Guido Gobino - Indonesia 80% disks - Dec. 2, 2023

Chocolate of the Day

Guido Gobino 
Indonesia 80% pieces/disks 
Good + - Good ++
Weight: .88 oz. (25 g.) / 4.41 oz. (125 g.) total package of 25 pieces
Calories: 136 calories (estimate) in 5 pieces
Cost: $18.50 for 1 package of 25 pieces
Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order

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

Today's Indonesia (single origin) 80% individually-wrapped chocolates were from Guido Gobino (Turin, Italy). 

Happily, this family-owned, bean-to-bar maker offers smaller, high-percentage cacao, single origin, chocolates from different countries--including today's small (5 g.) disks made with Indonesian cacao. (Not all small chocolates are sugary, rather bland confections.)

Aroma notes for these individually-wrapped small disks included: aromatic dark chocolate; fruit (dark cherry); and woodsy earth (very faint, balanced peat/loam).

Texture: well-tempered (broke with a snap); smooth melt and mouthfeel--with a bit of faintly crunchy, ground cacao nib/bean fibers; and an almost invisible astringency in one or two bites (that may show up when you combine this chocolate with other foods).

Flavor notes included: rich, extra dark chocolate; very faint, dark/dried fruit (cherry); very faint, fleeting butter; very faint woodsy earth (peat, loam); and very faint, fleeting lemony-green herb (oxalis).

These chocolates were enjoyably complex, well-executed, robust and dark, and were not too sweet. (Thank you!)

Bar and Cocoa tasting notes: "...fragrant and intense, with notes of dried fruit and cocoa"

Ingredients: cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter; Cocoa 80% minimum

Allergen-related information: May contain traces of milk, hazelnuts, soy

 

Bonnat Chocolatier - Indonesia Java Milk 65% (bar) - Dec. 1, 2023

Chocolate of the Day

Bonnat Chocolatier
Indonesia Java Milk 65% (bar)
Good + - Good ++
Weight: 1.17 oz. (33.3 g.) / 3.52 oz. (100 g.) in total bar
Calories: 209 calories in 1/3 bar
Cost: $13.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order

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

Today's Indonesia Java Milk 65% (bar) was from Bonnat Chocolatier (aka Chocolat Bonnat), based in Voiron, Isere, France. The company has been making chocolate for almost 140 years.

The cacao used to make this bar was from Java (a large island in the Indonesian archipelago), located west of Bali and south of Borneo.

Aroma notes for this bar included: bold dark chocolate and cream of rice cereal with milk, sugar and butter.

This well-tempered bar broke with a hard snap, and had a satisfying, creamy, buttery texture.

Flavor notes included: dark chocolate, faint grain/cereal, and very faint brown bread. The choice of a bit more cocoa butter, sugar and milk (65% cacao vs. 70% cacao dark chocolate) seemed like a good choice. The cacao was fairly bold, and seemed well managed in this bar.

Ingredients: Cocoa (Indonesie), cocoa butter, sugar, milk powder; 65% cocoa minimum.

Allergen-related information: Contains milk. 

Firetree Chocolate - Indonesia Seram Island 72% Cocoa (bar) - Nov. 30, 2023

Chocolate of the Day

Firetree Chocolate Limited
Indonesia Seram Island 72% Cocoa (bar) 
Good ++
Weight: 1.145 oz. (32.5 g.) / 2.29 oz. (65 g.) in total bar
Calories: 180.5 calories in 1/2 bar 
Cost: $9.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order

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

Today's Indonesia Seram* Island 72% Cocoa (bar) was from Firetree Chocolate Limited (Peterborough, United Kingdom). 

Firetree produces "Rich Volcanic Chocolate"--sourcing cacao from remote islands, including Indonesia and South Pacific Island nations. The company's name is inspired by the flame-colored hues (yellow, orange, red and even pink and purplish) found in cocoa pods, as well as the volcanic lava(s) that created rich volcanic soils for cacao.

