Shekoh Confections - Teddy Bear Honey Marshmallow chocolate - Feb. 6, 2023

Chocolate of the Day

Shekoh Confections
Teddy Bear Honey Marshmallow chocolate
Good + - Good ++
Weight: .6 oz. (16.9 g.) (estimate) for 1 piece/bear
Calories: 88 calories (estimate) for 1 bear
Cost: $4.50 for 1 bear 
Purchased from: Shekoh Confections, Palo Alto, CA

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

Today's Teddy Bear Honey Marshmallow chocolate was created by Chef and chief chocolatier, Shekoh Moossavi, at Shekoh Confections (Palo Alto, CA).

This cute Teddy had appealing dark chocolate aroma and flavor notes. A thin, well crafted and flavorful chocolate shell contained a soft, light spongy honey marshmallow interior. 

It was an elegant, endearing chocolate novelty bear. Enjoyable by itself, I can also see this as a sweet addition to a birthday or dessert plate as well.

No information on ingredients or allergen-related information accompanied this "to go" item purchased in the Shekoh Confections retail shop. (Weight information and calorie amounts are only my estimates.)

  

Shekoh Confections - Lavender Honey chocolate - Feb. 5, 2023

Chocolate of the Day

Shekoh Confections
Lavender Honey chocolate
Good ++ - Good +++
Weight: .78 oz. (22 g.) (estimate) for 2 pieces
Calories: 122 calories (estimate) for 2 pieces
Cost: $8.90 for 2 pieces (part of a 5-piece box)
Purchased from: Shekoh Confections, Palo Alto, CA

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

Today's Lavender Honey chocolates were from Shekoh Confections (Palo Alto, CA).

Aroma notes included: dark chocolate, floral (authentic lavender buds) and very faint tart (lemon) green herb (oxalis).

A perfectly thin, softly crunchy, flavorful dark shell gave way to a creamy, velvety chocolate ganache (filling) with light caramel notes. The honey flavor was very subtle. 

If you like lavender and floral flavors, you'll enjoy this filled chocolate. 

No information on ingredients or allergen-related information for this "to go" item purchased in the Shekoh Confections retail shop. 

 

Shekoh Confections - Hot Chocolate with Honey Marshmallows - Feb. 4, 2023

Chocolate of the Day

Shekoh Confections
Hot Chocolate with Honey Marshmallows
Good +++
Weight: unknown
Calories: unknown
Cost: $8.50 for 1 cup
Purchased from: Shekoh Confections, Palo Alto, CA

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

Today's Hot Chocolate with Honey Marshmallows from Shekoh Confections (Palo Alto, CA) was not your usual hot chocolate.

Ooh la la, this hot chocolate beverage was luxuriously thick, creamy and velvety. I found myself eating/drinking this with a spoon.

It tasted like there might be a healthy dose of real cream in this drinking chocolate. I experienced the same pleasure as eating chocolate ice cream. (Hot ice cream?) I also enjoyed the rich chocolate flavor.

Was it sweet with the honey marshmallow? Yes, it was. If given the choice, I'd probably have opted for a little less sugar; but this very special hot chocolate delivered a great tasting (and memorable textural) experience.

No information on ingredients or allergen-related information for this "to go" item purchased in the Shekoh Confections retail shop. I am assuming this hot chocolate contained dairy (milk/cream).

Bee Grateful Farm - Chocolate Honey Caramels - Feb. 3, 2023

Chocolate of the Day

Bee Grateful Farm
Chocolate Honey Caramels
Good + - Good ++
Weight: .77 oz. (22 g.) / 4 oz. (125 g.) in total package
Calories: 120 calories in 2 pieces
Cost: $9.69 for 1 package
Purchased from: Country Sun Natural Foods, Palo Alto, CA

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

Today's Chocolate Honey Caramels were handcrafted at Bee Grateful Farm (Steamboat Springs, CO).*

Aroma notes included sweet cream and caramel, and mild sweet chocolate.

These velvety and chewy ebony-colored caramels had a sweet chocolate-y, and buttery flavor with underlying honeyed caramel notes.

