Raaka Chocolate - Vanilla Violet Unroasted Dark Chocolate 68% Cacao bar - May 21, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

Raaka Chocolate 
Vanilla Violet 68% Cacao bar
Good ++ 
Weight: .9 oz. (25.5 g.) / 1.8 oz. (51 g.) in total bar
Calories: 140 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $8.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order 

Welcome to Day #3 of Chocolate and VWXYZ Theme Week, fearturing chocolate items with origins and flavor inclusions that begin with the letters V, W, X, Y and/or Z.

Today's Vanilla Violet 68% Cacao bar was from Raaka Chocolate (Brooklyn, NY).

The cacao used to make this unroasted, dark chocolate was from Reserva Zorzal, a large, private reserve and bird sanctuary, in the Dominican Republic. Zorzal is the Spanish word for thrush (songbird).

The bar had an attractive, complex aroma. The initial bold, slightly bitter dark chocolate and green notes shifted to reveal warm vanilla floral spice notes, followed by light marshmallow.

The chocolate had a uniform, well-tempered, smooth texture initially with a slight graininess (light green, botanical, marshmallow/cacao/violet leaf astringency) in the finish.

The flavor was a blend of naturally sweet, bold dark chocolate and heavenly floral-botanical (violet) and vanilla. The makers infused violet into the cocoa butter and the chocolate contained "flecks of ground vanilla bean."

Maker's description/tasting notes: "...Dominican cacao lends notes of cinnamon and brown sugar."

This bar was a collaboration between Raaka and the New York Botanical Garden not far from the chocolate maker in New York City. The Garden "supports living collections of more than 1 million plants inside their 250-acre landscape and conservatory. This bar celebrates the beauty and flavor of the plants that surround and sustain NY." (Source: Raaka/Bar and Cocoa website.)

Ingredients: Organic cacao beans, organic cane sugar, organic cacao butter, organic vanilla bean, organic violet leaf. (Both violet flowers and leaves are edible.)

Allergen-related information: "Vegan, Gluten Free, Soy Free, Nut Free"

Socola Chocolatier - Toasted Coconut and Black Sesame Milk Chocolate (bar) - May 20, 2021

Chocolate(s) of the Day

Socola Chocolatier 

Toasted Coconut and Black Sesame Milk Chocolate (bar) 
Good ++
Weight: 2 oz. (56.6 g.) / 4 oz. (113 g.) (estimate) in total bar
Calories: 310 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $9.95 + shipping for 1 bar
Purchased from: Socola Chocolatier, online order

Strawberry Matcha White Chocolate (bar)
Good + - Good ++
Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) / 4 oz. (113 g.) (estimate) in total bar
Calories: 157 calories (estimate) in 1/4 bar
Cost: $9.95 + shipping for 1 bar
Purchased from: Socola Chocolatier, online order

Welcome to Day #10 of Chocolate and Vietnam Theme Week, and Day #2 of Chocolate and VWXYZ Theme Week, featuring chocolate items with origins and flavor inclusions that begin with the letters V, W, X, Y and/or Z, such as Vietnam and Vanilla.

Today's two bars: 1.) Toasted Coconut and Black Sesame Milk Chocolate (bar), and the beautiful 2.) Strawberry Matcha White Chocolate bar were made by Wendy Lieu at Socola Chocolatier (San Francisco, CA). 

Socola (the Vietnamese word for chocolate) was founded in the San Francisco Bay Area by two sisters in 2001.* Their confections and bars often include Vietnam-inspired ingredients.

Opening the shipment containing these two bars was like unboxing happiness. Creativity, beauty, fun and great, fresh chocolate all in one package. 

It was good to see "Harriet," the winged alpaca, a Socola spirit animal of sorts again. (Covid-19 cut down on seeing local chocolatiers in the past few years.) Harriet appeared on the company's logo/packaging, on the chocolate bars, and in the Socola postcards that were generously included in the shipment.

Toasted Coconut and Black Sesame Milk Chocolate (bar)

This visual feast of a milk chocolate bar was adorned with toasted, shaved coconut pieces and a light sprinkle of black sesame seeds. It had a lovely, subtle aroma with notes of milk chocolate, roasted coconut and nutty sesame. The flavor was a fully realized version of the aroma notes with rich and creamy milk chocolate, a bit of soft crunch from coconut and seeds, rounded out with a touch of warm vanilla that tied together all these elements very nicely.

Warning: this bar could be slightly addictive. Yes this bar was sweet, but it was also very easy to enjoy.

Ingredients: Milk chocolate (cacao beans, pure cane sugar, sunflower lecithin, vanilla beans, cocoa butter, full cream milk); coconut; black sesame seeds. 

Allergen-related information: contains milk, sesame

Strawberry Matcha Tea (bar)

Today's second bar was a colorful confection: a field of green (white chocolate infused with green matcha tea) with freeze-dried, rosy red strawberries (embedded in and atop the bar).

