There was a time when the taste, let alone the smell, of mezcal made me recoil. Thanks to a certain someone (you know who you are!), now I fully embrace the bold and robust flavors of this spirit & often order cocktails with this as a main ingredient.
At the NW Chocolate Festival in Seattle last November, a friend literally dragged me to the Cuna de Piedra booth telling me I *HAD* to taste their mezcal bars. He also mockingly told me that I couldn’t buy the Mezcal Reposado bar since HE BOUGHT THE LAST ONE! 😧 To console myself, I purchased this Mezcal Joven bar paired with 73% Soconusco, Chiapas origin dark chocolate. Hopefully I can get my hands on the other bar soon!
Love the reddish brown color and that each rectangular baton is emblazoned with part of a Spanish phrase that translates to: “Mexico, cradle of cacao. From the bean to the bar.” Cuna de Piedra translates to “stone cradle” – though I’m not certain if they are referring to the metate, a tool that is often used to grind cacao into paste.
Citrusy aroma & lightly bitter taste, like pith or peel, which makes sense when reading the informational panel on the outer label: “Young Mezcal made from 100% Maguey Espadin from Santiago Matatlán, a town located in the central valleys of Oaxaca, considered to be the ‘world capital of mezcal.’ The agaves were crushed into an Egyptian stone mill, known as tahona, the liquid was fermented in oaks vats and double distilled in clay pot stills to obtain the freshest citrus and herbal notes, which blend harmoniously with our Soconusco, Chiapas 73%.”
Medium to sharp snap; flourless chocolate cake texture when chewed. There is an immediate burst of bright fruity flavor as soon as a piece hits your tongue/palate. There’s a lightly smoky taste without being overwhelming. Thick/palate coating mouthfeel during the slow/even melt. The texture is not completely smooth, but also not grainy. I was surprised to read that the alcohol had been removed from the Mezcal, making this bar non-alcoholic.
For no other reason than there was “Piedra” in the company name, I paired this chocolate with a dram of Santo de Piedra Mezcal Joven. This mezcal had a granny smith / Jolly Rancher apple flavor on its own. Sipping the mezcal while having a piece of chocolate in my mouth resulted in an unusual savory flavor combination that made me think of salsa, with notes of tomato, onion & garlic! 🤯
As an added bonus, I tried a second mezcal/citrus dark chocolate bar. This has languished in my stash for over a year, the best by date elapsed more than 7 months ago. I wouldn’t say that I’m a procrastinator, I just started planning this round of the alcohol Eating the Chocolate Alphabet too early!
This Parliament Chocolate bar (from Redlands, CA) has a muted smoky aroma straight out of the inner wrapper. I was surprised to see so many holes/gaps along the edges as well as an unexpected crunch – I’m assuming it’s from candied citrus peel even though it wasn’t listed as an ingredient. Medium to sharp snap; crumbly texture when chewed. Slow to melt on the tongue & there is none of the smoky “bite” that I associate with mezcal.
Since this Peloton de la Muerte mezcal is known to have fruity flavors, I thought it would be a good pairing with the chocolate. That first sip was pure fire, but once that subsided it was smooth & tangy. I’m not sure that it enhanced the chocolate, but it certainly didn’t detract from it.
In case you’re curious about the tiny drams of mezcal, these were from a 2017 Drinks by the Dram advent calendar from Masters of Malt, not sure when they will be shipping to the US again, but hopefully soon!
Many restaurants have Tequila Tuesday events, but I say we need to institute Mezcal Miercoles ASAP!! Salud!
Surprisingly “K” was an elusive alcohol letter to find paired with chocolate; I thought for sure that a Kahlúa chocolate would be available, but no luck 😲
When a subscriber to this blog commented on my Honey Brandy post and mentioned Hawaiian maker Manoa, I discovered that they made a bar called KōHana Rum. Woo hoo, problem solved! Luckily, I was able to contact Manoa before they traveled to Seattle for the Northwest Chocolate Festival in November and I sourced this bar without paying for shipping – then again, even overnight mail from Hawaii would have been MUCH less expensive than my trip to Seattle, but I digress.
From the inside of the packaging: “We teamed up with local rum distiller KōHana to create this bar. KōHana Agricole Rum is meticulously crafted from farm to bottle. They grow single varietal sugar canes that are hand harvested, pressed to juice and then distilled to perfection – resulting in one of the world’s finest pure cane rums. Our Hawaiian cacao nibs are soaked in their rum, which we then process into chocolate.”
