Monsoon Chocolate - Bejofo Estate Madagascar 64% Dark Milk Chocolate (bar) - July 21, 2023

Chocolate of the Day

Monsoon Chocolate
Bejofo Estate Madagascar 64% Dark Milk Chocolate (bar)
Good ++
Weight: .88 oz. (25 g.) / 1.76 oz. (50 g.) in total bar
Calories: 138 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $12.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Monsoon Chocolate, online order

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

Today's Bejofo Estate Madagascar 64% Dark Milk Chocolate (Batch #7) bar was from Monsoon Chocolate LLC (Tucson, AZ).

Part of the company's Origin Series, this chocolate was crafted using cacao grown on the Bejofo Estate in northwest Madagascar's Sambirano Valley.

This estate is managed by "Bertil Akesson, who has specialized in growing fine cocoa, pepper, and other spices for many years, Bejofo Estate produces 300 tons of cocoa a year. The cocoa has been designated as certified "Heirloom" by the Heirloom Cacao Preservation Initiative (HCP)."

The subtle aroma notes included: dark milk chocolate, fruit (tropical fruit, melon, kiwi) and faint cookie. 

The texture was smooth, with a creamy mouthfeel.

Flavor notes included: dark milk chocolate with tart-sweet fruit notes (mango, cacao fruit (pulp), melon, tangerine, very faint sweet green fruit (kiwi)); faint clean mineral water; faint caramel; and faint butter cookie. 

Similar to other chocolates made with (Criollo, Nacional) heirloom cacao varieties, the flavors in today's dark milk chocolate were subtle, pleasant and complex. The milk and unrefined cane sugar softened the tart-sweet fruit flavors and also added a bit of caramel flavor.

This 64% dark milk chocolate bar was smooth, and sweet and very low in bitterness. It will surely please most milk chocolate fans. However, both dark and milk chocolate fans may also appreciate the sophisticated cacao and softly undulating fruit flavors. I certainly did.

Ingredients: Cocoa Beans, Unrefined Cane Sugar*, Cocoa Butter*, Milk Powder* (*Certified Organic)

Allergen-related information: Contains dairy (milk). "Made in a facility that handles tree nuts, wheat, milk, eggs and peanuts. May not be suitable for people with allergies to these foods."

 

Monsoon Chocolate - Bejofo Estate Madagascar 80% Dark Chocolate (bar) - July 20, 2023

Chocolate of the Day

Monsoon Chocolate
Bejofo Estate Madagascar 80% Dark Chocolate (bar)
Good ++ - Good +++
Weight: .88 oz. (25 g.) / 1.76 oz. (50 g.) in total bar
Calories: 136.4 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $11.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Monsoon Chocolate, online order

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

Today's Bejofo Estate Madagascar 80% Dark Chocolate (Batch #15) bar was from Monsoon Chocolate LLC (Tucson, AZ).

The cacao used to make this chocolate was grown on an estate in Madagascar. The "Bejofo Estate is an organic cacao orchard that is part of the larger Akesson Estate in northwest Madagascar's Sambirano Valley. Managed by Bertil Akesson, who has specialized in growing fine cocoa, pepper, and other spices for many years, Bejofo Estate produces 300 tons of cocoa a year. The cocoa has been designated as certified "Heirloom" by the Heirloom Cacao Preservation Initiative (HCP)."

Aroma notes included: dark chocolate; faint, freshly baked bread, gingerbread; fruit (tart-sweet green grape), and very faint "refreshing" clean mineral.

Flavor notes included: dark chocolate (ganaches); tart-sweet (acidic) tropical fruit (mango, kiwi, cacao fruit (pulp), pineapple, citrus) that peaked, and then receded. The relatively long finish featured rich cocoa (drinking chocolate) relatively notes.

This flavorful, fruity chocolate's natural fruit sweetness made this chocolate seem more like a 74% cacao than an 80% cacao bar. 

Each year I look forward to featuring "new" Madagascar chocolates for a week and tasting the fruit flavors that they're known for. And, like today's 80%er from Monsoon Chocolate, many (if not most) of the best single origin Madagascar bars I've tasted in the last 20 years have been crafted from cacao grown on the Akesson Estate in the Sambirano Valley. 