White chocolate usually contains vanilla. (This bar did.) Vanilla adds an uplifting green, floral flavor and evokes the smell of warm, aromatic baked goods and hot chocolate. This "happy" spice accented the mellow, light spring green flavor of the sweet and creamy matcha green tea, and elevated the tart-sweet, softly crunchy, strawberry pieces. The result: harmonious and bright confection perfection.

Ingredients: White chocolate (sugar, cocoa butter, full milk powder, sunflower lecithin, vanilla); strawberries; matcha green tea

Allergen-related information: Contains milk

*Socola Chocolatier was founded by two Vietnamese American sisters, Wendy and Susan Lieu. Socola also has a chocolate and coffee shop location in San Francisco.

Libeert - Vietnam 73% Dark Origin Chocolate (bar) - May 19, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

Libeert 
Vietnam 73% Dark Origin Chocolate (bar)
Good + - Good ++
Weight: 1.35 oz. (40 g.) / 2.7 oz. (80 g.) in total bar
Calories: 226.6 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $1.99 (estimate) for 1 bar
Purchased from: Grocery Outlet Bargain Market, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #9 of Chocolate and Vietnam Theme Week, and Day #1 of VXYZ Theme Week, featuring chocolate items with origins and flavor inclusions that begin with the letters V,X,Y and/or Z--for example, Vietnam and vanilla.

Today's Vietnam 73% Dark Origin Chocolate (tablet/bar) was manufactured by Libeert s.a. (Comines, Belgium). The company produces a variety of chocolates including classic, organic, and single origin bars.

This chocolate had an alluring true chocolate (dark chocolate mousse) with a hint of warm vanilla. The aroma, melt, flavor were well-executed, well-mannered and very smooth. The texture was creamy.

In addition to rich, dark hot cocoa flavor, there was a very subtle fruit sweetness (very faint sweet tangerine/sweet lemon) throughout, and a bit of woodsy earth in the latter half.

Like most of the other Vietnam single origin bars featured this week, today's chocolate was made using Trinitario variety (of cacao). In the maker's words, single origin/variety choices like this can yield a "bouquet of flavors." 

This Trinitario bar offered a bit of boldness with layered flavors--rather than the very subtle, delicate notes of a Criollo cacao, and the more uniformly dense, dark boldness of a Forastero variety of cacao. Trinitario cacao has the potential to offer some of the best of both ends of this spectrum.

The maker's tasting notes: "A robust dark chocolate made of Trinitario cocoa beans with a genuine earthy taste. The distinct acidic cocoa flavour is enriched with delicate hints of citrus, wood and tobacco."

Ingredients: Chocolate liquor, sugar, cocoa butter, natural vanilla flavor; cocoa solids 73% minimum.

Allergen-related information: "May contain traces of milk, soy, almonds, hazelnuts, pecan nuts, wheat and egg."

Christopher Elbow - Vietnam - 72% Dark (bar) - May 18, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

Christopher Elbow Craft Chocolate
Vietnam - 72% Dark (bar)
Good ++
Weight: 1.13 oz. (32 g.) / 2.296 oz. (65 g.) in total bar
Calories: 160 calories in approx. 1/2 bar 
Cost: $9.95 (+ shipping) for 1 bar
Purchased from: Christopher Elbow, online order

Welcome to Day #8 of Chocolate and Vietnam Theme Week.

Today's Vietnam 72% Dark (bar) was crafted by Christopher Elbow Chocolates (Kansas City, MO).

Elbow offers a variety of chocolates and confections, including a line of single origin chocolate bars. The cacao used to make this bar was from Dak Lak Province, in the Central Highlands of Vietnam (north of Lam Dong Province).

Elbow's description read as follows: "The small batch chocolate is carefully crafted from bean to bar and refined to bring forth the unique flavors of the region from which it came."

Aroma: dark chocolate, light molasses spice, sweet fruit (red raspberry, tangerine), freshly baked bread and butter/cream, chocolate cake.

The flavor notes included smooth dark chocolate (dark chocolate cake), with a subtle natural fruit sweetness (faint raspberry jam and light banana). The texture had a bit of mild astringency (perceived dryness, graininess) about 20 seconds after taking a bite. Overall this bar provided a very pleasing tasting experience.

Ingredients: Cacao, organic cane sugar, cocoa butter  

Belvie Chocolate - Chile Pepper Dark Chocolate 70% Cacao (Ben Tre) (bar) - May 17, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

Belvie Chocolate Maker
Chile Pepper Dark Chocolate 70% Cacao (Ben Tre) (bar)
Good + 
Weight: 1.41 oz. (40 g.) / 2.82 oz. (80 g.) in total bar
Calories: 208.8 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $8.75 (+ shipping) for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocosphere.com, online order

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

Today's Chile Pepper Dark Chocolate 70% Cacao Ben Tre (bar) was made in Vietnam by Belvie Chocolate Maker (Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam). 

Belvie Chocolate offers a variety of chocolate bars made with (Trinitario) fine cacao from different regions of Vietnam. This Ben Tre origin cacao chocolate was flavored with chile pepper.

