Monday, February 24, 2020

Letterpress Ghana Ashanti 70% cacao

This chocolate has a spicy edge to it, a little peppery. Also present is a mild coffee tinge, adding to a bitter undertone. Aftertaste is lengthy with the bitterness. 8.9

Ingredients: Cacao Beans, Unrefined Cane Sugar*, Cocoa Butter*
*Certified Organic

Price: $11 / 2.1oz 

Wednesday, February 19, 2020

Letterpress Jamaica Bachelor's Hall 70% cacao

This bar has a rich cacao flavor overlaid with caramel and toffee.  It has a fairly low bitterness with a clean aftertaste. 8.3

Ingredients: Cacao Beans, Unrefined Cane Sugar*, Cocoa Butter*
*Certified Organic

Price: $18 / 2.1oz

Tuesday, February 11, 2020

Letterpress Bolivia Tranquilidad 70% cacao

Fairly low bitterness to start, but the aftertaste echoes with a bitter note. Caramel texture and flavor is prominent, with some blueberry richness. 9.1

Ingredients: Cacao Beans, Unrefined Cane Sugar (Organic), Cocoa Butter (Organic)

Price: $18 / 2oz.

The label on the bar indicates that the cacao from this bar is heirloom, meaning is cacao is from "ancient and wild" varietals. This likely accounts for the higher price of this bar.

The mold has a nice design which uses the Letterpress logo.

Wednesday, February 5, 2020

Hu Simple Dark 70% cacao

This bar has a texture that borders on, but does not become, gritty. There is a roasted component, akin to burnt sugar, and a buttery, caramel flavor. The aftertaste is short. 6.6

hukitchen.com

Ingredients: organic cacao, unrefined organic coconut sugar, organic fair-trade cocoa butter

The label reports that the bar is "vegan | paleo" and lists everything it is not:
  • NO palm oil
  • NO refined sugar
  • NO cane sugar
  • NO sugar alcohols
  • NO dairy
  • NO gluten
  • NO emulsifiers
  • NO soy lecithin 
A check on what "paleo" is meant to convey shows: "A paleo diet is a dietary plan based on foods similar to what might have been eaten during the Paleolithic era, which dates from approximately 2.5 million to 10,000 years ago." I wonder whether chocolate was being made 10,000 years ago. 🤔 Wikipedia thinks not.

The sugar element of the bar is derived from coconut, which might account for some of the flavor notes.