Theo 70% Nutcracker Brittle

3oz (84g) bar
Ingredients: Organic fair trade cocoa beans, oft. sugar, o. corn syrup, oft. cocoa butter, water sea salt, baking soda, o. almonds, o. hazelnuts, o. ground vanilla bean
12g sugar/42g serving (28.6% by wt.)

Corporate Info: (Copied from 12/15/12) I've written about Theo Chocolate many times, and in short, it's a great Seattle company making bean-to-bar chocolate and creative, often seasonal confections (you'll see more in-store than online) that are organic and fair trade. You can visit Theo's retail store, order online, or find a selection of Theo's bars at upscale and health food stores nationwide. My only beef with Theo is that I tend to find its usual 70% dark chocolate base too sour as a match for flavorings, but that's a personal taste issue.

Today's Bar: 70% Nutcracker Brittle, another holiday bar that sounds like a slightly darker, non-milk, nutty version of last week's 62% salted toffee.

Appearance: Actually, compared to last week's, this is exactly what one might think: a little darker, with less white in the color and still a reddish, non-uniform base.

Smell: Really lovely--aromatic and beany/raw but not harsh.

Taste: First, the brittle is totally different from last week's salted butter toffee, more like tiny, crunchy nut pieces with just a hint of candy's crystalline texture. There's also not as much salt, which I think this could have used; the nut flavor is muted compared to the strong, sour and raw flavors of Theo's intense cacao. The most successful bites I get are those with larger brittle pieces, which stand out against the lower proportion of chocolate. 

Conclusion: Theo 70% Nutcracker Brittle is fine, but the nutty brittle's subtler flavors are dwarfed by the intense cacao.

Theo Milk Chocolate 62% Salted Toffee

3oz (84g) bar

Ingredients: Organic fair trade cocoa beans, oft. sugar, oft. cocoa butter, o. milk powder, o. butter, o. corn syrup, salt, o. vanilla

15g sugar/42g serving (35.7% by wt.)

Corporate Info: (Copied from 12/15/12) I've written about Theo Chocolate many times, and in short, it's a great Seattle company making bean-to-bar chocolate and creative, often seasonal confections (you'll see more in-store than online) that are organic and fair trade. You can visit Theo's retail store, order online, or find a selection of Theo's bars at upscale and health food stores nationwide. My only beef with Theo is that I tend to find its usual 70% dark chocolate base too sour as a match for flavorings, but that's a personal taste issue.

Today's Bar: Milk Chocolate 62% Salted Toffee, a seasonal blend from this past winter. It's not listed on the site right now, but in my experience, Theo's holiday chocolates tend to be repeated in one way or another in succeeding years.

Appearance: As with most of Theo's chocolate, this is a rich, orangey brown with a slight gloss and minor variations in color and texture (i.e. probably not super smooth and creamy).

Smell: Warm, bright, fruity, beany but not challenging.

Taste: Texture is a little chalky and chewy, with the candy crunch of the toffee. Flavor has Theo's usual sour notes, and they linger for a very, very long time, along with a little astringency and some rawness. During the eating, though, the milk softens the sour impact just enough to make this an easy chocolate to munch. The salt is a great addition to the toffee, as I think that without it, the toffee wouldn't stand up to the chocolate's strong flavors.

Conclusion: The milk and salt in Theo Milk Chocolate 62% Salted Toffee works well with Theo's strong chocolate base.

[Note: As you can see, I was intrigued enough to start in on this bar before I'd photographed it!]

Fearless 70% Exploding Coconuts

 

 

  

2oz (56.7g) bar

Ingredients: Organic raw cacao, o. unrefined cane sugar, o. raw shredded coconut

7g sugar/28.35g serving (24.7% by wt.)