I’m not much of a rum drinker, so I wasn’t familiar with all the types of rum out there. That’s where this VinePair article came in super handy.
Classic rum is distilled from fermented sugarcane products, usually
molasses, a syrupy byproduct of refining cane or beet sugar.
Rhum agricole differs from [classic] rum in that it’s distilled directly from pressed cane sugar instead of fermented juice or cane byproducts like molasses…
“Agricole” means “agricultural” in French. Because it’s so pure, drinkers can really taste the terroir. In rhum agricole’s case, this generally means a grassy, slightly funky taste.
It was great to read that last description, because this
chocolate bar is indeed funky; though I would describe the flavor as leather
rather than grassy – maybe the rum itself is grassy?!
Love the deep, rich, dark brown color to this nearly pristine bar with a detailed mould design. The aroma reminded me of wet tea leaves or used (already steeped?) coffee grounds. The bar segmented easily with a medium to soft snap. Super smooth & creamy during the slow even melt. As mentioned earlier, there was a unique flavor to this bar & I struggled with descriptors until I read someone else mention that Agricole Rum can sometimes taste leathery. Bingo! That’s it!
A fellow chocolate blogger recently posted about pairing this bar WITH the rum that was used to impart the distinct flavor. Take a look at her post, if you’re curious about it.
As a side note, you’re probably thinking: Hey, did I miss the letter “J”? Well, truth be told, over the last year I’ve lost enthusiasm for this round of Eating the Chocolate Alphabet. After some soul searching, I’ve decided to feature only the bars that were already set aside for this project, but won’t be fulfilling every letter or filling in the gaps. My apologies for those completionists out there & thanks for your understanding!
Maybe it’s a bit of a stretch, but I say that honey brandy counts for the letter “H” in this round of the alcohol-related Eating the Chocolate Alphabet!
If I remember correctly, Violet Sky’s Instagram feed first mentioned a Honey Brandy Barrel Aged Monte Grande in August 2017 and I think I acquired this particular 72% dark chocolate bar in early to mid-2018, so yeah, I’ve been “aging” this in my stash for a while.
But, OMG, I wish there was smell-o-vision to go along with this post because both the aroma and the flavor were unlike anything I’ve ever encountered, in the best possible way!
The moment I removed the bar from the iridescent “snake skin” outer paper wrapper and the thin, purple/magenta colored foil inner wrapper, the aroma was so vibrant, unique, unusual and hard to describe. The best I can think of is floral; like a jasmine or an orchid, but that’s just about a tenth of all the scents that wafted to my nose.
The mold design is nondescript and there are a few burst air bubbles here and there, but the bar has a glossy shine that seems to catch the light and reflect its surroundings.
It is easy to segment and break rectangles in half with a medium to sharp snap. Placing a tasting morsel on my tongue created another rainbow of flavors that overwhelmed my senses. It was on the verge of being spicy/peppery like leather or tobacco and it reminded me of something that had just the right amount of burnt char. Was that a wisp of raw/unroasted pecans or black tea? Wait, now it’s savory like cheese. No, it’s botanical like gin! I’m getting light tip of the tongue tingles…what does THAT mean?
Slow/even melt, with a palate-coating, creamy (yet juicy) mouthfeel along with a drying sensation on the sides of my cheeks and lips. If you choose to take a bite, then it’s like a dense fudge, with a slight crumbly chew.
I don’t have much experience with the Monte Grande origin or Guatemalan cacao for that matter, so I’m wondering if aging the nibs in Virtuoso Distillers honey brandy barrels created this symphony of flavors and aromas or if these notes are inherent to the cacao itself. If anyone can provide more details on this, please leave a comment below!
As for the term “honey brandy,” sadly I’m not able to find much information online about that either. Is it a mead that was distilled to brandy strength? Is it honey fermented in brandy barrels? I looked for Virtuoso Distillers and only found a company in Mishawaka, Indiana that makes gin, rye and vodka. Even their URL (http://18vodka.com/) refers to vodka that’s been distilled 18 times. Could it be that in the 1-2 years since I’ve acquired the bar that they changed their portfolio of spirits?
