Mission Chocolate - Wild Bolivia 65% dark chocolate (bar) - Oct. 30, 2023

Chocolate of the Day

Mission Chocolate
Wild Bolivia 65% dark chocolate (bar)
Good ++
Weight: 1.06 oz. (30 g.) / 2.12 oz. (60 g.) in total bar
Calories: 144 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $11.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocolate Covered, San Francisco, CA

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

Today's Wild Bolivia 65% dark chocolate (bar) was from Mission Chocolate (San Paolo, Brazil).

Aroma: subtle dark chocolate with faint forest and natural sweetness; faint molasses (spice cookie); almost invisible fig; and very faint bright green/fruit (kiwi + sweet lime).

Flavor notes: rich dark chocolate with faint molasses/brown sugar and spice (star anise); a brief hint of cream*; followed by more true cacao, nut and very diffuse nut. The finish included a very faint, bright citrus note (sweet lime). Tasting this bar felt like a gentle walk through a lush rainforest that ended with dappled sunshine.

This chocolate was made with wild cacao from the Bolivian Amazon Rainforest. Wild and Heirloom cacaos can be full of subtle, nuanced flavors. This chocolate was no exception. 

Thank you to the chocolate makers like Arcelia Gallardo at Mission Chocolate who source these very special cacao (bean) varieties and produce chocolate with them for us to enjoy.

Ingredients: Cacao, organic sugar, cocoa butter

Allergen-related information: May contain traces of peanuts, lactose, coconut, tree nuts, and wheat due to shared equipment.

*There was no milk, cream or dairy ingredients in this chocolate.

Monsoon Chocolate - 73% Tranquilidad (bar) - Oct. 29, 2023

Chocolate of the Day

Monsoon Chocolate
Origin Series Tranquilidad Bolivia 73% Dark Chocolate (bar)
Good ++
Weight: .88 oz. (25 g.) / 1.76 oz. (50 g.) in total bar
Calories: 217 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $14.95 (+ shipping) for 1 bar
Purchased from: Monsoon Chocolate, online order

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

Today's Origin Series Tranquilidad* Bolivia 73% Dark Chocolate (bars) was from Monsoon Chocolate (Tucson, AZ).

Aroma notes included: chocolate; floral, light oolong tea; other lightly sweet, green botanicals; and faint brown sugar.

Flavor notes for this smooth dark chocolate included: rich cocoa (drinking chocolate, faint fermented cacao); very faint spice (black pepper); and faint cream. (Note: there was no actual cream/dairy in this bar. Some heritage cacaos can have this lovely cream note.)

This 73% chocolate had a very pleasing aroma; rich chocolate flavor that was relatively low in bitterness; and a gentle, lingering, almost honeyed finish.

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

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

*Hacienda Tranquilidad is a farm located in the Bolivian Amazon Basin. Wild ("Sylvestre") cacao trees grow in a large, natural forest. The estate's owner, Volker Lehmann, has been the key supplier of native Beniano (Heirloom) cacao beans to small batch, bean-to-bar chocolate makers. The results: some wonderful, very special chocolate bars.

LetterPress Chocolate - Tranquilidad (Bolivia) 70% Dark Chocolate (bar) - Oct. 28, 2023

Chocolate of the Day

LetterPress Chocolate
Tranquilidad (Bolivia) 70% Dark Chocolate (bar)
Good ++ - Good +++
Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) / 2 oz. (57 g.) in total bar
Calories: 158 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $18.00 for 1 bar (current price)
Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order

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

Today's Tranquilidad 70% Dark Chocolate (Batch #0006) (bar) was from LetterPress Chocolate LLC (Los Angeles, CA).

The cacao beans used to make this chocolate were from northern Bolivia. "Designated Heirloom Cacao (HCP #2) by the Heirloom Cacao Preservation Fund in 2014, Tranquilidad is an ancient and rare varietal known as Beniano."*

Aroma notes included: dark chocolate (fleeting freshly baked bread and butter, sweet green botanicals (green jasmine tea, sweet grass/hay); and fruit (light apricot)). 

This bar broke with a snap, and had a buttery melt and mouthfeel.

Flavor notes included: much more subtle versions of the light green botanical and stone fruit notes  mentioned above and rich dark chocolate (with a faint latte note) with balanced fruit acidity and relatively low bitterness. The buttery texture also gave this chocolate a luxe dark chocolate buttercream frosting feel.

