness.) If you're not vegan, organic, dairy milk works too. 

Smoothie tip: If you're not using an electric blender, you might let the smoothie rest in the refrigerator for a few hours (or longer) before drinking. This allows the chia seeds (number one ingredient) to more fully absorb the liquid, to maximize smoothness in the mouthfeel.

Ingredients: Organic chia seed, organic coconut sugar, organic tigernut, organic cocoa, organic flaxseed, organic black maca

Crunchies - Freeze-Dried Strawberries in Milk Chocolate - Apr. 18, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

Crunchies

Freeze-Dried Strawberries in Milk Chocolate

Good

Weight: 2 oz. (57 g.) / 5 oz. (142 g.) in total package

Calories: 300 calories in 2 servings

Cost: $3.49 for 1 package

Purchased from: Grocery Outlet Bargain Market, Palo Alto, CA 

Welcome to Day #3 of Chocolate and RSTU Theme Week, featuring items with origins and/or flavor inclusions that start with the letters R, S, T and/or U.

It was impossible this week not to include both raspberries and strawberries. Both these berries have a long history of being combined in sublime ways with chocolate.

Today's Freeze-Dried Strawberries in Milk Chocolate were from Crunchies Natural Food Company, LLC (Calabasas, CA). The company offers a variety of freeze-dried fruit and vegetable snacks.

Freeze-dried* fruit pieces and powders have become popular* flavor inclusions for chocolates. They offer bursts of concentrated, authentic fruit flavor and a unique texture. 

The resulting pieces/powders are bright and flavorful, but they need to be sealed off from air and moisture to retain their light, airy, crunchy texture. Today's strawberry Crunchies achieved this level of protection in two ways: by being 1.) covered in chocolate, and 2.) stored in a (re-sealable) air-tight pouch. Both measures helped preserve the berry freshness. 

These thickly-coated/glazed milk chocolate pieces gave off the aroma of a sweet, strawberry milkshake. The milk chocolate + the concentrated sweetness of the strawberries were on the sweet side, but were tasty nonetheless. The strawberry pieces on the inside retained their tart-sweet berry flavor and naturally bright, rosy red color.

Ingredients: Milk chocolate (sugar, cocoa butter, whole milk chocolate liquor, soy lecithin, vanilla), freeze-dried strawberries, natural flavor, arabic gum, sugar, confectioners glaze. 

Allergen-related information: Contains milk, soy. Made on equipment that also processes peanuts, tree nuts, wheat and eggs.

*The Incas (who knew their way around cacao) practiced an early form of freeze-drying at higher altitudes. Food reserves were frozen by cold, dry climate. And at high elevations these frozen items would also have dried out.

Modern freeze drying of foods began over a century ago. Later in the 1900s, pictures of astronauts eating freeze-dried ice cream appeared; and light-weight, freeze-dried food entrees in silver pouches became more widely available for outdoor enthusiasts. For backpackers and climbers with 50+-pound (22.67-kilogram) packs on their backs, this was welcome news. (I still remember (happily) buying those pouches freeze-dried food and ice cream from army surplus/outdoor stores.)

Fast forward to today's high-end examples of freeze-dried culinary items (exotic, sublimated vegetable bits in five-star restaurants; or, closer to home, craft chocolate maker Dick Taylor's first limited edition raspberry bar), and I'm grateful for this medium and to the creative chefs, taste-makers and chocolate makers who have used this technology to bring us great food.

Theo Chocolate - Organic, Fair Trade Raspberry Cocoa Nib 55% Dark Chocolate (bar) - Apr. 17, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

Theo Chocolate

Organic, Fair Trade Raspberry Cocoa Nib 55% Dark Chocolate (bar)

Good +

Weight: 1.5 oz. (42.5 g.) / 3 oz. (85 g.) in total bar

Calories: 240 calories in 1/2 bar 

Cost: $3.99 (estimate) for 1 bar

Purchased from: Missing information 

Welcome to Day #2 of Chocolate and RSTU Theme Week, featuring items with origins and flavor inclusions that start with the letters R, S, T and/or U.

Today's Organic, Fair Trade Raspberry Cocoa Nib 55% Dark Chocolate (bar) was from Theo Chocolate (Seattle, WA). The company was an early advocate (and provider) of fair trade chocolate. (This bar bore the "fair for life"* symbol.)

This was a flavorful bar, but I had to lean in to catch the full aroma. A nose-to-bar inhalation revealed deep, dark chocolate and authentic red raspberry notes. 

Cacao nibs and raspberry bits gave this chocolate a hearty, crunchy texture and a blend of rich, robust cacao and bright red berry flavors that lingered into the finish. Ground vanilla bean added a bit of upbeat, floral warmth.

The maker's notes read as follows: "...fruity, bright and crunchy."

Ingredients: Organic, fair trade cocoa beans; organic, fair trade cane sugar; organic, fair trade cocoa butter; organic freeze-dried raspberries; organic ground vanilla bean.

Allergen-related information: USDA Organic, fair for life, no soy, kosher dairy; "Made on equipment that also processes milk, wheat, and tree nuts and in a facility that handles peanuts, eggs and sesame. 

*Fair trade standards and programs have helped highlight the need for fair/better pay and conditions for cacao (and other) farmers, who are often being paid very little. And better pay and infrastructure (e.g. access to local cacao fermenteries, agro experts, water, etc.) not only help farmers, but also can help preserve and enable production of fine cacao (and great chocolate).

More information specifically on Fair for Life can be found on their website: https://fairforlife.org.