Ingredients: Cocoa Beans*, Cane Sugar*, Cocoa Butter* (*Certified Organic)

Allergen-related information: "There is no gluten or animal product added to this bar; however, it is processed in a facility that also processes wheat, dairy, nuts, and soy"

Michel Cluizel - Plantation Mangaro Madagascar 71% Cacao Dark Chocolate (bar) - July 19, 2023

Chocolate of the Day

Michel Cluizel (Cluizel Paris)
Plantation Mangaro Madagascar 71% Cacao Dark Chocolate (bar)

Good ++
Weight: 1.23 oz. (35 g.) / 2.46 oz. (70 g.) in total bar
Calories: 200 calories in 1/2 bar  
Cost: $12.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order

Welcome to Day #1 of Madagascar Theme Week.

Today's Plantation Mangaro Grand Cru Ambohimarina 71% Cocoa Dark Chocolate (bar) was from Michel Cluizel (Paris, France).* 

Aroma and flavor notes for this single origin Madagascar dark chocolate included: dark chocolate/cocoa, gentle but persistent fruit (mango, cacao fruit (pulp)), and faint, balanced, vaguely botanical, fermentation (that faded after opening) and light spice notes. The texture was even and smooth. 

The fruit was sophisticated and subtle, and less overtly tart/acidic/citrus-y than some dark Madagascar chocolates I've tasted in the past. The fruit notes were more similar to heritage cacao bean fruit notes, and/or a cacao flavor that was softened by a bit more single origin, cocoa butter. 

I enjoyed the subtle, intriguing flavor notes. 

Maker's tasting/aroma notes: "Biscuit, tangy exotic fruits, gingerbread, hot cocoa, notes of citrus and pepper." (Note: Cluizel offers more online tasting information at www.lessensduchocolat.com.)

Ingredients: Cocoa (71% minimum), sugar, cocoa butter

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

* Michel Cluizel in a bean-to-bar chocolate making company that was founded in the French town of Damville in Normandy in 1948.

 

Stonegrindz - Ucayali River, Peru 70% Cacao (bar) - July 18, 2023

Chocolate of the Day

Stonegrindz
Ucayali River, Peru 70% Cacao (bar) 
Good++
Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) / 2 oz. (27 g.) in total bar
Calories: 160 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $9.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Stonegrindz, online order

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

Today's Ucayali River, Peru 70% Cacao (bar) was crafted by the makers (Kasey McCaslin and Steven Shipler), and team, at Stonegrindz Small-Batch Chocolate (Scottsdale, AZ).

Aroma notes for this award-winning* single origin bar included: dark chocolate, and very faint fruit and spice.

Texture: smooth, relatively creamy texture with a light fruit astringency (dryness) in the finish.

Flavor notes included: dark chocolate (ganache, sweet earthy mocha-chocolate-y tart), moderate tart-sweet fruit acidity (citrus, pomegranate, red cherry plum); very faint warm spice; and fleeting, soft earth and sweet green herbal.

There were additional flickers of fruit and botanicals (very faint sweet green herb - barely detectable mint, licorice) in the finish. The fruit notes--somewhere between peach, mango, pineapple, cherry and something else I couldn't quite grasp (possibly cacao fruit pulp)--were fun, and elusive/difficult to pin down.

I enjoyed the subtle complexity of this chocolate. Savor slowly to find the "hidden treasures" in this Peruvian cacao.

Maker's tasting notes: Notes of mocha, cedar, dark cherry, anise

Ingredients: Cacao*, cacao butter*, cane sugar* (*Organically farmed)

Allergen-related information: "Soy Free, Gluten Free, Dairy Free"

*Gold 2019 - International Chocolate Awards (Tasters) in Italy

Rozsavolgyi Csokolade - Peru Gran Nativo Blanco 72% (bar) - July 17, 2023

Chocolate of the Day

Rozsavolgyi Csololade 
Peru Gran Nativo Blanco 72% (bar)
Good ++
Weight: 1.23 oz. (35 g.) / 2.46 oz. (70 g.) in total bar
Calories: 162.4 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $20.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order

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

Today's Peru Gran Nativo Blanco 72% (bar) was from Rozsavolgyi Csokolade (Budapest, Hungary).

Aroma notes for this Peruvian* cacao-based chocolate included a pleasing blend of integrated subtle notes: dark chocolate (mousse), diffuse fruit and very faint spice.