Belvie Chocolate's description read as follows: "Origin Ben Tre is wedged between the two main branches of the Tien Giang River, Mekong River Delta, this province is generally flat, with complex river systems, fresh water and alluvial soil. The chocolate original from this region has a complex aroma of mixed citrus and undertones shot through with a darkly bitter, hint (of) coffee."

The aroma of this single terroir bar included mild, dark chocolate and a faint, almost bitter pepper note. The first bite yielded an a relatively light and fluffy, creamy melt.

The initial flavor was pleasant mild, dark chocolate with light fruit and a slight earthiness in the finish. The chili* pepper fire kicked in and escalated 4-5 seconds after putting it my mouth, and bloomed to a balanced burn level (and throat warmer)--after I'd already chewed and started to swallow this chocolate. (The chili heat started to subside in about 4 more seconds.)

Tip: Have a banana or glass of milk on hand if you're sensitive to spicy foods, or want a palette pause before going back for a second or third bite of this spicy chocolate.

Ingredients: "Cacao and cacao butter 70%, cane sugar 30%, chili"

Allergen-related information: "Gluten free; Dairy free; May contain traces of nut(s)."

*The type of chili pepper was not specified, so I can't tell you whether this chocolate bar was infused with Bird's Eye, Thai, Hanoi Market, or another Vietnamese pepper; but those who appreciate foods with a moderately spicy kick may enjoy this bar.

 

Belvie Chocolate - Don Duong Dark Chocolate 72% Cacao Lam Dong, Vietnam (bar) - May 16, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

Belvie Chocolate Maker
Don Duong Dark Chocolate 72% Cacao, Lam Dong Province, Vietnam (bar)
Good ++
Weight: 1.41 oz. (40 g.) / 2.82 oz. (80 g.) in total bar
Calories: 229.2 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $8.25 (+ shipping) for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocosphere.com, online order

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

Today's Don Duong Dark Chocolate 72% Cacao Single Plantation, Lam Dong Province (bar) was made in Vietnam by Belvie Chocolate Maker (Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam). 

Belvie Chocolate offers a variety of chocolate bars made with (Trinitario) fine cacaos, purchased from cacao farmers located in different regions of Vietnam. This bar was crafted using cacao grown on a single plantation, in Lam Dong province in the Central Highlands.

All the Belvie bars I have sampled this week have been full of interesting flavors. No dull darks here. 

This 72% cacao dark chocolate had an aroma and flavor with pleasing fruit (fig filled butter cookie, peach jam), very faint green, true chocolate (dark chocolate torte with warm spices) and soft waves of balanced, loamy earth notes. It was relatively low in acid and bitterness, and had a pleasant, clean finish. 

Belvie Chocolate's tasting notes read as follows: 

"Taste and Flavour: Dusky, cloves and some stone fruit. Great balance and complexity, long and wonderful finish."

Ingredients: "Cacao and cacao butter 72%, cane sugar 28%"

Allergen-related information: "Gluten free; Dairy free; May contain traces of nut."

 

Belvie Chocolate - Dark Chocolate 90% Cacao Ben Tre (bar) - May 15, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

Belvie Chocolate Maker
Dark Chocolate 90% Cacao Ben Tre (bar)
Good + - Good ++
Weight: 1.41 oz. (40 g.) / 2.82 oz. (80 g.) in total bar
Calories: 260 calories (per label) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $9.75 (+ shipping) for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocosphere.com, online order

Welcome to Day #5 of Chocolate and Vietnam Theme Week.

Today's Dark Chocolate 90% Cacao Ben Tre (bar) was made in Vietnam by Belvie Chocolate Maker (Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam). 

Belvie Chocolate offers a variety of chocolate bars made with (Trinitario) fine cacaos, purchased from cacao farmers located in different regions of Vietnam.

Belvie Chocolate's description read as follows: "This bar is made of some exceptional selected and handpicked beans from a small single plantation in Ben Tre, Vietnam, on the border of Ham Luong river in Mekong Delta. Cacao trees are planted together with durian (fruit) trees."

The complex aroma notes of this single terroir bar included: bold dark chocolate, a slight savory (potato chip) note at the beginning; fleeting green floral; butter; faint cocoa, fruit and caramel; and an uptick of clean light green.

Texture: This chocolate was "Stone ground and conched for 72 hours, continuously in small batches," and had a relatively smooth, thick, substantial mouthfeel.

Flavor/tasting notes: bold dark chocolate with green; roasted, balanced bitterness (burnt toast); citrus acidity (grapefruit)/balanced, subtle, tart-sourness (with a hint of natural fruit sweetness) that lingered a bit toward the end. Relatively clean finish given these bold flavors.

For those that like bold, roasted, ultra-dark bars, this deserves a spot in a tasting flight.

Ingredients: "Cacao 90%, cane sugar 10%"

Allergen-related information: "Gluten free; Dairy free; May contain traces of nut(s)."