Chocolate

[magid]

Last night I sampled five chocolates.

1. Endangered Species' tiger Bar, 70% dark chocolate with espresso beans. This was intense, more from the espresso than the chocolate; the bar was extremely lumpy from the quantity of coffee in it, and it was more coffee than I would like, partly because the texture of the coffee beans is slightly chalky, and there wasn't enough chocolate to balance it out. But then, I'm not a coffee drinker, either. (More about tigers.)
   This is the first time I've had Endangered Species brand chocolate, and it's quite good. Each flavor has a different animal pictured on it, with information about the species inside the label, and the chocolate is "shade-grown, organic and Fair Trade" (Why is "Fair Trade" capitalized? I don't know.). Also at least 10% of profits are given to organizations working to protect endangered species. Which wouldn't be enough to get me to buy the chocolate if it didn't taste as lovely as it does.
   
2. Dagoba's xocolatl, 74% dark chocolate with chilies and cocoa nibs. The nibs were in much smaller pieces than the coffee beans, which I liked. The first piece I had didn't have much chili bite at all, while the second was noticeably hotter. Dagoba is also an organic brand.
   
3. Endangered Species' grizzly bar, 70% dark chocolate with raspberries. This was a surprise: it tasted of unsweetened raspberries, which can have a little tang of sourness at the end. Drupes of raspberries permeated the bar, including the little seeds, but it didn't interrupt the texture. (More about grizzlies.)
   
4. Dagoba's chai, 37% milk chocolate with crystallized ginger and spices. The only milk chocolate of the evening (I'm partial to dark chocolate), but it worked well with the chai spices, not surprisingly. This was very smooth; I didn't notice the ginger with distinct pieces at all.
   
5. Endangered Species' black panther bar, 88% dark chocolate. This was described as "extreme", so I was surprised that the mouth feel wasn't as chalky as some very dark chocolates. In fact, it was very smooth. I think I should have tried it earlier, though, to appreciate its simplicity more. (More about panthers.)

The Endangered Species labels also have conservation tips on the inside of the labels: purchase products made with recycled materials, don't feed the bears, find substitutes for disposable paper products. Each is explained a bit, then there's the tag line: protect our planet... it's the only one with chocolate. Which is a pretty good reason :-).

Comments

[mud-puppy.livejournal.com]

Oh! I love the Endangered Species' chocolate bars. They don't use processed white sugar, but beet sugar instead. It doesn't seem to bother me as much as regular sugar *shrug* And, they're yummy :)

[magid.livejournal.com]

I noticed they have "unbleached water-filtered beet sugar" on the labels, but didn't have a clue as to how it differs from cane sugar. I'm glad they're chocolate you can eat :-).

[jarel.livejournal.com]

Wow. Reading that's woken some fierce chocolate cravings ;)

[ruthling.livejournal.com]

protect our planet... it's the only one with chocolate

good point!

[magid.livejournal.com]

Luckily you live in a country where good chocolate is findable :-).

(I really like Green and Black's chocolate.)

[magid.livejournal.com]

Now I'm wondering, once we colonize all sorts of inhabitable planets and start cultivating chocolate on them... which areas will be known for the best chocolate? Will Earth be the gold standard, or will some other planet beat us out?

[ruthling.livejournal.com]

I think it could be a gold standard for terraforming: can we make chocolate on it.

Great, now I'm hungry, *and* want to terraform something! :)

[ckd]

"Fair Trade" may be a trademark or refer to a specific set of standards.

[magid.livejournal.com]

You got me to go looking: here's a description of the program. (I think if it had been a trademark, it would've had the little ^TM, yes?)

[magid.livejournal.com]

Chocolate as the new gold standard: I like it, though, of course, it's harder on hot desert countries :-)

Luckily you have a yard to terraform, if you wait a month or two...

[ckd]

"Fair Trade Certified™" is a trademark (as is their certification logo), according to that site. "Fair Trade" by itself is not, and is potentially too generic by itself to be trademarked.