Gluten free, these balanced sweets had complex, authentic milk (cream) and honey taste. Yes, they were quite sweet, but they were more "honey" sweet than "white sugar" sweet. 

The package claimed these 100% honey-sweetened treats wouldn't stick to my teeth like sugary caramels would, and that was true.

Maker's notes: "...golden sweetness honey meets the rich creaminess of organic grass-fed cream and butter..."

Ingredients: Wildflower and alfalfa honey, organic cream, chocolate extract, organic butter, organic cocoa powder, Utah salt.

Allergen-related information: "Contains: milk"; gluten free

*Bee Grateful Co. is based in Phippsburg, CO.

Hogarth - Manuka Honey & Cacao Nibs 66% Cacao - Feb. 2, 2023

Chocolate of the Day

Hogarth Chocolate Makers 

Manuka Honey and Cacao Nibs 66% Cacao (bar)

Good ++ - Good +++

Weight: 1.23 oz. (35 g.) / 2.47 oz. (70 g.) in total bar

Calories: 194.1 calories in 1/2 bar

Cost: $11.00 for 1 bar

Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order 

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

Today's Manuka Honey and Cacao Nibs 66% Cacao (bar) was created by Hogarth Chocolate Makers (Nelson, New Zealand). 

The company offers a variety of chocolate bars (single origin and with flavor inclusions) made with fairly traded and organic ingredients. 

Today's bar--made with Peruvian cacao--was a collaboration with "You're a Honey"-- a New Zealand supplier whose bees have created prized Manuka honey from manuka* tree flower nectar.

Aroma notes for this bar included: honey butter, dark chocolate, and faint green maple. The relatively thick bar had a hearty smooth texture punctuated by softly crunchy cacao nibs.

The flavor was remarkable for its undulating honey and flower pollen notes, and smooth, but flavorable, dark chocolate that had subtle red/berry fruit notes. Cacao nib pieces balanced the richly sweet honey tones and added extra unsweetened, pure cacao flavor depth (with mellow wood, nut/seed and earth notes). 

Normally, 66% dark chocolates taste too sweet for me; but I loved the layers of authentic floral honey flavor in this bar. 

Maker's tasting notes: "...a chocolate with full honey flavour and a little fruit, balancing out the sweetness with bitter, crunchy cacao nibs."

Ingredients: Cocoa solids 66% (Organic, fairtrade cocoa beans; organic, fairtrade cocoa butter); organic, fairtrade sugar; Manuka honey (5%).

Allergen-related information: "May contain traces of milk and nuts." "Gluten free; Soy free"

*Manuka (Leptospermum scoparium) is a flowering plant/tree in the myrtle family, native to New Zealand and southeast Australia. It's also known as manuka myrtle and New Zealand tea tree. Manuka flowers in Nelson (NZ) are said to have a high pollen content and the flavor imparted (into what is often a thicker honey) was appealing and unique.

The most poetic description of manuka honey I found was a frequently quoted passage said to come from the Honey Traveler website: "aromatic with damp earth and heather notes and a cool menthol (or eucalyptus) taste and rich flavour of mineral, barley sugar and herbs."

Vosges - Black Raspberry with Fermented Black Tea 93% (bar) - Feb. 1, 2023

Chocolate of the Day

Vosges
Black Raspberry with Fermented Black Tea 93% Cacao (bar)
Good ++
Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) / 2 oz. (57 g.) in total bar
Calories: 150 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $7.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Vosges, online order

Welcome to Day #8 of Chocolate and Tea Theme Week, and Day #1 of Chocolate and Honey Theme Week.

Today's Black Raspberry with Fermented Black Tea, Raw Honey and Whole Cacao 93% Cacao (bar) was from Vosges IP, LLC (Chicago, IL). 

Vosges offers a range of attractively designed chocolates (bars and confections). This bar was part of the company's "LAB collection" made with no refined sugars and using the "entire cacao pod."

Aroma notes for this bar included: ultra-dark chocolate (deep, dense forest, earth) and very faint fruit (berries).