Corporate Info: [Copied from 1/26/13] Fearless was founded in 2006 in California, uses recycled paper for the outer boxes, and makes bean-to-bar chocolate with organic ingredients and direct trade cacao from specific plantations in Brazil, with a special focus on raw cacao. All of this may or may not mean anything to you, but I think I can safely say that Fearless is full of good intentions, part of what I'm seeing as a young cohort trying to bring chocolate into the modern age more thoughtfully, with an eye toward (or blatant focus on) sustainability and treating growers well. The small-company, bean-to-bar model is one way of doing it (contrast with Divine, for example), and it's a fine option. Good for them. Fearless is also notable for its aesthetic, a combination of earthy-crunchy (recycled-looking paper boxes) and super cute, as the font is friendly, the logo is a tiny elephant, and the mold embosses the elephant and a bunch of stars on the bars and takes a “bite” out of the corner of the bar. I'd argue that the cute-ification of the raw, organic message is a great way to go, taking what might otherwise be perceived as a solidly hippie company and making it more approachable. As of last September Fearless only produced five bars, and now there are seven, so look for more from Fearless in the future.

Today's Bar: More 70% raw cacao and unrefined sugar, plus shredded coconut. As I noted last week, the package has changed since I bought this bar, though this one already has the new winged elephant logo. Hm.

Appearance: Funny, the elephant imprinted on the bar itself has no wings...I wonder if the bars are different now. Anyhow, same red-orange color and slight gloss.

Smell: This one first reminded me of raisins, but when I remembered the sweetness of coconut, my mind rebranded the aroma as coconut's round, buttery-sweet smell, with the underlying warmth of cacao. Well-melded thus far.

Taste: This bar first hits my tongue as buttery and sweet, and then the sour-bitter rawness and the coconut's chewy texture kick in. The coconut pairs well with the chocolate in both flavor (rounded and subtly sweet to sour-bitter) and texture (chewy-crispy to thick), but I don't get a ton of coconut flavor. It adds good, buttery (third time I've used that word) complexity, and I'd like more of that.

Conclusion: Fearless 70% Exploding Coconuts pairs two contrasting elements well, but I'd like to taste more coconut in there.

Fearless 70% Matcha Green Tea Peppermynt

 

2oz (56.7g) bar

Ingredients: Organic raw cacao, o. unrefined cane sugar, o. matcha green tea, o. peppermint

7g sugar/28.35g serving (24.7% by wt.)

Corporate Info: [Altered from 6/2/12] Fearless was founded in 2006 in California, uses recycled paper for the outer boxes, and makes bean-to-bar chocolate with organic ingredients and direct trade cacao from specific plantations in Brazil, with a special focus on raw cacao. All of this may or may not mean anything to you, but I think I can safely say that Fearless is full of good intentions, part of what I'm seeing as a young cohort trying to bring chocolate into the modern age more thoughtfully, with an eye toward (or blatant focus on) sustainability and treating growers well. The small-company, bean-to-bar model is one way of doing it (contrast with Divine, for example), and it's a fine option. Good for them. Fearless is also notable for its aesthetic, a combination of earthy-crunchy (recycled-looking paper boxes) and super cute, as the font is friendly, the logo is a tiny elephant, and the mold embosses the elephant and a bunch of stars on the bars and takes a “bite” out of the corner of the bar. I'd argue that the cute-ification of the raw, organic message is a great way to go, taking what might otherwise be perceived as a solidly hippie company and making it more approachable. As of last September Fearless only produced five bars, and now there are seven, so look for more from Fearless in the future.

Today's Bar: The same simple cacao and unrefined sugar, 70% like their other flavored/inclusion bars, with added matcha and peppermint. As you'll see from the link, since I bought this bar the packaging and logo have changed: The elephant now has wings, and the new bar is “Green Tea Mint.” I'm curious whether or not the bar's formula has changed as well.

Appearance: Very slightly glossy, in a pleasantly orange-ish brown, and of course Fearless's excellent molding.

Smell: A little mint, and something green-brown in not-too-strong chocolate.