Soon I’ll be sending samples of this bar to friends around the world to get their impressions! Maybe one of them will find the words that eluded me?
Chocolate paired with wine is popular…but, how about a chocolate that TASTES like wine?! Yep, Brooklyn’s Raaka Chocolate has that covered with their 68% CAC Pangoa, Peru dark chocolate Cabernet Sauvignon bar!
According to the description on the back of the outer packaging: “This chocolate is tipsy. You don’t even need a glass!”
Unroasted cocoa nibs are steamed over a simmering big/bold
California cabernet wine to infuse juicy, grapey flavors with a raisin-like
finish.
You wouldn’t know it, but this bar is almost a year old (it was part of the July 2018 First Nibs subscription shipment). I love that the detailed mold design mimics the abstract illustration on the paper wrapper.
Tasting morsels segment easily with a sharp snap, releasing a raisin/dried fruit aroma. Starting off subtle, there were bursts of bright red fruit during the slow/even melt & the mouthfeel was, surprisingly, not completely smooth. It seemed like the grape/wine flavor was more vibrant when chewing the chocolate rather than just letting it melt on the tongue. Maybe it’s my imagination (or my palate becoming acclimated to the taste), but I swear the intensity of the fruit flavors are cumulative since my second “chomp” was like eating wine in solid form! Lightly tannic and long lasting finish mostly on the tip of the tongue and back of the throat.
Normally I have so much more to say in my posts; but, honestly, bold red wine is not my favorite spirit. Give me a late harvest or dessert wine & I’ll ooh and aah. Give me a gin and I’ll wax poetically.
I’ve been told by friends who are wine drinkers, that this bar is one of their favorites! So if the taste of California red wine is your thing, check out Raaka’s website for more details!
My hiatus from blog posts has been lengthier than I’ve wished or expected. However, when I woke up this morning (March 5th) & discovered that it was National Absinthe Day, I was inspired to launch my new Alphabet project even though I’m not fully prepared to do so…I just couldn’t let the perfect opportunity pass me by. In this round of Eating the Chocolate Alphabet, I plan on featuring chocolates that include or are inspired by different alcohols. So, if you have any recommendations for future letters, please leave me a comment or send an email!
You might have heard that for nearly 100 years it was illegal to import, manufacture or sell “real” absinthe in the United States. But do you know why? Well, many believe that wormwood (the bitter component to absinthe, as well as the herb responsible for its characteristic hue) contains a toxic chemical called thujone, and this was believed to be the cause of all sorts of bad things: drunkenness, hallucinations, rage, violence and even death.
With a back story like that, finding and tasting a chocolate called Absinthe intrigued me! To be clear, the following chocolate bar does NOT contain any alcohol, only botanicals which impart a licorice flavor that is similar to the beverage that inspired it!
Introducing, Endorfin Foods’ ABSINTHE 70% dark chocolate with anise & wildcrafted mugwort:
Endorfin leaves the cacao beans unroasted and uses caramelized coconut + coconut blossom sugar to sweeten their chocolate bars more naturally. Essential oils of mugwort, anise, sweet fennel and lemon balm provide the absinthe-like flavor profile without any of the bitterness.
Love the vintage font and corner illustrations on the 100% compostable packaging that makes me think of the Arts and Crafts movement / Craftsman style which is so prevalent in my hometown of Pasadena, California. If you look closely, the company logo sports a series of cacao pod cross sections, which at a glance could be mistaken for flowers.
Removing the relatively plain, conjoined 8-rectangle bar from
the packaging, you immediately see a mostly pristine/glossy dark brown surface as
well as smell a vibrant anise/licorice aroma.
Sharp snap, revealing a few tiny air bubbles at the break
point.
Slightly crumbly when chewed and not completely smooth on the tongue, I attribute these to the coconut sugar. Creamy mouthfeel during the slow/even melt; the herbal flavors mingle harmoniously with the base chocolate making for a pleasurable experience, sans hallucinations!
Since I happened to have a few bottles of absinthe at home, I decided to conduct an impromptu tasting:
If I’m being completely honest, I MUCH prefer the aroma and flavor of Endorfin’s rendition of absinthe!
