Standout Chocolate - Nordic Nature Spruce Shoots 66% (bar) - Oct. 19, 2022

Chocolate of the Day

Standout Chocolate

Nordic Nature Spruce Shoots 66% (bar)

Good ++

Weight: .88 oz. (25 g.) / 1.76 oz. (50 g.) in total bar

Calories: 144.5 calories in 1/2 bar

Cost: $11.50 for 1 bar

Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order

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

Today's Organic and vegan Nordic Nature Spruce Shoots 66% (bar) was handcrafted by chocolate maker Fredrik Martinsson and team at Standout Chocolate (Kallered, Sweden).

Aroma and flavor notes included tart sweet green and citrus as well as very faint evergreen forest notes.

The cacao used to make this bar was grown in the Dominican Republic and it provided dark rich flavor (Forastero-Trinitario hybrid cacao variety perhaps?) with one faint, fleeting flicker of earth. The sugar, chocolate and spruce together created a nicely-balanced red berry-citrus like sweetness.

I highly recommend this unique and tasty spruce tip flavored bar for chocolate lovers who also enjoy botanicals and edible plants. No surprise--coming from an area where evergreens are enjoyed and appreciated--the spruce flavor in this chocolate was particularly wonderful.*

Ingredients: Organic cacao beans, organic cane sugar, organic cacao butter, organic spruce shoots.

Allergen-related information: May contain milk.

*Native Americans also used edible Spruce tips (as well as spruce "gum" (resin) and occasionally inner bark) for medicinal purposes. And European explorers learned to stave off scurvy with these Vitamin C rich botanicals. Occasionally I am able to find Douglas Fir and/or spruce tree tip teas; but they're a rare commercial find in the U.S.

Siddha Chocolate - Cool Calm 65% Cacao + Coconut Crunch - Oct. 18, 2022

Chocolate of the Day

Siddha Chocolate

Cool Calm 65% Cacao + Coconut Crunch

Good + - Good ++

Weight: 1.6 oz. (45 g.) in total package

Calories: 240 calories in 1 package

Cost: $4.00 (sale) for 1 package

Purchased from: Safeway, Mountain View, CA

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

Today's Siddha Chocolate Cool Calm 65% Cacao + Coconut Crunch (bar) was from Siddha Remedies (Oxnard, CA). The company offers a range of flower essences, botanically-linked products and a line of chocolates.

Aroma notes for this organic, vegan and keto-friendly bar included: hushed, sweet cocoa and very faint floral and sweet green, and even fainter coconut.

The sweetness (organic coconut sugar) in this 65% cacao chocolate was pleasant and not too sweet. It was balanced by smooth cocoa, and very faint sweet herb and floral notes.

The Siddha Remedies tagline read: "elevate your nature." The use of tailored remedies in this chocolate to achieve this goal included: "10 calming herbs (and) 3 flower essences" along with 7 g. of fiber and 2 g. of coconut sugar. (For details, see Ingredient listed below.)

Ingredients: Organic cocoa mass, organic cacao butter, organic coconut sugar, organic dried coconut, organic VitaFiber(tm) (IMO; prebiotic fiber), organic erythritol, organic yacon, organic sunflower lecithin, passion flower, zizyphus seed, albizia bark, L-theanine, lemon balm leaf, shilajit, organic vanilla, organic lemon peel, chamomile flower, pink salt, hops flower, valerian root, kava root, bloodroot flower essence, buttercup flower essence, coffee flower essence

Allergen-related information: (No specific allergy information listed. "...Low sugar, high fiber, stevia free, vegan, 96% organic ingredients")

Siddha Chocolate - Clean Cacao 70% Cacao + Vitamin D3 - Oct. 17, 2022

Chocolate of the Day

Siddha Chocolate

Clean Cacao 70% Cacao + Vitamin D3 

Good ++

Weight: 1.6 oz. (45 g.) in total package

Calories: 240 calories in 1 package

Cost: $4.00 (sale) for 1 package

Purchased from: Safeway, Mountain View, CA

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

Today's Siddha Chocolate Clean Cacao 70% Cacao + Vitamin D3 was from Siddha Remedies (Oxnard, CA). The company offers flower essences and remedies "to elevate your nature" including a line of chocolates with different botanical inclusions.

This chocolate, made with organic cacao, had a naturally sweet (slightly floral) and cocoa (light chocolate cookie) fragrance.

Smooth dark chocolate flavor was accented with a very slight dose of coconut sugar, vanilla salt (pink salt), and very faint floral (12 flower essences) and citrus (lemon peel) touches. I also experienced barely there chocolate malt and diffuse red fruit notes.

Additional sweetness in this keto-friendly, vegan chocolate was provided by erythritol and yacon. 