The fragrance at the beginning was lovely. Hats off to the maker for preserving these more delicate notes-- that contributed pleasing complexity to the richer, buttery, chocolate-y taste and finish. 

Unfortunately, this Tranquilidad, Bolivia 70% chocolate bar is currently showing as sold out on the site where I purchased this.

LetterPress tasting notes: "buttercream, espresso"

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

Allergen-related information: "Processed in a facility that also processes nuts and dairy"

*LetterPress Chocolate sources fine cacao beans from several countries to make their bean-to-bar chocolate bars. Chocolate makers often work with or consult cacao experts in cacao growing countries--such as Volker Lehmann in Bolivia. The maker's description of this cacao field expert is below.

Lehmann, "originally from Germany, relocated to Bolivia in 2000 as a trained agriculturist. Throughout the Beni Department, Volker works with wild cacao in the area and personally oversees the fermentation process to ensure the highest possible quality. We became enamored by these beans several years ago and were able to secure a very limited amount of these special cacao beans..."

Original Beans - Beni Wild 66%, Beni Amazon, Bolivia (bar) - Oct. 27, 2023

Chocolate of the Day

Original Beans
Beni Wild 66%, Beni Amazon, Bolivia
Good +++ - Very Good
Weight: 1.23 oz. (35 g.) / 2.47 oz. (70 g.) in total bar
Calories: 198 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $7.50 (estimate) + shipping for 1 bar
Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order 

Welcome to Day #1 of Chocolate and Bolivia Theme Week.

Today's Original Beans Beni Wild 66%, Beni Amazon, Bolivia (bar) was made in Switzerland. (Original Beans is based in Amsterdam, NL.)

This chocolate had a wonderful and complex aroma. Notes included: cacao with floral (honey), faint molasses/brown sugar; very faint fleeting freshly baked breads (yeast bread and steamed Boston brown bread with cornmeal, molasses and raisins); fruit (dried peach); very faint, fleeting jungle (loam/peat); and other trace sweet green botanicals.

The texture was smooth, uniform and creamy. (It likely would have been even creamier; but I was enjoying this chocolate after the expiration date.)

Flavor notes for this 66% Bolivia bar included: vibrant and complex, naturally sweet flavors. Many of these flavors were similar to the complex and varied aroma notes above. Honeyed floral notes and peach (fruit) were joined by a lovely fleeting ripe, sweet blackberry flavor note. 

It's been a long time since chocolate made me feel so transported (to a rain forest where I could imagine scents, movements and sounds among the stillness). The "fleeting" notes I mentioned seemed almost alive. One appeared and disappeared up in a forest canopy; another shimmered briefly between some lush plants between trees. I could almost hear muted bird calls and the rustling of wildlife. 

This special chocolate was made from the "rarest of the rare" Beniano wild cacao beans from the Beni* Amazon area of Bolivia. It was low in bitterness and acidity, well balanced, and wonderfully blessed with natural wild cacao flavors.

Thank you to Original Beans for making this tasting experience possible.

Original Beans Tasting Notes: "Hints of floral honey, apricot and jasmine tea..."

Ingredients: Cacao mass*, raw cane sugar*, cacao butter*. Cacao solids: 66% minimum. (*Certified Organic)

Allergen-related information: (No allergens listed on label.) "Certified Organic, Vegan, Dark"

*The Beni River is a major tributary of the Amazon River that originates in the Bolivian Andes. It is home to ancient forests, rare species of cacao and other plants, and indigenous peoples.

Chocolove - Maple Glazed Salted Pecans in Strong Dark Chocolate (bar) - Oct. 26, 2023

Chocolate of the Day

Chocolove
Maple Glazed Salted Pecans in Strong Dark Chocolate (bar)
Good + - Good ++
Weight: 1.59 oz. (45 g.) / 3.2 oz. (90 g.) in total bar
Calories: 240 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $3.44 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Country Sun, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #14 of Chocolate, Pumpkin and Warm Fall Spices Theme Week.

Today's Maple Glazed Salted Pecans in Strong Dark Chocolate was from Chocolove (Boulder, CO). 

The company has been producing a variety of chocolate bars and confections. And true to their name/tradition, there was a "hidden" love poem/poem excerpt printed on the inside of bar wrapper. (Today's poem was from "The Wreath and the Chain" by Thomas Moore.)

Aroma notes for this bar included: smooth dark chocolate and sweet spice (cinnamon) and very faint maple syrup. 