For more information on Northern California-based Endorfin Foods, please visit their website: https://endorfinfoods.com/
In the northern mountains of the Dominican Republic, there is a 1019-acre bird sanctuary where about 70% of the land is set aside to remain forever wild! On the rest of the acreage, they grow macadamias, bananas and grafted varietals of shade-grown cacao trees that have been carefully selected for their nuanced flavors and intense aromas. What is this place? It’s Reserva Zorzal, the Dominican Republic’s first private preserve which acts as a model for other landowners to create conservation solutions!
Chocolate makers who buy the meticulously fermented and sundried Reserva Zorzal cacao beans are willing to pay an additional value for each pound to invest in “Plan Vivo,” a project which focuses on habitat restoration and climate change mitigation. Reserva Zorzal strives to create a better habitat for their signature bird species, Bicknell’s Thrush (or Zorzal de Bicknell in Spanish), a rare migratory songbird which spends the winter at the preserve and then breeds in the northeastern United States and parts of Canada. In partnership with a couple of other Dominican organizations, there is a 50-year goal to increase the Bicknell Thrush population by 25%. Additionally (from the Reserva Zorzal website), by planting trees in the Dominican Republic, they aim to offset carbon emissions from chocolate producers and other manufacturers in North America.
One of the chocolate makers using Zorzal beans is Madison Butler from Piedmont Bleus in North Carolina.
Like the unassuming Bicknell’s Thrush which has a complex flute-like song, this relatively plain looking three-ingredient chocolate bar hides nuanced flavors and aromas.
The 12-rectange bar is medium to dark brown in color and sports a glossy shine. As always, I enjoy flipping a bar over to see if there are any interesting drip patterns. This did not disappoint! Hopefully the filter I applied to the photo below helps the image “pop” more! What do YOU see?
It’s easy to segment tasting morsels along the bar’s score lines with a sharp snap, revealing some nooks/crannies, as well as a textured shear pattern and a pleasant roasted nut aroma at the break point.
Popping a piece in my mouth, I encountered a smooth/creamy mouthfeel during the slow/even melt, vibrantly tart fruit flavors that reminded me of cherries or cranberries and little to no astringency on the finish.
Like the back of the label says (“Goes down smooth”), this bar certainly didn’t last long as there only 2 pieces remaining! I’m setting one of the pieces aside to pair with a mezcal as recommended!
Now I want to get my hands on their “Hot Minute” bar which is spicy & Mexican-inspired! Have YOU tried that yet?!
If you’d like to get bars for yourself, check out Piedmont Bleus’ website: http://piedmontbleus.com/
Can you believe that I’ve reached the end of another Alphabet series? Where does the time go?! I’ll be taking a short break from blog posts while thinking about the theme for “Round 4” – I have some ideas, but welcome hearing your suggestions too! Leave me a comment here or check out my Instagram page in the meantime! Have a delicious weekend!
Behind every chocolate bar, there is a story…this one is truly unique!
There was a time when I feared it would be impossible to feature the letter “Y” this round!
My boyfriend & I had scoured the internet for possible cacao growing cities around the globe that started with the letter Y: Yogyakarta, Indonesia; Yaoundé, Cameroon; and Yamoussoukro, Ivory Coast were contenders, but then came the issue of actually finding chocolate bars from those areas.
I had issued a plea on my Instagram stories and pinned the post to my profile for WEEKS afterwards; sadly, that resulted in very few responses.
Needing to reach a bigger audience (and running out of time), I posted to a chocolate-centric Facebook group asking for suggestions. Someone with connections to a farm in Yorkin, Costa Rica replied, but then nothing ever came of it. Another person suggested a 100% bar made from Yamasa, Dominican Republic beans…but, have you ever tasted a 100% bar…ugh!
I became resigned to the fate that I might have to “bend the rules” to achieve a blog-worthy post. Then, the most amazing series of events started to unfold!
Lauren Heineck from WKND Chocolate spotted an Instagram post of a woman roasting cacao beans in Yariguíes National Park, Colombia and tagged me in the comments! I immediately reached out to @spiralterra asking if there was ANY possibility of getting a single bar using those beans. Unfortunately no bars existed, but she had returned from the trip with a small quantity of fermented/dried beans that she could send to me. One small snag, she’s in Belize and I’m in Southern California. Oh, and that tiny (yet crucial) detail: I AM NOT A CHOCOLATE MAKER!!
