Chapter Thirty-Four: Equal Exchange Chocolate

An errand to Laura's favorite coffee supplier brought us a serendipitous find! Ten Thousand Villages is a local fair trade shop offering unique goodies and interesting wares from across the globe. We happened upon another bar from Divine (that we're saving for a future post) and this week's Equal Exchange Chocolates: Panama Extra Dark 80%. The packaging was what initially drew us because it is biodegradable and produced with sustainably harvested wood and renewable materials.  We love that!

Tasting No. :32
Equal Exchange Chocolates: Panama Extra Dark 80%

Initial Impressions:
This bar is much thicker than base bar leading to a very firm snap; it was rather difficult to break. It was lighter in color than base bar with an extremely firm bite.  We found the aroma to be mild and sweet, almost like vanilla blossom. 

Flavor Profile:

Initial – straw

Middle – raisin, vanilla, olive

After – rum, soil, walnut

Texture:
This texture was so odd to the point of being almost distracting. It was dry, and crumbly.  We would have preferred a smoother transition into melting instead of having to manipulate it so much in our mouths.

Overall:
At first, it was quite difficult to draw the flavors out. We found that we needed to work on a piece, sucking on it for a while. This is indeed the preferred way of tasting chocolate as is allows the flavor profile to develop while chewing does not. We'd like to pair this with a hot drink in the future (the package actually suggests this and specifies coffee) as it would allow the chocolate to melt. Ultimately, although this bar was work, we found it to be supremely satisfying with a well-rounded and gratifying flavor.

Rating: 9 /10

*Notes:

Purchased at Ten Thousand Villages

Price range under $4

Join us next week as we delve into the intrigue of a chocolate bar delivery gone awry!

For now savor: "Chocolate is a perfect food, as wholesome as it is delicious, a beneficent restorer of exhausted power...it is the best friend of those engaged in literary pursuits." - Justus Leibig

Remember, fairly traded chocolate is a responsible way to support farmers by ensuring that the chocolate that you consume has been bought for a fair price. By choosing to purchase fair trade chocolate, you can honor the cocoa tree growers and support their way of life which in turn leads to better chocolate.

Chapter Thirty One: White Christmas Part Two

With the holidays upon us we wanted to try something a little different. We will be tasting white chocolate bars from brands we know and love and new ones we are just discovering. We’re so glad you could make it!

We know what you may be thinking: white chocolate isn’t really chocolate! However, did you know that cocoa butter is a by-product of the chocolate making process? So while the cacao bean or solid is not included in the white chocolate itself, it technically does have cacao in it. :P Here’s another fun fact: the cocoa butter is what smells like chocolate, not the cacao beans! We hope you enjoy our little segue from dark chocolate bars as much as we did. Our tasting method will be a bit different for the white chocolate reviews. As we have no base bar, there will be no comparison. Instead we will be focusing on the color, texture, flavor profile, and aroma individually.

Finding a white chocolate in brands that we have previously tasted has proven to be quite the undertaking! We finally settled on this bar from a brand that we have yet to sample. We look forward to tasting their dark chocolate offerings in the future. This particular bar is from Venezuelan cacao and though it is not fair trade certified, their website does have this to say about their beans:

“I think I can confidently say that my form of direct trade goes beyond certified fair trade. Being both a cacao farmer and a chocolate manufacturer naturally means that I put the ethical sourcing of my beans at the heart of the way I make chocolate. I source all my beans directly from the farmers. I visit the farms and get to know the farmers, the challenges they face and the production methods they use. All the farmers I source my cacao from receive incomes well above average and well above the fair trade minimums because I use only premium beans. The world has two types of cacao. 85% of the world’s beans are the standard beans on which the Stock Exchange price is based – fair trade simply guarantees a fixed $ amount per tonne amount more than this price. The other 15% is made up of the Criollo, Trinitario, and Porecelana type premium beans that I buy – these command some 50% to 200% more than the terminal market price for standard beans.”

It’s a captivating philosophy to say the least. Let’s get to tasting.

Tasting No. :29

Willie’s Cacao El Blanco

Initial Impressions:

The snap of this bar was firm, as was the bite. It was a brown-toned color, and smelled faintly like eggnog.

Flavor Profile:

Initial – fruity

Middle – goat’s milk

After – caramel

Texture:

The texture was buttery smooth and thick, much thicker than the Milkboy.

Overall:

Surprisingly, this bar was not sweet, with the sweetness developing as we ate more of it. Willie’s Cacao attributes the lack of sweetness and depth of flavor to using 20% less sugar than other brands by incorporating natural cacao butter. With the rich, burnt caramel notes, it evoked childhood memories of spoonfuls of cajeta (a Mexican confection of caramelized goat’s milk – popular in parts of Texas). It was also reminiscent of custard or eggnog. We both found this bar to be scrumptious, thus it made it on to Gaby’s Favorites and Laura’s Favorites lists.

