Chocolate Bonnat - Chocolat Fondant Surfin Pur Cacao & Sucre 65% Cacao (bar) - Oct. 17, 2025

Chocolate of the Day

Chocolat Bonnat
Chocolat Fondant - Surfin Pur Cacao & Sucre 65% Cacao (bar)
Good ++   
Weight: 1.76 oz. (50 g.) / 3.5 oz. (100 g.) in total bar
Calories: 296.5 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $16.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Jerome's C.V. Market, Carmel Valley, CA

Bonjour, and welcome to Day #4 of Chocolate & France Theme Week.

Today's Chocolat Fondant - Surfin Pur Cacao & Sucre 65% Cacao (bar) from Bonnat Chocolatier (Voiron, France) was made using an original recipe "invented by Felix Bonnat in 1884." 

It was created with a blend of cacaos from Venezuela, West Africa, Brazil, Peru and Mexico.

Aroma notes for this bar included: smooth chocolate with subtle, pleasant, clean green floral (orchid)/green tea.

This bar had a smooth, almost creamy texture; and it was relatively thick. It broke with a hard, well-tempered snap.

Flavor: smooth and very chocolate-y; relatively low in bitterness with gentle (extremely subtle) complexity (very faint botanical, balanced earth, floral, green notes).

I really enjoyed this blend of single origin cacaos that dated back generations, and the smooth sophisticated and chocolate-y flavor of the chocolate. Thank you Elise for the tasting help.

Ingredients: Cocoa, Cocoa Butter Sugar

Allergen-related information: (No allergens listed on label.)

Sted Foods - French Grey Sea Salt 70% Dark Chocolate (bar) - Oct. 16, 2025

Chocolate of the Day

Sted Foods 
French Grey Sea Salt 70% Dark Chocolate (bar)
Good ++
Weight: .5 oz. (14.1 g.) in 1 small bar
Calories: 78 calories (estimate) in 1 bar
Cost: N/A -  gift from a friend
Purchased from: N/A - gift from a friend

Welcome to Day #3 of Chocolate and France Theme Week, with the French component being the mineral-rich grey sea salt.

Today's Sted Foods French Grey Sea Salt 70% Dark Chocolate (bar) was manufactured by TC Foods, LLC (Fergus Falls, MN). 

This bar had smooth, very pleasing, chocolate-y aroma, texture and flavor notes with very faint spice/herb (black licorice/sweet fennel seed), roasted note and tiny sparkles of sea salt.

It had a very balanced bitterness and toasty taste; and I found this chocolate to be somewhat addicting. (Often the case with sweet and salty chocolates/snacks.)

Thank you to Wendy for this lovely chocolate gift from Minnesota!

Ingredients: "organic cacao beans, organic cane sugar, organic cocoa butter"

Allergen-related information: "Made in a facility that uses coconut, pecans, almonds, cashews, seasame (sic), hazelnuts, and milk." "Free from Soy, Gluten, & Palm Oil"

A. Morin - Vietnam Thanh Long Noir 70% (bar) - Oct. 15, 2025

Chocolate of the Day

A. Morin
Vietnam Thanh Long Noir 70% (bar)
Good ++ - Good +++
Weight: 1.76 oz. (50 g.) / 3.52 oz. (100 g.) in total bar
Calories: 294 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $11.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Bar & Cocoa, online order

Welcome to Day #7 of Chocolate and Vietnam Theme Week; and Day #2 of Chocolate & France Theme Week.

Today's Vietnam Thanh Long Noir 70% (bar) was from SAS Chocolaterie A. Morin (Donzere, France). This company has been handed down from father to son since its inception in 1884.

The cacao used to make this bar was from the Ben Tre region of Vietnam, south of Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). The area is nestled between branches of the mighty Mekong River.

Aroma and flavor notes included: smooth dark chocolate (chocolate-y hot cocoa); faint nut and even fainter spice and diffuse red fruit (jam).