Taste: Not quite my thing. The chocolate has a nice raw beaniness, but I'm not sure that's well matched by the low-level mint, and the matcha adds a sort of lingering, dusty, bitter flavor that doesn't work for me, though it might be very right for matcha fans. The texture is smooth and thick (though not ultra-smooth like many European bars), so the overall vibe is more complex than just “raw.” Still, I think matcha takes raw cacao's potential for bitterness and makes it a definite reality, and that's not the way I'd want to go.

Conclusion: Fearless 70% Matcha Green Tea Peppermynt emphasizes bitterness, and I don't think the matcha or mint bring out the best notes in the raw cacao.

Alter Eco Dark Blackout

2.82oz (80g) bar

Ingredients: Organic fair trade cocoa liquor, oft. cocoa butter, oft. cane sugar, oft. vanilla

6g sugar/40g serving (15% by wt.)

Corporate Info: Alter Eco reminds me of Equal Exchange, in that both companies import several organic crops (in this case cacao, quinoa, rice, and sugar) from developing nations, and both attempt to build a new model of globalized business by working closely with the farmers who produce the goods. The globalization goes up the chain, too, as the chocolate is processed in Switzerland and the co-founders are French, American, and Australian. I'd like to think more of these sorts of companies can prove profitable! Chocolate-wise, Alter Eco sells its variation on the standards, using orange peel instead of oil, adding coconut to its toffee, and even mixing in crunchy “quinoa-rice crisps.”

Today's Bar: Blackout, Alter Eco's 85% bar.

Appearance: You know, this is kind of pretty. It's just scored into a large grid, but the molding is clean and the imprint of the Alter Eco logo makes it look a little more “done” than some very simply molded bars. The color is a deep reddish brown with a light gloss.

Smell: Also simple, warm and red-berry tart.

Taste: Crunchy, then a quick melter—super smooth and cocoa-buttery. Ooh, very bitter on the front end, tannic but not heavy, like a light-bodied red wine. There's red fruit in there, tartness and the like, but really the tannins and the smoothness are what stand out for me.

Conclusion: Alter Eco Dark Blackout is super-smooth, a little tart, and dryly bitter like a light red wine.

Madre Chocolate Hibiscus Dark Chocolate

 

1.5oz (43g) bar

Ingredients: Organic fair trade cacao beans, o. cane sugar, o. cocoa butter, Mexican whole vanilla, o. hibiscus, o. bergamot oil

Corporate Info: (Altered from 8/11/12) Madre is basically brand new (circa early 2011), the brainchild of a traveler working on social justice in Central America and a botanist with a focus on food and medicinal plants. There's a lot of passion behind everything written about the company: the “About Us” page of their website, the focus on ecology and direct contact with cacao farmers, the now-funded Kickstarter, and even reviews by fans of their chocolate and their shop in Kailua. The cacao is grown organically, some on the Big Island (in the only U.S. state in which this is possible) and some in Central America, and they make the chocolate bean-to-bar in Hawaii. Madre has already been talked up in Saveur and, at greater length, by food personality Aida Mollenkamp after she visited the founders in Hawaii.

Madre currently produces two lines of chocolate, one inspired by Latin American cacao and flavorings and the other using Hawaiian cacao and flavorings. As you might imagine, this is not cheap chocolate: All bars are 1.5oz (half the size of most common chocolate bars) and range from $6 to $10 each on the website, and they may cost slightly more in stores. The bars are sold all over Hawaii, but they look to be spreading quickly to high-end and specialty stores in the U.S. and abroad.

Today's Bar: Hibiscus in 70% cacao, which I picked up from Madre's booth at the Northwest Chocolate Festival back in September. This bar is made with Dominican cacao, and includes not only hibiscus but also bergamot oil as a flavoring. I expect the hibiscus to impart a bright, sour note; I'm less familiar with bergamot outside of Earl Grey tea, but Wikipedia says that it's the bitter, sour, fragrant skin of the citrus fruit that is used as a flavoring. Here, I assume it will add complexity to the clear tartness of the hibiscus.

