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.

Trader Joe's Takes Flight: A Dark Chocolate Tasting Odyssey, Part II

 

Corporate Info: (Altered from 10/6/12) Quirky-gourmet grocery store Trader Joe's tends to be hit or miss, with some products being regular purchases for years, some becoming favorites and then disappearing from shelves, and some straight up disappointing. I've had similarly mixed results with their chocolate, but there's constant turnover, they contract with a whole assortment of manufacturers, and they aim for reasonable price points, so it's worth it to keep trying. There isn't much else 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.

Today's Bar: An assortment! This “Dark Chocolate Tasting Odyssey” is in the same line as the bar with toffee, walnuts, and pecans and the caramel-filled bar with black sea salt, but it includes seven separate and interesting bars! Two are 2oz versions of full-sized products, the salted caramel bar I've already reviewed and a coconut caramel one I still intend to review, so I won't cover them here. Further, you can buy each of those separately, and I've seen both in stores off-and-on for the last year, so you can probably find them if you want them. In contrast, I've only seen this assortment once, so I'm going to cover it in a two-part mega review rather than stretching it out over five posts.

So what, then, are today's bars? Every bar in the assortment is in 70% cacao, and aside from the two caramel-filled ones discussed above, all are regular chocolate with inclusions. Last week I looked at coffee & cocoa nibs and chili & cinnamon; today is even more interesting, with Almond Ginger, Orange Hibiscus, and Salt & Pepper Potato Chip!

Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate Chocolate Bar 70% Almond Ginger

2oz (57g) bar

Ingredients: Chocolate liquor, sugar, cocoa butter, soy lecithin, vanilla, almonds, ginger, cane sugar, salt

18g sugar/57g serving (31.6% by wt.)

Appearance: Again, plain, slightly purply chocolate, with raised almond pieces on the back and flecks of white almond in cross-section.

Smell: I get the ginger, actually, in the form of something spicy and fragrant within the light, nutty chocolate.

Taste: Saltier than I expected, with crunchy almond slivers and tiny bursts of bright crystallized ginger. All three come in separately, so each bite varies in terms of texture and flavor. The chocolate is still reasonably bland, a little chalky, and sweet, but this bar is more about the inclusions so it works out.

Conclusion: Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate Chocolate Bar 70% Almond Ginger has varied flavor and texture within okay chocolate.

Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate Chocolate Bar 70% Orange Hibiscus

2oz (57g) bar

Ingredients: Chocolate liquor, sugar, cocoa butter, soy lecithin, vanilla, hibiscus powder, orange oil, tea: elderberry, apples, hibiscus, rosehip, kiwi, strawberry, sunflower petals, rose, corn flower, raspberry, passionfruit, natural flavors

18g sugar/57g serving (31.6% by wt.)

Appearance: Again, plain, slightly purply chocolate.

Smell: Cohesive but complex fruit, ranging from fragrant and perfumey to sweet-tart.

Taste: Hm. The chalkiness of the chocolate base doesn't work here, as it contrasts poorly with the fruit flavor. Aside from that, very fruity and sweet-tart, leaning toward sweet, with tiny crunches, probably the hibiscus powder. I think I can taste the exotic spice of the orange oil, and aside from that it very much reminds me of the sorts of fruit teas that use hibiscus as a foundation, bright and tart and layered. It also works well with the mild chocolate, though I do think it could stand up to a darker, more sour-bitter-beany variety. Unfortunately, the contrast with the texture is awfully weird, and that's what gets to me in the end.

Conclusion: Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate Chocolate Bar 70% Orange Hibiscus is complexly fruity, with a chalkiness that contrasts oddly with the flavoring.

Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate Chocolate Bar 70% Salt & Pepper Potato Chip

2oz (57g) bar

Ingredients: Chocolate liquor, sugar, cocoa butter, soy lecithin, vanilla, organic clarified butter, sea salt, potatoes, safflower and/or sunflower oil, rice flour, black pepper, white pepper, yeast extract, garlic powder, onion powder, citric acid, black pepper oil, jalapeño powder

18g sugar/57g serving (31.6% by wt.)

Appearance: Again, plain, slightly purply chocolate.

Smell: Salty and savory on top of light, nutty chocolate.

Taste: Neat! There's the crispy crunch of the potato chips, along with their light, savory flavor (these are “salt and pepper” potato chips, which also means other flavor punchers like yeast extract and garlic and onion powders), a nice amount of salt and pepper...it actually works really well. Again, this chocolate has some unpleasant chalkiness, but it can be overlooked with this inclusion and the mild flavor works much better than would something more “chocolatey,” whose bitter and sour notes would probably contrast poorly and/or overwhelm the savory notes.

Conclusion: Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate Chocolate Bar 70% Salt & Pepper Potato Chip is surprisingly full of potato chips, and their texture and savory flavor works well with the mild chocolate.

Trader Joe's Takes Flight: A Dark Chocolate Tasting Odyssey, Part I

Corporate Info: (Copied from 1/12/13) Quirky-gourmet grocery store Trader Joe's tends to be hit or miss, with some products being regular purchases for years, some becoming favorites and then disappearing from shelves, and some straight up disappointing. I've had similarly mixed results with their chocolate, but there's constant turnover, they contract with a whole assortment of manufacturers, and they aim for reasonable price points, so it's worth it to keep trying. There isn't much else 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.