Texture: smooth dark chocolate

I appreciated the smoothness and fullness of this balanced, chocolate-y bar that had just enough gentle complexity (chocolate-y cocoa, nut and fruit) to make it very satisfying.

Maker's tasting notes: "acidule et epice tres agreable en bouche " Translation into English: "...this cocoa turns into an acidulous and spicy chocolate, very pleasant on the palate."

Ingredients: Cocoa beans from Vietnam, cane sugar, cocoa butter, sunflower lecithin. Cocoa: 70% minimum.

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

Maison Vietnam Marou - Happy Holidays with Merry Cacao Dark Milk Chocolate 48% & Rum Raisin (bar) - Oct. 14, 2025

Chocolate of the Day

Maison Vietnam Marou
Happy Holidays with Merry Cacao Dark Milk Chocolate 48% & Rum Raisin (bar)
Good ++
Weight: 1.13 oz. (32 g.) / 2.8 oz. (80 g.) in total bar
Calories: 187 calories in 32 g. serving of bar
Cost: $15.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Bar & Cacao, online order

Welcome to Day #6 of Chocolate & Vietnam Theme Week; and Day #1 of Chocolate & France Theme Week.

Today's Happy Holidays with Merry Cacao Dark Milk Chocolate 48% & Rum Raisin (bar) was from Maison Vietnam Marou (Vietnam); and Imported by A. Priori Specialty Food (Salt Lake City, UT).

I can thank France for today's bar. French colonists are credited with bringing cacao to Vietnam in the 1800s (although the Spanish introduced many new world foods to Asia before then). 

However, there were obstacles to overcome. Crops from Europe and the Americas (notably coffee) experienced greater success than cacao. (Later, the Vietnam War destroyed many cacao trees and other crops.) 

Happily, the global growth of the craft chocolate movement in the early 2000s launched many new global ventures. French chocolate makers/pioneers Samuel Maruta and Vincent Mourou breathed life into single origin Vietnam chocolate production when they founded Marou Chocolate in Vietnam in 2011.

Aroma notes for today's rum raisin chocolate (a blend of New and Old world traditions) included: dark milk chocolate, fruit (currant, raisin) and very faint (likely imagined) warm spices.

Texture: smooth and relatively creamy, with bits of rum-soaked dried fruit (raisins).

Flavor notes included: creamy dark milk chocolate. (It was darker, but smoother than many dark milk chocolates.) The creamy dark milk chocolate with the additional warmth from the bits of rum-soaked raisins made this bar even more appealing in the cooler weather.

Ingredients: Dark milk chocolate 48% (cacao nibs, cane sugar, whole milk powder, cacao butter (90%), rum (5%), raisins (5%)

Allergen-related information: "Contains Milk. Manufactured in a facility that also processes: wheat, milk, eggs, peanuts, coconut"

 

The Organic House - Brazil Nuts & Date Slats 70% Vietnam dark chocolate with Brazil nuts and dates - Oct. 13, 2025

Chocolate of the Day

The Organic House 
Brazil Nuts & Date Slats 70% Vietnam dark chocolate with Brazil nuts and dates
Good ++ 
Weight: 1.76 oz. (50 g.) / 3.5 oz. (100 g.) in total package
Calories: 240 calories in 2 servings (1/2 pkg.)
Cost: $10.00 for 1 package
Purchased from: The Organic House, online order

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

Today's Brazil Nuts & Date Slats 70% Vietnam dark chocolate with Brazil nuts and dates "slats" were from The Organic House (Burlington, ON, Canada) -- bean-to-bar (and confection) craft chocolate makers.

The cacao used to make this bar was from Vietnam.

Aroma notes for these substantial chocolate shards included: chocolate; sweet (dried) fruit (date); and very faint (pomegranate) molasses, nut and biscuit.

Texture: thick bites of dark chocolate; softly crunchy Brazil nuts pieces; and softly chewy slices of date.

I enjoyed the hearty flavors and textures. The 70% dark chocolate had a hearty satisfying taste with balanced bitterness. And the rich, sweet dates and classic, very slightly earthy Brazil nut flavors harmonized well with this Vietnam dark chocolate. And, the coconut flower nectar added some brown sugar like warmth.