The elusive “Y” was finally within my grasp! My head was spinning! What should I do?
Accessing my mental rolodex: who do I know that could transform cacao beans into chocolate for me? Over the last two years of blogging, I’ve gotten to know several chocolate makers even though I’ve never met them in real life. Map Chocolate and Violet Sky Chocolate were both instrumental in Round 2 of the Alphabet, so of course I would reach out to them for their advice. I also wanted to involve Lauren since she was the one who had first alerted me to the origin. Then, I remembered a blog post from Will Marx of Wm. Chocolate where he detailed his experience with test batch after test batch, trying to find a substitute complex & dynamic flavor profile after a favorite origin ran out.
Quickly firing off an email to these four chocolate makers, I needed a “reality check.” Should I take the risk of requesting that an “unknown quantity” be shipped internationally? Could a few bars of chocolate be made with 5 pounds (or less) of beans? What pitfalls did I need to consider?
I was thrilled to get responses back from everyone within hours of me pressing send, even though it was already late in the day! They each provided insightful advice, feedback and thoughts. Overall, my idea was met with enthusiasm and they were willing to help out. Now I worried if air mail would cost me an “arm and a leg” or if the package would somehow get lost in transit or stuck in customs limbo.
I asked Giulia (aka spiralterra) for a shipping estimate, knowing that her response would probably “make” or “break” my decision to move forward. After a couple of days of stress and anxiety on my part, she provided me a more cost-effective solution. Her partner (Sam), based in New York, had the same batch of beans and could ship me two pounds!
Cue the choir of angels singing…
During my initial fact-finding email exchange, Will from Wm. Chocolate had indicated that he had some time coming up in his schedule for a quick turnaround…this project was suddenly becoming very tangible! Fast forward about a week, now I was daily monitoring the shipment of beans from New York to Wisconsin (where Will is based); I needed to know the precise moment that the “eagle had landed.”
Part of me was curious to know everything about those beans, but another part wanted to be surprised. Staying in suspense won! Leaving things in Will’s capable hands, I didn’t learn the “backstory” or even the final cacao percentage until AFTER I had tasted the finished chocolate bar!
Thanks for reading this VERY long preamble! Now for the moment you’ve been waiting for! Insert drumroll…
This was my first time seeing Will’s custom logo mold, since the “K” bar and the “W” bar were created with completely different molds!
Despite the chocolate “dust” that clung to the front of the bar, the logo indentations were eye catching and well defined! Looking closer, I noticed tiny, reddish-brown flecks reaching the surface of the bar.
Knowing that I love the artistic “drip patterns” that often appear on the backs of bars, Will unleashed his inner Picasso and opted not to smooth out the liquid chocolate with a vibration machine after filling the molds. These are the backs of just 2 of the 6 bars that I received, but each one had its own personality and quirks. I’ve tweaked the photos below with black & white filters so that the images will “pop” better! Let me know what YOU see!
Originally I was going to wait a few days to taste the bars in the morning, when my palate was fresh; but, since half of the bars arrived cracked, I took that as a sign for an immediate, impromptu late-afternoon tasting session!
There was a sharp snap and a fruity aroma at the break point. I noticed some flecks of white and interesting shear patterns.
But OH MY! I was NOT prepared for the flavor explosion in my mouth! There was an immediate back of the throat, vibrant burst of fruit that reminded me of molasses, dried raisins, or alcohol-soaked cherries. Smooth mouthfeel, slow/even melt and a bit astringent during and after the melt.
About a week later, I was finally able to make time to taste in earnest. The partially consumed bar still had a sharp snap, but the aroma at the break point was more earthy and woody. This time the flavor was deeper and a bit subdued. Don’t get me wrong, it was still complex, robust and full-bodied. The flavor was now more tangy, like sour cherries or a fruity Greek yogurt, with a long lasting tannic finish.
No longer worried about being “pre-influenced,” I could finally contact Will to request his notes and photos from the production process!
As you can see, the beans look mostly pristine!
Photo credit: Will Marx, Wm. Chocolate
Will decided that a medium roast would bring out the inherent qualities and flavors of the cacao. I can almost smell the winnowed nibs from this photo! [Note: winnowing removes the papery skin/husk from the roasted beans.]
Photo credit: Will Marx, Wm. Chocolate
Pre-grinding the nibs a bit makes them easier to process, these powdered nibs were ready to be put in the refiner/melanger to be slowly ground into a liquid state.