Appearance: Madre's usual funky mold, semi-glossy, in a pleasant, creamy-looking orangey brown.

Smell: Slightly acrid, fresh, and spicy.

Taste: I tried this bar at the festival and liked it, so though I didn't remember the nuances, I knew I would enjoy it. The chocolate itself is crunchy melting to waxy, rich, and not too sweet. I can definitely sense the bergamot in here, as the flavor is layered, with the bitter, fragrant citrus rind oil, the straightforward, fruity sourness of hibiscus, the fresh, tropical cacao, and the sweet sugar to anchor it all.

Conclusion: Madre Chocolate Hibiscus Dark Chocolate is a well-crafted layering of fresh, sweet, sour, and bitter flavors.

Theo Dark Chocolate Peppermint Stick

3oz (85g) bar

Ingredients: Organic fair trade cocoa beans, oft. sugar, oft. cocoa butter, o. peppermint oil, o. vanilla, o. corn syrup, water, sea salt, baking soda

11g sugar/42g serving (26.2% by wt.)

Corporate Info: I've written about Theo Chocolate many times, and in short, it's a great Seattle company making bean-to-bar chocolate and creative, often seasonal confections (you'll see more in-store than online) that are organic and fair trade. You can visit Theo's retail store, order online, or find a selection of Theo's bars at upscale and health food stores nationwide. My only beef with Theo is that I tend to find its usual 70% dark chocolate base too sour as a match for flavorings, but that's a personal taste issue.

Today's Bar: One of Theo's “holiday” bars, its 70% with peppermint candy.

Appearance: Theo's usual long, simply molded bar, in a very dark reddish brown.

Smell: Simultaneously dark and fruity and bracingly minty.

Taste: Chocolate combined with with tiny crunchy crystals of varying size. And it's not as minty as I thought! According to the ingredients list, the chocolate is what contains the peppermint essential oil, while the “brittle” is just sugar, corn syrup, cocoa butter, water, salt, and baking soda. Looking at the candy cane on the wrapper, you expect a rush of strong mint candy when you bite into the very distinct crystals, and it doesn't happen—they're just sweet and crunchy within a somewhat minty and fruity chocolate. That's not bad, especially if you don't want your chocolate to taste like a breath freshener, but it's jarringly counter to expectations. On the other hand, it's sweet but not too sweet, and not a bad match with the mint flavor or the candy's crunch.

Conclusion: Theo Dark Chocolate Peppermint Stick is a medium-mint, fruity chocolate with small, irregularly shaped, flavorless candies within.

The Tea Room Chocolate Fusion Raspberry Rooibos

1.8oz (51g) bar

Ingredients: Organic cacao, o. cane sugar, o. cacao fat, o. red raspberry rooibos tea, soy lecithin

10g sugar/25.5g serving (39.2% by wt.)

Corporate Info: The Tea Room is a small, California-based company started by a Swiss chef and later hotel manager. I can't find much more information about the company itself, including in the press, but it seems pretty small and focused on tea, imported macarons, and tea-infused chocolate treats. All of the cacao is organic and non-GMO, and it's sourced with farmers' quality of life in mind while consciously avoiding the Fair Trade label. The Tea Room's bars and some other items are sold nationwide, mostly at gourmet and health-food-type markets; I found mine at an upscale, local chain pharmacy.

Today's Bar: Raspberry Rooibos in 60% cacao. I drink a lot of rooibos tea, so I wonder if I'll be able to identify it in the chocolate.

Appearance: Again, The Tea Room's blocky bars. Surprisingly, this 60% isn't significantly lighter than last week's 72% cacao, though this particular bar looks a bit glossier than the other one.

Smell: Definitely raspberry, with a light chocolate scent.

Taste: Okay, there's a lot of raspberry in there, which I think overwhelms the rooibos. I find rooibos in general to be distinctive but subtle, and chocolate might be too much for it—or maybe it's just the fact that the raspberry stands out so much. Texture is thick and rich, but otherwise just okay.

