Tag Archive: single origin

Trader Joe’s Chocolate Passport

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%.

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Kilwins Republica del Peru 80% Dark Chocolate

During the holiday season, I was leisurely strolling along State Street in Madison, Wisconsin, with friends, when they abruptly steered me into a sweets shop.

While sugared candies quickly got their attention, I focused on finding the chocolate. I ran into the homemade fudge first, but I am OK with that kind of distraction!

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Single-Origin Chocolate

The cacao tree is the source of all the chocolates in the world. It grows in abundant and rich soils in tropical rainforests, located around a global belt that is situated from 10 degrees north to 10 degrees south of the Equator.

While the source of the cacao flavor comes through the genetics of the plant, the drying and fermenting process of the cacao beans after harvest are large contributing factors. Aside from that, the rich composition of soil in the tropics, as well as the climate, contributes to the varying regional differences in the flavors of these cacao beans.

Have you ever heard about Single-Origin Chocolate? Single-origin chocolate indicates that the cocoa beans used to produce the bar are from one specific region or country. 
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Ben Tre and Chuao Origins

Here are a couple of new limited-edition chocolates for your tasting pleasure.

Ben Tre - 72% Cacao Single Origin Dark Chocolate

Scharffen Berger now offers a 72% Vietnamese single-origin chocolate bar.  The bar, named after the growing region of Ben Tre, comes from seven-year old cacao in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam.  This is the first that I have heard about Vietnamese chocolate available in the U.S.
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The U.S. Chocolate Market, Part I

The 2009 U.S. chocolate market is considered “recession-resilient.”  Chocolate sales increased 3% in 2009 over 2008.  That translates into record sales of $17 billion! 

Researchers predict that chocolate sales will continue to increase and could exceed $19 billion by 2014.

According to an article on www.marketwire.com, most of the 2009 growth comes from the 75% of Americans who, in spite of increases in chocolate prices, kept buying quality chocolate as an affordable treat.
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