Aroma notes for today's Indonesia bar included: subtle dark chocolate; faint brown sugar toffee; and very faint, fleeting, raisin bread toast.

This chocolate had a smooth texture and creamy mouthfeel.

Flavor notes included: dark chocolate (cocoa, drinking chocolate); diffuse, bright dried fruit and faint honey; and very faint light brown sugar, warm spice (star anise), and nut. 

This was a smooth, almost subtle 72% dark chocolate with natural sweetness and moderate complexity. It was relatively low in bitterness and had low-to-moderate acidity. 

Maker's tasting notes: "Crafted from Indonesian island beans, this chocolate has a pleasing blend of cocoa, toasted walnuts, treacle and floral notes."

Ingredients: Cocoa mass, unrefined sugar, cocoa butter, emulsifier: sunflower lecithin. 

Allergen-related information: "This product is made in a no nut factory." "Dairy free. Halal. Suitable for Vegans."

*Seram is part of the Maluku Island group (Maluku Province of Indonesia), located west of Papua and East of Sulawesi and Bali.

Metiisto - Bali 70% Dark Chocolate (bar) - Nov. 29, 2023

Chocolate of the Day

Metiisto Artisan Chocolate
Bali 70% Dark Chocolate (bar)
Good ++
Weight: 1.32 oz. (37.5 g.) / 2.65 oz. (75 g.) in total bar
Calories: 217.6 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $11.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order

Welcome to Day #4 of Chocolate and Indonesia Theme Week, including a few chocolates from Bali.

Today's Bali 70% Dark Chocolate (bar) was made by Metiisto Artisan Chocolate "from scratch in Toowoomba (Australia)."

This single origin bar had smooth, almost creamy texture; and aroma and flavor notes that included: bold dark chocolate with subtle, balanced earth (peat, loam); very faint dark molasses; and occasional flickers of brighter, sweet fruit. 

This bar was a bit edgier and less sweet than many 70% chocolates. But it was flavorful and well-executed.

Ingredients: Cocoa beans, Sugar, Cocoa butter.

Allergen-related information: May contain traces milk. Produced in Australia from local and imported ingredients.

Standout Chocolate - Single Origin Bali Indonesia 70% (bar) - Nov. 28, 2023

Chocolate of the Day

Standout Chocolate
Single Origin Bali Indonesia 70% (bar)
Good +++
Weight: .88 oz. (25 g.) / 1.76 oz. (50 g.) in total bar
Calories: 146 calories in 1/2 bar 
Cost: $10.25 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order

Om Suwastiastu (Greetings) and welcome to Day #3 of Chocolate and Indonesia Theme Week.

Today's Single Origin Bali Indonesia 70% (bar) was handcrafted in Sweden, by bean-to-bar maker Fredrik Martinsson, at Standout Chocolate (Kallered, Sweden).

The label contained interesting details about the cacao origin. The cacao used to make this chocolate was from Jembrana (West Bali), and produced by KSS cooperative. This cacao was "intercropped with jackfruit, mangosteen, (and) snakefruit...and after being harvested, it was fermented in 2-tier wooden boxes covered with banana leaves.

Aroma and flavor notes for this unique and pleasing 70% cacao bar included: smooth dark chocolate, warm spiced fruit compote, faint sugar molasses cookie, raisin toast, and fleeting, faint, soft cherry and herbal tea (star anise and clove rooibois tea) notes in what was a longer finish than expected. 

I really enjoyed this well-executed chocolate. The texture was smooth and uniform; and there were no off notes. Lots of well developed (and preserved) flavors from just two ingredients. While there was considerable natural sweetness (spice, fruit notes) present, happily, this chocolate was not overly sweet either. (Thank you!)

Maker's tasting notes: "Cloves, Nutmeg, Toasted Bread' and "Herbal"

Ingredients: Cacao beans*, Cane sugar*. 

Allergen-related information: "May contain traces of milk."