Conclusion: The Tea Room Chocolate Fusion Raspberry Rooibos offers mostly raspberry flavor and thick texture.

The Tea Room Chocolate Fusion Maté & Cacao Nibs

1.8oz (51g) bar

Ingredients: Organic cacao, o. cane sugar, o. cacao fat, o. yerba maté tea, o. star anise, o. cacao nibs, soy lecithin

7g sugar/25.5g serving (27.5% by wt.)

Corporate Info: The Tea Room is a small, California-based company started by a Swiss chef and later hotel manager. I can't find much more information about the company itself, including in the press, but it seems pretty small and focused on tea, imported macarons, and tea-infused chocolate treats. All of the cacao is organic and non-GMO, and it's sourced with farmers' quality of life in mind while consciously avoiding the Fair Trade label. The Tea Room's bars and some other items are sold nationwide, mostly at gourmet and health-food-type markets; I found mine at an upscale, local chain pharmacy.

Today's Bar: I selected two bars based on how dark they were, and today's is 72% cacao infused with yerba maté and also including cacao nibs. For those who've never tasted yerba maté, it's a South American plant whose leaves can be used like tea, imparting a grassy flavor as well as a hit of caffeine.

Appearance: The Tea Room's bars are not especially exciting to look at, just sharply molded into a rectangular grid. The color of this one is quite dark, more black-brown than I'd expect for 72%, with a slight gloss.

Smell: Deep, but not fruity, more of a dried, “brown” vibe.

Taste: Wow, that's deep. The flavor stands out, punchy and dried-fruity, and the texture is super rich and creamy. Not a lot of sourness, no edges, but lots of lingering, dark dried fruit and a sort of dried grassiness, which I presume is the maté. Nibs seem to be few and far between, detectable mostly only in a slightly less smooth texture, which actually provides some interesting variation, if not a stark contrast.

Conclusion: The Tea Room Chocolate Fusion Maté & Cacao Nibs is deep and dark, but not bitter.

Equal Exchange Organic Mint Chocolate With a Delicate Crunch

3.5oz (100g) bar

Ingredients: Organic fair trade chocolate liquor, oft. raw cane sugar, oft. cocoa butter, peppermint crisps (oft. cane sugar, oft. peppermint oil), oft. vanilla

14g sugar/37g serving (37.8% by wt.)

Corporate Info: (Altered from 5/5/11) Massachusetts co-op Equal Exchange is serious about fair trade, organic growing methods, relationships with farmers, and everything that goes along with it. I'm actually overwhelmed by the extensive website, but suffice to say that the reason behind the company's founding was to do good via products that now encompass your usual array of tasty and potentially problematic foods from the tropics (chocolate, coffee, tea, bananas, etc) and a few other locations (almonds, olive oil). At this point they're well-established and respected (the Better World Shopping Guide gives them an A+), so if you care about “Corporate Info” enough to read this paragraph, this is the sort of company you'll love.

This Bar: Equal Exchange produces a bunch of different single-origin and flavored bars, of which I've only reviewed the orange in 65% cacao. Today's contains some sort of crunchy mint candy, and for whatever reason they've used 67% cacao here.

Appearance: Matte, greyish, with a little orangey undertone. Nothing special.

Smell: Not like mint exactly, but light and refreshing. Otherwise, nutty and sweet, not especially chocolatey.

Taste: Actually, that's really nice. The chocolate is crunchy melting to waxy, mild, and sweet, with just a little sour, and the little mint crunches are super tiny, adding fresh, sweet texture rather than tasting like separate candies. This isn't your super high quality stuff, but it's easy to eat and you'll be supporting a great company.

Conclusion: Equal Exchange Organic Mint Chocolate With a Delicate Crunch is fine, mild chocolate with itty bitty mint crunchies that offer texture and refreshing flavor.

