DSA Aromatherapy Blog - Dark Chocolate

Friday, November 14, 2008

Endangered Species Dark Chocolate with Deep Forest Mint 70% cocoa content - gorilla

Price: $2.74/HEB

85 g, 3 oz

Their info: 100% ethically traded. We buy our cocoa from small, family-owned properties, helping sustain the habitats and communities they are in.

Ingredients: dark chocolate (cocoa mass, unbleached water filtered beet sugar, soy lecithin (as an emulsifier), and natural vanilla), natural mint flavor, Indianapolis, IN Product of USA

I wasn’t too excited when I first saw this bar with mint—didn’t want to have a creamy explosion of peppermint seeping through the thin chocolate skin like those boxed candies. Oh, no, this bar smells like smooth chocolate and then the mint aroma wafts through gently as a bit of a surprise—not overpowering. No, nothing blocks the chocolate taste that is both creamy and more a liquid chocolate taste as opposed to cocoa powder. Each square has enough softness to take you back to the original Kisses with a light touch of mint just to make it interesting and somehow capturing your hand and making it break off another set of three squares. If you were lost in a fairytale forest, you would want this one with you. It’s very comforting and one of the best. I wasn’t up for wine in the early afternoon so used some Cool Mint lip moisturizer to keep the mint taste going for awhile.

Satisfaction Rating: 8.5

Diane Seago Atkins
DSA Aromatherapy

http://www.dianelotions.com

diane@dianelotions.com

800.506.6295

Dark Chocolate

posted on 11/14/2008 3:06:01 PM (Central Standard Time, UTC-06:00)

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Friday, October 03, 2008

Love That Strong Dark Chocolate!

Chocolove xoxox Strong Dark 70% cocoa content

Price: $2.74/HEB

90 g, 3.2 oz

Their description: Strong, bittersweet Belgian dark chocolate crafted primarily from African cocoa beans and a small amount of Caribbean cocoa beans.

Intense, well-rounded cocoa flavors melt smoothly in your mouth then transition to a pleasant cocoa aftertaste.

Ingredients: cocoa liquor, sugar, cocoa butter, soy lecithin.

Made in Boulder, CO with Belgian chocolate

Lot Number: 010708 Tastes Best before Jan 2010

This bar is all about texture. Maybe it’s my memories of first discovering Belgian chocolate at Harrods in London. . . but, then again, that was probably milk chocolate. And this is the new me, the one who never really cared for chocolate—always preferring vanilla—who now craves and appreciates dark chocolate. Well, the first square was just sumptuous—with a medium dense texture hinting a bit of a cocoa powder base, not too thin, not waxy, not soft—just the right height on the mound to feel satisfied. The taste is more in the palate and the sides of the mouth at first and washes across from side to side, filling your mouth with flavor, rather like a gentle ocean wave that reminds you of warm Gulf Coast waters lapping the beach about the time of a crimson red sunset. In the center of the square you’re getting about ¼” of pure chocolate to sink your teeth into. If you can eat just one square to start, you will feel the taste soften and spread evenly through your mouth with no afterburn, as I like to say, when something is too sugary and makes you want to use breath drops to eradicate the sharp aftertaste. No, this baby is smooth and balanced and non-bitter. Don’t forget to inhale the pure cocoa butter/vanilla aroma before your first taste. Following my 9-square indulgence, I sipped a bit of Ironberry 2006 Cabernet Shiraz Merlot (Australia) —ooh la la.

Satisfaction Rating: 8.4