Today's Bar: An assortment! This “Dark Chocolate Tasting Odyssey” is in the same line as the bar with toffee, walnuts, and pecans and the caramel-filled bar with black sea salt, but it includes seven separate and interesting bars! Two are 2oz versions of full-sized products, the salted caramel bar I've already reviewed and a coconut caramel one I still intend to review, so I won't cover them here. Further, you can buy each of those separately, and I've seen both in stores off-and-on for the last year, so you can probably find them if you want them. In contrast, I've only seen this assortment once, so I'm going to cover it in a two-part mega review rather than stretching it out over five posts.

So what, then, are today's bars? Every bar in the assortment is in 70% cacao, and aside from the two caramel-filled ones discussed above, all are regular chocolate with inclusions. Today I'm looking at Coffee & Cocoa Nib and Chili & Cinnamon.

Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate Chocolate Bar 70% Coffee & Cocoa Nib

2oz (57g) bar

Ingredients: Chocolate liquor, sugar, cocoa butter, soy lecithin, vanilla, cocoa nibs, coffee beans

17g sugar/57g serving (29.8% by wt.)

Appearance: Straight brown, i.e. not reddish or orangey, and mostly matte. The back shows a few small, raised pieces of what I'm guessing is cocoa nib.

Smell: Sweet and nutty, with barely a hint of coffee.

Taste: That's pretty good! The texture is more chalky than waxy, but with the intriguing grit of coffee grounds and crushed cocoa nibs. Flavor is sweet (note: I haven't been eating much sugar lately) and nutty, not especially complex, with the fatty flavor of cocoa butter and and a light, lingering coffee taste. More latte than espresso.

Conclusion: Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate Chocolate Bar 70% Coffee & Cocoa Nib offers some grit for texture and a light, creamy coffee flavor.

Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate Chocolate Bar 70% Chili & Cinnamon

2oz (57g) bar

Ingredients: Chocolate liquor, sugar, cocoa butter, soy lecithin, vanilla, ancho chili powder, cinnamon, guajillo chili powder, cayenne pepper

18g sugar/57g serving (31.6% by wt.)

Appearance: As with the coffee bar, the base used for this chocolate is a deeper, more purply brown than the also-common reddish or orangey, and has little gloss. The back surface is mottled with very small raised bumps.

Smell: Ooh, I totally get both chili and cinnamon! Not strongly, but still. Again, the chocolate is light and nutty.

Taste: Again, a little chalky, with chew. Then I get the prickle of the cayenne, a low level of the other chilis (I'm not sure I could tease out the flavors), and finally a surprising amount of cinnamon compared with other, similar bars I've tried. I don't know if they used ground cinnamon or if it's just the chalkiness of the chocolate itself, but overall it's a little too powdery for my taste. On the other hand, it's still pretty neat to taste serious cinnamon flavor in my chocolate, and along with the lasting heat of chili in the back of my throat.

Conclusion: Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate Chocolate Bar 70% Chili & Cinnamon has prickly, lingering heat, significant cinnamon flavor, and a texture that's a bit too powdery for me.

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.

Fresh & Easy Swiss 72% Dark Chocolate

3.5oz (100g) bar

Ingredients: Cocoa liquor, sugar, cocoa butter, cocoa powder, natural flavor

11g sugar/40 serving (27.5% by wt.)

Corporate Info: Fresh & Easy is a grocery store operating in the Southwestern U.S. The company stocks a combination of large brands and its own store brand, operates relatively small stores, avoids additives in its private label products, and is a subsidiary of a large European chain (note: this may not last)—all of which make it sound like a more mainstream Trader Joe's. (Some of the products even look like they could be TJ's private label goods.)

Today's Bar: Fresh & Easy's store brand 72% Swiss chocolate, also containing “natural flavors,” which I'm guessing means vanilla if not others as well. I can't remember where I found this bar, but it certainly wasn't at Fresh & Easy. But hey, whatever.

Appearance: Big, thin, flat. Matte, lending a greyish cast to a medium-toned, slightly reddish bar.

Smell: Sugary, nutty, kind of thin.

Taste: Not a fan. Crunchy, then thick, somewhat chalky, with a thin, sweet flavor. I was reminded of cocoa powder, then recalled a conversation with Nat of Madre Chocolate at the Northwest Chocolate Festival: I was able to try a new, Hawaii-grown chocolate they're working on, which he euphemistically described as “tasting like Oreos” because of its flat, cocoa-powder-like flavor. He pointed out that the challenge was in the fermentation, which is what develops the complex sourness that many good chocolates have, and which was the next step in bringing their new cacao up to snuff. Perhaps it's the fermentation that's bringing me down in the case of Fresh & Easy's product. I will say that today's co-taster thinks this chocolate is okay: “It starts out dry and unremarkable, but then there's a little bit of richness and creaminess that comes out.” He still doesn't think it stands out from the other chocolates we've tried, but he doesn't dislike it as much as I do.

Conclusion: Fresh & Easy Swiss 72% Dark Chocolate is thin and sweet, lacking the rounded complexity of the chocolates I tend to like.

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.