Rating: 9/10

*Notes:

Purchased at Central Market

Price range: Under $4

We will be taking a break until mid-January so that we can enjoy the holidays with our families. We hope that you enjoy yours and stay tuned for another post!

For now savor: “I want to stay curled and cosied and chocolated…forever in my mother’s arms.” – Sanober Khan, Turquoise Silence

Remember, fairly traded chocolate is a responsible way to support farmers by ensuring that the chocolate that you consume has been bought for a fair price. By choosing to purchase fair trade chocolate, you can honor the cocoa tree growers and support their way of life which in turn leads to better chocolate.

Chapter Eighteen: Bovetti Flourless Chocolate Cake

We were so impressed with the Bovetti bar that we tried in Chapter Six that we decided to pick up another to try this week. The Bovetti Dark Chocolate & Fleur de Sel Bar a 73% cacao bar that is fair trade with the cacao originating in Ghana, New Guinea, and Ecuador.

Tasting No.: 16

Bovetti Dark Chocolate & Fleur de Sel

Initial Impressions:

This bar had a very firm snap in comparison to the base bar.  It was not red in color, but a rich, dark brown.  The smell of this bar was different from what we expected.  Although it has caramel, we found the aroma to be distinctly tobacco, like a humidor.

Flavor Profile:

Initial – vanilla, cinnamon, molasses

Middle – chocolate bomb, pure chocolate

After – vanilla, butterscotch

Texture:

The texture of this bar was creamy, which surprised us because of the candy-like caramel morsels covering one side of the bar.  It reminded us of a dense, flourless chocolate cake.  We found it to be quite thick and enveloping.  The texture of this bar was very similar to last week’s TCHO bar, which differed dramatically from the base bar.

Overall:

Bovetti has been the star brand in our tastings thus far and we have yet to be disappointed.  This brand is one that we would wholeheartedly recommend to anyone with a craving for satisfaction.  For those that want to get lost in the moment with a single square, Bovetti is for you.  This particular bar reminded us instantly of a flourless chocolate cake, with intense chocolate flavor.  There was a subtle element of salt and the caramel came through as potent.  This bar also makes Gaby’s and Laura’s individual favorite lists.

Rating: 9/10

*Notes:

Purchased at Central Market

Price range under $10

Next week, it’s another Trader Joe’s bar!  Don’t forget to have a look!

For now savor: “In the beginning, the Lord created chocolate, and he saw that it was good. Then he separated the light from the dark, and it was better.” - Anonymous

Remember, fairly traded chocolate is a responsible way to support farmers by ensuring that the chocolate that you consume has been bought for a fair price.  By choosing to purchase fair trade chocolate, you can honor the cocoa tree growers and support their way of life which in turn leads to better chocolate.

Chapter Seventeen: TCHO's Chocolatey Explosion

We found this week’s bar again at World Market; we love the diverse selection there! TCHO is a brand based in Berkeley, California, and we selected the Dark Chocolate bar.  It is 70% cacao and the beans are from Ghana.  However, the package did not indicate it was single origin.  We do like that there is a ‘best by’ date on the package because stale chocolate can be a problem! 

 

Tasting No. :15
TCHO Dark Chocolate 70% "Chocolatey"

Initial Impressions:

This bar is much darker than the base bar, with brown tones.  The base bar is red toned. It smells much milder than the base bar, and is also slightly sweeter.  There is a note of acidity in the base bar that is not present in the TCHO bar.  They have almost the same firmness in snap, with the base bar being only slightly firmer.

Flavor Profile:

Initial – caramel, vanilla

Middle – musk, molasses

After – malt, musk

Texture:

Right away, we both concluded this bar has a soft bite.  There is an instant smoothness as it melts over your tongue; almost like a thick chocolate syrup.  It is reminiscent of drinking chocolate or also brownie batter. When you bite into it there is a powerful chocolate explosion of flavor in your mouth.  It bursts almost like a filled bar would.  

Overall:

Even though this bar has the same percentage of cacao, we found it to be much sweeter than the base bar.  There is no notable acidity in this bar, which makes it robustly indulgent with chocolate flavor.  It made both of our favorites list.  This bar would be an excellent choice for sating an intense chocolate craving, or might be complemented well with a citrus fruit, such as a tangelo.  We believe adding a touch acidity while enjoying this bar would enhance the flavor, although not much enhancement is needed.  In one word, it’s superb.

                                                     Rating: 9/10

*Notes:

Purchased at World Market

Price range under $4

Check back next week when we’ll be tasting another bar from Bovetti, the impressive French artisanal brand originally reviewed here.

For now savor: “Happiness. Simple as a glass of chocolate or tortuous as the heart. Bitter. Sweet. Alive.” – Joanne Harris, Chocolat