Overall this genteel, floral chocolate offers something for most health-conscious chocolate lovers, particularly those enamored with all flowers and all things botanical.

Ingredients: Organic cacao mass, organic cacao butter, organic coconut sugar, organic VitaFiber(tm), (IMO; prebiotic fiber), organic erythritol, organic yacon, organic sunflower lecithin, organic vanilla, organic lemon peel, pink salt, Vitamin D, cabbage rose flower essence, chestnut rose flower essence, china rose flower essence, damask rose flower essence, Kamchatka rose flower essence, old rose flower essence, rose alba flower essence, rosa hardii flower essence, rosa horrida flower essence, rosa macrophylla flower essence, sulphur rose flower essence, virginia rose flower essence.

Allergen-related information: Contains coconut (sugar)

Dr. Bronner's - Magic All-One Chocolate - Peppermint Cream Dark Chocolate 70% (bar) - Oct. 16, 2022

Chocolate of the Day

Dr. Bronner's 

Magic All-One Chocolate

Cool Peppermint Cream Dark Chocolate 70% Cocoa (bar)

Good ++ - Good +++

Weight: 1.93 oz. (54.78 g.) / 2.93 oz. (83 g.) in total bar

Calories: 340 calories (per label) in 2/3 bar

Cost: $ N/A - company supplied and sent samples

Purchased from: N/A - company supplied samples

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

Today's Magic All-One Chocolate - Cool Peppermint Cream Dark Chocolate 70% Cocoa (bar) was made in Switzerland and distributed by Dr. Bronner's (Vista, CA).

Dr. Bronner's is a U.S.-based, family-owned company ("family soapmakers since 1858"), best known for their organic soaps, that (full disclosure) I have used at home for many years. One of their most historically popular soap scents was peppermint. 

In 2021 the company introduced a line of six Organic, fair trade (fair for life) certified chocolate bars, with an emphasis on regenerative farming and ethical supply chains. (Cocoa is from Ghana and the Ivory Coast.)*

But, there was no mint, specifically peppermint, flavor in the initial Dr. Bronner's 2021 Magic All-One Chocolate line-up. This fall (2022), an eagerly anticipated Peppermint bar has become available; and it was worth the wait.

Peppermint Cream Dark Chocolate 70% 

Aroma notes for this organic, gluten-free bar included: a harmonious blend of rich, chocolate (fudge brownie, very faint lemon herb (oxalis)), very faint coconut and maple (tree sap), and menthol (peppermint).

The aroma immediately put me at ease that this was not going to be an overly sweet chocolate bar with a blast of amped up, sugary mint flavoring. Nor was the relatively bold 70% chocolate going to be overly sharp/bitter. And these first impressions were all true. 

The smooth, but relatively flavorful dark chocolate (made with what tasted like a milder, well-balanced Forastero variety of cacao) held a natural caramel-colored filling that was judiciously sweetened (with organic coconut sugar). And, it was infused with the perfect amount of authentic peppermint--enough to impart a little warmth and authentic botanical mint glow-- without the after-dinner-mint or mint toothpaste-level of sweetness. 

The gentler, harmonic flavor complexity showed what more subtle, authentic mint can offer. And the judicious use of the less buzzy (lower glycemic) coconut palm sugar reminded me why I've used Dr. Bronner's soaps all these years. They offer all of what I do want, and none of what I don't want or need. (Thank you!)

Ingredients: Fair trade organic cocoa beans, fair trade organic coconut sugar, fair trade organic cocoa butter, organic sunflower oil, organic peppermint oil, fair trade organic bourbon vanilla bean. 

Allergen-related information: "Made on equipment that processes almonds, hazelnuts, milk, coconut and soy." 

*The company's work with cocoa farmers in West Africa was a natural extension of work already underway with sustainably harvested palm oil (used in soaps). The current Bronner management team also continues in honoring their grandfather's (founder Emanuel Bronner's) philosophy--bits of which are printed on Dr. Bronner soap and chocolate labels.

"....we are all-one or none" appeared on the pieces of chocolate I enjoyed today. Still as relevant a sentiment today as it was in the 1900s.

Shekoh Confections - Saffron - Oct. 15, 2022

Chocolate(s) of the Day

Shekoh Confections

Saffron

Weight: .49 oz. (11.32 g.) (estimate) in 1 piece

Calories: 75 calories (estimate) in 1 piece

Cost: $4.45 for 1 piece ($22.25 for 5-piece box)

Purchased from: Shekoh Confections, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #1 of Chocolate and Botanicals Theme Week, that will feature cacao blended with flowers, leaves (herbs), spices, trees, and other plant-based inclusions.