Texture: This relatively thick dark chocolate had a smooth, creamy texture and contained a generous serving of crispy crunchy pecan pieces. 

Flavor notes included: sweet, smooth, fudge-y, dark chocolate (with a faint, fleeting earth and nut); pecans; sparkles of maple sugar (syrup), cinnamon and faint sea salt.

This bar was a lovely and skillful blend of sweetly spiced holiday nuts and dark chocolate. (And a reminder of some wonderful chocolate pecan pie possibilities.) The maple syrup added warmth and flavor depth; and the small amount of added sea salt seemed just right.

Ingredients: Dark Chocolate (Cocoa Liquor**, Sugar, Cocoa Butter**, Soy Lecithin and/or Sunflower Lecithin, Vanilla), Pecans, Maple Syrup, Cane Sugar, Organic Butter Oil, Sea Salt, Cinnamon. (** Rainforest Alliance Certified.)

Allergen-related information: "Contains Pecans, Milk, Soy." No Gluten or Eggs (ingredients); No Artificial Preservatives. "Made in a Facility that also processes eggs, peanuts, and other tree nuts."

Eva's Delights - Pumpkin Spice Chocolate Truffles - Oct. 25, 2023

Chocolate of the Day 

Eva's Delights
Pumpkin Spice Chocolate Truffles
Good +
Weight: 1.5 oz. (42.5 g.) / 3 oz. (85 g.) in a box of 4 pieces
Calories: 232.5 calories (estimate) in 2 pieces
Cost: $13.99 for 1 box of 4 pieces 
Purchased from: Santa Venetia Market, San Rafael, CA

Welcome to Day #13 of Chocolate, Pumpkin and Warm Fall Spices Week.*

Today's Pumpkin Spice Chocolate Truffles were from Eva's Delights (San Rafael, CA). "Made with love in our home kitchen."

Aroma notes for these seasonal chocolate truffles included: subtle dark chocolate, and very faint pumpkin pie.

The outer, smooth dark chocolate shell gave way to a softer, substantial, pale pumpkin colored white chocolate center. 

Flavor notes included: dark chocolate (couverture) and white chocolate ganache (filling)--flavored with very faint pumpkin spice syrup, pumpkin butter, and a very subtle splash of warming brandy. A sprinkle of salt across the top of each truffle helped to balance the overall sweetness.

Ingredients: French chocolate; Pumpkin Spice syrup; Pumpkin butter; cinnamon, cloves, and other warm spices; splash of Brandy; white chocolate and salt sprinkles.

Allergen-related information: (None listed on 4-piece box label.) Contact Eva's Delights if you have questions.

*We believe in over-stuffed chocolate weeks on Chocolate Banquet. One week can easily stretch into two, or more.

SOMA - Chocolate Pecan Pie Pralines - Oct. 24, 2023

Chocolate of the Day

SOMA chocolatemaker
Chocolate Pecan Pie Pralines
Good ++ 
Weight: 1.17 oz. (33 g.) / 3.52 oz. (100 g.) in total package
Calories: 180 calories in 1/3 package
Cost: $15.00 for 1 package
Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order

Welcome to Day #12 of Chocolate, Pumpkin and Warm Fall Spices Theme Week.

Today's Chocolate Pecan Pie Pralines were created by SOMA chocolatemaker (Toronto, ON, Canada).

Hope everyone in Canada enjoyed their Thanksgiving (Oct. 9th) this year. Thanksgiving in the U.S. is yet to come; but it's not too early for pumpkin spiced-items, pecan pie and pumpkin pie. 

SOMA's decadent Chocolate Pecan Pie Pralines were enjoyed with a slice of pumpkin pie from Raised Gluten Free (Arcata, CA). 

Aroma notes for these coated oval- and pearl-shaped confections included: caramel, faint rich cocoa, and very faint vanilla. 

A buttery, outer caramel chocolate coating surrounded slightly sweet and crunchy pecan pieces.

Flavor notes for each piece included: caramel, subtle chocolate (rich cocoa), hints of butter, brown sugar and milk, and naturally sweet pecans--all magically rolled into one bite. 

The flavors were authentic and well balanced, and these pralines tumbled in caramel chocolate were sweet, but not overly so.

Ingredients: Pecans, Organic Cane Sugar, Cocoa Butter, Milk Powder, Cacao Nibs, Egg Whites, Salt, Natural Vanilla.

Allergen-related information: (Contains milk, egg, pecans.) "May contain traces of peanuts."