Puchero - 75% Indonesia Java Criollo Single Origin (bar) - Nov. 27, 2023

Chocolate of the Day

Puchero 
75% Indonesia Java Criollo Single Origin (bar)
Good ++
Weight: 1.23 oz. (35 g.) / 2.4 oz. (70 g.) in total bar
Calories: 207.5 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $ N/A - gift from a friend
Purchased from: N/A - gift from a friend - Thank you Toni! 

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

Today's Puchero 75% Indonesia Java Criollo Single Origin (bar) was produced by Tostarix S.L. (Vallodolid, Spain). The company offers a variety of small batch, bean-to-bar chocolates.

Aroma notes included: smooth dark chocolate, tropical fruit (ripe, sweet mango), and caramel.

This chocolate had a smooth, almost creamy/milky texture, mouthfeel and flavor.

Flavor notes included: bittersweet chocolate, and sweet fruit (apple, berry, date, mango), faint caramel and very faint gingerbread. What is so special about Criollo cacao varieties? Subtle, sophisticated, complex flavors that also tend to be (depending on the origin and roast) low in acidity and bitterness.*

Puchero maker's notes: "Fermented white cacao from hybrid varieties known as Java Criollo. Complex, creamy and milky. Notes of caramel and tropical fruit."

Ingredients: "cacao beans, organic beet sugar, organic cacao butter."

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

*Single origin chocolates made with heritage/Criollo cacaos are rare. They represent less than 5% of the fine chocolate market. 

Criollo and/or heritage varieties of cacao beans tend to come from smaller cacao pods, and the trees are often more delicate/prone to diseases, which helps explain why they are found/selected less often for planting in large plantations, where the highest yields and lowest risk of diseases are selected over subtler flavor characteristics. 

Similar trade-offs are made with other heritage/heirloom variety crops, ranging from roses to tomatoes. 

Heinde and Verre - Dutch Vegan Mylk 52% Chocolate (Indonesia, DR, Peru) - Nov. 26, 2023

Chocolate of the Day 

Heinde and Verre
Dutch Vegan Mylk 52% Chocolate (bar)
Good ++ 
Weight: 1.25 oz. (35 g.) / 2.5 oz. (70 g.) in package of 2 bars
Calories: 199 calories in 1 bar (1/2 of a 2-bar package) 
Cost: $9.50 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order 

Welcome to Day #1 of Chocolate and Indonesia Theme Week, featuring chocolates made with cacao grown across the Republic of Indonesia--that includes 17,000+ islands--and origins such as Java and Bali.

Today's Dutch Vegan Mylk Chocolate (bar) was from Heinde and Verre B.V. (Rotterdam, The Netherlands). Like the company's name (rough translation: near and far), high-quality ingredients were selected from at least three different continents.

The cacao used to make this 52% cacao bar was from Indonesia, the Dominican Republic, and Peru.

Aroma notes for this vegan bar included: complex dark chocolate, dried fruit (banana), sweet green and subtle rice/oat cereal. 

The texture was thick and creamy, with no unpleasant graininess (from oats, rice). All the flavor inclusions were fully incorporated into the mylk chocolate. 

The sealed packaging helped keep this bar smooth, in-temper,* and fresh-tasting. (And it also made it easy to share a bar with someone else.)

Flavor notes included chocolate, fruit - (fully incorporated), authentic banana, and pleasant, very subtle oat and rice "milk" and very faint coconut.

This was one of the most well-crafted and tasty vegan "milk" bars I've tasted. Alternative milk bars often taste/feel a bit starchy; or the oats or rice can muddle the taste of the cacao with duller flavors.

Today's bar was very nicely balanced, not too sweet, with a pleasing complexity. 

Ingredients: "Cacao beans and cacao butter (52%), sugar, oat, cocos, banana, rice, calcium, sunflower lecithin, salt." 

Allergen-related information: (None listed. See ingredients list above.)

*Chocolate is tempered (using precise cycles of heating and cooling). The perfect temper results in chocolate bars that break with a hard snap at room temperature, and well-tempered chocolates have a longer shelf life as well. If chocolate sits in the sun, or is subjected to other extremes, it can lose its firm texture and desirable appearance and become out of temper.