Today's Saffron filled chocolate was from Shekoh Confections (Palo Alto, CA). Shekoh Moossavi, the company's chief chef and chocolate-maker, produces a variety of high-end chocolate confections. All her (Valrhona dark and white chocolate based) confections so far that I've tasted have been well-executed and wonderful.

Saffron

I love saffron, in savory and sweet dishes. This spice is made up of tiny aromatic botanical threads (the vivid red-orange stamens harvested from purple crocus flowers) that contribute a unique flavor and sunny yellow color.

Aroma notes for this Saffron chocolate included: chocolate (dark chocolate with faint lemon herb (oxalis) and very faint earth), and soft, layered, floral spice (saffron).

An impossibly thin white chocolate (pale sky blue) shell covered a soft, creamy golden saffron infused white chocolate interior. The dark chocolate base layer formed the base of this angelic domed confection, providing just the right amount of chocolate grounding with true dark chocolate and very faint earth notes (without taking away from the lighter elements).

This chocolate had an architectural beauty to it with light blue sky above, the dark earth below, and a golden heaven of saffron sunshine in the middle.

No ingredients formally listed (or allergen information) on assortment "to go" box.

Zotter - 60% Milk Chocolate with Coconut Blossom Sugar - Oct. 14, 2022

Chocolate of the Day

Zotter
60% Milk Chocolate with Coconut Blossom Sugar (bar)
Good ++
Weight: 1.235 oz. (35 g.) / 2.47 oz. (70 g.) in total bar
Calories: 200 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $4.99 (sale) for 1 bar
Purchased from: Zotterusa.com, online order

Welcome to Day #10 of Chocolate and Coconut Theme Week.

Today's 60% Milk Chocolate with Coconut Blossom Sugar (bar) was made in Austria and distributed by Zotter Chocolates US LLC (Cape Coral, FL).*

Aroma notes for this 60% dark milk bar included: graham cracker, faint coconut cookie, very faint lemon-green herb (oxalis, sorrel, sour grass), very faint, diffuse fruit (mild red berry, mild sweet citrus) and barely there floral (vanilla) and caramel notes.

This approachable chocolate had gentle complexity, mellowed by vanilla and milk. A judicious amount of vanilla bean powder added pleasing flavor and implied sweetness. And milk added creaminess. The 60% cacao milk chocolate was sweet, but not overwhelmingly so. 

The bar was sweetened with a generous dose of coconut blossom sugar. (Coconut blossom sugar is collected/harvested from high up in the canopy of coconut palm trees, and is lower on the glycemic index (scale) than white cane sugar.) This coconut blossom-based sugar imparts a nice, mild flavor and less sugar buzz--even in today's bar where it comprised 23% of this bar's constituents.

Ingredients: Organic, fair traded cocoa mass; organic, fair traded coconut blossom sugar (23%); dry whole milk; organic, fair traded cocoa butter; salt; organic vanilla bean powder.

Allergen-related information: Contains coconut, milk. "Manufactured on equipment that processes other tree nuts, peanuts, sesame and soy."

*The company's Florida-based operation in the U.S. was affected by Hurricane Ian recently (Fall 2022) and there may be delays in ordering certain products. 

Momotombo - Milk Chocolate, Cranberries, Almonds, Coconut (bar) - Oct. 13, 2022

Chocolate of the Day

Chocolate Momotombo
(Momotombo Chocolate Factory)
Milk Chocolate, Cranberries, Almonds, Coconut (bar)
Good ++ - Good +++
Weight: 1.41 oz. (40 g.) / 2.82 oz. (80 g.) in total bar
Calories: 315 calories (per label) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $9.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order

Welcome to Day #9 of Chocolate and Coconut Theme Week.

Today's Milk Chocolate, Cranberries, Almonds, Coconut (bar) was from Chocolate Momotombo (Managua, Nicaragua). The company offers a variety of bean-to-bar chocolates and confections using Nicaragua-grown cacao.

Aroma notes for this bar included: chocolate (slightly earthy, buttery fudge brownie), very faint red fruit (berry) and very, very faint green (lemon-mint green tea and chocolate cookie).

This well-executed bar had a creamy, fudgey texture interspersed with tiny crunchy/crispy nut bits (almonds, coconut) and small pieces of chewy dried tart red fruit (cranberry). 

The smooth, creamy dark milk chocolate was flavorful and not overly sweet (thank you!). It contained just the right amount of nut and fruit inclusions. (The coconut was very subtle.) The results: a balanced blend of elegant, high-quality ingredients with nuanced flavor depth and pleasant (slightly addicting) complexity. 

The cranberry and faint warm spice notes (faint cinnamon and cardamom, very faint ginger) made me think of a fall/winter holiday spiced latte.

Ingredients: Cacao, powdered milk, sugar, cranberries, coconut, almonds.

Allergen-related information: Contains milk, nuts (almonds), coconut.