I appreciated the short list of quality, organic ingredients and single origin (Vietnam) 70% dark chocolate. This was much more flavorful and fun than most chocolate bark with fruit and nut confections (that I find so sweet that I can barely taste any of the ingredients, other than the refined sugar(s)).

Ingredients: "Organic cacao beans, Organic medjool dates, Organic brazil nuts, Organic coconut flower nectar, Organic cacao butter, Organic sea salt"

Allergen-related information: "May contain: Almonds, Cashews, Hazelnuts, Oats, Pistachios" 

Belvie Chocolate Maker - Milk Chocolate 55% Cacao Coffee-Mint-Nibs Trinitario (bar) - Oct. 12, 2025

Chocolate of the Day

Belvie Chocolate Maker
(Socala Ca-phe Sua bae ha (bar))
Milk Chocolate 55% Cacao Coffee-Mint-Nibs Trinitario (bar)
Good ++
Weight: 1.4 oz. (40 g.) / 2.8 oz. (80 g.) in total bar
Calories: 226 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $11.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Bar & Cocoa, online order

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

Today's Milk Chocolate 55% Cacao Coffee-Mint-Nibs Trinitario (bar) was from Belvie Chocolate Maker (Saigon/Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam).

The Trinitario variety cacao beans used to make this chocolate were from Dong Nai province.

Aroma notes included: sweet dark chocolate, coffee and mint candy; with very faint fruit and warm spice/cookie (vanilla).

Texture: smooth dark chocolate with a satisfying melt with tiny, crunchy bits of coffee. (The coffee bean bits were just the right size, and were not too hard. Thank you!) 

Flavor notes included: smooth, relatively sweet dark chocolate, coffee latte--and chocolate and vanilla mint (cookie-like notes). (Note: there was no vanilla listed in the ingredients; but it did have that pleasant, warm (almost floral) flavor.) 

The milk in this bar was quite subtle; and it added a bit of creamy texture and a little natural, mellow sweetness.

I enjoyed trying this coffee and sweet chocolate dessert; it was like a dessert parfait all in one bar.

Ingredients: "Cacao & Cacao Butter 55%, Milk Powder, Coffee, Mint Extract, Cane Sugar: 45%"

Allergen-related information: Contains Milk.

Belvie Chocolate Maker - Kumquat Dark Milk Chocolate 55% Cacao Trinitario (bar) - Oct. 11, 2025

Chocolate of the Day

Belvie Chocolate Maker
Kumquat Dark Milk Chocolate 55% Cacao Trinitario (bar)
Good ++
Weight: 1.4 oz. (40 g.) / 2.8 oz. (80 g.) in total bar
Calories: 226 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $11.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Bar & Cocoa, online order 

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

Today's Kumquat Milk Chocolate 55% Cacao Trinitario (bar) was from Belvie Chocolate Maker (Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City), Vietnam).

The Trinitario cacao beans used to make this bar were ("purchased directly from planters on an above fair trade price...") from Dong Nai province, "a highly inland area underlaid by volcanic rock, (that) supports cacao plantations on its low-lying slopes as well as its valley..."

Aroma notes included: chocolate (cocoa) slightly floral matcha latte; light fruit (banana, aromatic citrus); and barely detectable marshmallow. 

Texture: relatively smooth, with barely detectable fruit particles (kumquat peel powder). These particles were almost entirely incorporated into the chocolate.

Flavor notes included: smooth-flavored, sweet chocolate with diffuse tropical fruits (gentle, sweet citrus, banana) and very faint matcha latte marshmallow.

I enjoyed tasting this 55% dark milk chocolate--that lacked a heavy milk or cream flavor or texture,  allowing the light, aromatic fruit to shine.

Ingredients: "Cacao & Cacao Butter 55%, Cane Sugar 25%, Milk Powder (20%), Kumquat Peel Powder"

Allergen-related information: "Contains Milk."