Raaka Chocolate - Rose Cardamom Unroasted Dark Chocolate 70% (bar) - Apr. 16, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

Raaka Chocolate

Rose Cardamom Unroasted Dark Chocolate 70% (bar)

Good +

Weight: 1.8 oz. (50.9 g.) in total bar

Calories: 266 calories in 1 bar

Cost: $6.00 for 1 bar

Purchased from: Raaka, online order

Welcome to Day #1 of Chocolate and RSTU Theme Week, featuring chocolate items with origins and flavor inclusions starting with the letters R, S, T, and/or U.

Today's Rose Cardamom Unroasted Dark Chocolate 70% (bar) was made from bean-to-bar by the makers at Raaka Chocolate (Brooklyn, NY).

This bar had a lovely warm floral and spice aroma, and smooth, dark 70% Cacao (unroasted) chocolate texture and flavor, with a barely detectable fruit/spice astringency.

The single origin cacao used to make this Limited Batch chocolate bar was from Kokoa Kamili (a cacao growers organization), in Tanzania -- "steamed over rose petals and cardamom...Celestial and dreamy."

The flavors were a bit clearer/stronger (than the aroma), and it was easier to tease out the rose flavoring, which was followed by a balanced and sustained (but still relatively subtle) cardamom note.

Ingredients: Organic cacao beans, organic cane sugar, organic cacao butter, organic rose petals, organic cardamom

Allergen-related/additional information: Vegan, Gluten Free, Soy Free, Nut Free, Non-GMO Project Verified, USDA Organic, Transparent Trade

Puchero - 50% Mexico Pinon Soconusco (bar) - Apr. 15, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

Puchero 
50% Mexico Pinon Soconusco (bar)
Good ++
Weight: 1.235 oz. (35 g.) / 2.47 oz. (70 g.) in total bar
Calories: 223.3 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $11.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order

Bienvenidos a (welcome to) Day #9 of Chocolate, Trees and Bees Theme Week. Today's focus is back on the wondrous things that trees give us, including cacao trees (cacao) and pine trees (pine nuts).

Today's 50% Mexico Pinon Soconusco (bar) was crafted from bean-to-bar by the makers at Puchero (Valladolid, Spain). Puchero is focused on producing high-quality, specialty coffee and craft chocolate.

This chocolate had a faint aroma. Pine nuts (aka pinones, pignoli) have a subtle, delicate scent and buttery texture and flavor. The ground pine nuts in this bar softly muted the scents of the cacao. 

The cacao used to create this chocolate ("Criollo, Trinitario") were grown in Soconusco, Mexico. The cacao chosen (more delicate and nuanced than some bolder Forastero cacaos) was also a good match with the pine nuts. The cacao did not eclipse the more subtle nut/seed flavors.

The texture was divine. Today's ground nut/seed fusion (like gianduja/gianduia, a finely ground hazelnut + chocolate blend) had an incredibly smooth and rich melt and mouthfeel. 

I imagined spreading this creamy 67% cacao chocolate on a warm croissant or freshly baked roll with a butter knife. A very judicious pinch of salt added an addictive quality to the chocolate, which was effortlessly consumed in one sitting.

The pine nut bar had a clean taste and finish. (There was no odd semi-metallic flavor or "pine mouth" after eating this pine nut blend, that occasionally occurs with pine nuts from other sources.) 

Puchero chocolate makers--based in Valladolid (the largest city in Castilla y Leon ("land of medieval castles") historic region in northwest Spain)--selected premium pine nuts from the Pinon-sol co-operative in this area of Spain for this chocolate.

Ingredients: cacao, raw pine nut (25%), sugar, cocoa butter, salt.

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

Chocolate Naive - Ambrosia - 67% Dark Chocolate with Bee Pollen, Honey (bar) - Apr. 14, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

Chocolate Naive

Ambrosia - 67% Dark Chocolate with Bee Pollen and Honey (bar)

Good +

Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) / 2 oz. (57 g.) in total bar

Calories: 165.5 calories in 1/2 bar

Cost: $12.00 for 1 bar

Purchased from: Chocolate Covered, San Francisco, CA

Welcome to Day #8 of Chocolate, Trees and Bees Theme Week.

Today's Chocolate Naive Ambrosia 67% Dark Chocolate with Bee Pollen and Honey (bar) was produced by Mulate UAB (Vilnius, Lithuania).

This bar had a very interesting aroma with come hither, forest, mossy botanical, honey, beeswax, and light cocoa/milk chocolate notes. (There was no milk in this bar.) 

The melt and mouthfeel were creamy and luxurious.

The flavors were fairly uniform, and sweeter than the aroma; however, authentic and balanced honey notes floated to the forefront at least twice during the tasting experience. 

The finish was deceptively subtle. It conjured ghosts of peanut butter and honey sandwiches and honey and peach jam on buttered toast from childhoods past. Slightly fruity, slightly nutty along with creamed honey.

Chief chocolatier, Domantas Uzpalis, carefully selected this honey and bee pollen from a biodynamic apiary near the forest where bees connect their nectar. (Enclosed in the bar's package was a photo of local hives and beekeepers.) The results: a thick honey with a dark amber color and mossy earth, forest...and "floral acidity" flavors. (I would also add: a very faint green floral beeswax note).

Uzpalis noted that blending the bee pollen and honey with chocolate required a fairly technically sophisticated approach. I believe that. The different textures, flavors, and sweetness level(s) must have called for several test batches. Honey varies a great deal, and bee pollens can be even more variable. Thank you to the chocolate maker for sharing this culinary, bee-enabled, sense of place with us.

Ingredients: specialty cacao*, sugar*, cacao butter*, bee pollen (7%)*, wild forest honey (5%)*, and sunflower lecithin. (*wild or all natural farming)

Allergen related information: May contain traces of milk, barley or nuts.