Photo credit: Will Marx, Wm. Chocolate
After several hours, a sweetener could be added to the chocolate liquor (Note: this has nothing to do with alcohol, but means liquified chocolate). Will chose sucanat, a whole/unrefined sugar from Costa Rica that has a flavor similar to mild wildflower honey.
Photo credit: Will Marx, Wm. Chocolate
The final formulation included just 3 ingredients: nibs, cocoa butter and wholesome sweetener; resulting in a one-of-a-kind 74% dark chocolate!
I’m very grateful to Samuel Kent Combs for sending a note with the beans to explain their “provenance.” I had never heard of FEC2 & FSV41 varieties of Trinitario beans until then! If you are interested, there are several Colombian cacao documents online (in Spanish) explaining these clones: Fedecacao El Carmen 2 (FEC2) & Fedecacao San Vicente 41 (FSV41).
Usually with these posts I have featured the origin itself rather than concentrating on the bar, but hopefully you agree that its story was too special not to be featured.
To learn more about where the cacao beans came from [Bosques de Yariguíes in the Santander department of Colombia], please visit this website: http://bosquesdecacaoyariguies.com/en/home/
How many degrees of separation are between this week’s featured chocolate bar, Ferran Adrià (the famous Spanish chef known for his molecular gastronomy restaurant El Bulli) and Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (author of the 17th Century novel Don Quixote)?! Read on to find out!
Bordering both the Pacific Ocean and Guatemala, the region of Soconusco (spelled with an “X” in the Nahuatl language) is located in the Mexican state of Chiapas. It suprised me to learn that Theobroma Cacao, the tree that grows the beans which are then used to make chocolate, has grown in this area’s fertile, volcanic soil since the Olmecs, an ancient civilization which pre-dates the Maya and Aztecs. Soconusco’s main agricultural cash crop these days is coffee. According to Wikipedia: 37% of the arable land is dedicated to coffee, another 25% to corn and the rest mostly to mango, cacao and sesame seeds (though banana, papaya, starfruit, kiwi, passion fruit, and even rambutan are grown and exported from there as well).
Also from Wikipedia, the first Spanish arrived in 1522 and Soconusco was declared a province by the Spanish crown in 1526. Because of its cacao, Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (who later wrote Don Quixote) solicited the Spanish king in the late 16th Century for the right to govern Soconusco. My guess is that this request was not granted, otherwise there would be corroborating details available online.
You’re still curious about the El Bulli connection, right? Well, Cacao Sampaka, the partnership of chocolatiers in Barcelona responsible for producing this particular bar, was co-founded by Albert Adrià, the pastry chef brother to Ferran Adrià!
Capdevila’s [one of Cacao Sampaka’s founding partners] latest discovery, Xoxomusco, a rare cacao he found in Mexico — will make a dark chocolate bar that he hopes will be as big a hit in Cacao Sampaka stores as La Joya…
Wait…did they say “Xoxomusco”? Unable to find other references to this origin, I assume it to be a typo! 😕🤔
In the past couple of weeks, two fellow chocolate bloggers have written about the disadvantages of including tasting notes on chocolate packaging since very specific flavor descriptions might be deceiving or might even be inconsistent with the particular batch you have in your hands. While I personally like seeing detailed tasting notes, maybe this “spider chart” could be a compromise. It provides both general and specific information about some of the basic flavors you might encounter with this bar.
Honestly, I was a little surprised to discover not one, but two, thin rectangular bars inside this box. In retrospect, I should have placed the two bars side-by-side rather than separated by a white box since the bars were mostly identical in color (darkish brown with some reddish flecks nearing the surface), unlike what you see below.
It was very easy to leave fingerprints on the reflective, semi-glossy finish which exhibited some scuffing/cosmetic blemishes; only the embossed company name adorned the front of the bars.
The back of the bars have six unevenly sized rectangles indicating how the chocolate molds were filled.
Straight out of the heat-sealed inner plastic wrapper, the aroma was very earthy (like wet dirt). With a high pitched and resounding snap, some air bubbles appeared at the break point.
The tasting morsels had a very smooth mouthfeel during the slow/even melt, but I was left with some tongue prickles during the lightly acidic/bitter finish.