Stirs the Soul Salted Chocolate Pleasures

Ingredients (maybe?): Coconut palm sugar, coconut milk, chocolate liquor, cocoa butter, coconut oil, vanilla

Corporate Info: I'd never heard of Portland, Oregon's Stirs the Soul until near the end of my visit to Seattle's annual Northwest Chocolate Festival. (I was only able to stay a few hours, so I expect to discuss the festival in related posts rather than on its own.) By that point my head was swimming: I'd seen countless thin, flat, brown rectangles and tasted many smooth, complex chocolates that were mostly running together in my mind, though I hadn't yet been blown away by anything and was actually considering going home with nothing.

Near the back of the convention floor I stopped at Stirs the Soul's undeniably hippie booth and figured it was another company that put ideology over quality chocolate...and then I had my first surprise of the afternoon. Daren Hayes comes off as a chatty, earthy-crunchy hippie, a self-taught chocolate maker (albeit one with a culinary degree) who had the good sense to hire a chocolatier or two, and they're doing interesting work. I actually liked (though not loved) the bars, which are made using organic, raw cacao, with alternative sweetners (coconut palm sugar, date sugar, agave, honey) and fairly interesting flavors like hemp and maitake mushroom, spiced chai, and orange goji. The truffles I took home aren't available on the website, but they're what blew me away, and if you're interested in the bars and other confections, you can buy them online or at one of these natural food stores.

Today's Confection: Daren had two “Pleasures” available for tasting, the Salted Chocolate and another (I think Turkish coffee, which I remember also being excellent); I overheard him saying something about them being a sort of cross between a caramel and a truffle. There's no label on the little cardboard boxes he had for sale, so I asked him for the ingredients and he rattled off what I listed above, noting that there might be one or two more that he couldn't remember. I've tasted raw chocolate in the past and used all three of the coconut ingredients he mentioned, and while I like them, I expected something fairly oily and harsh. Instead I ended up buying a box of four.

Appearance: Imperfect squares, with a very dark coating and a light, haphazard sprinkling of salt crystals and what I assume to be crushed cocoa nibs.

Smell: Not strong, but earthy, smoky, and dark.

Taste: Texture is pliable outside, very soft and slightly chewy inside, which must be the “caramel” in the caramel-truffle cross. Flavor is intense: complex, moody, dark, smoky, roasted—but not especially bitter or sour. These remind me of strong coffee and the scent of pot smoke (I'll only admit to having attended concerts as a teenager, and eventually learning what I was smelling around me), with the salt crystals majorly punching up the flavor halfway through chewing. I have no idea what fine European-style chocolatiers would think, as the texture, intensity, and smokiness are a long way from many super-creamy, mild truffles and sweet, buttery caramels, but I could eat one of these daily and always feel impressed and satisfied. I wish I had more.

Conclusion: Stirs the Soul Salted Chocolate Pleasures' hippie pedigree and culinary aspirations make them an intense, satisfying surprise.

Trader Joe's Organic Stone Ground Salt & Pepper Dark Chocolate

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2.6oz (73.7g) in two discs

Ingredients: I lost the label for this (it's a sticker on the back), but the Taza product contains just organic cocoa beans, organic sugar, salt, and pepper, and is 55% cacao.

Corporate Info: (Copied from 10/6/12) I've had very mixed results with Trader Joe's chocolate, enough that I rarely review it. The quirky-gourmet company is hit or miss anyway, with some products being regular purchases for years, some becoming favorites and then disappearing from shelves, and some straight up disappointing. There isn't much to say aside from a fun fact: The US's beloved Trader Joe's is owned by Germany's ALDI, which operates discount supermarkets all over Europe—and that explains why we saw packages of dried fruit and nuts labeled Trader Joe's in an ALDI in Osnabrück.

