Tag Archive: dark chocolate
Trader Joe’s Chocolate Passport – Ecuador 66%
February 20, 2017
Chocolate of the week: Ecuador
Ecuador (situated in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia, Peru, and the Pacific Ocean) is known for its very special regional cocoa beans called Arriba.
These cocoa beans have a finer flavor and aroma than “bulk” cocoa beans grown in other countries.
Trader Joe’s Chocolate Passport – Peru 60%
February 13, 2017
Chocolate of the week: Peru
Peru is situated in western South America, bordered by Ecuador, Colombia, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, and the Pacific Ocean.
Cacao is grown in many regions throughout the country. (As an interesting aside, in 2007, a rare variety of cacao called Pure Nacional was rediscovered in Peru. Decades earlier, disease had destroyed 100% of these trees, or so it was thought. Pure Nacional was put on the extinct species list. Pure Nacional is a white cocoa bean, not the common purple color.)
Peru’s diverse microclimates provide unique growing conditions for cacao - different varieties of cacao growing at different altitudes.
Trader Joe’s Chocolate Passport
February 6, 2017
This blog post marks the beginning of my series on single-origin chocolates from Trader Joe’s Chocolate Passport variety pack.
Each week I will review one of these country of origin chocolates: Peru 60%, Ecuador 66%, Ghana 70%, Venezuela 70%, Dominican Republic 70%, Papua New Guinea 70%, Sao Tome 70%, and Tanzania 73%.
Special K Chocolate Coconut Cashew Bar
January 30, 2017
Today I decided to try the Special K Nourish® Chewy Nut Bar. I grabbed the new Chocolate Coconut Cashew flavor.
First and foremost, this bar is sweet and chewy. When you pull it apart, there are long, gooey strings of what I’m guessing is mostly corn syrup. It reminds me of thin, soft caramel strands but not the color of caramel. This is more whitish or even translucent.
The peanuts, cashews, and coconut really stand out with their strong nutty and coconut notes. The dark chocolate coating, on the bottom of the bar, along with the chocolate chips wrap your taste buds in chocolatey flavor, too.
Kind Healthy Grains – Popped Dark Chocolate
January 23, 2017
These Kind Healthy Grains granola bars are certainly different. They contain some grains you don’t normally see in the mainstream granola snack world. For example, they have sorghum, millet, amaranth, quinoa, and buckwheat.
Thindulgent Dark Chocolate Pistachio Toffee Bark
January 3, 2017
From the makers of Sheila G’s Brownie Brittle™, comes another snacking chocolate called Thindulgent™ Dark Chocolate Bark.
It’s made in a variety of flavors: Milk Chocolate Cashew Toffee, Dark Chocolate Pistachio Toffee, Milk Chocolate S’mores, Milk Chocolate Caramel Pretzel, and Dark Chocolate Almond Sea Salt.
Moser Roth 70% Dark Chocolate
December 26, 2016
Here’s another chocolate from Moser Roth brand out of Germany. Locally, I buy it at my Aldi store.
Ghirardelli Dark Chocolate Sea Salt Cashew
December 20, 2016
If you consider chocolate-coated peanuts to be a chocolate classic you’re not alone. They’ve been around a long time in chocolate shops and supermarkets.
World Market Dark Chocolate Revisited
December 13, 2016
From time to time, I give a poor review of a specific chocolate. The reasons can vary, but in the end, it’s because my experience is less than satisfactory.
Sometimes, my taste buds are telling me one thing, while the tasting description offered by the manufacturer tells me something completely different. My expectations are high, the delivery is low.
But I believe in second chances.
Alter Eco DARK BLACKOUT
November 21, 2016
Alter Eco’s Dark Blackout is a single source Ecuadorian, 85% cacao masterpiece of chocolate.
Everything they say about this chocolate bar on the wrapper and on their website is absolutely true. When they say it’s deeply fruity and intense, it is.