I was “tilting at windmills” trying to decide if there were any flavor notes aside from “chocolate.” Was I merely imagining that there were fruity notes based on the expectations created by the packaging? [OK, I have to admit that my chocolate colleagues might have a point!] Overall, this bar disappointed me since I wanted more from something with a connection to a chef who was known to push culinary boundaries and expectations.
I’m curious to seek out this origin and taste it again by a different maker!
With apologies to the “Impossible Dream” lyricist from the “Man of La Mancha” muscial: “this is my quest, to follow that [origin], no matter how hopeless, no matter how far…” 😜
As I began researching this origin earlier today, I found an online entry listing the location as “Wampusirpi, Gracias a Dios, Honduras.” My eyes glossed over those three middle words, assuming them to be a religious “thanks be to God” phrase that was casually thrown in. However, after the third time encountering those words, I suddenly realized that Gracias a Dios is a department (what we might call a state) of Honduras and that Wampusirpi is a municipality within that department!
Sources mentioned that this remote region could only be accessed by a two-day canoe trip, so it didn’t surprise me to read this description on the C-Spot website: “…Wamusirpi is about as far as one can get from civilization: no running water, electricity nor roads – accessible only via river or air. Just wilderness…which can be plenty.”
C-Spot went on to say “Biosphere sources from 100+ Miskito producers cultivating small plots typically under forest canopy along the banks of the Rio Patuca which forms the eastern border of the Rio Platano Biosphere Reserve.” Intrigued, I searched for Biosphere’s website, but was re-directed to Cacao Direct’s website, which didn’t have much information. Thankfully a Map Chocolate 2017 sourcing report filled in the blanks:
“Biosphere Cacao comes from the village of Wampusirpi, a location immediately adjacent to Río Plátano Biosphere Reserve in Honduras, which has been a World Heritage site and biosphere reserve since 1982. In 2011, UNESCO placed the reserve on the List of World Heritage. Cacao Direct went to Wampusirpi with the sole intention of re-starting cocoa production as a way to create a livelihood for native Hondurans in a drug trade-ravaged country. CD financed the construction of a fermentary, provided the farmers with the tools (solar-powered weed-whackers) necessary to reclaim the cacao trees growing in the rainforest there and sustainably harvest cacao, and provided oversight of the fermentation, transport, and marketing of the beans. Farmers are paid immediately at the time of delivering the raw/unfermented cacao, a step which required special dispensation by the Honduran government. Beans are organic certified. {info source Jorge Schmidt, Cacao Direct}”
With all that build-up, my taste buds were eager to sample this Wm. Chocolate bar made with beans from the 2016 harvest and further enhanced by Hawaiian Red Salt (which gets its distinct color from the volcanic clay on the island of Kauai).
There are few frills on the front of this small cardboard box: all the text in capital letters like a newspaper headline, with certain words jumping out at you due to either the font size or the color.
The inner, heat-sealed pouch has a distinctive crackle; that sound tells me that it is compostable.
The bar is made up of 3 slender batons (that look like piano keys) with grooves between them; it just felt “right” to orient it vertically. Straight out of the packaging, the aroma was faintly herbal, with a hint of coconut.
Lately I’ve been obsessed with unexpected images that appear on the backs of bars. I was concerned that the inclusion ingredient might obscure rather than highlight; but, lo and behold, there it was as soon as I shifted the bar at an angle. I’ve tweaked the filter a bit on these two photos, hoping that what I see will be more obvious to you.
To me, there is the profile of a little girl wearing a cap-sleeved blouse and a be-ribboned, close fitting hat (or maybe she’s sporting a 1920s “bob” or Regency-era hairstyle) puckering up to wish upon a fluffy dandelion seed head. Over active imagination, I know!
But wait…there’s more! I also see a tiny smile emerging from the random sprinkling of red salt:
Don’t see it?! How about now! 😉
With a resounding sharp snap, interesting whorls, shear patterns, plus nooks and crannies appeared at the break point…
The salt added a satisfying crunch and the flavors became intensified, though fleeting, while chewing a piece. However, as you might imagine, you will be rewarded with the evolution and unfolding of flavors when you take time to savor and melt.