This Bar: (Altered from 10/13/12) Trader Joe's is known for offering store brand goods that are possibly lower-cost, identical products made by a name brand manufacturer and sold in very similar packaging that makes the connection even more obvious. Today's stone-ground cacao discs look mighty familiar, don't they? Well, they're as close as you can come (without being 100% positive) to Taza's two-to-a-package, spoke-scored, stone-ground Salt and Pepper Chocolate Mexicano, which I actually haven't reviewed here, though I can't compare the ingredients as I write this (see above). TJ's is only $3.99, while Taza's is $4.50 on its website and $5-6 in stores around my city. I don't have the Taza product here, but I can review TJ's discs alone. So how are they?

Appearance: This actually has a slightly darker, redder undertone than last week's 70% bar, despite being lower cacao (I think). Again, it's glossy with a grainy cross-section, due to the stone-ground cacao and sugar crystals.

Smell: Rich, dark, and a little sweet, with the black pepper adding a spiciness that doesn't stand out but rather makes the chocolate smell more complex.

Taste: Again, the texture is gritty, reflecting both the cacao and the sugar. The first flavors that hit me are salty-savory and sweet, not chocolatey, which is interesting. The salt and pepper don't taste strongly salty or peppery but rather contribute to an overall savory flavor, with the flavor-enhancing properties of salt and the slow burn of pepper. The sweetness stands out, probably because of the lower cacao content (I think) as well as the separate sugar crystals, which makes it a little too sweet for me but does provide a good counterpoint to the savoriness of the salt and pepper. Personally I'd like to taste this spice blend in 70% cacao, but it works if you like more sugar in your chocolate.

Conclusion: Trader Joe's Organic Stone Ground Salt & Pepper Dark Chocolate is sweet and savory, with the interestingly gritty texture of stone-ground cacao.

Trader Joe's Organic Stone Ground 70% Cacao Extra Dark Chocolate

2.6oz (73.7g) in two discs

Ingredients: Organic cocoa nibs, o. cane sugar

10g sugar/37g serving (27% by wt.)

Corporate Info: (Copied from 10/6/12) I've had very mixed results with Trader Joe's chocolate, enough that I rarely review it. The quirky-gourmet company is hit or miss anyway, with some products being regular purchases for years, some becoming favorites and then disappearing from shelves, and some straight up disappointing. There isn't much to say aside from a fun fact: The US's beloved Trader Joe's is owned by Germany's ALDI, which operates discount supermarkets all over Europe—and that explains why we saw packages of dried fruit and nuts labeled Trader Joe's in an ALDI in Osnabrück.

This Bar: Trader Joe's is known for offering store brand goods that are possibly lower-cost, identical products made by a name brand manufacturer and sold in very similar packaging that makes the connection even more obvious. Today's stone-ground, 70% cacao discs look mighty familiar, don't they? Well, they're as close as you can come (without being 100% positive) to Taza's two-to-a-package, spoke-scored, stone-ground 70% Cacao Puro Chocolate Mexicano, which I haven't reviewed here. The ingredients are practically the same (TJ's lists “cocoa nibs” to Taza's website's “roasted cacao beans”), but TJ's is only $3.99, while Taza's is $4.50 on its website and $5-6 in stores around my city. Unfortunately I don't have the Taza product here, but I can review TJ's discs alone. So how are they?

Appearance: Medium brown with yellow undertones. Glossy on the surface but grainy (i.e. stone-ground) in cross-section, with visible sugar crystals.

Smell: Sweet, dried/”brown”, light brown sugar. Not molasses-y, but with some caramelized, raisiny elements.

Taste: Texture is gritty and fudgy. Flavor isn't especially dark, but has a light spiciness, like nutmeg and ginger—that's the dried, “brown” smell I was getting. Slightly sour, little bitterness. The flavor's mild complexity and texture's variation makes this easy to keep eating.

Conclusion: Trader Joe's Organic Stone Ground 70% Cacao Extra Dark Chocolate is gritty, fudgy, and relatively mild, making it easy to munch.

Fearless 75% Dark as Midnight

2oz (56.7g) bar

Ingredients: Organic raw cacao, o. unrefined cane sugar

6g sugar/28.35g serving (21.2% by wt.)