I enjoyed the texture--a blend of fine-grained crunchy and creamy cocoa elements (including "cacao berry fiber and flour" and cacao fruit puree. 

Flavor notes included: chocolate (deep cacao flavors -- de-fanged Forastero*), faint flickers of bright fruit (raspberry, very faint mango), and very faint, fruity black tea. During a relatively long finish, there were dark chocolate and berry cereal notes.

For a 93% cacao dark chocolate, this was well balanced, and a bit sweeter than expected. Use of raw honey and cacao "fruit, fiber and seed" added sweetness and enjoyable flavor complexity.

Ingredients: Unsweetened chocolate processed with alkali, cocoa butter, raw honey, cacao berry (cacao berry fiber, cacao berry flour), cacao berry flour, blueberry, black raspberry, ceylon black tea, cacao fruit puree. 

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

*The unsweetened chocolate used to make this bar was treated with alkali, a process that smooths out the rough edges and makes the chocolate/cocoa taste less acidic/bitter. The very deep, dense cacao flavor reminded me of Forastero variety cacao beans. The addition of black raspberries and blueberries (dark berries) as well as cacao pulp and black tea, added a friendly amount of balanced fruit and tannic acidity.

 

Fu Wan Chocolate - Taiwan #10 Ping Tung 53% Dark Milk Chocolate (bar) - Jan. 31, 2023

Chocolate of the Day

Fu Wan Chocolate
Taiwan #10 Ping Tung 53% Dark Milk Chocolate (bar)
Good ++ 
Weight: .795 oz. (22.5 g.) / 1.59 oz. (45 g.) in total bar
Calories: 130 calories in 1/2 bar 
Cost: $14.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order 

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

Today's Taiwan #10 Ping Tung 53% Dark Milk Chocolate (bar) was created by Fu Wan Chocolate (Pingtung County, Taiwan, R.O.C.).

This single origin bar offered a uniquely special and very subtle bouquet of chocolate aroma notes, including: chocolate (subtle milk chocolate), faint fleeting malt, faint clean mineral (clay), faint diffuse fruit (apple, raisin, peach), faint warm floral spice (soft vanilla and very faint cinnamon), very faint nut/seed, and very faint green tea floral.

The texture of this 53% dark milk chocolate was uniformly smooth and relatively creamy.

The flavor notes closely mirrored the aroma notes (above). This dark milk chocolate was filled with a very subtle array of fruit flavors. The milk (powder) softened/muted any strong fruit acidity and possibly other more subtle flavors. The chocolate was very low in bitterness. And it had a very mild, but long finish. In that finish were hidden whispers of nut (very fleeting lightly roasted peanut), and fruit (peach and light osmanthus blossom tea).

I paired this chocolate with small cups of osmanthus* oolong tea and jasmine green tea.

Some 53% cacao dark milk chocolates and confections can be very sweet. This bar was not. (Thank you!) The choice of less sugar (less than is often present here in the U.S.) made it much easier to detect the subtle flavors that were present.

I recommend trying this bar, or including it as part of a chocolate tasting flight. (Try this one first before stronger tasting chocolates, so you can still taste the softly complex notes.)

Maker's tasting notes: Apple, raisin, toffee, nuts, vanilla

Ingredients: Cacao bean, sugar, milk powder, cacao butter, vanilla pod

Allergen-related information: (Contains milk) 

*Osmanthus are aromatic flowering evergreen large shrubs/small trees native to China, Indochina and Japan. 

There are some that grow in a park near my house in California. I walked by a row of tall bushes with small clusters of tiny, fragrant, ivory-colored flowers last November; and I immediately recognized the smell as the flavoring in an Chinese tea I'd enjoyed. 

I've since been able to make my own flower-infused tea from local osmanthus blossoms, since it grows here as well as Taiwan, R.O.C.--where today's chocolate originated; and where osmanthus-infused tea is also popular.

My experience with osmanthus is that is has an apricot/peach scent and light citrus/stone fruit-floral, lightly herby flavor.