With the Hawaiian red salt tongue-side down, the generously-sized dense crystals rasp against your tongue and dissolve very slowly, releasing a smoky sweetness that reminds me of paprika or buttered popcorn. Once the salt is gone, I could then concentrate on the creamy, velvety smooth chocolate which melts slowly and evenly, leaving behind the taste of a slightly unripe banana. Switching things up a bit, I tasted another piece; but this time, salt palate-side up! The prickly/mineral notes hit the back of my throat as I inhaled through my mouth and it felt like an echo in a cave…something elusive that I wanted to follow and reach.
Either way, a pleasant, lingering aftertaste coated my palate like a soft and lightweight leather jacket. In the paraphrased words of John Nanci, from Chocolate Alchemy, “there was a slight astringency, but no bitterness.”
If you’d like to learn more about Will Marx, chocolate maker and owner of Wm. Chocolate, I encourage you to read his blog entries describing his foray into introducing a 100% bar, made from, you guessed it, Wampusirpi beans! Here is the link to the first of three entries.
Another great article to read about Will’s background and philosophy regarding chocolate making can be found on Bar and Cocoa’s website.
After tasting this bar, the words on my lips are: “Gracias a Dios” 🙂
Chocolate daily connects me to the greater world in unimaginable ways.
A couple of months ago, I made a plea on Instagram for recommendations for some of the letters that were stumping me. Thanks to Lilla from Little Beetle Chocolates/Taste.Better.Chocolate for suggesting Virunga, otherwise I might never have known about the endangered mountain gorillas that live in Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
From online sources and a 2014 documentary that can be seen on Netflix, I learned that Virunga National Park is the oldest and the largest national park on the continent of Africa. Originally established in 1925 to protect the mountain gorillas, Virunga National Park has been a UNESCO-designated World Heritage Site since 1979. There are currently less than 900 mountain gorillas left, making them a rare and critically-endangered species.
I’m pretty sure that it is illegal to explore for oil within a National Park; yet in 2013, about 80% of the Virunga National Park was allocated for oil concessions to a UK-based company. While that company demobilized in 2014, they still hold operating permits and the future of the exceptionally biodiverse National Park is uncertain. In an effort to research things for this blog post, I read that earlier this week there was more bloodshed within the Virunga National Park as five DR Congo soldiers were killed by the Rwandan army. It was truly shocking to read that during the Second Congo War between 1998 and 2003, there was upwards of 5 million human fatalities.
While I haven’t yet seen the Netflix documentary, I recently watched the companion piece called “Virunga: Gorillas in Peril.” It was heart-wrenching to watch the gorillas cower in fear each time they heard machine gun fire and I have much admiration for the individuals who have risked their lives to protect the mountain gorillas from poachers, war, and the devastating effects of oil exploration.
As mentioned on the back of the bar’s packaging, Amsterdam-based chocolate company, Original Beans, does what they can through their “one bar: one tree” program to help preserve some of the Earth’s rarest places. By entering a code from the box, I was led to a website with information on the progress made in Virunga. Additionally, this particular bar helps to protect the world’s last 800 mountain gorillas: https://originalbeans.com/cru-virunga-congo/
Now for the chocolate itself!
Original Beans: Cru Virunga 70%, Virunga Park, Congo DR
The main illustration on the front of the box pays homage to the mountain gorillas whose home is the Virunga National Park. I love the delicate gold foil stamping and embossing.
Unless you look carefully, you might miss the image at the top: a tree sprouting from the flattened image of the globe.
The back and inside panels provide more details about the efforts made by Original Beans, as I mentioned earlier in this post.
Removing the 12-rectangle bar from the biodegradable inner pouch, the chocolate itself felt silky smooth, almost a little greasy, to the touch despite the lightly frosted/bloomed appearance.
Running a fingertip over the sunburst image at the center of the rectangle seemed to smear the chocolate rather than bring back the lustre and shine.
There was an earthy, mushroom-like aroma to the chocolate. Splitting a rectangle in half with a medium snap, the aroma turned nutty, like browned butter. There were no air bubbles at the break point.
Smooth, creamy mouthfeel during the slow/even melt, punctuated by berry and citrus notes. The overall chocolate flavor lingers pleasantly on your palate with little to no astringency on the finish. This is a very easy-to-eat bar and you can support a good cause at the same time. WIN:WIN!
To learn more about Original Beans, their products and their philosophy, please visit their website: https://originalbeans.com/