Corporate Info: [Copied from 6/2/12] Fearless is totally new to me, but I spied its frankly adorable boxes (tiny elephant! lightning! cloud/bite out of corner! friendly font!) on sale and bought a couple boxes. The company was apparently founded in 2006 in California, uses recycled paper for the outer boxes, and makes bean-to-bar chocolate with organic ingredients and direct trade cacao from specific plantations in Brazil, with a special focus on raw cacao. All of this may or may not mean anything to you, but I think I can safely say that Fearless is full of good intentions, part of what I'm seeing as a young cohort trying to bring chocolate into the modern age more thoughtfully, with an eye toward (or blatant focus on) sustainability and treating growers well. The small-company, bean-to-bar model is one way of doing it (contrast with Divine, for example), and it's a fine option. Good for them. Oh, and Fearless currently produces only five items, a plain 75% bar and four 70% bars with interesting flavor combos.

Today's Bar: Fearless's plain chocolate, in 75% cacao rather than the 70% they use in flavored bars.

Appearance: Fearless's usual fairly matte bar with the great mold, though I'd venture (without having the others in front of me) that the 75% chocolate is slightly glossier and has a richer, redder hue than its fairly grey 70% base.

Smell: Fresh, raw but rounded, earthy.

Taste: Like Fearless's other bars, this one crunches before melting into something smooth and thick. The flavor is tart and beany, like cacao nibs with a super-creamy texture; there are undertones of something fragrant and tropical, maybe banana, but the predominant flavor is sour and somewhat tannic without being seriously bitter or harsh.

Conclusion: Fearless 75% Dark as Midnight has a creamy texture and a bright and raw but tempered flavor. It's wild cacao that's been tamed for your palate.

Fearless 70% Super Seeds Crunch! Hemp Chia Flax

2oz (56.7g) bar

Ingredients: Organic raw cacao, o. unrefined cane sugar, o. flax seed, o. hemp seed, o. chia seed

7g sugar/28.35g serving (24.7% by wt.)

Corporate Info: [Copied from 6/2/12] Fearless is totally new to me, but I spied its frankly adorable boxes (tiny elephant! lightning! cloud/bite out of corner! friendly font!) on sale and bought a couple boxes. The company was apparently founded in 2006 in California, uses recycled paper for the outer boxes, and makes bean-to-bar chocolate with organic ingredients and direct trade cacao from specific plantations in Brazil, with a special focus on raw cacao. All of this may or may not mean anything to you, but I think I can safely say that Fearless is full of good intentions, part of what I'm seeing as a young cohort trying to bring chocolate into the modern age more thoughtfully, with an eye toward (or blatant focus on) sustainability and treating growers well. The small-company, bean-to-bar model is one way of doing it (contrast with Divine, for example), and it's a fine option. Good for them. Oh, and Fearless currently produces only five items, a plain 75% bar and four 70% bars with interesting flavor combos.

Today's Bar: One of Fearless's flavored bars, 70% cacao enrobing small, nutritious flax, hemp, and chia seeds.

Appearance: Like Fearless's other bars, this one is matte and greyish, in Fearless's delightful mold of elephants, stars, and a bite or cloud cut out of the corner.

Smell: Raw, beany, rich, but not sharp or strong.

Taste: Texture starts crunchy and melts smooth and thick, with the small seeds adding a popping crunch that makes the mouthfeel more complex—you have to chew this bar. Flavor is earthy, chocolatey, balanced in a close-to-the-tree way, with some sour and bitter notes but nothing harsh or separated from the other flavors, and the seeds contribute a slight nuttiness (and, yes, stick in your teeth a little). I'm a fan of Fearless!

Conclusion: Fearless 70% Super Seeds Crunch! Hemp Chia Flax is Fearless's thick, raw chocolate flavor with some nutty notes and the added texture of crunchy, popping seeds.