Flavor notes for this smooth, creamy and naturally sweet chocolate included: chocolate-y (dark chocolate mousse, creamy dark ganache), diffuse and subtle fruit (berry jam, sweet plum), and barely detectable, fleeting earth, very faint bitterness, and floral spice. This 72% chocolate tasted more like a 68% bar. (Thank you to the maker for their choice of 72% vs. 70%.)

I enjoyed this smooth, sophisticated chocolate with many attributes of Criollo/Nacional* cacao beans including gentle and complex flavors found in heritage cacao varieties. Chocolates made from these relatively rare heritage cacao varieties are more expensive (e.g. today's $20 USD bar); but my hope is that more chocolate lovers have the opportunity to get to know and taste these very special varieties.

Ingredients: Cocoa beans, organic cane sugar, organic cocoa butter, cacao content 72%

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

*The maker offered these background and tasting notes: "Gran Nativo Blanco cocoa is grown by smallholder members of the Norandino cooperative in the Piura region, North of Peru. The majority of the beans in this ancient/criollo cacao varietal are completely white, with an intense aroma of gooseberries and lime, balanced with the sweetness of panela with lots of floral notes. Luckily, via careful processing, we managed to preserve most of this in the chocolate."

Chocolarder - 100% Pure Dark Amazon Rainforest choc. - July 16, 2023

Chocolate of the Day

Chocolarder
100% Pure Dark Amazon Rainforest choc.
Good ++
Weight: 1.25 oz. (35 g.) / 2.5 oz. (70 g.) in total bar
Calories: 194 calories (estimated) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $11.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order

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

Today's 100% Pure Dark Amazon Rainforest Peru (bar) was made by Chocolarder Craft Chocolate Makers (Falmouth, Cornwall, UK).

Attractive aroma notes for this single ingredient (cocoa beans) bar included: dark chocolate, soft fruit (very subtle stone fruit (peach), berry and banana), and very light floral and nut.

This 100% Peru chocolate had a thick, creamy, stiff nut butter-like texture, a very faint astringency (dryness), and a relatively bold (at least unsweetened) dark chocolate flavor with soft sour (citrus/pink grapefruit) and fleeting nut notes.

100% cacao chocolates scare many people, even dark chocolate fans. They can be bitter, sour--and challenging for our brains to process. There is a temporary sense of surprise--the "Where's the expected hit of sugar/sweetness?" moment. 

The best 100%ers have a wonderfully complex aroma (this Chocolarder bar did); and the uncloaked-by-sugar bitterness and/or sourness doesn't eclipse subtle/complex flavor and finish notes. (They didn't.) Part of its success was the lovely Peru cacao beans the chocolate maker acquired, and the rest was great execution.*

Maker's tasting notes: "A slow build to intense roasted Brazil nut with accents of grapefruit and plantain"

Ingredients: Cocoa beans

Allergen-related information: "Made in a factory that also handles tree nuts"

*Truly great cacao can make a truly great chocolate. However, in the many steps that follow after harvesting the cacao, there are many opportunities for things to go wrong (a mistake in fermentation or drying, over-roasted or unevenly roasted cacao, too much or too little of many things...). And, there is no set recipe over time; the steps and settings are slightly different with different varieties or batches of cacao beans.

Fortunato Chocolate - Dark Chocolate Covered Almonds - July 15, 2023

Chocolate of the Day

Fortunato Chocolate
Dark Chocolate Covered Almonds 
Good ++
Weight: 2.04 oz. (58 g.) / 8 oz. (226 g.) in total package
Calories: 340 calories in 2 servings
Cost: $9.99 for 1 package
Purchased from: Fortunato Chocolate, online order

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

Today's Dark Chocolate Covered Almonds were from Fortunato Chocolate (Issaquah, WA).

Aroma notes included: dark chocolate, faint spice, roasted nut (almond) and very faint clean mineral.

Dark smooth chocolate was interspersed with crunchy roasted almonds.

Flavor notes included: dark, flavorful and smooth dark chocolate lightly covering authentic, crunchy whole roasted almonds. 

I enjoyed the relatively soft dark chocolate and roasted nut complexity--and not too much sugar (thank you!).

Ingredients: "68% Fortunato dark chocolate (organically grown cacao and cocoa butter 68%, organic cane sugar 32%), dry roasted almonds and sea salt."

Allergen-related information: "Contains: Tree Nuts. May contain traces of milk (including lactose), hazelnut."